I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.
Today’s song is O God of Burning Cleansing Flame (Send the Fire) from 1994.
This one confused me because I saw it as a modern hymn, but it was written by Willam Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. But, in 1994, Lex Loizides updated the tune and slightly adapted the opening line to “O God of burning, cleansing flame”. Let’s see if I can find the older one:
I can only find a band playing it. Maybe I’ll try and sing along 😀.
Fire is often used as a metaphor in Scripture. Hell is depicted as a fire. Are we certain that it’s a literal fire? Well, whatever view you take, it seems clear that heaven is better than anything in this life, and hell is worse than anything in this life. I don’t need to know all the details of dying of cancer to want to avoid cancer. And I don’t need to know all the details of hell to want to avoid going to hell.
Some say that our view of hell is heavily influenced by medieval depictions, such as Dante’s Inferno. Then they swing the opposite way and think that God will simply destroy people or give them an opportunity to find some other way to heaven. But I don’t like to build my doctrine on speculation. Jesus spoke about hell more than anyone, and however you want to depict it, it’s not somewhere that you wanna end up in. Anytime something in the Bible displeases you, you can always find scholars who will help you to dismiss it. But you’ll also find scholars who won’t dismiss it, and who will defend the traditional view. I generally like to take things at face value rather than adopt some quirky view. I might sometimes listen to experts, but you’ll always find a range of opinions among experts. I can understand why issues are debated, but I don’t like the notion of building my doctrine on speculation and personal preferences. I’m not happy that God allowed the holocaust to happen in World War 2, but that doesn’t make me want to deny that it happened. I’d much sooner live with difficulties than reinvent history.
With respect to the afterlife, we’ll find the full truth when we die anyway. And God has made a guaranteed route to heaven for us. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. (Acts 16:31).
Fire is associated with punishment, but fire is also used as an illustration of power, purification and the presence of God.
Matthew 3:11 (John the Baptist speaking)
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Acts 2:1-3
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
So, we look for the fire of power. presence and purification as in Pentecost. I think of a couple of other purification songs:
And here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
