WholeHeartedLife

Contemplating Picturesque Lyrics

Great lyricists are amazing. They make you think, challenge your heart, fill you with hope and have a way of pointing you to their inspiration for their song.

So over a year ago I mentioned this song  "How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan, that had so captured my heart and mind. I love the fact on the surface it sounds like a highly passionate worship song but is actually the writers descriptive lyrical picture of a close friend and mentor dying and coming into the presence of God Himself. I love that he is trying to help himself (and us in the process) comprehend in a picturesque way God's holiness, His mercy and grace and how humbling it will be when we truly enter into His presence. In fact, verse 1 is describing what his friend may have encountered/experienced and felt when He saw Jesus...

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight
Of His wind and mercy
All of a sudden I am unaware of
These afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realized just how beautiful You are 
And how great Your affections are for me
Oh, how He loves us so - Oh how He loves us - how He loves us so.

But you know, for me, it gets really interesting in the 2nd verse (or bridge depending on your interpretation) where the lyrics take us:

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean we're all sinking
And heaven meets earth like a sloppy, wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way that He loves us
Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves. 

You know, I've wept at those lyrics... I've worshiped majorly because of those lyrics... I've also now experienced those lyrics as a lead worshiper singing them with every ounce of conviction and surrender that I could muster and I must admit...

I could see how someone who isn't looking deeply into what's being said could miss the depths of what's being sung. The writer doesn't give his interpretation so I will do my best to describe what they say to me: 

• "We are his portion and He is our prize" - his portion of our lives is us - ALL of us. Not the church part or the "spiritual" part but all of us. We belong to Him. (1 Cor 6:19-20). God is the prize that all who trust in Him will receive upon death. We have no way to adequately explain how much of a prize he is until the day that we are physically in His presence.

• "Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes" - I've always believed that the day that I actually see His face will be a day of shame. Why shame? I don't think that, even in the love that He's given me for Himself, I don't believe enough - at least not enough to leave behind totally a life of sin. However (and praise God for the however) I believe that as dreadful as experiencing the presence of the Holy God may seem I also believe that I will also find myself in awe and love with the God who has promised redemption and forgiveness to me by NO MERIT OF MY OWN. Unbelievable...

• "If His grace is an ocean we're all sinking" - imagine falling into the middle of the ocean with no lifejacket, nothing to grab onto and just water in all directions - there would be no hope of survival. That doesn't even describe the depths of God's grace towards us.

Then comes the lyric that rocked my world:

• "And heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss" - to me, this is his way of describing of the reality of heaven and earth meeting, Deity and humanity becoming one in a passionate, all encompassing way. It's kind of messy - it's real - it's passion - it's all or nothing...

• "and my heart turns violently inside of my chest" - when He (and us) come face to face with HIM how will we not be losing it?!? This guy is meeting the Savior - He's in the presence of the One that it says sits upon a mighty throne and is so above all that angels can't even look upon Him and constantly shout "You are Holy". 

• "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us" - in spite of all that he is experiencing; in spite of the fact that he just wants to hide; in spite of the fact that it feels as if his heart will burst inside of him this man is overcome by the LOVE OF THE SAVIOR. It is realized that all the regrets and shame that is slamming him in the face are nothing (NOTHING!!!) compared to this love, this incomprehendable love.

He loves us - He loves you. So, what's your interpretation of the lyrics "and heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest - I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us"??? Looking forward to your response.

Were you a VH fan?

Corey Mann gives a video recall of his experience last nite at the Van Halen show in Chicago.

I don't know about you but I was too young to see them the 1st time around... This is like one of my greatest rock hits of alltime concerts.

Have You Heard this dude?

  This is about all that I've been listening to lately - Steve Fee's Burn for You

The songs on this CD are edgy, original and i believe are setting a new tone for rockin' worship music.

My Available iMixes

Thought that it might be cool to put my "iMix"(es) in 1 place - so I now have an "iMix" category - you can use it to check out whatever I have. I will also be putting out some great music that i'm listening to.

It can only be filled by HIM

To me, a WholeHearted life is one that is devoted to knowing and living for God - it's living out His purpose for your life. I've always thought that it was interesting that before I knew JESUS that there was an emptiness that often showed up deep within me - it wasn't necessarily a daily thing, just something that would expose itself to me when things slowed down, got quiet and especially when I was alone. I often referred to this as the "God-shaped hole" that God places in the center of man - He uses it to make us uncomfortable, to remind us that there is more to life than what we see.

Back in the late '80's, the band Extreme (no, they're not a "Christian" band) wrote a song that I have thought of so often. It seems that the song is based on the book of Ecclesiastes, in which Solomon ponders the purpose of life. As a matter of fact, the pre-chorus echoes Ecclesiastes 1:7. Check out these great lyrics...

Life's ambition occupies my time
Priorities confuse the mind
Happiness one step behind
This inner peace I've yet to find

Rivers flow into the sea
Yet even the sea is not so full of me
If I'm not blind why can't I see
That a circle can't fit
Where a square should be

There's a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can't be filled with the things I do

Hole hearted
Hole hearted

This heart of stone is where I hide
These feet of clay kept warm inside
Day by day less satisfied
Not fade away before I die

Rivers flow into the sea
Yet even the sea is not so full of me
If I'm not blind why can't I see
That a circle can't fit
Where a square should be

There's a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can't be filled with the things I do
There's a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can't be filled with the things I do, hole hearted

This is a really great description of how I felt before I knew Christ - I've often thought of sharing this song with you - today was a great day to do that. Enjoy.

Remember?

I really forgot how great this song was (and how much I liked it!). enjoy...

Independence Day

Remembering today that "Freedom is not FREE"...

iMix

This is a really easy way to get the songs we're singing for your personal use. All you need is iTunes (download for FREE here) and whenever I put out a new iMix with upcoming songs you can download them for .99 cents each and burn your own CD's.

Hallelujah

Really cool song from Bon Jovi. While most of the people I grew up listening to have become "Nostagia acts" these guys are still making good music (check "Make a Memory"). Anyway, check this out:

The Coolest thing I've ever seen on American Idol

I may be in the minority but I think American Idol contestant Blake Lewis is truly an original and has a lot of potential to be a "true artist" - he consistently shows creativity and continually stretches the limits of what you normally would see on the show. You don't expect to see what Blake brings to the table. There has gotta be a church application there somewhere in that