The Top 10 Worship Songs of 2025

Every three years, I've reviewed the Top 10 most popular praise songs in churches according to Christian Copyright Licensing International (or CCLI). As I've shared before, the reason I don't do this review more often is because it takes a long time for this list to change. Four of the 10 songs I'll be reviewing in this article were on the list three years ago, and 3 of those songs were on my list from six years ago. (None of these songs were on my list nine years ago.)

This has not been a great year for contemporary Christian music, especially for the genre of praise and worship. I don't mean in terms of album sales or downloads or streams or exposure. One statistic I saw showed that Christian music streaming and online sales are up 60% over the past 5 years. More people stream Christian music than jazz and classical combined. But just because it bears the label "Christian," that doesn't mean it's very Christian.

At the start of the year, Michael Tait, originally of DC Talk fame, suddenly resigned as lead singer of the Newsboys after almost 16 years with the band. The world would soon find out why—he was a homosexual, drug addict, an alleged rapist, and an all-around sexual degenerate. When the worst of his offenses were not yet known, Tait wrote a public apology and asked for forgiveness, which many people were quick to give. 

But as the story unfolded, it became clear that Tait had not been honest about his addictions and sexual immorality. We still don't know everything. But apparently, these offenses go back to even his days with DC Talk. Tait used his influence to prey on people—it didn't matter whether they were men or women. According to one story, for which there's video evidence, he drugged a woman who worked as a lighting technician and watched her get raped.

Bethel Church singer Cory Asbury, known for the song "Reckless Love," hosted an "Ask Me Anything" session on social media. Someone asked him, "Did you hear/know about Michael Tait before the story was published?" He replied that "everyone knew" of Tait's history of debauchery. "Maybe not the specific details," he said, but "everyone knew." 

In a follow-up question, he was asked, "How many 'Christian' bands/artists are living a double life like Michael Tait and now NTB (referring to the band Needtobreathe)?" Asbury answered, "A lot."

Now, if "everyone knew," including Asbury, then why didn't he speak up? If there are "a lot" of musicians continuing to live this way, why doesn't he say something now? Why doesn't anyone else say anything? The industry had a predator in their ranks, having been a member of two of the most successful Christian bands of all time, and no one thought to say a word?

In fact, hardly anyone has said a word since this story came out. Who else behind the scenes in Christian music is behaving this way? Who knows and is not making it known? This may be the biggest story to come out of Christian music this year, but there are many other dark shadows in the industry. Some of them you may learn about as we go through this list.

When Israel was worshiping false gods, the Lord said to them, "Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen" (Amos 5:23). Might the Lord being saying that of today's most popular Christian music?

Here are the Top 10 praise and worship songs in churches right now according to CCLI.

1) “Goodness of God” written by Ben Fielding, Brian and Jenn Johnson, and Ed Cash
The song comes out of the infamous Bethel Church in Redding, CA. It was the number one song on the CCLI charts when I did this review three years ago. This is an immensely popular song with the potential to be one of the most popular praise and worship songs of all time.

When searching for this song on YouTube, the version with Jenn Johnson singing the lead has over 192 million views and climing. CeCe Winans has done a version of this song, and her music video has over 218 million views. She has another live version of the song with 100 million views. The lyric video of the song put out by Bethel Music has 137 million views.

We the Kingdom, Maverick City, Don Moen, Josue Avila, Rhett Walker, Jason Ingram, Gateway Worship, The Isaacs, and The Crosby Family have videos singing this song with over 100 million views combined. With all the various covers of this song, it may have a billion views on YouTube alone. That's not counting the streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple, and Amazon Music.

Among the writers of this song are Ben Fielding from Hillsong Australia and Brian and Jenn Johnson from Bethel Church. Both churches are heretical. Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church has taught that while Jesus was on earth, He was not God but only a man. This was to model for us what kind of people we could be: perfect miracle-working people just as He was. 

Among their charismatic practices, Bethel is known for gimmicks like artificially producing glory clouds during worship, using either a fog machine or dropping glitter from the ceiling. They will blasphemously claim this is an actual manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

Co-writer and lead vocalist for the song, Jenn Johnson, is Bill Johnson's daughter-in-law. She has infamously taught that the Holy Spirit is like the genie from Aladdin, saying that he's funny and blue and sneaky. This is indicative of Bethel's teaching, driven by fancy and emotionalism, not by biblical truth.

