It was two guys with a desire to sing something truly foundational, as part of a celebration. What Bob Kauflin and Drew Jones produced in 2002 did not really begin with them, since “The Gospel Song” really had a much earlier origin…where? By whom? The first two words of their four-line poem tell who the true author and creator is, someone who had a vision and a plan that looked forward through all of history. What Bob and Drew meant to do, and what they accomplished on a significant occasion for their church (in Gaithersburg, Maryland – a DC suburb – see map-graphic), was to merely refocus those people on what really matters above all else. All those other things became secondary, even if they were facilitating the main thing. Just imagine what would be worthy of celebration, as a body of believers, if the foundation hadn’t first been built?
Holy God. Love. Blame. Cross. Sin. Death. Live. Those are the key words that Bob Kauflin and Drew Jones thought about most intently, with the first two – our Creator’s name, Holy God – being the cornerstone of everything else, as someone else has said (Psalm 118:22). Nothing else proceeds without this Holy God taking the initiative. And, it was one thing after another that He instigated: He came as a human being. He went to a cross on His own volition. He took my sin, when He died. He arose to life without anyone’s aid, and will convey that risen life to me. These God-centered events coalesced in the minds of Bob and Drew as the 25-year anniversary of the church in Gaithersburg approached, evidently prompting them to think most fundamentally about what their shared faith meant. It was an occasion that was reason for celebration, and so they thought of producing a musical to put a stamp on that time. Bob indicates he wrote music for multiple sets of lyrics in the musical, but ‘The Gospel Song’, many years later, was the only one of those songs that was still sung by the church during Sunday morning worship times. You think Bob and Drew hit the nail on the head with their musical rendition of the gospel? Bob mentioned, eight years after the musical’s production, that there were, and are, many ancillary matters that help facilitate the gospel that could potentially overshadow it, if we are not vigilant. Jesus – His life, death, and resurrection -- is the hub of everything. Perhaps those few facts were why ‘The Gospel Song’ needed no more than four lines comprising one verse. We just need to keep repeating this brief, powerful message, the implicit point contained in an animated video presentation of the song (see its link below).
Gospel – good news! Just good news? Could it be that too many superlatives have populated our languages since the arrival of Christ, so that good is no longer good enough? The phrase appears 44 times in the bible (New International Version), most of which refer to Jesus and what He brought to the theological picture. So, that word gospel – the good news – is worth having on your lips constantly, even in other languages. It means being able to overcome barriers in a foreign tongue with that word, and a few others, that can mean everything to any culture. For example, Kenyans receive the gospel (in Swahili) as injili, redemption as ukombozi, and resurrection as ufufuo. And, Jesus is Yesu, while God is Mungu. So, now you too have five good words to tell the next Kenyan you meet. The gospel message reverberates in any language!
See here for story of song’s development: https://worshipmatters.com/2010/08/24/the-gospel-song-an-animation/
See here for song’s words, replay of song, and album on which it appears: https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/the-gospel-song/
See here a moving animation of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoxWSk9fLMU
See one author-composer bio here: https://sovereigngracemusic.org/about/bob-kauflin/
This site shows four verses for the song: https://www.theanchor.org/page/song-The-Gospel-Song#!
Use the link here to translate words from one language to another: https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=sw&text=God&op=translate
The map-graphic of Maryland and Montgomery County is in the Public Domain, with no other tags associated with it necessary for its use.
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