Yesterday my daughters and I attended Jfest 2016, a Christian music festival held here in Chattanooga. One of the artists who performed was Phil Joel, the former Newsboys bassist and current lead for a band from New Zealand called…you’ll never guess…Zealand.
Since we have been fans of the Newsboys for a long time, it was really fun to see Phil Joel in person. Haley, my youngest, was more than thrilled to get an autograph and a “selfie” with Phil and his band.
But out of all the music we heard at Jfest, it wasn’t really a song that stood out for me. No, it was something fairly profound that Phil Joel said before singing a more well-known praise song. Frankly, that’s why I’m writing this now, because what he said went with me through the whole evening and into this morning.
“We don’t sing to remind God of who he is; we sing to remind US of who God is.” – Phil Joel
Stop and think about that. Sure, we sing songs of praise unto God because of who He is and what He has done, and that’s wonderful. However, we must understand that in the process of praise we encourage and edify each other through the truth expressed in the lyrics.
The next time you go to church, or wherever, take a moment to consider what you are singing. Fluff doesn’t encourage; the truth of God’s character does. In the world we live in, with all it’s problems, we need to be praising God even more, because He deserves it!
And we need to be reminded.
Oh, and here’s one of my absolute favorites from back when Phil Joel was playing bass with the Newsboys. I still get chills at the line that says, “…all the powers of darkness can’t drown out a single word.”
The Recovering Legalist 