The other writer is Ed Cash, whose credits include "How Great is Our God" and "Whom Shall I Fear" sung by Chris Tomlin. Until 2015, Cash was a leader in a cult under Wayne Jolley, who had been accused of sexual and spiritual abuse. Almost immediately after the cult was exposed in Christianity Today and The Atlantic, Cash departed from the group. Jolley mysteriously died a few months later. Cash went on to form a band with his family called We the Kingdom. I'll mention something else about that in a moment. Back to the song, what's good and bad about "Goodness of God?"

Good Lyrics
I will admit, this is a well-written song. The instrumentation of the original is simple and folksy, adding to its obvious appeal. The song begins, “I love You, Lord, for Your mercy never fails me. All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands. From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God.” The chorus goes, “And all my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.” It's simple, praising, and easy to sing. I understand why this song is so popular.

Questionable Lyrics
Maybe not questionable, but the bridge is odd. It has that trademark Bethel feel to it, if you’re familiar with much of their music, and it doesn’t fit the rest of the song. The lyric goes, “Because your goodness is running after, it’s running after me,” and repeats that several times, also adding your goodness “keeps running after me.” Like I said, it’s odd.

As well as the unusual phrasing, the bridge goes way up in vocal range, and it loses the humble simplicity the rest of the song has. It feels less like corporate worship and more like it was written to showcase Jenn Johnson’s vocals (or CeCe Winans' vocals, in her case).

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. As one theologian has said, "Hillsong is a prosperity movement for millennials," and "The theology of Bethel Church actually detracts from the gospel of Jesus Christ." They may have a worship song or two that hits all the right chords (pun intended). But both Hillsong and Bethel are heretical in doctrine and practice. 

Hillsong has been plagued with sex abuse scandals since their founding, and Bethel had that horrible ordeal back in 2019 claiming they could raise a dead little girl back to life again. And again, Ed Cash has been a cult leader. Why did it take until Christianity Today and The Atlantic exposed his cult for him to leave? I have not been able to figure out where he's settled since his cult days, except for founding the band We the Kingdom. 

We the Kingdom was led by Cash's daughter Franni Rae Cash Cain. According to The Tennessean, Franni Rae "left the band in 2023 and took off for California with her husband and collaborator Austin Cain in search of herself." She since launched a solo career under the name Franni Cash and toured this year with Brandon Lake. (I'll come back to him in a moment.)

I listened to a couple of her songs, artistically mediocre and lyrically critical of her experience growing up in church. (I cannot imagine why!) One of the songs is called "Koolaid," taken from the phrase "drinking the Koolaid," which is a reference to the Jim Jones cult in the 1970s.

The song starts, "I used to sit down in the basement taking in every word he was saying. Now that I'm older I am over all the play pretend facade." Sitting in the basement listening to what the preacher was saying? That wasn't my church experience. Was it yours?

Now, Franni Rae is her own woman making her own choices. But consider the culture she grew up in. She was the lead singer of a Grammy and Dove Award winning praise band with her dad, who has written some of the most well-known praise songs. She has been on the inside of the Christian music industry, and her review of that experience, according to her lyrics, is really disparaging.

2) "Holy Forever" written by Chris Tomlin, Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jason Ingram, and Phil Wickham
Yes, the first and second most popular praise songs right now are co-written by Brian and Jenn Johnson of Bethel Church. You can find versions of the song sung by Bethel, but this is more widely regarded as a Chris Tomlin song. It soared in popularity after being sung at Charlie Kirk's memorial service held in Phoenix last month, and it has become one of the most streamed songs in any genre of music ever since.

"Holy Forever" was brand new when I last did this review and had not yet appeared on the top of the CCLI charts. It was released on Chris Tomlin's album "Always" which came out in September of 2022, and he performed it on the Kelly Clarkson Show. In addition to Bethel Church, other artists he sings with on the album include Brandon Lake and Elevation Worship.

Good Lyrics
The song really was a good fit for Charlie Kirk's memorial. It begins, "A thousand generations falling down in worship to sing the song of ages to the Lamb. And all who've gone before us, and all who will believe, will sing the song of ages to the Lamb."

The song then shifts to sing directly to the Savior: "Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest, your name stands above them all." Though they say your name is the highest and greatest, the name of Jesus Christ is actually never sung in this song. I'm not saying that to be critical. It just seems like an odd decision.

The chorus is of course the most amazing part: "And the angels cry holy, all creation cries holy, you are lifted high, holy, holy forever." Whether it's a verse or a bridge or the chorus, every bit of this song is catchy and singable.

