Every few years a new song emerges that is so powerful I remember where I was the first time I heard it. Such as the Friday afternoon in 1980 on I-64 between Louisville and Lexington, Ky as I drove home from Seminary. I was listening to the radio when I heard country singer George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” for the first time. The story the song tells completely captured my attention.

I had a similar experience Tuesday as I was driving to pick Monieca up for lunch. I was listening to “The Message” Sirius XM station when I heard for the first time Casting Crowns song “Jesus, Friend of Sinners.” It was released last year, but I not heard it before. The words they sang were so powerful and the images appearing in my mind were so clear that I found myself repenting. I was repenting because the Holy Spirit was convicting me of sin. I called Will Beaty and told him we needed to do this song as a special sometime.

Below are the lyrics to the song. Read them carefully and prayerfully. Listen to what God might say to your heart. In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll tell you what He said to me. For now though, just read and pray through the lyrics.

Pastor Steve Hogg

Jesus, Friend of Sinners (by Casting Crowns)

Jesus, friend of sinners
We have strayed so far away
We cut down people in Your name
But the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, friend of sinners
The truth’s become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You
But they’re tripping over me

Always looking around but never looking up
I’m so double minded
A plank-eyed saint with dirty hands
And a heart divided

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world
At the end our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Break our hearts for what breaks Yours

Jesus, friend of sinners
The One whose writing in the sand
Made the righteous turn away
And the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember
We are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy
Bring Your people to their knees

Nobody knows what we’re for
Only what we’re against
When we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs
Crossed over the lines
And loved like You did

You love every lost cause
You reach for the outcast
For the leper and the lame
They’re the reason that You came
Lord, I was that lost cause
And I was the outcast
But You died for sinners just like me
A grateful leper at Your feet

‘Cause You are good
You are good
And Your love endures forever

And I was the lost cause
And I was the outcast
You died for sinners just like me
A grateful leper at Your feet