This is garbage. Worse than garbage. It's toxic waste, not only worthless, but actively harmful to the person listening. Take a look:
"Holy Spirit"
(feat. Kim Walker-Smith)
There is nothing worth more
That will ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of love
When my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence Lord
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
There is nothing worth more
That will ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of Love
When my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence Lord
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness
Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness
Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
There's so much evil in this "Christian" song that it's hard to know where to start. The fact that this was played by the praise band (praising who, exactly?) at my "Lutheran" high school should be an indicator of how deeply this kind of toxic waste has burrowed its way into our synod.
According to the real Luther, false teaching is the worst way of breaking the Second Commandment. Using God's name (Holy Spirit) to teach falsehood, let alone at a school, is the kind of thing that makes Jesus want to tie a millstone around your neck and drown you in the depths of the sea.
Let's start with that recurring phrase: "your presence Lord". The lyrics do not discuss Christ's mercy as the thing that nothing can compare to, but rather the presence of the Holy Spirit. What the writer thinks that means, I'm afraid to speculate, but I'd wager a large sum that by "presence" they are not referring to the Word of God revealed in Scripture, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, or the Sacrament of the Altar. No, the Holy Spirit works in other ways, mystical ways, through an ecstatic feeling, through emotion, through swelling music and endlessly repeated bridges. The human brain gets excited that way, and it's a great way to empty your mind and invite the work of demons - but unfortunately that's not the Holy Spirit you're feeling.
Besides, where does Scripture tell us to find the Spirit through emotional highs?
It's ok, I'll wait...
Ooh, so you're just making things up and calling them the Holy Spirit. Did I mention the Second Commandment already?
Ok, now let's just go line by line:
Holy spirit, You are welcome here
You are making him unwelcome here because God's Word is being twisted and falsely taught.
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Hmm. What exactly do you mean by that? That the vibes of the radical music fill your soul? That you feel really good while listening to the sweet guitar riffs? Again, that's not how the Holy Spirit works - according to the words that were actually inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
So which God are we talking about again? At this point, I'm not sure.
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Oh, give me a break. How pathetic to go out and tell God, hey I'm not really feeling emotionally manipulated enough yet, could you please overcome me with your "presence" now so I can escape from the terrible realities of sin and death for a short time this morning? Just give me a little hit, no rush, I'll be singing this line about 48 more times.
And then there's the bridge. Lord have mercy.
Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness
x100
Sure, to be aware that God is omnipresent is a good and beneficial thing. But in the theology of this praise song, that has become the central tenet of the Christian life, or at least the Christian worship experience. You just need to feel God through music, and then you'll be happy. You just need to be aware of his presence by the seventh refrain, and then you'll be fulfilled. You just need to experience him when the music swells, and then you're a real Christian.
Here's the problem. When you leave church and fall into that same sin again, you're not always going to feel God. When your grandparents start dying off, you aren't always going to be aware of God's presence. When disaster and trouble and sadness and loneliness hit, you aren't always going to experience God. With your house built on mysticism, your faith will collapse because it is built on the sand of the Satanic theology written into this faux-Christian chorus.
Call the false teaching what it is: demonic, evil, toxic trash.
Be fed with the truth:
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
No merit of my own I claim but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
(Lutheran Service Book)
Complete sentences! Doctrines from Scripture! Jesus' name! Law and Gospel! Now those are some words from Scripture, some words that will stand even when you're not feeling it, because they are not built on fake Christianity.
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