ChristianDance

What are you still holding on to instead of giving it to God?  Three in the morning has a way of exposing what we’ve been avoiding all day. Bonnie Jean Bailey knows that hour well. In her song “Take the Wheel,” she sings about the tossing and turning, being “sick and tired of all this worrying,” and bags so heavy they threaten to burst. Can you picture that? Most of us carry something similar. Possibly we don’t call it a levy as Bonnie does, but the burden isn’t less.  Bonnie points out a pattern that we need to be aware of… “Every time I try to hand it over, I take it back cuz I need control of everything.” Does this sound familiar? We pray about something that is worrying us, feel a moment of relief, and then quietly pick up the burden again an hour or so later.  Bonnie isn’t preaching from a distance here. She’s describing her own tug-of-war between fear and faith. And to be honest, that could also be my tug-of-war that she is describing. Is it also your tug-of-war a...

What are you still trying to add to His grace? An altered message? A stranger’s name under the seal? A little grace mixed with a little law? That’s the counterfeit gospel that Whispering HOPE calls out in their song “No Other Gospel”. It’s a trap every generation faces in some form or other. The song was born from a simple, unshakable truth: Jesus saves completely, and nothing can improve on what He accomplished at the cross. The lyrics are clear. “But Christ has done what I could not // His blood has set me free.” So dismiss any thoughts you may have that you still owe a debt that Christ has paid for. The pre-chorus asks a question worth repeating here: “If the debt is mine to finish // Why did Jesus take my place?” That question exposes a subtle attempt to earn what’s already been given, and it also shows how quickly our thoughts can lead us down the rabbit hole. The apostle Paul touches on the same in Galatians 2:21: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were th...

Fire refines. It doesn’t have to destroy you. (by Jasper Tan) Kevin Downswell’s “Higher (From the Fire)” is a powerful mix of Afrobeat and Soca music combined, aimed at praising God and also serving as a testament to one’s resilience, spiritual growth, and transformation through hardship. The song reminds us of 1 Peter 1:6–7 —  “The tested genuineness of your faith… may be found to result in praise and glory and honor.” It talks about our refinement through adversity, using “fire” (0:18, 1:46) as the central metaphor of the song. Fire, which usually correlates with destruction, takes on another meaning: instead of being destroyed by life’s trials, we are forged by fire, refining us in the process to make us feel “better” (0:20, 1:28). This process takes place when we learn to put our faith in God and trust him that he will never abandon us during our difficult times. The song helps us acknowledge the presence of God “in the fence” with him during the struggle (1:53). These trials th...

Can you trust God with your future love?  Jonny Wynns started praying for his future wife at the age of fourteen. (!!) He didn’t have a face to picture or a name to whisper. He just had faith that she was out there, somewhere, and that God was already writing her story alongside his. That kind of patience doesn’t come naturally. It gets built, one prayer at a time, and it requires a precious level of trust and diligence. “Someday” is a heartfelt pop single that Jonny wrote for his future wife. He sings, “I know that I don’t know you now, but I know someday I will.” Now, he’s not pretending that the unknown is comfortable. He admits that he’s “obsessed with what I don’t know,” but still he still chooses trust over anxiety. Notice what he does with any feelings of discomfort that this could create: “For now I’ll trust the Maker, cause I know that He made you.” He changes his focus from the empty space to the One who fills it.  Grab your Bible and let’s read about Habakkuk. Ha...

God feeds the sparrows. Will He forget you? (by Jasper Tan) “No Worries” by Keara is an uplifting, faith-inspiring song that focuses on finding peace and freedom from anxiety by turning to the Lord and trusting him to bring grace and relief to us. The song brings a reflective and natural imagery to establish a sense of being grounded before we are built into a more impassioned chorus. This subtle and atmospheric approach allows the lyrics to take center stage, reminding us that ultimately it is through God’s provision and divine grace that frees us from our worldly worries and cares. Drawing inspiration from Matthew 6:26, where it says —  “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them,” the song illustrates the idea that as God provides and takes care of the nature that surrounds us, we should also learn to trust God that we will be cared for as well. All we need to do is to surrender our worries and anxieties to...

Joy can be your strength, even in pain.  Chronic pain has a way of making faith feel like a question mark. Kate Stanford is very familiar with that. She wrote “Stand on Your Promises” while struggling with chronic pain and emotional times, asking God the same question over and over: “Is there anything too hard for you?” That question is what this song starts with, raw and unresolved. The song doesn’t stay there. Kate describes seeing “the morning light break after midnight,” quietly reminding us that darkness has limits. Somewhere in her waiting she heard a whisper: “child just hold on… child just be strong.” That whisper became the chorus of the song, and the chorus became an anchor: “The joy of the Lord is my strength through the battle.”   Read Nehemiah 8:10. The Israelites had just returned from exile. Their city was completely in ruins, their hearts were heavy with grief over a past that they couldn’t undo. They even wept when they heard God’s laws and realized how far...

Are you standing firm, or blown by the wind?  Matt Rees didn’t set out to write a blues rock anthem. Matt shares: “This Psalm has always been something of a meditation for me, to keep me centered on Christ, who is the fulfillment of the law of God. It was sort of a happy accident that it became a blues rock piece. I wanted to find a fresh way to write the whole Psalm, and I found that the pattern and building themes of the Psalm, with its chiastic (repeated and restated phrase) structure fit so well with this feel.”   He started “Blessed is the Man (Psalm 1)” back in 2020, tucked away in a voice note on his phone, tweaking a line here and there over the years. Then in 2024 his life was turned upside down, and he found himself returning to it. “The Lord knows the way that the righteous man will follow” stopped being a nice lyric. It became a source of comfort and strength. Think about the last time your life became confusing. Maybe you’re in that place right now. Matt found th...