Great Are You Lord -- David Leonard, Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan

 

These three friends set out to make a song, a LOUD song. That is how David Leonard envisioned “Great Are You Lord”, something not terribly original, but one that could let a crowd sing with abandon and energy. He must have felt like the worship crowds he was trying to guide could use an injection of life, something that would metaphorically look like some old dry bones coming to life (as in what the prophet Ezekiel saw, reproduced in this 19^th Century engraving by Gustave Dorè). And actually, David and his friends Jason Ingram and Leslie Jordan also borrowed and re-phrased an idea from a fourth musical friend (Matt Redman) to provide some of the inspiration for the song they were trying to bring about. And still, according to David Leonard, the song almost didn’t happen, except that this group kept working this one over and over until something clicked. Was it their own dry bones that needed the Spirit’s influence?

 

This song really was a group effort, with each of the members bringing some of their own thoughts to what would eventually emerge (sometime in either 2012 or 2013). Jason apparently had been sharing with Matt Redman about David’s desire to create a spirited anthem, a feeling not unfamiliar to Matt, who told Jason he felt that hearing a crowd really lifting God’s name in worship through song while in the very presence of Him was a matchless experience. That gave Jason a thought which was inserted into the song’s lyrics – that God’s ‘breath (was) in our lungs…’, so praise just could not be limited. That thought provided the initial push for the song’s creation as Jason, David, and Leslie sought to add more lyrics in their joint session. They eventually added words about God giving ‘life’ and ‘hope’; being ‘love’; ‘restor(ing) …broken hearts’; and bringing ‘light to the darkness’ – all great reasons to shout the song’s title words. Whether it was one of them alone or a collaborative thought, the imagery of Ezekiel 37 leapt to their lips too, as they imagined a whole army of lifeless skeletons suddenly becoming reanimated. ‘These bones will sing’, they said, but it was more than just one valley where they saw God’s hand at work; they believe He’s got ‘the whole earth’ on His mind. As Leslie explained, this vivid imagery helps spur a certain fervor and unparalleled power among His people, something that can speak volumes to a world filled with those who don’t yet believe. We’re all waiting with great anticipation the New Heaven and New Earth, but it’s not too soon to tell Him now what we think of that great future that He’s preparing.

 

There’s a point in the podcast with David (see its link below – ‘simplecast….david-leonard’) in which he admits that there’s not a whole lot more to the lyrics that he and Jason and Leslie settled on. Perhaps that’s why David suggests that the group almost put aside the song as an unfinished work, thinking it still needed some more. But, as they think now, what more needs to be said, in order to say ‘thank you’ to Him over and over? The blessings He’s already delivered are plenty to acknowledge, and to mull over in their depth and breadth. He’s lived up to His promises about bringing hope and life and purpose, not to mention restoration to broken people through countless Christian communities. Further, access your imagination, and just think of your lifeless form rising from a coffin someday. Be reborn, with rejuvenated parts, and just look around at your friends and loved ones alongside. Wow! That’s the feeling that David, Jason, and Leslie were after with this song. Pass that along to others, and watch this electric contagion take hold!       

 

See here for the song story: https://www.logos.com/grow/great-lord-new-classic/

Hear the story of the song here: https://jesus-songs.simplecast.com/episodes/001-great-are-you-lord-david-leonard-ju2TebN6 (begin here: 18:20 – 22:11)

See here for information about the authors/composers: Great Are You Lord | Hymnary.org

 

Information and link to the image of the dry bones: The Vision of The Valley of The Dry Bones - Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones - Wikipedia. This image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason: 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 Is Amazing Grace -- Phil Wickham, Jeremy Riddle, Josh Farro

 

The short answer is that these three love God and love making music with each other. It started with Phil Wickham and Josh Farro (probably in 2012/2013), two friends who just had some ideas they wanted to bat around for a song in which they somehow wanted to say “This Is Amazing Grace”. Honestly, they thought it was a finished work, until a series of events transpired to take the song across an ocean and back again to the U.S., finally arriving at a church in northern California (Redding, see its seal here), where Jeremy Riddle repackaged and enlarged the song’s form several months (or even years) later. What was it that Phil, Josh, and Jeremy thought would be so refreshing about the subject of amazing grace, which John Newton had already made so well-known in his classic hymn, centuries ago (see the Song Scoop from 1/12/2010)? Perhaps it was the questions they posed, which made what they wanted to say seem more potent.

 

Whether it was one or a combination of the three composers (Phil, or Josh, or ultimately Jeremy) who had been mulling over many questions, their probe into the depth of God’s amazing act is magnified by inviting worshippers to marvel at the only answer to each of the questions. Who? That’s the abbreviated version of the query they keep asking you and me to contemplate. This Who is God, the One who does so much to rescue mortals made in His image. Phil says that he and Josh both had ideas for the verses, after they had crafted the song’s chorus, so perhaps it was a two-way joint effort, which Phil says ended with them high-fiving each other after just 20 minutes. The questions have God being the holy ‘power (over) sin and darkness’; One with a ‘love…mighty and so much stronger’; a Creator who can ‘shake…earth with holy thunder’; and make us speechless in ‘awe and wonder’; One who’s capable of making ‘order…(out of) chaos’; making lost people His ‘son(s) and daughter(s)’; dispensing ‘truth and justice’; and One who ‘shines’ with a sun-like ‘brilliance’ that we’ll all behold someday. It was Jeremy, in California, who apparently contributed thoughts about God’s supremacy and life-giving act. This God ‘take(s) my place’, ‘bear(s) my cross’, so that I can be ‘set free’. That’s what these fellas felt in the moment, as they worshipped and created together. To say something poignant in a poetic way, perhaps that’s the incalculable method these three might say the Spirit inspired to enable them to say ‘amazing grace…unending love’, and especially that He’s ‘worthy’, even though a ‘slain…Lamb’, because He ‘conquered the grave’. That the song’s final version came together after crossing the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom, and then to a conference (via someone’s phone) on America’s West Coast, really just underscores how far-reaching He is when He wants to say something musically. It’s just another amazing echo of what He already did over 2,000 years ago.      

