ChristianDance

What is your house built on?  We all face bad news at some point or other in life. It could be a diagnosis, a layoff, a broken relationship — the question isn’t whether hard news will come, but how you’ll respond when it happens. Young Presley wrestled with that question while he was writing his song “Psalm 112 (I’m Confident)”. The song is part of a Psalms series, coming from a simple vision: turn scripture into music that people will actually listen to. These songs are not intended as a substitute for reading the Bible, but an invitation to further read and explore the Bible. The chorus captures the key message of Psalm 112: “I do not fear bad news, I’m confident, trust in the Lord who cares to be my confidence.” That’s not the denial of bad news. It’s a decision to place your confidence and trust in God.  Look at what David wrote centuries ago in Psalm 112:7–8: “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afrai...

What if bold prayer is exactly what faith requires? Raquita wrote “No Fear” from a reference point that is probably quite familiar for most of us. She had learned to keep her prayers safe and small, and her expectations smaller. Watching hope “from a distance” with these small requests felt safer for her than risking disappointment. In her lyrics, she confesses: “I don’t wanna get my hopes up, so I kept my heart defensive.” Sound familiar? Many believers tend to protect their hearts in the same manner, and often mistake (their) caution for wisdom.  However, Jesus taught us a different approach. He says in Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV), “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Notice the boldness and progression in this scripture. Ask. Seek. Knock. Each of these words calls for action, not passivity. Raquita captures this in the chorus: “No fear in my asking, no fear in my praise.” Things changed when she stopped treating God like so...

Ever feel like God’s voice is fading into the noise? Silence has a way of pressing in. In his song “Pull Me Through”, Zyrius describes “walking through silence, feeling lost inside my mind,” a place many of us know well — that stretch of life where God’s voice seems to fade “over time.” Sound familiar? You pray, listen, and hear nothing back. You search for direction, and instead you find fog. When you bring God into the equation, something happens that you can’t control. “I can feel Your light is breaking through,” the lyrics declare, and His light changes everything. The act of holding on is no longer a burden; it actually is your lifeline: “So I’m holdin’ on to you.” Strength returns, not through your willpower, but through surrender to Him —  “I’m finding my strength in you now, feeling all your mercy flow.” His peace fills the space where your fear used to live. Read Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will ...

Success fades. Approval fades. What actually lasts? Picture yourself walking home. A normal walk home, nothing dramatic. Just sidewalks, tomorrow’s to-do list, and thinking about what you own and the career/life you have. That’s where “Chasing Nothing” by Louis Loock starts. He continues to reflect: “Emptiness surrounds me, for no reason that I see, // People walkin’ past, time goes by so fast.”   It’s fascinating to experience how everyday moments like these trigger deeper reflections. For Louis, these reflections led to a change, not because he found more stuff or more approval, but because he found less of himself and more of God. “Then You came into my life, You opened up my eyes,” he writes. “I was chasing nothing, I was running mad.” That choice of words matters. He wasn’t chasing something that turned out disappointing — he was chasing something that turned out to be empty. An illusion. A finish line that keeps moving further away. Does this sound familiar?  Scripture...

You cannot earn what Jesus already gave. Sin has a way of slowly tightening its grip. Connor Edwards captures that feeling in the opening lines of his song, “It’s Giving Jesus”: “Started from the bottom, strangled by my sin, choking on the promise, helpless to defend.” He wrote the song to help listeners recognize something we often tend to forget — everything that comes from following Jesus is a gift, not a wage. Nobody can earn their way out of sin’s chokehold. Then, as the lyrics say, “You entered stage right, the cue to make it end.” No striving required. No performance review. Just rescue. I love this part of the lyrics: “It’s giving hope in grief // I can’t explain it // It’s giving rescue from myself, from me // The gift that gives me strength // It’s giving Jesus.” His grace doesn’t ask you to clean yourself up first. Read what Paul says about this in Ephesians 2:8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not ...