I’ve realized that in spite of the subtitle of my blog I’ve not done a lot of “blogging through song”. So for any of you who, like me, have a soft spot in your heart for the world of music allow me to begin here. Whilst this may not be the first song entry I’m giving it the number 001, clearly with grand aspirations.
If you’ve not heard this song yet go ahead and play it. This has been a favorite of mine for some time. Not for any of the usual reasons but because this was one of the first Christian songs I’d ever heard and liked, and the best part of the whole thing was that I was not a Christian when I got into it and bought the album.
This isn’t one of those stories of how a song changed my life or how listening to the album led me to Christ (that came a couple of years later). The year was 2002. My favorite artists at the time were Linkin Park, System of a Down, Creed, and Finger Eleven. The last two bands were on the Wind Up Records label and, in general, I liked everything I’d heard from Wind Up so I went to there site and discovered this new band called 12 Stones and their debut single “Broken”. It was a good song with a catchy riff so I bought the album feeling a slight connection to the lament of the song.
Two years later I got saved and my worldview changed dramatically. I still enjoyed the rock music I’d been into, but I started to become more aware of the messages the songs carried with them. You see, I was always more about the music than the lyrics. I could listen to an entire album and be mesmerized by the chord progressions and bass riffs without even considering what they were singing about.
After a time I wanted to explore the realm of Christian music which I had been hesitant to do because all of the Christian music I’d heard up to that point were hymns and worship songs from the 80’s and 90’s (not that they’re bad, but for a young convert with a passion for rock music, they have their place). Some friends played their favorite songs for me from artists like Jeremy Camp, John Reuben, and Toby Mac who were all good and then one guy put on this song.
Mind… blown…
As I said, I’d never really been into lyrics, but this song connected with me years earlier. I appreciated the lyrics but never made the connection. In John 1:5 some translations read “The light shines in the darkness but the darkness did not comprehend it.” In the same way before God opened my eyes to the truth of the Gospel the lyrics of this song never fully made sense.
Ancient Abandon 