I am beginning a new series of posts here about music. I will probably continue to post occasionally on great modern worship songs we are singing at church, but this series will focus on the songs I am listening to throughout the week.
Fundamentalists often assume that virtually all Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is worthless. They think it is all shallow and sensual. When I first started listening to CCM I was constantly shocked by the good quality of the songs, both in message and music. Now I do believe that there is a lot of CCM which is shallow and some which could be termed sensual. But there are many great songs and many groups which consistently produce worshipful, deep, Biblical, and hence God-honoring songs.
By sharing these songs with you, my readers, I hope to encourage you about the state of Christian music today. And beyond that, I want to encourage you spiritually with the message of these songs. Many of them are very moving and are a great boon to my spiritual life, and I trust might be for yours.
I begin with a great song about the cross. “Still the Cross” is one of my favorites, bar none. I haven’t been too impressed with some of FFH’s most recent songs, but this one from their 2004 album by the same name is really good. The message is superb and the music is extremely fitting, in my opinion. It is a “power anthem”. That means it is a big moving song. About 2/3 of the way into the song a choir joins the group and the effect adds to the building movement of the song as it ascends toward a climax. One thing you will learn in these posts is that I am not well versed in how you describe contemporary music all that much. But bear with me, and be sure to listen to samples of the music. (By the way you can usually preview entire songs at Christian bookstores without deciding to buy the music.)
Still the Cross
Sometimes it seems the world’s unraveling around us
We fear it all may one day come undone
We can’t forget the One who came before us
To forgive the past and bring hope for what’s to come
When it all comes crashing down
The cross still stands alone
And on this our faith is built
And our courage is made strong
Chorus:
When the world falls apart
And you fear for your heart
There’s a tower of peace
It’s still the cross
So bring your sick and your poor
And your longing for more
To the place of relief
It’s still the cross
Bridge:
There is hope for the lost
It’s still the cross
Sometimes it seems that I have been forgotten
I don’t know how I will make it on my own
But the One who said I will never be forsaken
He still hears my prayer and I will never be alone
When it all comes crashing down
The cross still stands alone
And on this my faith is built
And my courage is made strong
Chorus
Though the world may not confess
You and Your holiness
One day all will see
You in all Your majesty
And the cross will stand alone
As the place where You made known
Your love for all mankind
Till then in it we’ll hide
Chorus / Bridge / Chorus and Bridge
Jeromy Deibler, Scott Williamson, Donna Smith / © 2004 New Spring Publishing, Inc. / co-pub TBD / ASCAP (both adm. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) / Scott Williamson / ASCAP / Donna Smith Publishing Designee. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
There is not much more to say about the lyrics of this song. It is a powerful message and when matched with the music it is a great song. To listen to the song, click on the link at the bottom of this post. You might be interested in watching a video about FFH and the making of their CD “Still the Cross”. The clip opens with some of the title song in the background, and then the last two minutes or more are devoted to the song. For more info on the group FFH (or Far From Home), check out their official website. You may find this review and this one helpful as well. I will close by quoting the Jeromy Diebler’s brief story concerning this song (found here).
This is really our theme right now. After all the years we’ve been together and everything we’ve been through, this is still what it’s all about. My aunt Donna wrote a lyric for a song called “˜It’s Still the Cross’ and gave it to me two years ago. I wrote the rest of the song and played it for the band, but it didn’t really fit for us at the time. Later, when we were looking for a really strong Christian anthem, Scott Williamson and I began working again on this song and completely rewrote it all, but kept the title. As we began to pull songs for this album, we played this one and people really gravitated towards it. I think if there’s a statement we want to make right now, it’s this one… about Jesus.
Still The Cross by FFH
Next time I’m at the Christian bookstore, I’ll check out that group. I can listen to the songs before I buy the albums! Great feature. This weekend I just bought the new CD by Philips Craig and Dean called “At the top of my lungs”. I have been having a great worship time in my car on the way to work every day! My favorite song is “That’s My Lord”. It’s just beautiful. So far, I havn’t really found a CCM group that sings the caliber of songs and sounds as good or better than PCD. I’m still looking.
William,
Just a quick tip — “Still the Cross” is absolutely phenomenal, but unfortunately, the rest of the cd doesn’t meet the same standard. That’s the only really excellent song on the album (at least in my opinion). But happy hunting anyway…
Here in SW Florida, we have three Christian radio stations that play ‘contemporary’ Christian music (a fourth station is owned by a fundamental Baptist church, and they play a lot of hokey Southern Gospel music). One station that I like the best is LIFE FM 89.1, run by Northwestern College Radio, and they play this song by FFH often. It’s a great Contemporary Worship song, and it’s sad that fundamentalists still hold to a rigid ‘standard’ of music that won’t allow them to eclectically review music on its own merits. This one song, “Still The Cross”, is by far one of the best from this Christian group. I would tend to agree with some that much of Contemporary Christian Music is still below what I’d consider worthy worship music.
I agree with Pitchford, and actually told William as such by email. Still the Cross is the only really good song on that CD, in my opinion. Their earlier CDs are more like that song, from what I have read. They also have a good song from their 2001 CD (forgot the name) entiteled “On My Cross”. It is really good, too. I personally like the large “power anthem” or “power ballad” type songs. I thing “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe, is another good example of that kind of song.
I agree too, with Larry’s assessment that many CCM songs are not “worship music” quality. However, many of them are. And beyond that, many of them are good for personal reflection and worship, but just would not work in a church gathering context.