Overcome -- Jon Egan

 

The year between late 2006 and late 2007 might be one that members of this church would rather forget. Two tragic events struck, and the people at New Life Church in Colorado Springs (see the flag of Colorado Springs here) were stunned and distraught, until they were moved to remember that He had “Overcome”, and that they could do the same. Nothing is irredeemable in God’s kingdom, so these people clung to that belief that was rooted in reality. The song helped this church community heal, and that was something that only a Spirit-filled body could do, because the events that led to one leader’s downfall and to the deaths of two members of the church could not be taken back. Those things made even the author-composer of the song, Jon Egan, once feel deep inside as if the church could not recover from these twin calamities. And then they sang the song, three days after their lowest point, when a shooter had done the unthinkable within their spiritual community. Let Him and the example of His life – and death and resurrection – speak over you when you feel that hope is missing. That’s what Jon and this Colorado church did.

 

When trust is broken, and when two innocent people are struck down, that’s when many people might ask if something is terribly wrong with the ways of a church. Jon Egan apparently had written ‘Overcome’ in the aftermath of the church’s senior pastor’s dismissal, a consequence of drug-related and sexual sin in which he had engaged. ‘Shock waves’ was how the emotions of the church were described (see the video link below) at that time in November 2006. And yet, that did not overwhelm this group. Instead, they leaned on Him through prayer, trust, and worship in order to persevere. The band that Jon Egan and his friends had been using to minister to the church (since 2001) was aptly named Desperation, and they could not possibly have known just how desperate this church was about to become through this year-long period. Barely a year later (December 2007), a gunman entered the church building and shot five people, including two sisters who were killed. Does life get any more brutally unfair than that? Jon really thought the church was suffering irreparably, that his and others’ faith had sunk too low. That was when they sang to remind themselves of the once-desperate nature of another death that had rocked other believers…and, that Jesus overcame. The words of the song were never more meaningful for New Life than when they met just days after the shooting occurred. That Wednesday night was described as the time when ‘Overcome’ became their ‘anthem’, and Jon later retells how the church was rising and living ‘in the truth’ that God was not going to leave them, that He would pull them through, whatever happened. Instead of desolation, they leaned on words like ‘victory’, ‘awesome’, ‘power’, ‘great’, and of course the song’s title word that described Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection did not wipe out the events that lead to Jesus’ sacrifice, but it gave His death new perspective…that the lowest point of someone’s experience can be outdone by the height of His redemption in God’s kingdom.

 

Jon and the New Life Church remembered it all, the depth of their despair, but also the recovery that brought a resurgence of life in Him. God’s ways cannot be defeated, even by the indiscretions of we who are weak in our sin natures, or by bullets fired by gunmen tragically lashing out in uncontrolled rage. Jesus also encountered sinful and rage-filled people – that is what lead to his own death. He did not shrink from it, and though none of us would likely move willingly toward such danger, His ability to overcome what befell Him provides you and me something we would not otherwise have. I don’t have to live in dread of hazards that might ensue and overtake me. He’s already made sure – unshakably so – that I too will overcome, no matter what happens to me here on earth. Make sure that you too can assert that. Jesus is the way.

 

See the song story retold in this video: Bing Videos

 

See one retelling of the story here: overcome Jon Egan | Devotions by Chris Hendrix

 

Read about the church through which the song emerged here: New Life Church (Colorado Springs, Colorado) - Wikipedia

 

Read about Jon Egan’s band at the church here: Desperation Band - Wikipedia

 

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