As any worship leader will tell you, Easter offers us music which best captures the essence of our faith; best captures the essence of the gospel. All worship should be ‘Christo-centric,’ but at this time of year the intensity of our worship seems so much focused.
One of my personal favourite pieces this time of year is not a congregational song, but a performance piece called “How Could You Say ‘No?’” written by Mickey Cates and performed by Julie Miller. When my wife had a soundtrack for this, we were repeatedly asked to do it each year at the church we were attending; later on we did it with live music.
The song asks the question: How can you see what Christ did for us on the cross and then just walk away, knowing it was your sin that put him there; knowing that he did this for you?
Update 2010: The only surviving version of this on YouTube was deleted by the owner. The one replacing it below is not the original artist.
Take the next four minutes just to focus on this song and all that it means.
Thorns on His head, spear in His side
Yet it was a heartache that made Him cry
He gave His life so you would understand
Is there any way you could say no to this Man?If Christ Himself were standing here
Face full of glory and eyes full tears
And he held out His arms and His nail-printed hands
Is there any way you could say no to this Man?How could you look in His tear-stained eyes
Knowing it’s you He’s thinking of?
Could you tell Him you’re not ready to give Him your life?
Could you say you don’t think you need His love?Jesus is here with His arms open wide
You can see with your heart
If you’ll stop looking with your eyes
He’s left it up to you, He’s done all He can
Is there any way you could say no to this Man?How could you look in His tear-stained eyes
Knowing it’s you He’s thinking of?
Could you tell Him you’re not ready to give Him your life?
Could you say you don’t think you need His love?Thorns on His head, your life is in His hands
Is there any way you could say no to this Man?Oh, is there any way you could say no to this Man?
That’s awesome. Thank you. What an appropriate Post for the Easter season.
Comment by Ken — April 9, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
As one who said yes to Him many years ago, what has often sustained me through the most difficult times is this question: how can I ever stand at the foot of the cross, look up, and say, “You have not done enough for me.” How can we stand there and think that He owes us anything at all? No matter what hard things we may face, we can never chastise Him for doing too little, even if He never did anything else after the cross. And yet he does…
Comment by Walrus — April 9, 2009 @ 8:11 pm
[...] I had to change the link in the post from last year.) To read the lyrics and link to the audio, click here. Leave a [...]
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