Better Questions

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Produced by Todd Agnew and John Hampton

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Lyrics:

Many times when I was little I’d hold my Daddy’s hand
Many times I thought I was so strong
I’d let go and try to stand
Many times I’d fall and was so ashamed, never good enough
But someone failed to tell me
Holding on doesn’t do too much

Sometimes I’m on the mountain     Holding on to Your hand
Sometimes I’m in the middle     Holding the best I can
Sometimes I’m in the valley       I let go long ago
My hand is weak and tired
But Your hand still has a hold

Many times when I was a child They told me to follow the rules
Many times I tried oh so hard To do what they wanted me to
But many times I failed, and in my disgrace, I couldn’t call Your name
But I found that though I left You
You were with me all the same

I’ve tried to hold on to You
Seems the best I can do is sometimes
Doing everything I can
But it’s slipping through my hands sometimes

If You’re looking for consistency Look to someone else
‘Cause I’m holding hands with heaven
While I’m making eyes at hell
If I’m ever gonna’ change God, I need Your help

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I’m a druggie, I’m a pusher, I’m a one night stand whore
An accuser, an abuser with nothing to live for
A devil, a deceiver and probably much more
But why does it have to define me?
Why do you always remind me?

Why can’t I be free from who I’ve been?
Why can’t you see me as one of the least of these?

I’m a liar, I’m a thief, I’m a traitor, I’m the chief
Of sinners, I’m pretty sure nothing’s beneath me
I’m a cheater, I’m a chain, I don’t know if I can change
But why does it have to define me
Why do you always remind me

Why does this have to define me
If He came to this hell to find me
Why can’t this blood refine me
Why do you always remind me

Why can’t I be free from who I’ve been
Why can’t you see me as one of the least of these

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I’ll admit I’m glad we’re not disciples
Out on a lake paralyzed with fright
‘Cause I’m afraid I might have laughed at Peter
Until he stepped into that stormy night

If you wanted me to walk on water
Why’d You make the solid ground seem so right?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not King David
Ruling over everything I see
I think I’ve fallen for more than Bathsheba
Your creation’s a temptation for me

If you wanted me to love you only
Why’d you make the moonlight sparkle in her eyes?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
‘Cause at least down here I know what we’re chasing
And it’s hard to trust Your plans are so much better than mine

If you wanted me to die to myself
Why’d you make me fall so deeply in love with life?
If you wanted me to surrender
Why’d You make these hands able to hold on
so tight, so tight
If You wanted me to be like You
Why’d You make me like me?

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Mary’s driving home again, she’s crying again
Johnny left her for another girl
She’s embarrassed by her loneliness
and haunted by her shame
Everyone’s reacting just the same
As she feared they would

Are we more concerned with the fruit of another
Never noticing our own barren branches
Are we more consumed with casting stones at each other
While ignoring the lovers in our beds
Our own beds in our heads

Mary’s driving home again, turns on the radio
No one’s writing songs about divorce
But she could use a verse or two
Anything that brings just a few
Moments of light in the middle of this darkness

God hears her cries
As her tears fall rivaling the grains of sand
We have His heart
What is keeping us from being His hands

Mary’s driving home again, turns off the radio
No one’s writing songs about divorce… yet.

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As long as we say prayers for our children
That we do not pray for others
There won’t be
As long as we take offerings for those in need
To appease our guilt over our greed
There won’t be

There won’t be peace on earth
There won’t be peace on earth
There won’t be There won’t be
Won’t be peace

When a Chinese girl and a Haitian boy
And an American child all share the same toys
There might be There might be
When the TV brings a tear to our eyes

Not a movie, but the news of a hungry child across the world
There might be

There might be peace on earth
There might be peace on earth
There might be There might be
Might be peace

We got a problem
We’re seeing the surfaces too often
Whether race or religion
It makes no difference
The blood paid penance
Forgiven the death sentence
No lines no more, no rich, no poor

No Jew, no Greek, no slave, no free
When I look at you and see someone just like me
There might be There might be
There might be There might be

When the Lord of all is the Lord of each
And I love you like He loves me
There might be, no, there will be

There might be peace on earth
There might be peace on earth
There might be There might be
There might be

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It’s funny how a big ol’ fish can hear Your voice
Find one man in the whole ocean and swallow him whole
Because You said so
It’s funny how a little plant can hear Your voice
And grow as big as a tent to give that man a home
Because You said so

And You speak to me all the time
And I can’t obey You to save my life

Well, I can but I don’t, and I want to but I won’t
And I don’t do what I want to and I do what I don’t mean to
Now I’m confused
It’s funny how a fish can obey You but I can’t

It’s funny how the bright ol’ sun can hear Your voice
Along its way, stop in the middle of the sky for an entire day
Because You said so
It’s funny how a donkey can hear Your voice
And talk instead of bray to set Your child on His way
Because You said so

And You speak to me all the time
Lighting my path with Your words of life
But I can’t obey You no matter how hard I try

I guess I can but I don’t, and I want to but I won’t
And I don’t do what I want to and I do what I don’t mean to
And I can but I don’t, and I want to but I won’t
And I don’t do what I want to and I do what I don’t mean to
Now I’m confused

It’s funny how a fish can obey You
How a plant can obey You
How the sun can obey You
How a donkey can obey You
Seems like everything can obey You, but I can’t

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My mama told me when I was a child, Son
You’ve gotta keep a hold of your tongue
If you don’t have anything nice to say, my child
Well don’t say anything at all

‘Cause every single thing that comes out of your mouth
Someone’s listening
Taking as the truth every word that comes out
So don’t, don’t don’t
Don’t say a word

My Father told me people see a preacher preach
And assume that the words are the Lord’s
So before you spout out your most recent thoughts
Just remember who you’re speaking for
Or don’t say anything at all

The word was made flesh and He dwelt among men
There’s a truth deeper than our opinion
A message of life for the dead
Who will tell them?

