Broken Lives are Made New

This line is from a song we sang tonight at the welcome chapel: "In Your Kingdom broken lives are made new...You make us new." It's a familiar song--"Hosanna" by Paul Baloche--but it just became one of my favorites. There are songs you sing to God that describe attributes of Him; there are songs you sing to God that praise Him DIRECTLY. There are songs that narrate our own journey, there are songs that request and pray... and then there are the songs that do all of those things--and in a way that flows naturally from the heart of the worshiper. "Hosanna" was one of those songs tonight that, as a leader of songs sung to God, I found flowing out of my heart, mind, and mouth as a genuine praise and prayer for our Simpson community this year. I came to find I'm not the only one who lifted up the "broken lives are made new" phrase over our campus tonight. A few of us recognize this call for God's Kingdom to intersect and heal the oppressed of this generation--and indeed It does. We recognize that He is stirring up hope and turning eyes to Himself; we know that we are yearning for Him. We know that "Hosanna" means "Save!" and that He most assuredly is our Savior...


We see the story of His heart seeking out ours,
We hear the sound of His praise rising from crowds,
We recognize His saving power and ask His Kingdom to come...
For He IS the God--He is the ONE.

When we see Him, we find strength to face the day--In His presence all our fears are washed away.
Hosanna! Hosanna! He is the God who saves us, worthy of all our praises.
Hosanna! Hosanna!

"Come have Your way among us...
...We welcome You here, Lord Jesus."

May this be the praise on the lips of Simpson this year. May this be the prayer of the incoming class.