Tenth Avenue North's: Light Meets The Dark Motto

I read Tenth Avenue North's motto for their latest album, and was very encouraged by it.  I thought I would share it with you.  And, I will begin Titus 1 tomorrow, so stay tuned.....  

"Martin Luther once said that we must beat the Gospel into people's heads incessantly, for it's the one thing that we are most prone to forget.  Funny, because that's a huge reason why we wrote most of the songs on our last record, 'Over and Underneath.'  Not that we wanted to beat people up, necessarily, but our hope was definitely what Luther spoke of, in that, we wanted those who heard our songs to hear the Gospel, that is, that we don't earn grace, grace was earned for us.  And we wanted to beat it into the heads of those listening, starting with our own.  That's what the title was all about: Over and Underneath.  At the heights of our purity, Christ has gone higher; at the depths of our depravity, Christ has gone lower, bearing our sins on the cross.  No matter how pure we are, we need Him still, and not matter how far we've fallen, we're not too far gone.

This is what we feel the Gospel is, and it's what we hope to continue to communicate with our sophomore release, 'The Light Meets The Dark.'  Our desire for this record is simply to be the next step.  It's a call not only to believe the Gospel but to let it so saturate our minds and hearts that we actually begin to live like we believe it.  But of course, that might be a little different than you think.  This record isn't a call for better living and high achieving, more commitments and greater successes.  It's a cry for confession, exposure, and the laying down of our pride.  It's a cry for honesty, for truth, and for an encounter with the One who is truth, and having that encounter change the way we see the world.  You see, when we believe this thing we call the Gospel, it allows us to be honest about who we really are.  Or should I say, it forces us to come to terms with who we are.  It frees us to not only be exposed but to be ok about being exposed; to speak our pain and fears out into the open.  It frees us to be poor in Spirit.  Which, isn't that the goal after all?

I heard it said once that the best thing that could ever happen to any of us is if all our sins were broadcast on the five o'clock news.  And yeah, that can be a fairly disturbing thought, I suppose, but think about it for a moment.  Think of how scary that is, and yet somehow, so incredibly freeing, too.  If everyone knew all your junk, all your fears, all your questions, you wouldn't have to hide anymore.  No more masks.  No more pretending.  Just you, and hopefully, the grace that comes when we step into the light.  Sure, it can be the most terrifying step you'll ever have to take, but when we do, when we lay our souls out naked and bare for all to see, it forces us out of the shadows and into a place where life begins.  It's where the light meets the dark, and it's where we want to be.  Hope to meet you there."

- Tenth Avenue North (on their latest album)