The Church -- Chris Brown and Mack Brock

 

You can just about hear these two songwriters vocalizing their thoughts, and see in your mind’s eye the scene in which “The Church” was sung. Chris Brown and Mack Brock were part of the Elevation Church in Charlotte in 2010 (see the seal of Charlotte, NC here), and so their objective was to motivate the crowd that was before them. Was it a reaction like what some others experienced when a church was moved to action by potent words two millennia earlier? That event at which Peter and others witnessed the birth of the Christian church was unlike any event since then, and yet Chris and Mack must have felt that another fire needed to begin in Charlotte. What would one say to a crowd that needed or desired a spark? What would draw more seekers to a church, like a magnet drawing metal to itself, or a feast of exquisite food that wafts an irresistible odor among the hungry? That’s what Chris and Mack and the rest of their Elevation Worship friends were trying to prompt, a recognition by those who are on the outside that The Church has something they want, something they need.     

 

Chris and Mack offer no special insights into what prompted ‘The Church’, but their own lyrics and the album on which the song was premiered offer some food for thought. For the Honor was the name attached to the album that included the song about the church that the two songwriters were contemplating, so they must have thought that one way to esteem God was to be the kind of church that points to Him, to be who He intended His body to be. The early church of the 1^st Century A.D. had that mission in front of itself too, so how’d it respond? It’s not really a mystery today, if one just looks at what Luke recorded for us: Acts 2:42-47 spells it out. Listening to preaching and teaching, praying and eating together, and giving to those in need from their own resources – those were the responses of those few thousand inaugural church members. Chris and Mack could not have missed what is written in black and white, and so they emphasized some key things that stood out to them, things that relate to the world of the 21^st Century as clearly as they did to people of the 1^st Century A.D. They note that the world is ‘desperate’ today, as indeed it was centuries ago as well. Peter’s sermon convicted his hearers, and they knew they were in great need spiritually; just read Acts 2:37 -- When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” The church today still offers a solution (which begins by getting into Christ through repentance and baptism -- Acts 2:38), and that is what Chris and Mack illustrate with lyrics that include words like ‘hope’, ‘love’, ‘compassion’ and ‘mercy’ to a people that are seeking and ‘waiting for change’. And so, the church is called to ‘rise’ and get out in the ‘streets’ with this news. ‘Shine’ His love light, they coax. The church, His people, and what He offers is ‘real’, and still ‘alive’ and ‘active’.

 

So, just be what you sing, Chris and Mack and the rest of Elevation Worship were saying in ‘The Church’. And, the church today still takes it cues from what the church looked like so long ago. It shouldn’t really be that difficult to promote, should it? And yet, from what we read of Luke’s history, there wasn’t always a welcome mat laid out for the spreaders of the good news. The apostles did not flinch, even when arrests, beatings, scorn, and eventually martyrdom became part of their experience. They found, as honestly as we oftentimes do today, that there are doubters, and even hostile opponents that might resort to violence. There’s nothing to be done about those types of people, except to keep being the church; and, there are others who might not say so at first, but they can be touched, maybe with repeated attempts by you and me. The Spirit will move in people’s hearts, if they are willing. You and I are the ones throwing the seed around and giving it some water – as Paul and Apollos did (1 Corinthians 3:6) – but only our Sovereign can make the seed grow into belief and devotion. Chris and Mack have reminded us what the seed-spreading and watering looks like. If you’ve not seen that, it’s probably not too far away from your front door.   

 

 

Read about the musical group here: Elevation Worship - Wikipedia

 

See information about the seal of Charlotte here: File:New seal of Charlotte, North Carolina.svg - Wikimedia Commons…This file is in the public domain because official item legally exempt from copyright in its country of origin.

Resurrecting -- Chris Brown, Mack Brock, Matthew Ntele, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye

 

It would be no small thing to witness something like what they were remembering in 2015. That was what Chris Brown, Mack Brock, Matthew Ntele, Steven Furtick, and Wade Joye were saying essentially with “Resurrecting”, when they sang it as part of an album, an album that proposed that believers in the One with the power to raise someone to life start to live with that hope while still here on earth. Jesus demonstrated that He had power over life, to resurrect the dead (like when Lazarus was raised after four days, as shown in this painting by Leon Bonnat, France, 1857), so when these Elevation Worship band members sang about that in the Charlotte church where they were ministering, they were saying in effect ‘let’s think of that happening in Charlotte today’. What would you think if that sort of thing happened in front of your eyes today?

 

Oh, that must be a hoax! How did they stage that one? Where are the doctors to verify what they claim happened? There would be lots of skepticism, for sure, if someone were to rise from the dead today. And, there are plenty of so-called ‘faith healers’ that do put on a show (as depicted in the Steve Martin/Debra Winger 1992 movie Leap of Faith). But the fact of Jesus’ rising is the foundation of Christian faith, and really, what other better option is there for humanity than to stake our lives upon the hope that God through Jesus’ resurrection gives us? The issue of His rising has been the subject of much historical study, including in lots of books that could be listed here; three come to mind -- The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, by Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona; Evidence the Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell; and The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel. Those are all studies of what happened to Jesus, about a key historical event more than 2,000 years ago. But what about today, and what about the people whose lives are changed radically? The Elevation Worship team also seemed to indicate that that is something that resurrection today brings. Although they don’t spell out explicitly why they wrote ‘Resurrecting’, this team of five songwriters suggests in their lyrics that knowing Jesus has risen can alter someone’s outlook fundamentally. They begin with praise for Jesus and His revival, and use that as a stepping stone for us mortals to worship Him and exercise a new life here and now. ‘Fear’ recedes in this new way of living, because ‘His…breath’ is inside the believer (v.3). And, they sing repeatedly that yes, we can expect to rise in the future, but they follow up that thought with He ‘is resurrecting me’ – in the present. He’s the One who resurrected people while He lived on earth (three people: son of the widow of Nain [Luke 7:11-17]; daughter of Jairus [Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, and Luke 8:40-56]; and Lazarus [John 11:1-44]), people came out of the graves when He was resurrected (Matthew 27:51-53), and of course He came out of His own grave and appeared to many to prove it was fact. He knows all about resurrection.

