Ahead of the release of the deluxe version of 2023 album Skeleton Psalms April 25th, Disciple have released a new version of Resurrecting Reasons featuring TJ Harris of Decyfer Down. According to the band, “‘Resurrecting Reasons’ is a song born out of the discovery of God’s faithfulness in our darkest and most undeserving times. The song musically hearkens back to a vintage Disciple sound, delivering a more organic offering to our fans. For the deluxe edition we have sought out the talents of one of our favorite singers and longtime friend, TJ Harris from Decyfer Down as a featured vocalist.”
Courtesy of Big Machine Agency, we connected with Disciple front man Kevin Young to delve a little deeper into the song.
How did this new version of Resurrecting Reasons with TJ Harris come about? What was it like working with TJ, and what unique quality does TJ bring to the table?
Josiah had some great ideas about doing some different things for the Deluxe edition, and one of them was to bring in a feature for a song we had already done. “Resurrecting Reasons” is one of my favorite Disciple songs that we’ve ever done, so I thought about re-doing that one. I don’t really remember who had the idea for TJ, but I’m going to say it was me. I’ve been a fan of his voice for as long as I can remember. Something that also happens with bands is that as we live with the mix of songs for a little while, we always wish we could go back in time and change some things. There were always some things with my voice and with the guitars that I wanted to go back and change; like take some of the “buzziness” out of the guitars and vocals and clean them up. It really matched up well with TJ’s clean, southern voice. We knew it would be good with TJ, but we didn’t know it was going to be as good as it turned out. He knocked it out of the park.
Can you detail a moment where God has really resurrected reasons to keep resurrecting Jesus in your own life?
I would say over time I allowed small things to become things in my life. There is this deception as Christians that when we are struggling to just hold it in, and maybe pray about it, but definitely don’t tell anyone else. But that only leads to us living life in duality, and never letting anyone see our true self. It requires a massive amount of vulnerability and courage. Verses like James 5:16 where it says “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed,” are so important. We forget that walking with Christ is “walking in community.” We need each other. We need people we can trust that we can be our true selves with. Someone that can talk to us before a little thing becomes a big thing. Someone that can love us no matter what we confess. Without that relationship in place, I felt my relationship with Jesus slowly die, and while my beliefs in HIm maybe didn’t change, my actions about those beliefs certainly did. I found myself in a place of hopelessness and desperation and honestly trapped, believing there was no way out. But with the help of my family and friends I was able to be honest with them and really start over. The starting over was where Jesus was resurrected in me. I had to be willing to be born again “again”….. and forget everything I knew and really change almost everything about how I viewed the world and what it meant to live as a follower of Jesus.
What would you say to someone who knows Jesus is the answer, but just can’t see out of the black hole of despair they’re in right now?
I would tell them to surround themselves with people that love them. Voices in our head get loud in loneliness, and they almost never say anything good. I’ve also found the blessing of pain. One of the symptoms of leprosy is that they can’t feel pain. So if their hand was burning they had no way of knowing they needed to move their hand because they couldn’t feel pain. No one views pain as a blessing until you’re forced to live without it. Pain signals to us that something is wrong, and some kind of movement needs to take place. Navigating “black holes of despair” usually involves some kind of emotional trauma or pain. Knowing how to move in these moments in life usually takes being open and honest with people. And even when the people around you aren’t that great… just hearing yourself say some things out loud can sometimes give you the direction that you need; getting it out of your head and speaking it out loud so you can hear and process what you’re thinking. There is also a good kind of pain too though. Exercise can be extremely painful, but your body heals from it and then becomes stronger. James 1:2-4 paints this picture for us “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Did you see that part there.. “Let perseverance finish its work.” Sometimes we have to let the pain finish its work. If we try to escape the pain it can lead to all sorts of insanity. But sometimes letting grief, trials, and tough times (which honestly feels a lot like depression, desperation, etc)… letting those things finish their work leads to a stronger, more mature version of ourselves. Again, I think walking through those times with someone else makes all the difference in the world.
Stream Resurrecting Reasons ft. TJ Harris | Plug in to Disciple