The Light Meets The Dark

I've been wanting to write something about Tenth Avenue North's latest CD ever since it came out, but there are so many good things that it's just been hard to get my thoughts narrowed down and onto paper, so to speak.... so beware, this may be a long post. ;-)

In their own words, the purpose of their first CD was to simply get out the message of the gospel - that "No matter how pure we are, we need [God] still, and no matter how far we've fallen, we're not too far gone." (thank you, God!) This second CD, The Light Meets the Dark, has this purpose: "It's a call not only to believe the gospel but to let it so saturate our minds and hearts that we actually begin to live like we believe it... It's a cry for honesty, for truth, and for an encounter with the One who is truth, and having that encounter change the way we see the world."

I definitely get that message as I listen over and over to the words of these songs - they are all so good and have touched my heart in so many different ways. I don't really know that I have a 'favorite' -- that seems to change for me from day to day. But there are lines in each of the songs that speak to me and I wrote various ones down the other day that I really liked and thought I'd just put those in here. So here you go:

---So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do so we think that you’re good

---So you hide but you find that the shame won’t disappear

---You fought but you were just too weak
So you lost all the things you tried to keep

---The One the wind and waves obey
Is strong enough to save you

---You are more than the choices that you’ve made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You’ve been remade

---Cause this is not about what you’ve done
But what’s been done for you
This is not about where you’ve been
But where your brokenness brings you to

---You came to touch the hardness of our hearts
You gave us truth that truth is who you are

---And we’re looking for love but finding we’re still in need

---It’s not enough just to say that we’re ok
I need your hurt, I need your pain
It’s not love any other way

---So reach in and touch my scars
And know the price I paid for your heart

---Broken I was for you
Broken I’m still for you
My broken heart breaks for you
Broken I’m over you

---So what happened to your eyes?
I saw them wander just like mine

---It’s yourself you can’t see past
And Lord isn’t that just like me?
If only we could see
That He’s already set us free

---Will I find that letting go lets me come alive?
So empty my hands
Fill up my heart
Capture my mind with You

---You slowly lifted your head from your hands
You said, “I just don’t think that you’ll understand
You’ll never look at me that way again if you knew what I did…
But I never loved you more even though now I knew what you did

Now, if you want to know which songs go with which lyrics, you're just going to have to go out and get the CD and find out! :) I really love the grace that is spoken through the words "You are more than the sum of your past mistakes..." That's definitely a truth that I struggle to believe. And the plea to "capture my mind with You" was one of the lines that really 'caught' my attention as I listened to the CD for the first time. I also have to admit that I'm a sucker for a really good ballad, and I don't know if that's what they'd call the last song on the CD, "Oh My Dear," but that's how I see it. It tells the story of a woman with a secret she's been living with and the fear that goes with sharing that and putting it out in the open. After listening to that song, (and you're all going to think this is pretty silly, I imagine) I just sat there and thought how much I wish I could just sit down with this really nice guy Mike who is singing this song and pour out my heart to him -- he just had me convinced that nothing I would say would condemn me in his eyes.... such a nice thought. Now I doubt seriously that I would ever get the chance to do that (haha) but thankfully, God reassures me that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:1) I can always picture Jesus singing that song to me and know that I am completely safe with Him. :)