Ready for another blast from the past? Today, for your listening pleasure, I present to you How He Loves Us by the David Crowder Band. It was released in 2009 and I first heard it that same year. I was at a Bible study for college students at Livingston First Baptist Church in Livingston, Alabama. And I sang this song with tears in my eyes. It was during this season that the Lord was showing me, in a way that I had never known before, that He had graciously set His affections on me. The clearest proof for that was the work of Christ. And pondering that reality absolutely melted me.
I was oblivious about it at the time, but this song had a bit of controversy surrounding it at first.
In verse 2, the original version had this line — “So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss.” Crowder later realized that a sizable portion of conservative Christians were uncomfortable with this kind of imagery as a descriptor of God’s love (and I agree!). So he later changed the line to — “And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss.” I for one am happy for the adjustment.
Now that I have had more time to think about and ponder the nature of corporate worship, I’m not sure this song is great in a congregational setting. In a mixed crowd, where people of various levels of spiritual maturity are present (and maybe even some who aren’t believers at all), the song does not really contain any kind of explicit mention of the Gospel. The listener is expected to fill that part in. And so, pastorally, I would probably pass on this one in mixed group settings.
Having said that, I think the song still has tremendous value for a Christian’s personal devotional time. It has a number of beautiful metaphors that can provide fresh ways of appreciating and standing in awe of God’s love for us in Christ. So when you listen to this song, remember that God’s love is seen in and through the Person and work of Jesus Christ. In other words, think about the Gospel as you take in the lyrics! And when you do, I think you’ll find that your affections for Christ will be stirred as you think about how great His affections are for you :)
Coming to Your Inbox this Wednesday: What is the Church & What Does the Church Do? My Sermon Manuscript from 1 Timothy 3:14-16.
3 Ways You Can Support Into the Word with Drew
Has Into the Word enriched your relationship with Christ? If so, here are a couple of ways you can show your support and offer me a bit of encouragement too!
#1. Pray that the work I publish here would be glorifying to the Lord and edifying to all who read it.
#2. Comment and let me know what thoughts or questions this article has brought up for you.
#3. Refer a friend who you think would also benefit from the content here. You can learn more by clicking “Refer a friend” below. When he/she subscribes, you’ll get rewards too!