Heart Tracks - Songs

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14

I heard a secular song the other day that had the lyric, "What if God was one of us?" It was not a song of hope, but one of pessimism and doubt....and ignorance. Ignorance because God, in Jesus Christ is among us. He came in the flesh in the birth and life of Jesus Christ, He continues to be among us today as He lives in and through the lives of those who have believed upon Him and received Him as Lord and Savior. The poor woman who wrote and sang this song has no idea, is blind to the truth that He is among us, right now, and mightily. From her heart comes a desire to know such a God, but an inability to believe that this desire is fully met in Jesus Christ. Could anything be more tragic?

Her song reminds me of another from a Jesus movement era group called Dogwood. It's a song about a woman who'd entered into a lifestyle she believed would bring her happiness and freedom, but instead brought her ruin and despair. A lyric in the song speaks to her saying, "You have heard the song of the hater, and the darkness is filled with those he has fooled." The darkness is still filled with them, and not only those in despair and hopelessness, but with those who feel they have it all, but do not have Him. The song of the hater has been sung since Adam and Eve, and it continues to deceive and enslave.

This brings me to another song by Dogwood. In it, the singer speaks of ministering to a woman mired in the grief of loss, Mrs. Lee. The singer ministers to her, singiing, "Journey music, that's what the Lord has given me. I'll sing my journey music until there are no more Mrs. Lee's." We, who are His, have been given "songs", journey music, and our songs are meant to overcome the song of the hater. We're to "sing" these songs through our lives; in the words we speak, the actions we take, the love we give. We're to sing the "new song" He places in our heart to all those that fill the darkness and are everywhere around us. "Mrs. Lee's" in one form or another are everywhere. The Father in Christ has given us our own kind of journey music, and it needs to be heard by those He's placed us before and beside.

This brings me to the story of the last "singer" in this writing. Darrel Mansfield was and is a wonderful musician and part of the Jesus movement of the 60's and 70's. He tells of how, trapped in depression, hopelessness, and sorrow, he went to the altar of the church he attended and slit his wrists, so deeply that he could see the bones. Someone called the authorities, and when they got there, they asked, "Son, what are you on?" Mansfield, who didn't use drugs replied, "I'm on life." He meant that the life he was living was destroying him. He also said that as he slit his wrists he heard the Lord ask, "Do you want to live?" To his shock, he answered that he did. He recovered, and gave His heart and life to Christ. In an interview about that time he said, "I was on life without the Giver of Life. I went to church, but I'd never been to Calvary (the cross). The Author of all journey music had brought His song to Mansfield and freed him from the captivity of the song of the hater.

What if God was one of us? For those who believe, He is far more than that. He is with us, within us, one with us. And He gives us a song, journey music. A song so powerful that all the songs of the hater are drowned out by His Life Song. I want to spend my days singing His journey music, being His song. How about you?

Blessings,
Pastor O