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Do you feel the tension, do you?
Do you feel the grind?
Do you see the battle ‘tween this
Flesh and soul of mine

There’s war inside of me
Between who I want to be
And who I am

I do what I don’t want to do
And don’t do what I mean
I end up chasing all my nightmares
And abandoning my dreams

Who I am is not who I want to be
Shackled like a slave when I know that I’m free
Wrong against right, Truth versus lies
Everything in me is choosing sides
And the showdown begins

Do you feel the tension?

There’s war inside of me
Between who I want to be
There’s a war inside of me
Between who I want to be
And who I am
Who I am

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I’ve been waiting to dance with you in fields full of colors
you’ve never seen
I’ve been waiting to show you beauty you never dreamed
that’s always been in you
I’ve been waiting to see you tremble as you’re embraced
by a world saturated with my love
I’ve been waiting for the day when at last I get to say
My child you are finally home

Sing O son of Zion Shout O child of mine
Rejoice with all your heart and soul and mind
For you are finally home

I’ve been waiting to watch you realize
what all your longing was for
I’ve been waiting to show you the thread of grace
that ran through all your pain
I’ve been waiting to let you drink the water of which
your greatest joy on earth was just a taste
I’ve been waiting for the day when at last I get to say
My child you are finally home

Sing O son of Zion Shout O child of mine
Rejoice with all your heart and soul and mind
Sing O daughter of Zion Cry out O child of mine
Dance with all the strength that you can find
For you are finally home

Every tear you cried dried in the palm of my hand
Every lonely hour was by my side
Every loved one lost, every river crossed
Every moment, every hour was pointing to this day
Longing for this day…

Sing O son of Zion Shout O child of mine
Rejoice with all your heart and soul and
Sing O daughter of Zion Cry out O child of mine
Dance with all the strength that you can find
For you are finally home

Chart

Saturday on Beale St. with the drunk and the searching
I hear an old man playing guitar
I can’t make out what he’s saying but I can tell you that he’s suffered
And that he means every word from the bottom of what’s left
of his heart… tonight

A few hours later, I slip into church
Singing songs about saving grace
One guy’s nodding off and another hates to be here
We all mouth the words to save face
It’s 11:15 on Sunday morning
And I wish I was

On a corner in Memphis, listening to the old man
Singing out his sorrows, laying down his pride

He’s telling me his story or at least his side
No need to pretend, and nowhere to hide

‘Cause we are all broken here, we are all ashamed
I couldn’t fool you if I wanted to
Our stories are too much the same
And what about this Jesus,
They say He drank with the poor, the blind and the lame
Do you think He’d like the songs we sing
Or would He feel the same as I do
What if Sunday School
Was on Saturday night

What if their heart-breaking cries of pain
Are the first hymns of tomorrow’s saints

On a corner in Memphis, we’re singing with the old man
Crying for his sorrows and laying down our pride
He’s telling us our story, or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide

On a corner in Memphis
We’re singing out our sorrows
He’s telling us his story
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide

On a corner… in Memphis

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Who’s my brother in Nashville, Tennessee?
Who’s my sister in a village in Malawi?
Who’s my lover in Washington, D.C.?
Who’s my neighbor? Who’s my loved one?
Who’s my friend?

We are all family
We are all family
If we’re all under one Father, that makes us all brothers
We are all family

Who’s my brother in a different kind of church?
Who’s my sister struggling with her worth?
Who’s my mother, gave me all but birth?
Who’s my neighbor? Who’s my loved one?
Who’s my friend?

You don’t have to look like me
For us to be brotherly
You don’t have to be like me
For us to be family

You don’t have to think like me
For us to speak intimately
You don’t have to agree with me
For us to be family

You don’t have to live near me
For us to be neighborly
You don’t have to dress like me
For us to be family

You don’t have to speak like me
For us to love each other you see
You don’t have to be like me
For us to be family

If we’re all under one Father, that makes us all brothers

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Janie’s a addict but she feeds her family
Hank owns a bank but his kids are on the street
Janie’s got a good grip on desperation
Hank’s getting fat but he doesn’t see his need

As I’m standing here on this stage
Hanging from the cross that I have made
What you see is probably deceit
Only God knows the difference
The difference between preachers and thieves

Rosa’s the lady in apartment fifteen
No one knows her name or what language she speaks
Or that her son is dying alone behind those walls
Separating their home from the apartments she cleans

Struggling to stand, fighting to breathe
One cries to His left, one dies to His right
One takes his last breath embracing his mockery
While the other opens his eyes in paradise

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