 

Will this version of Amazing Grace be the last one? It depends…on when He plans on returning to culminate our history! Will it be tomorrow, or hundreds of years from now? In either case, He’s not less or more amazing, because He’s unchanging (Hebrews 13:8 and 6:17). All that will be different is that many more voices will be added to the multitudes already in the cosmic chorus, if time goes on past today, for however long God decides it shall go. So, there could be more John Newtons; and Chris Tomlins and Louie Giglios (see 9/2/2022 Song Scoop for their version of Newton’s original hymn); and Phil Wickhams, Jerermy Riddles, and Josh Farros somewhere out in the future, which God may decide He wants to hear before He is satisfied. Just imagine hearing these voices, with a new angle or angles on ‘amazing grace’. Do you plan on being in the chorus when those songs premiere?  

 

Here are some details about the genesis of the song: This is Amazing Grace by Phil Wickham - Songfacts

See here for more information on the song: This Is Amazing Grace - Wikipedia

 

See here for information on the seal of Redding: File:Seal of Redding, California.png - Wikimedia Commons. This work was created by a government unit (including state, county, city, and municipal government agencies) that derives its powers from the laws of the State of California and is subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 6250 et seq.). It is a public record that was not created by an agency which state law has allowed to claim copyright, and is therefore in the public domain in the United States.

Good Good Father -- Pat Barrett and Anthony Brown

 

It’s an appreciation that had been ongoing for about four years before these two songwriters decided this “Good Good Father” should be shared more broadly in 2014. The spontaneity of what had first sprung up in Atlanta churches where Anthony Brown worshipped struck others like his friend Pat Barrett, as circumstances in their lives spoke more intently to them through the song’s lyrics. Is He ‘dad’, or ‘daddy’, or ‘father’, and does the adjective ‘holy’ get inserted somewhere for you and me? All of the above, these guys might say, but the point of what they wanted to say was that He’s so very good, along with many other words they used to express their devotion to Him. Their underlying idea is that He’s not distant, though there’s a lot that tries to interfere with that before a believer draws near to this Father.

 

One can imagine that the first time, or one of the first times, that Anthony coaxed a church in Atlanta to sing some lines in the spur of the moment about this ‘good good father’, perhaps he was thinking about a notable gap in his mortal life – he’d had no dad growing up. And, others like Pat shared that becoming dads, with little children any Christian parent wants to nurture correctly, motivated their worship to Him in the song. Pat says he was a recent dad (2-year and 4-year-olds), so the song’s words resonated with him for that reason. Chris Tomlin, in conversation with Pat, also shared that he likewise had little children whom he wanted to be able to show God. How does one do that? Pat echoed that desire; how does one explain the Almighty to a child, introduce to a child the eternal Father who can change lives? Pat further shares that reading about Jesus addressing ‘his Father’ was really challenging in the 1^st Century culture in Israel and Judea, because you just didn’t talk to God that personally. He admits he had to unlearn so much about the cultural inclination to pray impersonally to a distant God, and instead think and talk to Him as Father. You can almost hear the many conversations that Anthony and Pat had about this Father, as they came at Him from different perspectives. Maybe it was Anthony who wrote the words about Him being a ‘tender whisper…in the dead of night’, a reassurance he would have missed as a child from an earthly father. And, Anthony felt His Father’s pleasure that ‘I’m never alone’. That’s really powerful stuff for someone without a human dad in the picture. For Pat, he’d ‘…heard a thousand stories…’ about God, conveying some feelings he says he had to unlearn about God being far away, too distant to address intimately. For both Pat and Anthony, this Father-God provided all the answers for those ‘searching…far and wide’.

 

Pat and Anthony repeat so many words to Him, notably saying he’s good twice – Anthony says once just didn’t seem like it was enough. He’s also ‘perfect’ for sure, with an ‘undeniable love’ that makes me ‘who I am’. Get that – my identity is wrapped up in Him, as it should be, since He made me in His image. All these are written to drive home this point: God is who He is (‘it’s who You are’), and I can revel in being His son, the son of a good good Father. I’m loved, He’s perfect and holy, and Pat and Anthony concede at one point that this ushers in a ‘peace so unexplainable’. It’s a situation that cannot be fathomed, and it’s beyond our human ‘think(ing)’. Their message is just to accept what’s being sung. You and I will be face-to-face with this Father, and then maybe we’ll understand it more. Or, just love Him more.

 

See the original song story here: The Story Behind "Good, Good Father" - Prophetic Crossroads

 

See more details on the song story told here: Chris Tomlin - "Good Good Father" (Story Behind The Song) | 95.5 The Fish - Cleveland, OH (955thefish.com)  (see story from Patt Barrett beginning at 0:50 to 2:22 and 3:34 to 3:50 of the video)

 

See very short explanation of the song’s purpose here: Good Good Father - Lyrics, Hymn Meaning and Story (godtube.com)

 

See some information on song here: Good Good Father - Wikipedia

 

See here for image of Atlanta seal and its public domain status -- File:Seal of Atlanta.svg - Wikimedia Commons 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 50 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, 1928.