Questionable Lyrics
None. It is indeed a great song. My kids love this song, and I don't discourage them from singing it. However...

Should the song be sung in your church?
I wouldn't encourage you to. And we don't sing it in ours. Why, you may ask, shouldn't you sing this song in your church? This is one of the more difficult aspects of doing this review and giving this counsel. I know these songs are popular. I know they may stir you to worship and move you to tears. But many of these songs are written by heretics, and they make these songwriters a lot of money.

Bethel Church has outright said they use their music to draw people into their church. Their songs are the primary tool they use to evangelize. And what they evangelize people into is heresy. It is not the truth of Jesus Christ—it is an immitation of Christ. It's a lie. It's a trick. Remember, Bethel uses all kinds of schemey ways to fool people into thinking they have summoned the Holy Spirit. They use music to draw people into their theological system and enlarge their camp.

After the Charlie Kirk memorial service, I kept hearing about how these musicians—including Tomlin, Lake, and Wickham—were all so brave for leading worship there. They risked being ostracized for associating with Charlie and Donald Trump and many of the other controversial figures that spoke just to minister to this grieving crowd.

I beg to differ. I don't think these musicians are brave at all. (Incidentally, I doubt any musician's reputation was hurt by appearing at the Charlie Kirk memorial serivice. That was an opportunity and a privilege, not a risk.) If these musicians were truly brave, they'd be calling out heresy and standing on the truth. Chris Tomlin wouldn't be performing for Joyce Meyer and Steven Furtick, as he does—he would be calling out their false teaching. That would truly be brave.

But he's not going to. Why? Because his theology is just as false as theirs. He benefits from singing with Bethel Church, Hillsong, and Elevation, and he's not going to compromise that professional relationship, or he would have said something by now.

Like "Holy Forever," most popular praise songs, even the ones sung by heretics, are not going to have outlandishly false lyrics. As Justin Peters has said, most of these songs will pass a basic doctrinal smell test. They know if it doesn't, most churches won't sing them. When your church sings these songs, it's like a stamp of approval that the churches from which these songs come are okay. And that is dangerous.

3) "Praise" by Brandon Lake, Chandler Moore, Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Pat Barrett, and Steven Furtick
That's right, the infamous Steven Furtick—the man who once preached, "I am God almighty." Just last week, he had a video go viral giving a man from his congregation a piggy-back ride during a sermon. I've covered Furtick many times. He's a hype man, not a preacher. He's a prosperity theology hack who wears $2000 sweaters, $1700 jackets, and $1000 shoes while he preaches. He's boasted before about how much money he makes and how much he has given.

Any of the music performed by Elevation Worship comes from Steven Furtick's Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. Along with Hillsong and Bethel Church, Elevation is one of the big three producing the most praise and worship songs you may hear played on K-Love and sung in most churches. This is also a team-up with the band Maverick City out of Atlanta, GA. The song is simple, high energy, rhythm driven, and gets people clapping.

Good Lyrics
I really like the lyrics of this song. The first verse goes, "I'll praise in the valley, praise on the mountain. I'll praise when I'm sure, praise when I'm doubting" (though I would think praising God would cure you of any doubting). The second verse goes, "I'll praise when I feel it, I'll praise when I don't. I'll praise 'cause I know you're still in control." 

Questionable Lyrics
The chorus is not great. It's just the line, "Praise the Lord, oh my soul," sung over and over again. But like the last two songs, there's really nothing questionable here on the surface. However, the second verse goes like this: "My praise is a weapon, it's more than a sound. My praise is the shout that brings Jericho down."

The praise music from Elevation Worship is not the shout that brings Jericho down. Their pastor Steven Furtick is a false teacher who is not leading his people in the truth. He's said things like, "Even Jesus cannot override your unbelief." And "Whatever God is, you are, too." He has said that unless you have doubts about God, you are being unbiblical.

Though Elevation Church's website has a statement of faith that appears Trinitarian, Furtick has preached things about Christ that are modalist—meaning that he doesn't really believe God is one God, three persons, but that He's one God with three forms. He explicitly said that when Jesus left His disciples, He didn't really leave them, He just changed forms. That's the modalist heresy. (Furtick's mentor and the preacher he has said he most wants to be like is T.D. Jakes, who is infamously modalist.)

So no, the praise of Elevation Worship is not going to bring down the walls of Jericho. Does their preacher even know who God is?

