As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. (1 John 2:27)
Rob Still was writing from a personal experience when he wrote “A New Anointing” in 2000. He’s been involved in music since he was twelve, and has been making it his career for some time. Rob has written advertisements for lots of corporate giants like Nike, Hardees, Wal-Mart, and General Tire, but 1996 was a turning point for him, when he felt the call of a different giant -- God. “I began experiencing personal revival,” he says. He likens it to a light switch, which lit in him a desire and the ability to compose worship music, including in the church where he now ministers, the Belmont Church in Nashville, Tennessee. His song-writing and worship renewal efforts extend far outside the confines of Tennessee, really testifying to the power of God’s influence when He chooses to touch people. Have you ever thought of yourself as anointed by God? How does it happen?
Rob Still thinks God’s anointing is something you and I can participate in, when other people receive this touch from God. Isn’t that compelling? Rob believes and acts upon Romans 2 – that people can be transformed during worship. His music lyrics convey this conviction too, that something special happens when worshippers are driven by a common spirit to ‘seize the day’, as someone else has said. We not only take advantage of God’s gift each day, but we also deal Satan reverses, Rob says -- “as His sons and daughters (we) participate in destroying the works of darkness". ‘This is the day’, ‘I will rejoice’, his song drives us to declare. I doubt that I have ever thought that I actually anoint others when I sing in worship, but perhaps Rob Still is right. If I sing the song and worship the way God intends, I know I always feel better. And the Spirit’s movement should be a positive experience, right? But, it’s something else to think that my singing, that my encouragement actually confronts and defeats evil.
I suspect that Rob Still has captured something that he’s seen repeatedly as he’s travelled to spread his God-given worship and song-writing expertise. He’s used his abilities to bridge divides culturally and generationally, in places like Argentina, the Philippines, and in Eastern Europe, including at the Sozo Music and Arts Festival in Baja, Hungary. Joy and positive anticipation about the future – those are things that universally energize human beings, so it’s no accident that Rob Still’s “A New Anointing” has a global appeal. I was initially intrigued to know that Rob Still ministers at a church named Belmont, because I grew up in another Belmont, in Ohio. As I read about him and the Belmont Church in Nashville, I’ve also wondered if there’s a special anointing experience there, since that’s where the song was born. Is the ‘new anointing limited to Belmont, or to people who have lots of talent, like Rob Still? It’s sometimes (truthfully for me, most of the time) difficult to totally, with complete abandon, rejoice in each day that God gives me, to feel His touch. But, I think now, this ‘new anointing’ entreaty isn’t just about putting on a happy face. It’s a determination that I engage in a deeper, more meaningful slice of life, and that I help others in this life-fight – we propel each other forward – as we sing to ourselves of God’s provision, both here and in the great New Day to come. God has anointed us with that promise too.
Information on Rob Still can be found on the following websites:
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