On Monday night I had the opportunity to hear John Mark McMillan and Gungor in concert. I’ve talked about Gungor before so I thought I’d talk about John Mark McMillan today.

The concert was everything I had hoped for. The venue was awful, but it was great to be surrounded by the hipsters of Portland and to worship with them. If I learned nothing else, I learned that while some hipsters might only love their bikes, many others love Jesus despite what people might say.

John Mark wrote one of the most popular worship songs of the past 5 years. Almost every worship album produced over the past 2 years has included the song he wrote 8 years ago (“How He Loves”). I’ve found the song interesting while leading it for different groups. I can tell that many adults find the song a little bit raw (think “sloppy wet kiss”). It doesn’t roll off the tongue as pretty as other modern worship songs, but as I’ve led it for students they have totally gotten into it.

Another new song of his reminds of the same thing. I would describe it as a raw and honest song and it doesn’t feel like your typical worship song yet I heard hundreds of people praising God to it at the concert. Here is the song named Skeleton Bones (come here to watch video):

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this song and How He Loves. Even though they don’t fit the normal mold for how worship songs are written today, do you think they work for singing in church?

Here’s the lyrics to the song (his Johnny Cash southern accent makes it hard to understand at parts):

Peel back our ribs again
and stand inside of our chest.
We just wanna’ love you
We just wanna’ love you

Peel back the veil of time
And let us see You with our naked eyes
We just wanna love you
We just wanna love you

Skeleton bones stand at the sound of eternity
On the lips of the found
And gravestones roll
To the rhythm of the sound of you
Skeleton bones stand at the sound of eternity
On the lips of the found
So separate those doors
And let the son of resurrection in.

Oh let us adore the
Son of Glory drenched in love
Open up your gates before him
Crown Him, stand Him up

We want your blood to flow inside our body
We want your wind inside our lungs
We just wanna love you
We just wanna love you