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. Now someone may ask the question, "Brother Gabe, if we're not supposed to be singing songs that have been written by heretics, then what about old hymns that were written by heretics?"

Well if you know that someone who wrote a hymn was actually heretical, and you're convicted to not sing it, then maybe you shouldn't. But who thinks about that? Most of the authors of these classic hymns have been dead a long time. Who's looking into their theology and being led astray by them? Again, these modern songs by these false teachers are the hooks they use to draw people in. Don't be ensnared by them, and don't let someone else get hooked by them either.

Note that the question is specifically, "Should the song be sung in your church?" For corporate worship, these songs do not belong. If you want to listen to it at home or in the car and sing along, that's between you and God. There's probably all kinds of stuff you listen to recreationally that's not fit for Sunday morning worship in the body of Christ. If you really want to listen to these songs, keep them in that category and out of your church.

4) "Gratitude" by Brandon Lake, Benjamin Hastings, and Dante Bowe
This song was released in 2020 when Brandon Lake was with Bethel Music. There's a version of it that was recorded live at Bethel Church. The music video of that song is 13 minutes long. That's right, a 13-minute version a song that takes less than 4 minutes to sing all the way through. "Gratitude" was co-written with Dante Bowe of Maverick City and Ben Hastings of Hillsong.

Good Lyrics
Though the song is called "Gratitude," that word is sung only once in the first verse. The song begins, "All my words fall short, I got nothing new. How could I express all my gratitude. I could sing these songs as I often do, but every song must end, and you never do."

Questionable Lyrics
The chorus goes like this: "So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again, 'cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. And I know it's not much, but I've nothing else fit for a king except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah."

Here's the problem with this, and the song admits to it: "I know it's not much." The attitude of this song is not reflected anywhere in the Bible. No where in the Psalms does David say anything like, "God, all I can do here is just sing Hallelujah. I got nothing else." The song sounds humble and moving, but it's really vapid and rather unmotivating.

Read Psalm 13 or 42 or 139. Do David and the Sons of Korah ever sound like, "You know, I've got nothing but to just sit here and sing 'hallelujah'"? This is soft and passive theology that at its heart is more self-glorifying than God-glorifying. It's got the feels, and not much more than that.

Should you sing this song in your church?
No. Brandon Lake has an incredible voice. There's no question about his talent. It's a shame that it's not being put to better use. His theology is terrible. He's been so heavily influenced by the pragmatism and softness of the modern American church, he doesn't even know what church is for.

Earlier this year, Lake was on Bryce Crawford's podcast saying that churches should not be singing songs like "Holy Holy Holy" because unbelievers might come in, and they don't understand what those lyrics mean. Well church is not for unbelievers. Church is for the people of God to praise God. If an unbeliever comes in and doesn't understand what's going on, there's a reason for that. He's not a Christian. Take some time afterward to share the gospel with them, and by the grace of God they will be cut to the heart and come to faith.

Lake just received the Dove Award for Song of the Year for his song "Hard Fought Hallelujah," a duet with country music bad boy Jelly Roll. He also sang the song with Jelly Roll at the Dove Awards. Jelly Roll has been in an open adulterous marriage with his sex worker wife who hosts a perverse podcast, and she's putting out a book where she's naked on the cover.

This is who Lake performs with. This is who the Dove Awards let perform at their show and they gave an award to. Does this man even understand what holiness is? Does holiness not matter to the people who organize and hand out the Dove Awards? You don't think platforming an unconverted heathen like Jelly Roll is going to lead people into sin?

Rather than "Gratitude," consider instead hymns like "Be Still My Soul" or "I Need Thee Every Hour" or a song I consider to be vastly underappreciated, "How Can I Keep from Singing" by Robert Lowry. Or find music to the psalms I mentioned above. They fill the same kind of space a song like "Gratitude" might be sung in but with much deeper theology.

5) "Great Are You Lord" written by David Leonard, Jason Ingram, and Leslie Jordan
This song was recorded over 12 years ago by the now defunct band All Sons and Daughters, made up of Leonard and Jordan. (I've shared this random fact before, but in case you're new to this article, I'll share it again. In 2012 while in Franklin, TN, I sat in on a writing session with All Sons and Daughters and threw out a line for the song they were working on, which they liked and began singing in their song. But I don’t remember what song it was. There’s a very remote possibility I’m a co-writer on this song.)

