If you know me, you know I believe Father God rejoices over me with singing. I believe He surrounds me with songs of deliverance. Today’s teaching is a prime example of the way in which He does that for me. I’d like to share the story behind a song of deliverance I heard Father sing over me way back in 1997. That song is called Wounded Soldier.
Wounded Soldier, as the title implies, was born out of a time of great personal wounding that took place in my life. Reality is that life is full of such moments. We have all been wounded by angry outbursts hurled our way. We have all been disillusioned when someone we trust has let us down, or in some way, betrayed us. As believers in and followers of Christ, we have all had moments when we have been mocked or belittled or silenced in some way simply because of our faith in Christ. It is one thing to be wounded by those who see us as the enemy…and quite another to be wounded in the name of Christ by those we assumed were fellow followers of Christ.
The story behind Wounded Soldier is quite straight forward. In 1997, I was invited to lead worship for a statewide denominational event. I was ecstatic because it was one of the first times I was being embraced publicly by the denomination in which I was raised. I felt affirmed and accepted and loved at the invitation and immediately accepted it. All the plans were in place. All the promotion and marketing covered the entire state. Many churches in this denomination had begun using my music and I couldn’t wait to lead the worship sessions for the gathering. Thousands were expected to attend. This was literally a dream-come-true moment for me.
But that dream was shattered in a devastating way. Literally two weeks before the event, I received a letter notifying me that I had been uninvited. The reason for being uninvited? We were told that the local denominational association - 43 churches - had sent a letter to the leadership of the event informing them that “If Dennis Jernigan takes part in the event, all 43 churches in the association would not be attending the event.”
My manager asked for a copy of that letter…and, believe it or not, the event coordinator sent us a copy. The gist of the letter expressed three major concerns:
1 Dennis Jernigan has questionable beliefs about the Holy Spirit. He believes the gifts of the Holy Spirit did not pass away and he believes that speaking in tongues is a valid manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Basically, their great concern was that I was charismatic.
2 Dennis Jernigan actively proselytizes from other local churches and seeks to divide the body of Christ.
3 The personal testimony of Dennis Jernigan’s deliverance is not acceptable, appropriate, or needed.
First of all, I do believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit but would never pressure anyone to believe as I do nor would I ever judge anyone who did not believe as I do. Secondly, I have never sought to bring division to the body of Christ. Actually, one of the main focal points of my entire public ministry has been to bring the body of Christ together, regardless of denomination. Last, but certainly not least, I am commanded of the Lord to share my testimony…you know…that pesky little verse found in Psalm 107:1-2 that says we who have been redeemed are to ‘say so’…
That letter from the 43 churches was signed by three men. My pastor, worship leader, and I asked for a meeting with these three men. What enabled us to actually have this meeting was the fact that a friend of mine - a supporter of my ministry - happened to be a nationally recognized political leader whom everyone trusted to mediate the meeting.
To make a long story short, my three friends and I showed up at the meeting. I, having never personally met any of these men, introduced myself and immediately began to cry. I explained, through tears, that I had longed to be accepted by the denomination which had been a major part of my spiritual heritage. I told them I had never set out to bring division to the body of Christ…and I told them I felt I had been robbed of the opportunity to share my story with those who would be attending the conference and - by this time I was sobbing - I told them I felt they had effectively robbed those who needed to hear the story of my redemption of possibly finding freedom in Christ.
The room was so tense. I was an emotional mess. My political friend then asked how many of the 43 churches mentioned in the accusatory letter were actually in attendance of the meeting where this letter had been drafted. The three signers began to fidget nervously in their seats. My friend asked again, “How many of the 43 churches listed in the letter had actually been at the meeting when the letter was drafted and adopted?”
The main drafter of the letter said, “Just the three of us,” and the room grew very silent. After a few more very intense moments of silence, the leader of the letter-writing men looked at his watch and said nervously, “Oh, I forgot. I’ve got another meeting,” and ushered us out of his office. My three friends and I were stunned and very hurt.
It is one thing to be wounded by the enemy. It is entirely a different matter when you have to watch someone you love walk through a wounding moment. I was personally attacked concerning my faith – but my friends were also wounded in the process. What made the wounding so painful was that it came from people we thought were on our side.
Yet, if I’m completely honest, it seemed these Christian leaders were working for the enemy – deliberately trying to cause us to give up on our quest to lead others to wholeness and freedom in Christ. As I sought the Lord for my own woundings, I asked Him to let me hear Him sing a song of deliverance over my heart – and to let me heart what He was singing over my friends.
This song flowed from this time of intercession over the course of two cold and difficult days in November of 1997. I will say this with the benefit of hindsight and a kingdom point of view, that the healing I personally received through this song was worth the wounding I had to go through to receive it.
Luke 10:30-37 NASB, says, 30 Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 "And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 "But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on [them;] and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.' 36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' [hands?]" 37 And he said, "The one who showed compassion to him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same.”
In Psalm 32:7 we find that the Lord will surround us with songs of deliverance. In Zephaniah 3:17 we find that our Father God rejoices over us with singing. He binds up the broken-hearted. Let’s let Him bind up our broken hearts…and then let us go about being conduits of the healing power of God’s love to the wounded around us. Let’s bind up the broken-hearted God brings into our lives. And let’s be quick to forgive those who wound us.
Dennis Jernigan
Wounded Soldier
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
November 4-5, 1997
Verse
Wounded soldier on the ground
Broken, bleeding, beaten down
Feeling defeated. Feeling not needed.
Alone, abandoned on the battleground
Wounded soldier, faithful friend
Beaten down by those you defend
Your heart once open, now pierced and broken
Needing hope to rise again
Chorus
Let Me bind up every wound
Let Me comfort every pain
Let Me carry you to a place of rest, shelter from pouring rain
Let Me hold you. I can be right where you are
Let Me hold you in the shelter of My heart
When You’re weary from the battle and all hope just seems so far
Just remember I am with you faithfully guarding your heart
While the battle rages on I will hold you through the night
In the shadow of the cross I’ll be your Champion, fight your fight
Let Me hold you, I can be right where you are
Let Me hold you in the shelter of My heart
Verse
Wounded soldier, you’ll rise again
You can trust Me. I always win!
When you face harshness or total darkness
I’m ever watching, faithful to defend
Wounded soldier. Faithful one.
When you’re fallen I’ll help you run
With every testing I’ll bring you resting
And say to you, “My child, well done!”
Chorus
Let Me bind up every wound
Let Me comfort every pain
Let Me carry you to a place of rest, shelter from pouring rain
Let Me hold you. I can be right where you are
Let Me hold you in the shelter of My heart
When You’re weary from the battle and all hope just seems so far
Just remember I am with you faithfully guarding your heart
When you feel you can’t go on, you be weak and I’ll be strong
With the power of My strongest love from My heart’s deepest song
Let Me hold you, I can be right where you are
Let Me hold you in the shelter of My heart
To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and to hear the song, Wounded Soldier, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/wounded-soldier/
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/04/14/19/38/wood-3319865_1280.jpg
