{"id":20321,"date":"2018-09-23T19:09:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T19:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=20321"},"modified":"2019-02-18T19:18:04","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T19:18:04","slug":"the-story-behind-how-he-loves-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=20321","title":{"rendered":"The Story Behind &#8220;How He Loves Us&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-20325\" src=\"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me-obxyydjs-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me-obxyydjs-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me-obxyydjs-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me-obxyydjs-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me-obxyydjs.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5L4FbKbyIeA?rel=0\" width=\"900\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHow He Loves\u201d is a song by independent artist <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.johnmarkmcmillan.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Mark McMillan<\/a><\/span> for his second studio album, The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">McMillan wrote \u201cHow He Loves&#8221; following the death of his best friend, Stephen Coffey. Coffey was a youth minister for MorningStar Ministries.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On November 1, 2002, during a church prayer meeting, Coffey prayed out loud:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I\u2019d give my life today if it would shake the youth of the nation.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That very night, he was in a multi-car accident and died of serious injuries.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Meanwhile, McMillan was recording in a studio in Jacksonville, Florida when he received a call that two of his friends had been critically injured in a car accident. Later that evening, he received another call from his father who informed McMillan that Coffey had died.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The next day, McMillan wrote \u201cHow He Loves\u201d as a tribute to Coffey and out of a need \u201cto have some sort of conversation with God\u201d where he could speak to his frustrations and emotions over his best friend&#8217;s death.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to McMillan, the love that he&#8217;s singing about in \u201cHow He Loves\u201d is not a pretty, \u201cHollywood hot-pink\u201d love. It is a kind of love that is willing to love even when things are difficult and messy.<\/p>\n<p>He says,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This song isn&#8217;t a celebration of weakness and anger. It\u2019s a celebration of a God who would want to hang with us through those things, who would want to be a part of our lives through those things, and, despite who we are, He would want to be a part of us, our community, and our family.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How He Loves Us<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">He is jealous for me<br \/>\nLoves like a hurricane, I am a tree<br \/>\nBending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">When all of a sudden<br \/>\nI am unaware of these afflications eclipsed by glory<br \/>\nAnd I realize just how beautiful you are<br \/>\nAnd how great your affections are for me<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And oh, how he loves us so<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nHow he loves us so<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">He is jealous for me<br \/>\nLoves like a hurricane, I am a tree<br \/>\nBending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">When all of a sudden<br \/>\nI am unaware of these afflications eclipsed by glory<br \/>\nAnd I realize just how beautiful you are<br \/>\nAnd how great you affections are for me<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And oh, how he loves us so<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nHow he loves us so<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Yeah he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves<br \/>\nYeah he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">We are his portion<br \/>\nAnd he is our prize<br \/>\nDrawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes<br \/>\nIf grace is an ocean we&#8217;re all sinkin&#8217; (haha)<br \/>\nSo heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss<br \/>\nAnd my heart turns violently inside of my chest<br \/>\nI don&#8217;t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">He loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves<br \/>\nYeah he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves Yeah yeah!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Yeah yeah yeah<br \/>\nYeah yeah yeah<br \/>\nYeah yeah yeah<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Yeah he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves us<br \/>\nOh how he loves Yeah yeah!<br \/>\nYeah he loves us<br \/>\nHe loves us<br \/>\nHe loves us<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2018 <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/bethel.tv-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethel Music<\/a>&#8211;<a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCaUxeoBH5mI1VsBy_yGnmZw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrewgriggsmusic<\/a><\/span>-All rights reserved<\/p>\n<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-bottom-left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F20321&print=pdf\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf\" target=\"_blank\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/pdf.png\" alt=\"image_pdf\" title=\"View PDF\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F20321&print=print\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_blank\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHow He Loves\u201d is a song by independent artist John Mark McMillan for his second studio album, The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down. McMillan wrote \u201cHow He Loves&#8221; following the death of his best friend, Stephen Coffey. Coffey was a youth minister for MorningStar Ministries. On November 1, 2002, during a church prayer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-worship","7":"wp-image-borders","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bgnN-5hL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20321"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20928,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321\/revisions\/20928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}