The River -- Brian Doerksen, Michael Hansen, Brian Thiessen

 

Was one of them reading something from apocalyptic literature in his bible? One might think so, and perhaps what they found spoke collectively to this trio of composers – Brian Doerksen, Michael Hansen, and Brian Thiessen – and spurred them onward as they sang about “The River”. It wouldn’t be just any ordinary river (such as the River Wey [a main tributary of the Thames River in SE England] shown here, which is one of thousands of rivers on the Earth), because this one that they were coaxing hearers to approach would offer something that no other one could. And that’s not because there was something magical in the two molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen therein; instead, this river’s Creator and Healer would be there, giving of Himself to the surroundings and to those who accept His invitation to come there. The words and music that the two Brians and Michael wrote undoubtedly reached out from their spirits to express something that all us mortals need to acknowledge in order to get well: we have an imperfection infection. That’s you, and me, and everyone else on this spinning spheroid. He’s got the way out of this imperfect mess, but one first has to be willing to get wet.

 

None of the three co-writers of ‘The River’ have shared what was transpiring around the time that they fashioned the song’s lyrics and music (published in January 2004), but maybe the song’s message says enough on its own. Perhaps someone was about to take his/her last breath (as in the case of one family who commented on this song’s special place in their memory as they watched a mother leave this life – see the comments at this link  The River | Brian Doerksen Lyrics, Meaning & Videos); or maybe someone that one or more of them knew was pondering his spiritual condition and the way to rise above life’s troubles. Either of those scenarios would fit what these composers, via their composition, suggest was happening. Maybe they even shared with someone some vivid words written centuries ago, from Ezekiel 47:12 and Revelation 22:2, in which two different writers saw a very similar vision about a river and healing leaves on nearby trees. And so, it’s no accident that the song might have had an impact on people; that’s what special revelation like Ezekiel and John had is supposed to accomplish, and when it is turned into a unique mode of musical expression, it touches the human spirit. We all have ‘sins I cannot bear’, and need to get ‘cleanse(d)’ (v.1).  No one can force another, but when someone is ready to admit the truth about him-herself, that’s when the song’s chorus section can give such a person a loving nudge – ‘I am ready’, ‘surrender’, ‘take my hand…’, and ‘lead me closer’, can help that person express what’s buried deep within. Brian, Brian, and Michael penned the words that all of us need to know – ‘healing mercy’, and ‘freedom from despair’ (v.2) allows any of us to escape life’s dead-end alternative.

 

‘Life beyond compare’ (v.3) awaits, this threesome reminds us and others who honestly administer a self-examination. If you’re in physical prison, or worse yet nearing your deathbed, God will not shout His words louder for you. He’s already sent enough messengers in one or multiple forms of communication methods to get your attention. But, He’s a patient God and doesn’t want anyone to ‘perish’ (2 Peter 3:9); have you or someone close to you thought about that, that you’ve made it thus far because He’s still holding out hope that He’ll get to open the door to eternity for you? Could it be that ‘The River’ is but one more page in that journal of persuasion that He’s keeping about you? It’s still open today, but He will close it eventually. You got a better option than Him?     

 

Read about the principal composer here: Brian Doerksen - Wikipedia

 

See information on the image of the river here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wey_source_farringdon.jpg …This work has been released into the public domain by its author, SuzanneKn at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: SuzanneKn grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. Find the picture inside this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River

The Power of Your Name -- Lincoln Brewster and Mia Fieldes

 

What they wanted to see was a heartbeat. Lincoln Brewster tells in his remembrance of the development of “The Power of Your Name” that he and Mia Fieldes wanted there to be something of heart in the song in 2008. So, Lincoln actually recorded his son’s heartbeat before he was born, so that it could be inserted as a rhythmic reminder in the song’s recording. What he saw that day in the doctor’s office was probably what you’ve probably seen if you’ve ever had your heart monitored, or have seen a TV show about doctors and hospitals: what’s known as an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) (see the diagram here of one). Lincoln and Mia really wanted to inject Jesus’ ‘kingdom come’ prayer into their musical effort, to make plain from the lyrics’ first few lines that life as God values it is something we cannot ignore when we see how He approached people with compassion. He made us all to reflect Him, so how does it feel for us to see some people in desperate straits, those people to whom social injustice is a daily reality? Lincoln and Mia offer something that is a prayer that we could say every morning, as we contemplate how our days should unfold.   

 

The purpose of the Lincoln-Mia composition was to spur its hearers to deal with social injustice, to see people in the church ‘take a stand’ and make social injustice something that is resisted and reversed. The in-the-womb heartbeat was Lincoln’s way of inserting some special and intimate feeling from himself and his family into the song, and to say in an audible way that every person is a life that is unique and valuable, particularly to God, even before any of us were born. God has conceived what the life of each human will mean on this earth, so Christians who believe and live life at His direction will try to make certain others’ lives are not demeaned, but rather counted as precious and meaningful. To have the opportunity to live and experience life as God intended is what Lincoln and Mia felt was the message of the song they co-wrote. That means especially, as Lincoln shared in a video message, that God-followers should make sure they pursue life-affirming actions outside of the church buildings where they mouth belief in His way of life every Sunday. That means ‘comfort zone’ is excised from the people’s vocabulary, because so many people live in circumstances that are difficult, and which cannot be repaired easily. It’s hard work, and challenges will undoubtedly threaten the commitment of God’s people to endure in His work to make social justice a reality, and not just an aspiration. I should take the words and phrases that Lincoln and Mia have put to music – like ‘compassion’ that is expressed explicitly (in the chorus) and otherwise in many other words -- and internalize them. That would be the way to make ‘the power of (His) name’ consequential.

