On Friday A Thief, On Sunday A King

Death In His Grave - Bethel Church Feat... by chretien1959

John Mark McMillan has a way of crafting songs with incredible hooks and anthemic choruses, but his wordy verses, packed with imagery, are oft better mused than corporately led. Exemplified by How He Loves, this formula has not prevented that song from becoming a hand-over-heart tear-jerk classic in the mouths of Crowder and Kim Walker-Smith. John Mark’s recent collaboration with wife, Sarah, has provided more accessible fodder for congregants to sink their syllables into – but that’ll be for another day.

Around 3 years ago, a dear friend was strongly impacted by the song Death In His Grave – found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM0a2YNH3gE. Originally released on McMillan’s 2010 album, “The Medicine,” Death In His Grave is a powerful, ultimately triumphant statement, incorporating a range of emotions and perspectives to illustrate the ransom model of the atonement [Heb 2:14, eg.]. I’d always found it a difficult piece to cover, for even if I had internalized the lyrics, there is still the issue of finding a tempo that doesn’t drag but also doesn’t rush the words into mush.

In most instances, neither worship nights in a candle-lit second floor flat, nor sing-alongs 'round a fire-pit ember glow set the most appropriate stage for McMillan's dexterous pen. Where then? Coffee houses, for certain – or maybe on the corner log-bench, waxing poetic while the rest of the gang roasts a round of marshmallows. But, you say, this Californian mega-church is the furthest thing from a chilly pebble-stone beach – however can we relate the two?

Let’s have a look here - Bethel is most assuredly not the type of culture where a fidget in the pew or the din of an infant could rattle proceedings. To the contrary, they encourage the praise pit, and spontaneous outbursts therein. We could even loosely equivocate an enthusiastic Holy Ghost ‘whoooaaa!’ with the intermittent pops and crackles of a driftwood bonfire.

Brian Johnson has this special force of confidence that knows you don't always have to lead off a set with a 4-on-the-floor 'hype' song in order for the rest of the service to be effective. He is also not too proud to lean on the tele-prompter in the back – for a leader, it’s far better to look out than look down at a music stand. Brian’s brother, Pastor Eric, has welcomed the people, opened with a Psalm, and most likely encouraged them to ‘love on’ one another – cold handshakes be-damned! 

Instead of demanding full attention right off the bat, the drummer’s rolling fill swings into a gentle 6/8; a pair of ‘down’ verses and choruses give time for the milling about to organically settle. The keyboardist dials in a bubbly jazz organ patch and through the mix, Jeffrey Kunde expertly wafts glassy slides. By the time the up-chorus kicks into a tag, just over 2 minutes in, the flock is noticeably engaged. And then, following the John Mark pattern, we have a shout-it-from-the-rooftops bridge. Where the verses crammed four words into half a bar, here each single lyric is drawn-out over that same length of time: it is a victorious summit befitting the message: “one time, once and for all.”