Good Lyrics
The very breath of God has been given to us who are created in His image. So I like the line, “It’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise.” All Sons and Daughters like to sing those two-phrase repetitive choruses, so you get to sing, “It’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise”—a lot. You sing it more often than “Great are you Lord.” The title of the song should have been, “It’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise.”

Questionable Lyrics
None.

Should the song be sung in your church?
It’s up to you, but I wouldn’t (yes, despite that remote possibility that I may have contributed a line to the song). All Sons and Daughters ran in circles that included Hillsong and Bethel. The band broke up in 2018 after Leslie and her husband, Thomas, left the church in which All Sons and Daughters was formed. Leonard and Jordan couldn’t come to an agreement on the future of the band (this isn’t gossip—they made all of this public online). 

Personally, I wondered if the Jordans’ theology changed, and that’s why they left their church unable to remain under such messed-up teaching. I discovered Leslie went on to found a songwriting forum called “The Fold,” and the first quote on their website is from panentheist heretic and universalist Richard Rohr. God help us, it is so heartbreaking how bad the theology is among the most popular Christian songwriters. Of course, that very well could be why they're popular.

6) "Trust in God" by Brandon Lake, Chris Brown, Mitch Wong, and Steven Furtick
This is another song that was performed at Charlie Kirk's memorial, led by Brandon Lake. Among the other writers on this song, Chris Brown is one of the lead singers with Elevation Worship, Mitch Wong is a songwriter and worship leader residing in Nashville, and Furtick I've already mentioned.

Now this song should have Fanny Crosby among the writing credits, because lines have been directly lifted from her classic hymn "Blessed Assurance." Among those lyrics are, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine," "Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood;" "Perfect submission, all is at rest;" and "This is my story, this is my song." That's four lines. Why isn't she credited as a writer? Furtick gets a credit, but she doesn't?

Good Lyrics
The first line is great: "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. He's been my fourth man in the fire time after time." I like the line in the second verse, "I know the Author of tomorrow has ordered my steps." It's true. But I don't know that these writers actually understand what that means.

Questionable Lyrics
There's nothing questionable. But that line in the bridge just gets repeated so many times, it's monotonous: "I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered." Amen. But sing that just a few times, not fifty times. If you think I'm exaggerating, the Elevation Worship music video of this song is over 9 minutes long, and most of it is singing that line over and over again.

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. Sing "Blessed Assurance" instead.

7) "Firm Foundation (He Won't)" by Cody Carnes, Chandler Moore, and Austin Davis
Cody Carnes is husband to Kari Jobe, who was the worship leader at pastor Robert Morris's church in Dallas, TX. As I shared on my podcast this week, Morris is currently in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl for years. Chandler Moore is a member of Maverick City and sings with Carnes on the song, and Austin Davis is a songwriter and producer.

Good Lyrics
I liked the way the song began: "Christ is my firm foundation, the Rock on which I stand, when everything around me is shaken, I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus."

Questionable Lyrics
I didn't care for this line: "I've still got joy in chaos. I've got peace that makes no sense." The Bible specifically says that in Christ Jesus, we have peace that surpasses all understanding guarding our hearts and our minds (Philippians 4:7). That's not peace that makes no sense. It means that it's beyond what we could have hoped for or imagined. It is peace of the highest possible kind. It's peace with God, as we are no longer under His wrath but in His mercy and love.

Though the chorus isn't questionable, there's just nothing to it. The singer sings, "He won't, He won't, He won't fai-ai-ai-ai-ail." This really isn't a good corporate worship song.

Should this song be sung in your church?
It's not very singable. I don't think your church would want to.

8) “Build My Life” written by Brett Younker, Karl Martin, Kirby Kaple, Matt Redman, and Pat Barrett
The first time I heard this song, it was performed by Michael W. Smith, and there’s a version that also features Chris Tomlin. Aside from how many names are on the song or how many people have recorded it, the original version belonged to Pat Barrett, former lead singer of the band Housefires based out of Atlanta. He's also written songs like "Good Good Father" made popular by Chris Tomlin.

Good Lyrics
All of the lyrics to this song are good. For the first verse, we sing: “Worthy of every song we could ever sing; worthy of all the praise we could ever bring; worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you.” The chorus goes, “Holy, there is no one like you; there is none beside you; open up my eyes in wonder.” It's lazy in my opinion that the second verse is exactly the first verse. With 5 songwriters on this song, they couldn’t have written another verse?

