Christian Review Magazine Issue 3 - March 2015 | Page 68

WE WILL NOT BE SHAKEN
A FEATURE ARTICLE ON BETHEL MUSIC BY MARK D. GEIL

t’s a stage like no other,
extending from a
mountainside like a rock
outcropping, with verdant
evergreens framing peaks in the
distance, shrouded in mist.
Bethel Music’s Kalley
Heiligenthal gives voice to the
hearts of the believers present,
as natural as the waving
branches of the California
redwoods: Your love is devoted,
like a ring of solid gold. Like a
vow that is tested, like a
covenant of old. It’s a
proclamation of praise to the
Rock more solid than that
mountainside, the only one
worthy of this confidence in His
children: We Will Not Be
Shaken.

***
That’s a stirring minute from
Bethel Music’s highly anticipated
new CD/DVD, We Will Not Be
Shaken. It’s a product of a
season in the life of the team
that so many believers will
identify with, summed up by
Brian Johnson: “As a community
it’s been one of the hardest and
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best seasons we’ve ever gone
through. There has been so
much life as a result. It has felt
very honest. Like David’s
response through the Psalms –
he didn’t ignore the hard stuff
going on, but he also reminded
himself of God’s faithfulness and
goodness and chose to go
forward with that mindset.”
Isn’t it remarkable that as God
leads us through both hardship
and triumph, He can produce in
us what Brian calls “so much
life,” if we only let Him? That
theme emerges in the standout
track “In Over My Head (Crash
Over Me)” co-written by Jenn
Johnson and John-Paul Gentile.
The song acknowledges the
truth that, despite the need we
often feel to keep everything
perfect and presentable in our
busy lives, God isn’t looking for
us to have it all together. As
Jenn relates, “The song puts a
different spin on the idea of
being ‘in over our heads’ - one
that celebrates the risk and the
yielded-ness of that feeling,
even acknowledging it as a good
thing when God is leading you.

Though someone may have
years of relationship and history
with God, there is always more
to discover and step into. There
can always be forward
movement through any
situation. God is constantly
inviting us to trust Him in
greater ways, even in seasons
that feel out of control. It’s really
freeing to realize we are never
going to ‘arrive’.”
A theme emerges as these songs
emanate from the wilderness,
and it fits the majestic setting.
God, who is massive, who is
faultless, casts His attention and
affection on us, who are so small
and flawed. “You Don’t Miss a
Thing,” by Amanda Cook and
Bobby Strand, revels in this
paradox: “What a mystery / That
You notice me / And in a crowd
of ten thousand / You don’t miss
a thing.” And not only does this
great God notice us, He actually
chases after us, a remarkable
prospect declared in “You are My
One Thing” by Hannah and Paul
McClure: “Your voice ever close,
You called me / You never gave
up pursuing.”