I've been saved since 1999, and my testimony is that Jars of Clay's debut album rocked my world and changed my perspective of thinking I was good enough to go to heaven, and that my theology was Jesus plus works, going to church, and good behavior. I recognized in the song "Worlds Apart" that I needed to strip that away and allow my Savior to come into my heart and take root of what was in the way and ask Jesus to indwell me with His love, His Spirit, and His "bleeding Heart." 

What I love about Heart by The City Harmonic is that since I've been saved, I don't often hear an album that foundationally brings me back to when I wasn't a Christian, what am I thinking now and what do I need to strip away from my religiosity, and from my use of "Christianese" language. This album challenges me to think about how I'm living out my faith.

In a goose bump inducing song complete with harmonic gang-vocals, "Praise the Lord" proclaims "Praise the Lord, because in every moment, Jesus Christ is Lord!" I had the great opportunity to interview lead singer Elias Dummer about the song.

Please tell me the personal story behind writing this song.

Within the context of the album, the idea of this song is a collection of ideas. We point to Psalm 145. The words praise and bless are interchangeable in that context. We read, "Every day I will bless You and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable."

The Psalm sings about how we talk about what God has done no matter what, whether it is good or bad. Whatever we are in the middle of, God has done something good in the midst of that. It reminds me of the Job passage where he says even if God would do away with him, slay him, he would still praise God.

The background story of what we went through in making this album, with Eric's cancer, and his fighting his way through. What was on our minds when we wrote the song was really just every time we gather as a body, every time we gather in worship, there are people coming who maybe just got a new job, or a raise, or celebrating a new baby, and right next to them is someone grieving the loss of a baby. Right next to the first person is someone who lost their job.

In the midst of all those things, we come together as one body, as the Church. This song is intended as a call to worship, and that we bring our whole selves including our circumstances before God. Something that has caught my attention is that sometimes we treat worship as a moment of transcending things, including ourselves.

Christianity has always been incarnational, not transcendent. It is God coming to us in the midst of our humanity. Jesus came redeeming our humanity as image bearers of God that we might worship Him and reflect His image into the world. That requires us being self-aware enough to know maybe I'm in the joys of life, or in the long dark night, and it's so naïve to think that we bring to God something other than what's really going on in our lives.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?
 
Job 13:15 (NKJV): Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

Psalm 145:1-3 (NKJV): I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.

Psalm 145:1-3 (The Voice): I will lift my praise above everything to You, my God and King! I will continually bless Your name forever and always. My praise will never cease--I will praise You every day; I will lift up Your name forever. The Eternal is great and deserves endless praise; His greatness knows no limit, recognizes no boundary. No one can measure or comprehend His magnificence.
  
What is the takeaway message?

We draw a division between sacred and secular but it doesn't stop outside of Christians. One of the early heresies in the church, is when Paul talks about flesh and spirit as a literal reality, people start to think they are outside of humanity and think of their bodies and emotions as being secondary to reason and spirit. That isn't necessarily or really biblical. This has been going on for years throughout the world.

We need to recognize what we are and who we are as humans before God. That's what the statement "Praise the Lord 'cause in every moment Jesus Christ is Lord" means.

In our democratic society, we are trained to have a love of reason and a love of independence and if you put those things together, it isn't long until we think ourselves God. We have to deal with that. No better place to start is to praise the Lord despite our circumstances versus praising God during situations that suit us well.

I had just read All is Grace by Brennan Manning before I wrote this song and album. There is no way for a finite being to relate to an infinite Being, except by the mercy of that Being.

As image bearers of God, the only way we can do that is by making us a little bit more like Him. We make idols of ourselves in our ability to think things through and in our spiritual life, when part of the beauty of being human is that we have built-in limitations. We are going to die. We are going to get sick. We are going to get healed, have joy, have tragedy. In the midst of that, we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ is Lord, and not ourselves.

Lyrics:
Praise the Lord when it comes out easy
Praise the Lord on top of the world
Praise the Lord 'cause in every moment Jesus Christ is Lord
Even in the middle of the joys of life
There is always grace enough today to

Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Won't you praise the Lord?

Praise the Lord with the world on your shoulders
Praise the Lord when it seems too hard
Praise the Lord 'cause in every moment Jesus Christ is Lord
Even in the middle of the long, dark night
There is always grace enough today to

Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Won't you praise the Lord?

Praise the Lord if you can sing it at the top of your lungs
Praise the Lord like every moment is a song to be sung
Praise the Lord: though it might take blood, sweat and tears in your eyes
There is grace for today so praise the Lord
There is grace for today so praise the Lord

Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Won't you praise the Lord?
There is grace for today so praise the Lord

This album and song by The City Harmonic causes me to think about what kind of a "love letter" my life story is writing for Jesus. It is my belief that every single believer needs to hear this album. If you're only going to buy one album released this past year, I strongly suggest Heart. 

I'm both challenged and entertained by this song and album, and I love hearing Scripture proclaimed in fresh and exciting ways. Every song is emotionally stirring and rooted in the Truth of God's Word. The only other musically emotional experience I've had that is comparable, "Fix You" by Coldplay, isn't rooted in biblical Truth. 

This has been a band I've been telling others about since I first heard their song "Manifesto." As I've gotten to know their heart for the Church, I love them even more as I've learned Eli's viewpoints as a believer and how they shape his songwriting. Some challenges for me when I listen to this song is am I compartmentalizing my life or transcending my realities when I worship the Lord, or am I recognizing that Jesus is my Lord regardless of how I'm feeling or what I'm going through.

Worship should be intelligent. Worship is what we put our "worth-ship" in, not something we do by going through the motions or in a mindless fashion. We are called to "love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." This song is a sweet aroma of praise to the Lord, to praise Him in every moment and situation in your life. Regardless of your circumstances, Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He's worthy of all of our praise. As the song asks, "Won't you praise the Lord? There is grace for today, so praise the Lord." We need to remember that "in every moment, Jesus Christ is Lord." Amen to that!

(Watch the music video here.)