hillsong – The Beacon

[selena gomez]

‘No oxygen–could barely breathe.
My darkest sin, You’ve raised release,
And it’s all because of You, all because of You.
I don’t know what it is, but You’ve pulled me in.
No one compares, could ever begin
to love me like you do…
Nobody’s gonna love me like You.’

Selena Gomez is one of the greatest examples of an outright Christian who is VERY much in the public eye–despite what she may want. She has been very open about her faith, whether in social media posts or in interviews, and it’s quite refreshing. This isn’t necessarily a ‘current event’, per se, but it’s someone in the public eye who is constantly living for Christ and sharing His word.

The song quoted above is titled ‘Nobody’, and it’s on her latest album, Revival. What some may not recognize though, is that it’s not about some boy. It’s about God and His love for her. Videos have come out quite regularly of her singing worship songs at her own concerts…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oulEG1XQ-UY[/youtube]

The above video is her singing ‘Transfiguration’ (a Hillsong Worship song) and then ‘Nobody’ at a concert of hers last year. She is visibly upset as the concert was shortly after Christina Grimmie (a strong Christian, Youtube sensation, and Voice contestant) was shot after one of her concerts in Florida. She explains her connection to Grimmie and has a hard time holding it together throughout the performance, understandably. However, ‘Transfiguration’ is a regular song on her setlists, so while the dedication was specific to this performance, she generally does worship songs at her regular concerts too.

In addition to these additions to her setlist, Gomez has also sang her song (‘Nobody’) at a Hillsong Young & Free concert. Before singing she stated, “Tonight is more than a concert. It’s more than Hillsong. It’s more than me coming onstage and singing a song for you. It’s about a relationship that is greater than anything.”

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UFgtIly20A[/youtube]

She has had problems in the past with health issues and has checked into rehab to focus on her mental health in the past, discussing issues with being in the spotlight constantly, among other things that come with being a celebrity. Overall, I think that she is an excellent role model for young girls–which are few and far between these days. And she is a great example of living out your faith publicly. As she’s in the spotlight more and more for music or for helping to create the new Netflix sensation 13 Reasons Why, one can only hope she’ll reach even more people with her love of God and her relationship with Him.

thanks for reading, folks!

love,

erinn victoria

‘o praise the name (anástasis)’ [hillsong worship]

‘Then on the third at break of dawn,
The Son of Heaven rose again.
O trampled death, where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King.

O praise the name of the Lord our God.
O praise His name forever more.
For endless days, we will sing Your praise:
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God.’

Oh, wow. This song gets me. I love this song for worship in general, but it’s truly such a perfect Easter song in my opinion. I definitely could have posted all the lyrics because each verse tells the story of His death and resurrection and it’s beautiful. SO, please listen below:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqBpifDpNKc[/youtube]

As Easter is coming, I think I’ll be posting some Bible verses for Easter on Saturday, but there’s an endless amount of perfect Easter songs that describe His incredible sacrifice for us and His amazing resurrection as well. I just love this song though. His resurrection takes away the STING of death. What else can do that? I just imagine the angels roaring like a crazed stadium of fans when He rolled back that stone and rose from the dead. Such an insane but wonderful concept and thing to imagine. We do need to praise His name FOREVER. He deserves it. The One who tramples and conquers death deserves endless praise.

‘He shall return in robes of white,
The blazing Son shall pierce the night.
And I will rise among the saints,
My gaze transfixed on Jesus’ face.’

I love this part too. First, I love that wordplay in the second line–sun, Son. He does pierce the night though. His brilliant light pierces through the darkness all around us–the darkness of this world. And when we return to our eternal home, among the saints, we won’t be able to look away from His glorious face.

This Easter, remember His sacrifice. Transfix your gaze on His face. Praise His name forevermore.

thanks for reading, guys!

erinn victoria

‘hosanna’ [hillsong united]

‘Heal my heart and make it clean.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen.
Show me how to love like You have loved me.

Break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Everything I am for Your Kingdom’s cause.
As I walk from earth into eternity.’

So, today was a shuffle-a-worship-playlist-and-find-a-song kind of day. But I do have a soft spot for this particular song. I haven’t listened to it in awhile, but there was a period of time where it was always playing–whether it was on the radio or at church. This song has become very commonplace though, so I encourage you to, this time, really listen to it. Particularly the bridge–as I say with many worship songs.

I love this passionate prayer that the song poses. We should be asking God to do these things in us each and every day. They are hard, intense challenges, but very important. Ask Him to cleanse your heart–He desires to already, but you should have a desire to ask Him to heal you and your heart. Pray that He would open up your eyes, and that you would see through His eyes. When you see through His eyes, you’ll see people in a new, loving, forgiving, graceful light–and hopefully refrain from judging others. We need to see people and LOVE them. And I love that last line in the first part. One of my daily goals is to love others as He has loved us. I fail so often, but it’s something to truly strive for. He has loved us in such an incredible way, and we should certainly try and love others that same way.

Finally, we need to be broken by what breaks Him. The things that break His heart need to break ours as well. We can’t just see all these horrible things happening around us and around the world each day and let them go by. We need to really look at those things and REACT. We need to be broken for His kingdom and for Him. He can repair us and truly use us when we’re broken for Him. Last, but certainly not least, give EVERYTHING you have and are for His kingdom. We need to devote ourselves to living for Him and His kingdom.

Sorry that this was just a break-down of the bridge, but it’s so good. And can be such a good thing to just pray each and every day. Thank you for reading this and I’ll be praying this prayer over all of you and praying it myself.

love you all,

erinn victoria