 

It really needs to be ‘in my heart’, as the words of Lincoln and Mia say at the end of verse two. If I really intellectually accept that Jesus’ Matthew 6/Luke 11 prayer is an action plan, then I will seek out ways to make His kingdom more real to the hurting. You don’t have to look very far to find opportunities to make social justice yours and my way of life, and there are literally hundreds of ways to do this. The first few words of the Lincoln-Mia song use the phrase ‘made for the streets’ to admit that some children are actually in that condition -- a place where far too many homeless find themselves, including in very prosperous nations and poorer ones too. I cannot help every child in the streets, but there is a group that does help give kids like this a brighter future in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s called Made in the Streets (see a link to it below), and is just one that you can join. Just listen, see, and have a heart.     

 

See the song story told here: the power of your name brewster fields lyrics - Search

 

Read about one way to change the lives of children in one social justice effort in Kenya here: MADE IN THE STREETS | Serving street-connected youth in Kenya

 

See information on the heartbeat image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SinusRhythmLabels.svg ... Re: the copyright the following statement is associated with the image: I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

The Lord's Prayer (It's Yours) -- Jesus, Matt Maher, Bryan Fowler, Jacob Sooter

Another way of saying what they thought about in this song was the oft-used acronym KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid (but make sure you say this especially to yourself if you use that ‘Stupid’ word, and not to others). Don’t make something too complicated, and particularly when you look at “The Lord’s Prayer”, as Matt Maher, Bryan Fowler, and Jacob Sooter did when they repeated and updated it with a few reminders for themselves (See here the late 19^th Century artwork The Lord’s Prayer, by James Tissot.)  The words Jesus used to teach His hearers in His great sermon (Matthew 6/Luke 11) were also those by which He lived and taught every day, so when Matt, Bryan, and Jacob put in a few extra words, they must have been looking at Him and His life’s consistency, and how they thought they should respond to Him daily, too. With any familiar words used repeatedly, day after day, there is a risk that the words become a rote exercise, but one of these three 21^st Century composers says his regular use of the prayer has had the opposite effect. Should we expect that the prayer basics that Jesus taught would remain any less stimulating for us as the day He first spoke them?

 

Jesus readily responded to the people who asked Him how to pray, something that really indicated how the people already trusted Him. And yet, He didn’t offer them promises about Roman comeuppance, about redemption of the Jewish nation to its former autonomous status, or about prosperity for themselves. It was instead all about each individual’s one-to-one connection with God and with each other. In short, each of us needs to find ourselves in His corner and trust that He provides, prompting us to treat each other as He has treated us. Matt said in 2022 (perhaps a year after the 21^st Century version of the prayer-song was written) that he thought it was all about reminding himself about spiritual basics, when he and his family would echo Jesus’ words each day. Making things too complicated had been one of the spiritual traps into which he’d often fallen, Matt admits, so making this prayer a daily habit was intentional from a foundation-building perspective. Moreover, he found that he would discover something anew each time he mimicked Jesus in this way. Do you suppose Jesus intended this phenomenon when he taught the people? Certainly, Jesus wanted you and me to personalize the prayer, and because each day is new, how I live out that prayer just might change ever so slightly, or perhaps more radically on occasion, as my life unfolds from day to day. One might gather that that is what Matt and his two friends were also thinking when they added some words to the prayer, particularly the phrase ‘right here in my heart’, which is sung seven times to emphasize how today’s disciple responds to what Jesus said. Matt, Bryan, and Jacob added some other words to underscore that the world He created, and the kingdom Jesus came to initiate, are His…’it’s yours, all yours’. That is so very crucial to accept, not just as a believer, but as a human being created by Him. If I don’t acknowledge His ownership, I can spend my life as an empty exercise in accumulating stuff for myself, none of which I can take with me to the other side of mortality’s conclusion. On the other hand…   

 

…when I discover and accept that He’s the LORD, as in landlord and people-Lord too, then I can aim at the only target that makes sense: His kingdom. That’s the one that is enduring, because He brought it with Him when He was here on earth, and its expansion to millions and even billions of people since then just cannot be rolled back. Read Revelation, and remind yourself who wins in the end. Why would you not want to be connected to what He – the Resurrected One – has begun and which will overpower death, because He has already done so as the First-Born? I have no better option and no other plan that offers what He’s begun in His kingdom. Do you? See if Jesus’ simple, but still-potent words work for you.  

 

Read the story from the principal author-composer of this 21^st Century version of the prayer here: Matt Maher Goes Personal with "The Lord's Prayer (It's Yours)" : News : JubileeCast

 

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Lord%27s_Prayer_(Le_Pater_Noster)_-_James_Tissot.jpg (found at this link -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Prayer ) …The author died in 1902, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.