Housefires (Feat. Kirby Kaple) – I’ll Give Thanks

Housefires is another church-led organization band, much like Hillsong, Elevation Worship, and Bethel Music.  Formerly known as Grace Midtown, Housefires formed in 2014 and released five albums and one EP, including:

• Housefires (2014)
• Housefires II (2014)
• Housefires III (2016)
• We Say Yes (2017)
• Housefires V (2019)
• Housefires + Friends (Live) (EP, 2020)

Also, check out my reviews of Build My Life and Good Good Father.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Housefires-ill-give-thanks-live-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Housefires sings about God’s lovingkindness, provision, and constant faithfulness.  He knows what we need while we have ample opportunities to respond to God with trust and gratitude.  Upon reflecting on these truths, Housefires wonders why they worry about things.

My chief complaint is the Word of Faith movement proclaimed throughout these lyrics.  While I admire Housefire’s child-like faith, trust that God has the power to heal, transform, and rescue, claiming to know God will say “yes” or “yes but not now” is presumptuous.  Sometimes what we need is for God to say no.  This could be easily rectified with a statement like “Even if you don’t, I will trust”.  This places Housefires at the feet of God, entrusting Him with the outcome.  While not Housefire’s main focus, this idea is repeated several times.

Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, Bridge repeats four lines four times (with a few variant comments) while Refrain repeats the same phrase twelve times (again with variant comments).

Score: 7/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

While the majority of this song aligns with God’s inspired Word, there is also trust that God will guarantee their escape from struggles, presenting several Word of Faith thoughts that don’t agree with the Bible.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: The only reference I could find where God sings over Housefires is in Zephaniah 3:17.

Lines 2-4: God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Lines 5-10: Essentially repeats lines 1-4.

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1-3: Every moment Housefires lives, they are given an opportunity to trust God (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Lines 4-6: Housefires is presently experiencing hardship.  While moving mountains is Biblical and shows God’s goodness (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, and Mark 11:23), the expectation shown in these lyrics is to trust that God will perform a miracle instead of trusting that God knows what’s best for us, even if that requires sustained hardship to better our character (Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 12:4-11, and James 1:2-4).

Side Note: Some iterations of Pre-Chorus contains calls to Casper the friendly ghost.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-4: God is Housefire’s portion.  He is more than enough for them (Numbers 18:20, Deuteronomy 10:9, Deuteronomy 18:2, Joshua 13:33, Psalm 16:5, Psalm 23:5, Psalm 73:26, Psalm 142:5, Psalm 119:57, Psalm 142:5, Lamentations 3:24, and Ezekiel 44:28).  While I agree that God knows what Housefires needs, I wonder if Housefires would agree that sometimes, they need trials and tribulations (See commentary on Pre-Chorus, lines 4-6)?

Lines 5-9: Essentially repeats lines 1-4.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-4: While I admire Housefire’s faith, that God will grant them their request, sometimes God says no like He did to Paul (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).  If that is the case, then Housefires believes in vain. In contrast, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted that God had the power to rescue them, but admitted that He may not.  They trusted God regardless of outcome (Daniel 3:16-18).  Also, see commentary on Pre-Chorus, lines 4-6.  Besides, didn’t Housefires claim in Pre-Chorus that they know “God will move mountains”?  It seems part of their future is clear, presenting a potential contradiction.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-4: Housefires questions their reasons for worrying when scripture teaches them to cast their anxiety onto God (Psalm 37:5, Psalm 55:22, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6, and 1 Peter 5:7) and to entrust God with their needs (see Chorus, line 4).

Lines 5-19: Essentially repeats lines 1-4.

[Spontaneous]

Lines 1 and 2: Essentially repeats Chorus, line 4.

Line 3: Borrowed from Matthew 6:8, which alludes to God’s omniscience (1 Kings 8:39, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 44:21, Psalm 139:4, Psalm 147:4-5, Isaiah 40:28, Matthew 10:30, John 16:30, John 21:17, Acts 1:24, Hebrews 4:13, and 1 John 3:20).

Lines 4-6: See commentary on Verse 2.

[Refrain]

Line 1: Of course God doesn’t worry!  He knows all things (see commentary on Spontaneous, line 3).  If we trust Him, this should be reason enough to follow suit (see Bridge, lines 1-4).

Lines 2-12: Essentially repeats line 1.

[Outro]

Lines 1-4: Essentially repeats Chorus, lines 3 and 4.

Score: 7/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Housefires references God, His omniscience, and His faithfulness, leading unbelievers to conclude deity. Based on the lyrics alone, it’s not clear which god Housefires references. Still, their everyday language makes it easy for unbelievers to think that Housefires trusts God with their lives.

I’ve written several reviews criticizing Word of Faith in song lyrics and how it might lead unbelievers astray.  Unfortunately, this song is another example.  I’ve talked with many people who walked away from Christianity because of Word of Faith.  They prayed with all the faith they could muster up, that God would heal them or their loved one.  It didn’t happen.  Why?  “Because you didn’t have enough faith”, they were told.  It’s hard for unbelievers who have similar experiences not to see this song as anything other than “If you have enough faith, then whatever you ask, it will happen.”

Score: 5/10

4. What does this song glorify?

While it glorifies God that Housefires proclaims His faithfulness, that He knows our needs, and our gratuitous response, it makes several Word of Faith proclamations that significantly compromise this message.

Score: 7/10

Closing Comments

Housefires’ I’ll Give Thanks is a mixed bag.  While I applaud its message of God’s lovingkindness, provision, and constant faithfulness, that He knows what we need before we can ask, I cannot ignore its several instances where Word of Faith is presented.  This can potentilly lead unbelievers down the wrong path, trusting that God will guarantee their requests are granted.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 6.5/10

Artist Info

Track: I’ll Give Thanks (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: Housefires (Feat. Kirby Kaple)

Album: Housefires V (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2019

Duration: 8:57

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

03/20/2022 – Rescored to align with similar reviews and changed language to reflect “potential misleading” instead of “likely misleading”.  This increased the song’s overall score from 5/10 to 6.5/10.

11/04/2021 – Removed two albums from Intro section.  Thanks to Tyeisha for correcting me!