April 22, 2004

Amazing Grace

Perhaps the greatest song ever written is Amazing Grace, penned by British slave ship captain-turned-Christian evangelist John Newton back in the early 1800s and put to the music of a waterfront drinking song. A few years ago, PBS's Bill Moyers produced a wonderful if long documentary on the song, showing it being performed by many different artists from many different genres of music. It is a song of amazing power, power that comes from the simple stark truth of the words.

I have been hearing a new version on the radio lately, the words of Amazing Grace fully incorporated in a song titled Grace Like Rain, peformed by contemporary Christian singer Todd Agnew.

Agnew honed his singling leading worship at his Texas church, and his music chops plahing coffeehouses where he covered songs by the Dave Matthews Band, Creed, and Counting Crows. Grace Like Rain wraps the words from Amazing Grace in rugged, modern rock, and adds a soaring chorus.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see so clearly

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing Your praise
Than when we first begun

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

Agnew writes that Grace Like Rain got its start after a friend played him Amazing Grace set to a new tune.

My first reaction was of course, "You can't do that. It's Amazing Grace." But as I heard it, I realized there was something special there. I wrote the chorus to it as a celebration of His grace in our lives. I introduced it to the band and used it in worship the next week and we realized we had something special on our hands. We have a powerful heritage in the church. We are tied to generations of worshipers who have honored God with their lives. Hymns are a part of that legacy. The new tune has taken the hymn out of the habit of the church and has brought these powerful words back to life for me and for many others.

Agnew has done something not much different, setting the powerful words of Amazing Grace to a driving rock beat popular with the youth he is seeking to reach with the same divine message.

You can hear a 35-second snippet of Grace Like Rain here. I only wish that when Agnew performed at my church a few months ago, I had gone. And I look forward to the day when Grace Like Rain becomes a common way we sing Amazing Grace in worship.