 

This Elevation Worship team’s song was written probably at the Charlotte church where they are located, and where they recorded the live album on which ‘Resurrecting’ appears. It’s titled Here as in Heaven, evidently a reference to what Jesus prayed when teaching the disciples the proper way to address God, and how to regard His purposes for humanity (Matthew 6/Luke 11). Bring to earth and its inhabitants the ways of God. So, thinking of resurrecting as not exclusive to the realm of the afterlife is what Jesus wanted people to grasp. It can be now, and our engines are revved as we read about how He raised others physically, came out to the grave Himself, and plans to do that at the end of life for all who want Him and what He offers. That’s how we can start eternity-thinking today. As one of the apostles wrote, it’s now – you and I have it already (1 John 5:14). That is what the Elevation Worshippers in Charlotte also realized in 2015. Do you know it today? You can.  

 

Read some about the song here: Resurrecting - Wikipedia

Read about the album on which the song premiered here: Here as in Heaven - Wikipedia

Read about the group that wrote the song: Elevation Worship - Wikipedia

Watch an inspiring story about related to the song here: Bing Videos

See information about the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonnat01.jpg …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 70 years or fewer….{{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States. This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1930, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation.

Open Up Our Eyes -- Chris Brown, London Gatch, Mack Brock, Stuart Garrard, Wade Joyce

 

These fellows were familiar with their bibles…that much probably could be said. There were five of them -- Chris Brown, London Gatch, Mack Brock, Stuart Garrard, and Wade Joyce – who were part of the Elevation Worship Church in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012 (see the seal of Charlotte here), and they collectively said “Open Up Our Eyes”. But that was not all they had to say to the One their church was elevating. A group of people lifts up a name because of that name-wearer’s reputation, and in this case these five songwriters mentioned several of His characteristics that stood out to them. And if someone opens his eyes to take a look and sees these traits clearly, what follows is a decision that everyone should eventually make for themselves, based upon a simple question: Is He dependable, someone whom I should follow and trust? The response that Chris, London, Mack, Stuart, and Wade recorded also emphasized one other thing to consider: none of us ever has to be alone when He’s in the picture…a big deal when mortality becomes oh so real for each of us.  

 

There’s probably a circumstance or brief story about why these five band members in Charlotte decided to say ‘Open Up Our Eyes’, but it has not been exposed for us to see; perhaps they thought the song’s words said enough about the message they were conveying. Nevertheless, several of the phrases they included in the lyrics provide clues to the song’s genesis. They begin with ‘greater is the One’, so perhaps they were reading what the Hebrews writer had to say about Jesus in several places (3:3, and so much of what follows in the rest of Hebrews). They also refer to the One they trust as ‘mighty’, ‘stronger’, and as ‘Our God…fighting…’, so apparently, they looked to God to help with struggles, an idea that could be found among any number of biblical episodes. But, then there’s also the oft-used phrase ‘His love endures forever’, a pretty common theme in Old Testament history when the people were in a traditional worship space, especially in a tabernacle with the ark of the covenant present, or at the temple, and thus routinely written as part of several psalms (100, 106, 107, 117, 118, and especially 136). But, how about when the people were in fighting mode, when they needed a warrior? There’s one episode, in 2 Chron 20, when a king named Jehoshaphat marshalled the army to fight, and had to instill in them a fervor to take on not just one, but two enemies (Moab and Ammon). At the head of this army were the singers with this phrase in their hearts and on their lips. Can you guess at the outcome of the battle? The men under Jehoshaphat were also under God, and He was the one that mattered most. These men felt that He was with them…there were no foxhole Atheists in that group! The five Elevation worshippers felt the same, for they conclude their own testimonial song with several iterations of ‘We are not alone’ that follow ‘Our God is fighting…’. Was someone named Josh or Jehoshaphat also present as they composed?

 

Jehoshaphat also prayed before the battle (2 Chron. 20:5-12), concluding by saying that …our eyes are on you (God) (v.12). Could that thought also have inspired these 21^st Century songwriters, that our eyes need to be opened to see Him? Could it have also been the episode when the prophet Elisha prayed that the servant with him would see the hills full of horses and chariots to oppose an Aramean army (2 Kings 6:8-23), an army that would be also blinded in the following moments? In either biblical story, God is with those who want to be with Him, to follow Him. Asking to see Him might seem to be a tall order, and in fact it was for Moses (Exodus 33:18-23). But we can see Him now through another (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)…read it and see for yourself how this sight, which was forbidden to Moses, could now be possible.     

 

Read about the group that premiered the song here: Elevation Worship - Wikipedia

 

Read about the album on which the song appeared here: Nothing Is Wasted (album) - Wikipedia

 

See some comments about the song here: Meaning of Open Up Our Eyes by Elevation Worship

 

See information about the seal of Charlotte here: File:New seal of Charlotte, North Carolina.svg - Wikimedia Commons…This file is in the public domain because official item legally exempt from copyright in its country of origin.