Questionable Lyrics
None.

Should the song be sung in your church?
I wouldn’t, but it’s up to you. Housefires is part of the same movement that includes Hillsong and Bethel, and musicians with Housefires are also part of Maverick City. Patt Barrett has a version of this song in which he sings with Bethel music’s Cory Asbury, and Bethel has released several of their own recordings of this song. (You get the impression that all of these praise and worship songs are by the same network of people, right?)

As I said earlier, it’s one thing to sing a song like this in your car or play it as background music in your home—it’s something else to make it a congregational worship song in your church.

9) "I Thank God" written by Brett Younker, Karl Martin, Kirby Kaple, Matt Redman, and Pat Barrett
This is another song from Housefires and Maverick City. It's interesting to see Matt Redman's name appear in this list (twice now) as he's a contemporary worship veteran like Chris Tomlin. I've liked several of Redman's songs, but even his theology is as questionable as everyone else's on this list. Redman wrote the forward to one of Steven Furtick's books.

Good Lyrics
I like this line in the chorus: "He healed my heart and changed my name, forever free I am not the same. I thank the Master, I thank the Savior, I thank God." Surprisingly, this song mentions "hell" in the bridge: "Hell lost another one, I am free."

I will add that this line made me chuckle: "I cannot deny what I've seen, got no choice but to believe." Doctrinally, this crowd of songwriters is very free-will and semi-pelagian. They would challenge the understanding that faith comes not from ourselves but is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). And yet here they are singing, "I've got no choice but to believe."

The next line goes, "My doubts are burning, oh, like ashes in the wind." As I said previously about Steven Furtick, who is a co-writer with many of these guys, he has said that faith without doubt is not real faith. And here one of his bands is singing, "My doubts are burning away."

Questionable Lyrics
None. But like with many of the other songs I've reviewed on this list, even this song can get really repetitive. The main video for this song is 8-9 minutes long because there's a bridge with just a few words that get sung over and over again: "Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave." 

Should the song be sung in your church?
Same as the previous answers I've given. When I first pulled up the video to listen to this song, I did not recognize it. Then when it hit the chorus, I realized I did know this song. It does not have the feel of a corporate worship song. It sounds like a song someone would put on their contemporary Christian pop album. It doesn't really work for congregational singing. Instead, sing something like "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" or "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

10) “What a Beautiful Name” written by Ben Fielding and Brooke Ligertwood
Like "The Goodness of God," this is a very popular song with perhaps a billion views among all its covers on YouTube. It was first released in 2017 on Hillsong’s 25th live album Let There Be Light, and it was that year's Dove Award winning song of the year. Now 8 years later, this is still one of the most popular worship songs in the world. There’s a version of the song that includes Michael W. Smith’s "Agnus Dei," which is a nice generational touch, especially for fans of 90s Contemporary Christian Music (CCM).

Good Lyrics
What could be wrong with singing of the beauty of the name of Jesus? In the bridge of the song, we hear, “Death could not hold you, the veil tore before you, you silence the boast of sin and grave. The heavens are roaring, the praise of your glory, for you are raised to life again.”

Questionable Lyrics
I don’t understand what this means: “You didn’t want heaven without us; So Jesus, you brought heaven down.” This has an air of saying, “Heaven wouldn’t be heaven without us.” Heaven is heaven for one reason and one reason only—God is there. To say God didn’t want to dwell with Himself for all eternity (contrary to John 17:5) means heaven was lonely and incomplete until we arrived. Maybe you don’t interpret the phrase that way, but where in the Bible could you point to and say, “God didn’t want heaven without us”?

Should the song be sung in your church?
Setting aside that this is another tune from Hillsong, there are much better songs to pick from. It is frustrating how much of this list is associated with Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation Churches, the big three in turning out catchy praise songs and heretical teaching. This is a pretty good barometer as to the state of American evangelicalism.

Concluding Thoughts
Earlier this year, Billboard magazine declared, "Christian music is making a serious comeback." It does not seem the news of Michael Tait has done much to affect Christian music's popularity, and the industry appears to have reverted back to business as usual.

Even if the Tait scandal had not happened, that does not change how theologically soft and empty these top worship songs are, or how heretical the artists are who sing them. The popularity of these songs is reflective of many of the people who love and consume this music. They also love the teaching that is behind it.

As read in 2 Timothy 4:3, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." When a church embraces more solid theology, it will sing more theologically solid songs—pleasing to God and His people.