The version of this song on the record is less than half as long as the
original version. In it's abbreviated form it's already four and a half
minutes so you're welcome for not torturing you with a nine-minute
history lesson. It would be helpful however to read about Martin
Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and the movements they headed up in
order to appreciate more fully what the point of the song is.

I hear people talk a lot about revival. There seem to be all kinds of
different formulas for it. However looking at two of the greatest
revivals in history as well as the establishment of the church the
answer seems simple. It is not the only important thing but it is the
central one. THE GOSPEL!!! Every true revival was the result of the
uncensored, unfiltered good news! Sadly we've gotten away from it
somehow and are afraid to share the real thing. So we water it down
and make it less offensive and by the time we're done making it
more palatable for the non believer It isn't the true gospel anymore.

Try this for me. Right now, out loud explain the gospel as you would
to someone who asked what it was. Just some food for thought.

I owe a great debt to Roger Wagner, a truly Godly man who sacrifices
of himself to come on the road and disciple us. One of his Bible studies
was about the book of Exodus where the Israelites are delivered
from Egypt by Moses and head for Canaan, the land of the promise.
To get there however, they have to pass through the wilderness, a
place of testing and hardship. In the same way we have been set free
from the place of bondage (sin) and are on our way to the land of
promise (heaven), but in the meantime we have to walk in the wilderness
where we too are tested and endure hardships, where not everything
makes sense. Some will turn back to Egypt and some will persevere.
Is God undair to expect so much from us? Let's not forget that
Christ Himself walked where we do now.

The meaning of this song is in the chorus which is taken from
an older hymn. It is as true as it was then.

Pandora's Box is an old fable about a box that contains all the evil in
the world which is opened by a girl named Pandora. Once opened,
there is no reversing the process of eveil being let out. How true this
is both personally and in our society. Nuclear war, for instance,
what started with one country having one bomb simply spun out of
control into enough nuclear weapens to blow up the world a dozen
times over or personally, once you start doing a certain sin which
before you didn't have a problem with, all of a sudden becomes a
gripping addiction. Fools we are for thinking we can mess around
with sin and stop anytime we want to.

Some of the younger listeners might not feel like it but life goes by
quickly. The uncertainty of the future could be frightening. The
Christian, however, has the comfort of knowing that we serve and all
powerful God who works all things together for good to those who love Him.

I wrote this song because I am very grateful for this ministry God has
given us. Ever since I was 11 years old my one burning, all consuming
desire was to play music. I didn't care about sports, girls, or anything
but listening to and playing music. What a great fulfillment a
dream can have when the thing it serves is greater that itself.

Try to imagine that you're dead. At that moment, you'd have a pretty
clear view about what really counts! Looking back at your life, what
are the things that have lasted after your life? What things do you
regret spending even a single precious moment on? Will you be glad
you got a fancy car? Will you be glad you were thin? That you had a
successful career? Or will the things that count in eternity be how
well you got to know God. How many lives you impacted and how you
treated other people. After al, hindsight is 20/20.

It's a little bit of a Bible study on the person and work of Jesus.
(Col. 1:15-17)