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"Heathen"

“heathen”

 

the story and the study

A Few Words from the Writers

Sometimes you sit in the corner of the room wondering if the people that you are writing with know your story. I felt this way while writing, “Heathen.” I still feel a lot of myself in this song. “If I’m just like the woman, do you think that Jesus would do that for me?” This line resonates with me. The answer to this question is yes. It’s harder to believe for yourself that it is true, but I am living proof that He has done the same for me. Hallelujah, He has.

-Cliff Preston

A heathen is a person that refuses to follow God. I think we can all relate to that. We all start out as heathens and can even live a heathen lifestyle after we decide to follow the Lord, but His love is always chasing after us. This song captures that journey. 

It reminds you of where you have been and makes you thankful for where the Lord is taking you today. Jesus brings dead things back to life and can make the hardest heart sweeter. We all need that, and I am so thankful that He has done that to me.

-Jonathan Lee

Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Do you know what ALL in the Greek means? Sorry for the pastor joke… but yeah… it means ALL. It’s so easy for us to look at others and see their flaws. I remember growing up thinking about the woman caught in adultery and thinking, “how dare she?” But, the older I got, the more I realized that I had been both of the characters in the stories.

I had been the Pharisees who were quick to judge but slow to allow correction in their own hearts. I had also been the woman caught in situations that I had no business being in and desperately needed help to get out of. And Who was right there in the middle of it all? Jesus.

Wherever you are today, whether you are the woman caught in a situation, or a Pharisee with the stone cocked back ready to let it rip, Jesus is offering us His redemption. He’s offering us the sweetness of life that only comes through Him. We just need to turn to Him.

-Jordan Merritt

“heathen” lyrics

Verse 1
I heard it's hard to teach
An old dog a new trick
But I also heard
A thing called saving grace
I may not be religious
But there's something bout
This Jesus I can’t shake.

Verse 2
So many times that
I have tried to read the good book
Just to put it back up on the shelf
They say inside there's treasure
But inside it sometimes makes me feel like Hell
But there's something bout this Jesus
That reminds me just a little of myself

Chorus
If Jesus can turn water into wine
Maybe He can make me sweeter?
If Jesus can bring dead things back to life
Maybe He can save this heathen?

Verse 3
If you saw me in public
You might think that I’m alright
But you ain't ever seen me in my house
Cause I do things in secret
But they're things that I won't ever talk about

Verse 4
But I heard about the woman
They caught with the wrong man
How they gathered rocks to kill her in the street
Jesus made them drop their stones
By asking them if they lived perfectly
And if I’m just like the woman
Do you think that Jesus would do that for me?

Chorus
If Jesus can turn water into wine
Maybe He can make me sweeter?
If Jesus can bring dead things back to life
Maybe He can save this heathen?

Verse 5
I heard You made the world
But still, You look a lot like me
How could You be God and still be man?
Maybe if I talked to You
You’d listen and You’d try to understand?
Maybe if I take this leap of faith, I could be a better man?

Chorus
'Cause Jesus, You turned water into wine
So come and make me sweeter!
And Jesus, You bring dead things back to life
So come and save this heathen!

Verse 6
I never thought that I would
Find myself in this place
I swore I’d never get down on my knees
But here I am a broken man
With my confession and apology
Here I am a humbled man
A heathen, saying Jesus I believe!

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