How He Loves

Last night we were playing "Boxers or Briefs" (its a board game) and someone gave me a card that said "I am going to sing my favorite song" (no time to explain the rules. Just go with it.). Until a few months ago I would have had to pick a song out of a hat because I didn't have a favorite song. I love a lot of music for a lot of different reasons. There are days I want to listen to Dave Matthews do the "Two Step" and days when I want to hear Norah Jones "Turn Me On". Some days I want to hear Switchfoot tell me why they were "Meant to Live" and Toby Mac explain that he was "Made to Love" then I would want to relax to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". On any given day I would choose any given song to be the one that I would love that day. I have 2891 songs on my iTunes right now and a list of songs that I plan on getting. I love almost all of them and a couple months ago could not and would not have picked a favorite. There was just no song that couldn't be replaced the next minute, hour, or day by another song that was just right for that time and that place. Now, I still think along those lines. I still love music just for music. Well folks, I have a favorite song now. Here is the story.

I went to a worship conference in October. This was a big conference with big names in the worship world. Paul Baloche (writer of "Open the Eyes of My Heart", "I See the Lord", and a whole slew of others), Lincoln Brewster, Jared Anderson, Glen Packiam, John Egan, and a lot more were all at this conference. It was cool and everything but I have a lot of beefs with the creation of "Corporate Jesus" that these things have created and promoted(unintentionally I hope, anyway, that is another blog). Well this guy came up to the stage at one point, he was new to the "Integrity" Record Label. His name was Joel Auge. He said, I think this is the most beautiful song in the world. And there I stood singing it and crying. I don't have this often with songs. I know, I'm a worship leader, but either I know too much about music, or I just find most worship music shallow and unable to penetrate broken hearts very often. I just think that too many artists intend for their songs to penetrate hearts, forgetting that the Holy Spirit is in charge of the heart change and our job is simply to provide as many outlets as we humanly can where that connection can happen (music or otherwise). Anyway, this song was obviously NOT intended for people to sing it in church. In fact, there was no real intention for the song. But it is changing the world.
"How He Loves"


Lyrics:
He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your afflictions for me

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

Yea He loves us
Oh how

We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meats earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

Yea He loves us
Oh how

I thought about you
The day Stephen died
And you met me between my breaking
I know that I still love you God
Despite the agony
See people they want to tell me your cruel
But if Stephen could sing
He'd say its not true
Cause your good