Song-By-Song:
“There is NothingThere is Nothing” – We question ourselves a lot. In fact, we spend much of our own lives questioning the unknowns of our futures, our careers, our marriages and such. But sometimes we can find ourselves questioning God. And though as humans we may question God about some of the simplest truths, we will be reminded in His timing and purposes the obvious answers we need. Is anything too far or too hard for God? Is anything too high? Too low? No. There is nothing that is too ‘anything’ for God. And while this is a double negative, it’s still very true: there is nothing that God can’t do.
“Wonder of the World” – Anyone who can recall a few lessons of World History can relate something to the title of this song, which is the title track for this record. Some of us immediately think of the pyramids in Egypt, others the Great Wall of China or even the mystery of Stonehenge. Regardless, all of us get the idea of something being a wonder of this world. When we are brought into God’s family, our minds become transformed to understand that though earthly landmarks and creations are phenomenal, Jesus far surpasses those things. Jesus is not a wonder of the world; He is the wonder of the world. So how is it that God is our Father, our Savior, and our Healer? And why does He show favor on us? That’s what makes Him the true wonder of the world.
“Holy One” – All of us have lived the days of guilt and shame, and rightfully so. We are indeed strugglers living in a culture of self, but because we are believers, we find ourselves heavily convicted of everything that has offended the gospel. But the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus comes to make our stained and tainted lives clean, once and for all. And though we struggle to bow at the cross with utter dependency, once we find ourselves there is where we find peace and rest. Though we are unholy, Christ is holy. He alone is the holy One that lifts us from death to life and purpose. And while the world would just rather leave us for dead, Christ breathes His life into our souls, and our response is the fear and awe of the holiness of the Lord.
“You are Glory” – It’s really easy to talk about the glory of God. When we take a look at creation, we can see the power, the creativity, the mere artistry, and of course, the glory of God all around us. When we come together to sing to God of His glory, it’s so natural for us to admit that we, as humans, have truly fallen far short of the glory of God. In fact, even in all its beauty, all of creation falls under and short of the glory of God. It’s no wonder that the most important thing to God is God. Nothing else in all of His creation compares to Himself. As humans, if we took this mentality as our own, it would be vane and self-centered. But when you’re God, you can get away with this. Solo deo Gloria (Latin, “to the glory of God alone”) should be our anthem as God’s children.
“Lose it All” – The apostle Paul understood the beauty of losing anything and everything for the sake of knowing Christ more. The theme for this song was inspired by one of Paul’s most well known passages; it is found in Philippians 3, where he makes a pretty dramatic statement with his thoughts about his own life. In Philippians 3:7-8, he says, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” In this stage of Paul’s life, he had suffered much persecution for the sake of the gospel, so these words were not to be taken lightly. Our hope in this song is that we would echo Paul’s desire to lose it for the sake of His gospel.
“Escape” – The providence of God gives us hope when we find everything else in life pretty hopeless. There is so much hope and peace found in the theological truth of the constant pursuit of God towards His people. Though we struggle to seek after God daily, His grace calls us back to Himself. Further than that, because we are God’s children, He pursues us even in the times that we are running away from Him. That beautiful truth shows that the grace of God is irresistible, so even when we’re too blinded to see the Way, He draws us to Himself. The thing that we can never escape is God.
“Freedom Begins Here” – We consider it a privilege to partner with an organization called Freedom Begins Here, whose hope and mission is to attack the epidemic of sexual addiction within the Church, as well as give resources to pastors and churches to assist in the healing process of families affected by this crisis. When our manager Andrew Patton challenged us to write a song called “Freedom Begins Here,” we thought he was pretty crazy. It’s kind of a like asking a fish to swim through dirt. And though our creative sides were expecting a musical disaster, the Lord yet again shocked us by giving us lyrics that hit the root of our wickedness. And though we don’t narrow the lyrics down to sexual addiction, we pray that God would use this song to penetrate those struggling in this area to live out the gospel by confessing their sin and repenting to their Savior.
“Tonight” – In the Old Testament, we read about God’s sovereign hand of protection over His people. During the Exodus, when God used Moses to part the Red Sea, we see how His miraculous power kept people of God safe from their enemies. However, do we often think about the enemies? God used that moment in time to crush the enemies of God’s chosen by drowning them in the sea. The truth is, that had it not been for God bringing us to life and changing our hearts to love Him, we would be His enemies, thus deserving death just like the enemies from the Old Testament. Through the lyrics God has given us for this song, we are reminded that He gives to us when He should be taking from us.
“The Only Thing That’s Beautiful in Me” – Sometimes we need to be disturbed by God. Time after time, our pride will convince us that we are worth loving, and very entitled to anything and everything that the Lord has blessed us with. When those days occur, we need to be completely devastated by the loving discipline that our Father is willing to give to us. We can never feel that it’s okay to believe that there is something wonderful about us apart from Christ. We were dead, until He made us alive. We were nothing, until He gave us everything. Christ is the only thing that is beautiful in us. Our grateful response can be quite simple: “Thank you.”
“No Name” – God reigns over all of existence. And He knows it, and He likes us to know it as well. In Isaiah 43:10-12, God says, “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.’” It may sound odd for us to say that God is consumed with Himself, but He is. And that’s a beautiful thing. So beautiful that it compels us to declare the providence of God, singing to and singing about the only name that’s worthy of any sort of honor or worship.
“Never Far Away” – There is no song that has been as personal of a song in our career than this one. God has brought us, and our supportive spouses, down a long and hard path (sometimes very literally, bumpy roads and highways) these past few years, but one that has honored His name and His Kingdom. For that, we are eternally grateful. But as fruitful as God has allowed our journey to be, we still find it difficult on those longer trips away from home. While we love the ministry we are able to be apart of on the road, the ministry of our homes and our local churches must always find its way to the top of our priorities. And even as we are driving in the middle of the night in a different state, those we are intimately connected to are never far away from our hearts. We thank the Lord for the greatest brides in the world!!!
