Life

Loves Like a Hurricane

Many of us have worshipped with David Crowder’s song “How He Loves,” and possibly during worship wondered about a few of the phrases. These phrases were obviously carefully considered by the writer, but they may bring us some pause. I suppose the most talked about phrase is the “sloppy wet kiss” phrase (Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss…). The more conservative worshipers have changed the phrase to “unforeseen kiss.” I’ve tried to figure out exactly what he meant, and I’m still not sure.

There is another phrase in the song that is on my mind right now: “Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy…” As Hurricane Irene hits the North Carolina coast, we have seen images of what hurricanes do to trees – they bend. The fact is, a tree in a hurricane has no alternative but to bend in response to the overwhelming effect of the strong wind and rain. As a Christian, I actually have a choice in that I do not have to bend under the weight of God’s wind and mercy, but why wouldn’t I want to? If we are the family of God, wouldn’t it make sense for us to yield to all God is doing around us and in us? The paradox is that while we bend, we do not break. Actually, our bending makes us stronger and more like Christ.

Let’s forget about the sloppy wet kiss part and think about bending in response to God’s love and mercy. I think by doing so, we’ll find the hurricane of God’s love will bring us strength and hope. In the mean time, let’s pray for those adversely affected by Hurricane Irene while also seeking to yield to God’s work in our lives.

8 Comments

  • Laura Lee

    I love your blog! Certainly causes a person to take pause and to consider how blessed we are while praying for others in challenging situations. I hope you are doing well, we think of you and mention you often as one of those old friends we loved going to church with and sharing lots of laughs!

    • timriordan

      Thanks Laura for your comments. We really are blessed in more ways than we can even know. I was blessed to have a wonderful childhood and great friends to share it with. Those were some great times.

    • timriordan

      There’s been a lot said from various people about the “sloppy wet kiss” part of the song. It’s kind of funny that some people felt awkward with that phrase so they changed it to unforseen kiss (that might seem a little more strange – maybe the unforseen kiss could be like the first time I kissed Sandra). I’ll admit when I first sang the song, I thought it was a little odd. Jon Acuff made some really funny remarks about it (http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/2011/03/kissing-metaphors-in-worship-music/comment-page-4/). I suppose David Crowder was saying that when Jesus came to earth, it was such an unimagined yet wonderful surprise that it was like a “sloppy wet kiss.” What adjectives could you use to describe a slopyy wet kiss? For me, I guess a sloppy wet kiss is a wonderful experience as long as it’s from my wife and not my dog.

  • Your son.

    Love it. Its so amazing you wrote this, because this has been the exact topic of my weekend. I was even told by one that The “sloppy wet kiss” was heresy. I told him to calm down.

    I personally like singing the sloppy wet kiss version when i am alone: 1) Its the original text.. 2) It creates a much more creative picture.. causing me to think about it. However! While leading worship, Our goal as worship leaders isn’t to sing awesome or play awesome, it’s to do our best to lead others into the throne room to worship

    The question is, why fight so hard to include one line in a song when you know it can (and has) brought the focus from Christ to a phrase in the song. It then begins to steal glory from God. Why even fight it?

    As a worship leader it isn’t our job to make people worship.. it is to create a worshipful environment that makes it easy to worship the God of your universe. When you have something that hinders that environment and it can be fixed by changing a single phrase in a song, would you not do it?

    Ultimately, You just have to decide if you are going to be a worship leader, or not.

    Again, when you are singing in the congregation, sing whatever you want.. but when you are leading, lead.

    Thats my input on the phrase.

    • timriordan

      You are right on, Timothy. Worship is not about us at all, whereas our flesh always pulls us to self-centeredness. The “debate” is funny, but also tragic. As worship leaders we should be willing to do whatever is necessary to assist our congregation in meeting with God.

    • timriordan

      Thanks Sean for reading and commenting. I also appreciate the link. I agree with McMillan in that Christians can make a big deal over some of the silliest things. I think it’s a great song and a lot of people have been blessed – whichever version they’ve sung.

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