ChristianDance

(by Jasper Tan) Tyler Ratcliffe's new song "Where the Walls Once Stood" is a delightful CCM track that reminisces about the standard sound of country rock music. The strength of the song lies in Tyler's heartfelt lyrics, which turn despair into finding hope in what God has promised. As Tyler shared, he wrote the song when he was in the midst of dealing with the tension between what seemed impossible and what God had promised him. He took inspiration for writing this song from the story of Jericho, which had always struck a chord in him.  As we may recall, the walls of Jericho tell the story of how the Israelites conquered the heavily fortified city of Jericho. Under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites obeyed divine instructions to march around the fortified walls of Jericho for seven days, which culminated in the collapse of the walls after days of noise barrage by blowing their trumpets and shouting at the top of their voice. It seemed like a futile effort to pe...

"The Farrier" by Kelly Daniels is about how God changes lives through unexpected encounters. Daniels is a gifted storyteller who uses lived experiences to point us to God. This song is about meeting a special kind of farrier (a farrier is a smith who shoes horses). Where a farrier applies horseshoes to horses to bring stability, Jesus does something comparable for our hearts.  Daniels sings: "I was a mustang runnin' on my own // I didn't have shoes for this rocky road, // Questioned my faith, without a stable heart." Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? The song isn't about the running, it's about what happens when we finally stop running! The Farrier is a beautiful metaphor for Jesus, who brings stability to our wandering hearts. How? Daniels reminds us that He ropes us in, and "The lord took 3 nails to forgive my sins, // He sank 3 more, brought down my barrier, // He was the Ferrrier." The same nails that held Christ to the cross no...

(by Jasper Tan) "Harvesting the Weeds" is the first single from Dawson Shorman's debut album, which will be released this May. The song is an introspective indie Christian track that talks about burnout, self-deception, and faith in the current times. Dawson makes use of agricultural imagery as a metaphor for this song. In this very demanding world, especially in this age of social media, we are too concerned about gaining attention and affirmation from the people around us to the point that sometimes we are left with an empty soul as we lose ourselves to the world just to feel belongingness to certain norms of the world. In this song, Dawson re-centers his attention to God and surrenders himself in prayer as he longs to belong to Christ once more. Set to an energetic sound of pop with a flare of rock, this CCM song offers a fresh take on trying to make Christian Contemporary Music belong to mainstream music as Dawson seeks to deliver the message that he is bringing to a ...

We've all experienced times in our lives when everything feels impossible, and it feels like God is nowhere near. Tasha Layton sings about that very struggle in her song, "Meet Me in the Valley." Tasha calls out those painful moments and places them in the context of promises that you can read in Psalm 23. God promises that goodness and mercy will follow us, even through life's darkest seasons.  Tasha shared the main takeaway of this song on her Instagram account: "You are not forgotten. You are not alone. God meets you right where you are."   We often aren't able to recognize His grace until we're desperately needing it, and honestly, we often don't appreciate what we have (and what He has given us) until everything falls apart. But instead of dwelling in despair, Tasha reminds us to look upwards, and ask for His help: "In the middle of the war // Tell me that I'll make it // When I'm not sure // You'll be faithful." We...

(by Jasper Tan) Julia Igwe’s latest single, “Who Am I,” is a song that seeks to understand God’s amazing love for us, that even if we don’t deserve it, He still gives it freely. That by offering His life for us, we are saved from our sins. It is because of this that we are sometimes left to ask ourselves if indeed we are deserving of God’s gift of salvation. We are left in awe upon realizing that even if we don’t earn it all, God still chooses to simply love us with all His heart (and even at the cost of His life). God’s grace is a free gift from Him, and as our way of reciprocating His love, we give our lives fully to Him, embracing our identity in Him and resting in the truth that we belong to Him and our God loves us so. As Julia shares, “This song is a great reminder to me that the greatest thing I can do in life is be fully His and be fully surrendered to Jesus. Everything else comes second!” Julia also further shares that one of the biggest questions that she had after being save...

Have you ever stood beneath a starlit sky and felt both tiny and treasured? That's the starting scene of "Psalm 8 (Majestic)" by Red Letter Society, the eighth song in their bold project to musicalize all 150 Psalms.  This song is an invitation to lift your eyes to "the heavens" and "mountains and seas," echoing David's awe and wonder: "Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." Our God spins the galaxies into place and still knows and whispers our name, "To think that you'd be mindful of me… that you would know my name." The same Voice that spoke mountains into existence knows your name. Let that sink in for a moment! Our God "crowned us with glory," reflecting His image. The mystery deepens… "You wore the crown of my shame," so we might wear His glory. Psalm 8 is just as relevant today as it was in David's days. It calls us to exchange doubt for worship. So go ahead and li...

One of the hardest truths to hold is the fact that God's kindness remains when your life seems to be falling apart. Josh Bissell's acoustic cover of Cory Asbury's "Kind" delivers this message with courage and honesty.  The key message of the song is that it is okay to be real! The lyrics don't flinch from reality: "Sometimes marriages don't work. Sometimes babies die. Sometimes rehab turns to relapse." The pain that you feel is very real and needs to be acknowledged and handled… Yes, it is okay to give voice to your hidden wars, to wonder if God is real, to question why healing seems to be selective, angry at heaven with "fist raised to the sky," or simply feeling that His amazing grace seems to be "for everybody else."   After more than a few Sundays smiling through pain, pretending that all is well, this song finally names the pain and struggle. But more importantly, it points us to the cross. Instead of offering quick fix...