Coming off the success of Campfire and The Art of Celebration, which featured the hit songs "Build Your Kingdom Here," "Immeasurably More" and "My Lighthouse," Rend Collective's newest album As Family We Go features the hit songs "You Will Never Run," "Joy of the Lord" and the latest single, "Every Giant Will Fall." 

Later this year Rend Collective plans to release Campfire II. They named their band based on the Scripture, "Rend your hearts, not your garments," a concept that continues to echo through their impassioned songs. I had the chance to speak with lead singer Chris Llewellyn in-person about "Every Giant Will Fall."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

This song has been a real blessing for us. It seems to really connect with people whenever we lead it in worship. Before I started traveling around and seeing people, I used to think that most people were okay, like 95% were okay and 5% were going through difficulty. Now I realize that those percentages should be flipped around. Everybody carries their struggles and difficulties into worship. We have been trying to learn how to meet people where they are in that, in a scripturally-rooted way. 

"Every Giant Will Fall" is a song that is rooted in the Old Testament, inspired by the account of Caleb and Joshua being able to see past the giants and past the difficulties and struggles of entering the Promised Land and know they could get past that. We want to be those people as well. 

The record is called As Family We Go, and it traces the idea that we are all still on that journey. The Exodus is over, but we are still on the journey to the Promised Land, and we want to be a people filled with faith and not stay in the wilderness forever.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV): "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

Joshua 24:14-18 (NIV): "Now fear the LORD and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! It was the LORD our God Himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God."

Matthew 17:20 (NIV): He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
 
Matthew 19:26 (NIV): Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
 
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT): "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
 
1 John 4:18 (NKJV): "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."

Romans 8:11 (VOICE): "If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you."

What is the takeaway message?

We don't want to be people staring at the giants or difficulties and struggles in our lives and thinking our God isn't big enough to overcome anything. We need anthems and battle cries. The songs link together other parts of the Joshua story, including bringing down the walls of Jericho, which is an amazing thing to bring into praise when you think of using music to very literally break down walls. We can still do that today when we lift up our battle cries and our anthems of faith. When we begin to trust and stir up that hope in God, the walls come down.

We've been writing our songs based on the same inspiration as the last couple of albums, which is that the same resurrection power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us and makes us more than conquerors through Christ, which means that nothing is impossible with God. We just keep writing that song. "Build Your Kingdom Here," "Burn like a Star," "More Than Conquerors," "Immeasurably More" and this song all address that theme. We are in love with that idea and keep re-framing it in our songs.

Lyrics:
I can see the promised land 
Though there's pain within the plan 
There is victory in the end 
Your love is my battle cry 

When my fears like Jericho 
Build their walls around my soul
When my heart is overthrown 
Your love is my battle cry 
The anthem for all my life 

Every giant will fall 
The mountains will move 
Every chain of the past
You've broken in two 
Over fear, over lies
We're singing the truth 
That nothing is impossible 
With You 

There is hope within the fight 
In the wars that rage inside 
Though the shadows steal the light 
Your love is my battle cry 
The anthem for all my life 

Every giant will fall 
The mountains will move 
Every chain of the past
You've broken in two 
Over fear, over lies
We're singing the truth 
That nothing is impossible 
With You 

No greater name 
No higher name 
No stronger name 
Than Jesus 
You overcame 
Broke every chain 
Forever reign 
King Jesus 

Every giant will fall 
The mountains will move 
Every chain of the past
You've broken in two 
Over fear, over lies
We're singing the truth 
That nothing is impossible 
With You

As Family We Go is one of the most meaningful albums I've ever heard. Every song is absolutely amazing. I can't get the catchy melodies of many of these songs out of my head. The album is perfectly produced, and the song order brilliantly invites listeners to join in with the band on their journey. The very relatable and transparent words of these songs perfectly depict our daily walks as believers wrapped around catchy songs. All of the tracks really display the musical and lyrical excellence and intentionality of Rend Collective.

Romans 8:11, the theme verse for the band about God's resurrection power, weaves its way through every song as the band sings songs about being "more than conquerors" through Christ. God keeps bringing the Truth of His resurrection power through His Holy Spirit residing in believers to my attention. That's the beauty of His Word: it doesn't return void, and it provides a constant source of comfort, guidance and truth of how to us draw closer to Him and live for Him.

This song is all about having a strong faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Sometimes we have a tendency to think we can try to know everything. God tells us in the Bible that with faith, we can do anything in Christ. We can't know everything and we are not in control, but trusting God gives us assurance that we don't have to be afraid. God will be there to pick us up when we fall. A challenge for me when I listen to this song is to pick an area of my life that I've been trying to control and instead put all of my hope and trust in God. 

Rend Collective has written another great anthem for the Church that reminds us that under our own strength, many mountains we face will seem impossible, but with God all things are possible. The same goes for salvation. We can't earn Heaven. It's only through complete surrender to Jesus and putting all of our hope in Him can we be saved. As Christians, we all can loudly proclaim "Every giant will fall, the mountains will move, every chain of the past, You've broken in two. Over fear, over lies, we're singing the truth, that nothing is impossible with You!" Amen to that!

Listen to the song below.