This morning, I sat down and listened to this album that was released at the beginning of the year. This wasn’t my first listen through; however, I wanted to write down what thoughts I had for each track as I listened, and then share them here on my blog. I wrote my thoughts out in my journal and so some of these thoughts are disjointed and are stream of thought. This is not a formal review, just a collection of thoughts from my mind invoked by the music.
Here is the tracklist of Good News – Rend Collective – along with links to the songs on YouTube
- Life Is Beautiful – https://youtu.be/Yh9oH27LvNA
- I Will Be Undignified – https://youtu.be/CkFGG14JJ-c
- Rescuer (Good News) – https://youtu.be/sAg7rn7fH3Q
- Counting Every Blessing – https://youtu.be/82b0Tiy0ykk
- Nailed to the Cross – https://youtu.be/OmBXy4sLqjM
- Hymn of the Ages – https://youtu.be/OmBXy4sLqjM
- True North – https://youtu.be/G7HTchrZnZA
- Resurrection Day – https://youtu.be/tc7OcNceuVw
- No Outsiders – https://youtu.be/vDwKPUumIHo
- Weep With Me – https://youtu.be/GAGqvq4N_zQ
- Weep With Me (Reprise) – https://youtu.be/KC8nim-g6ec
- Marching On (feat. Hillsong Young & Free) – https://youtu.be/nsTHv-atxDc
- Yahweh – https://youtu.be/qd7R1H79Vok
- Counting Every Blessing (Ukulele Session) – https://youtu.be/9QFeJ0h288o
- Christ Lives in Me – https://youtu.be/UYCJ-UdpJNY
And now for my thoughts
- Life is Beautiful – The strings and the flute at the beginning make me smile, and the whoa-oh’s just make it so uplifting. This is such a beautiful song of praise speaking to the character of God and a call to rejoice in the Lord. It also highlights the reason that we can call life beautiful at all. Because of our amazing God.
- I Will Be Undignified – This songs sounds like an Irish Jig; guess that’s no surprise as Rend Collective are Northern Irish. But, the song is a dance. It’s a call to go all out in our praise to the Lord. And that is definitely commendable. More importantly, I think, is what this line says: I will praise the Lord with all my life. Our lives are to be lived in worship to God, in everything we say and do, for He alone is worthy.
- Rescuer (Good News) – I heard this song last year when RC released the video on YouTube. The song has a Mumford & Sons flavour, musically. The lyrics, though, are filled with such truths that I guess can only speak for themselves. He’s our rescuer
He’s our rescuer
We are free from sin forever more
Oh how sweet the sound
Oh how grace abounds
We will praise the lord, our rescuer./So come and be chainless
Come and be fearless
Come to the foot of Calvary
For there is redemption
For every affliction
Here at the foot of Calvary. Wow, what a promise! - Counting Every Blessing – A song about seeing the goodness of God through all seasons of our lives good and bad. Reminds me a little of the same theme in Hawk Nelson’s Thank God For Something. I like how near the end of the song it sounds like a corporate worship song.
- Nailed to the Cross –
My sin is nailed to the cross
My soul is healed by the scars
The weight of guilt I bear no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord
My sin is nailed to the cross
My soul is healed by the scars
Now I’m alive forevermore
Praise the Lord, praise the LordIt is finished, sin is vanquished
Hallelujah, praise the Lord
All the glory, all the honor
To my Savior, Christ the Lord
It is finished, sin is vanquished
Hallelujah, praise the Lord
All the glory, all the honor
To my Savior, Christ the Lord.Not much to say about this track, except that it could be an anthem of all who have been saved by Christ’s redeeming blood.
- Hymn of the Ages – As could this track. An anthem for the church.
You’re the hymn of the ages
The hope of all the world
You carried our redemption on Your shoulders
You’re the anthem of salvation
Jesus, Lord of Lords
Your legacy will echo through the agesWe raise the never-ending song
The greatest song we’ve ever known
The song of angels, the hymn of ages
Holy is the Lord
We praise the never-ending one
The greatest joy we’ve ever known
All hail King Jesus, forever glorious
Holy is the LordI love how the trumpets come in at the bridge and then start to increase in tempo along with the drums; it makes me think of people marching as they sing to the Lord.
- True North – This is song is folky as all get out. Basically talking about how God is the focus of our lives, the One who guides us in life and the only one we should follow and put our trust in.
- Resurrection Day – I love these lyrics: The good news is the good news
‘Cause You chose the rugged cross
The good news is the good news
‘Cause You rose up from the dust
Your gospel is the power
That is saving all of us
So, I can get up off the floor
Come on, get up off the floor. This truth is what all true Christians hold on to. Because of what Jesus did on the Cross we who follow Him can have a new life in Him. - No Outsiders –
You are our refuge
You have no borders
When I was a stranger, knocking at Your door
You took me in
With no questions, and no conditions
When I was a sinner, running from Your grace
You called me friend
You called me friendThere are no outsiders to Your love
We are all welcome, there’s grace enough
When I have wandered Lord, your cross is the open door
There are no outsiders
I’m not an outsider to Your love. This song had me scrambling for my Bible as there are some lyrics (bolded above) that may be a stumbling block for some who do not understand that we must repent and commit to following Christ to receive the gift of salvation. His grace is not a license to continue in our sin. But, by the same token I understand that the reference to ‘no outsiders’ means that no matter our background, if we turn to God and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then His forgiveness, His love, His grace, His salvation is ours. - Weep With Me – This track resonates with me on a deep level. Life hasn’t been easy what with Mark’s health and my own as well, and the season of waiting that we find ourselves in. But, I know God is with me through it all, and that it is okay to cry out to Him in the sorrows of our lives. I continue to lift my praise to the Lord, for my joy, peace and hope is found only in Him. Not matter the situation.
- Weep With Me (Reprise) – A benediction, echoing the the Beatitudes.
Blessed are those who mourn/For you will be comforted/Blessed are you when you’re heartbroken/As he’s the binder of your wounds
- Marching On (feat. Hillsong Young & Free) – A contemporary anthem for the Church. The battle belongs to the Lord and no one else!
- Yahweh – A beautiful, simple song of worship to the one true God.
- Counting Every Blessing (Ukulele Session) – I can imagine singing this version around a campfire.
- Christ Lives in Me – I have been crucified with Christ
It is no longer I who lives
But Christ lives in me
I have a second chance in life
My future’s open wide
I know Christ lives in me
He lives in me! I love these lyrics. I’ve been reading Colossians and studying it as part of my Bible Course and the lyrics echo in Colossias 3: 3. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Such a powerful truth.
To live is Christ, to die is gain
Could be the motto for our lives.
Marly's World 