The Story Behind It

I didn't know if I would ever make another full length video, but inspiration struck one day as I listened to this song, 'Jesus, Only Jesus', and was overwhelmed by a message that I quickly wrote down:

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The Locations

The video starts with death. An uncomfortable amount of graveyard shots frame the beginning, as if to say "think about your own mortality." This intentionally starts the message on something we can all relate to, framing the first line in a deeper way.

"Who has the power to raise the dead?"

My Great Uncle Tony, lived to be 105, and is buried in the Žale Cemetary. He knew Jesus well, and prayed and read his bible every day until he passed. When he couldn't read anymore due to worsening eyesight, he asked someone to read the scriptures to him each morning. What beautiful faithfulness!

"Who can save us from our sins?"

Being in Berlin and learning about WWII history, the most striking thing to me was how it wasn't just one man who perpetrated evil - many had to join him in the rise of the Nazis, a sinister, slow-growing evil that looking back now is obvious, but then was a conscious choice for each. I believe all of our sins, even the most hidden of them, will be obvious as the sun someday.

Thus, the song begins with the two biggest problems everyone faces: our looming death and the weight of all our wrongdoing and sin.

"Who holds the keys that set us free?"

Our death and the weight of our sin bind us. Jesus alone can set us free. After the disciple Peter made the first confession of faith: "You are the Messiah (deliverer)" Jesus said he would give his disciple Peter "the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven", which you may notice Peter holding behind me in this shot!

"He paid it all to set us free"

The statue in the background is of Jan Hus (1369-1415), is considered the first Church reformer, who spoke out against the Church's asking people to pay money to reduce punishment for sins (money then used for funding the Crusades). For speaking out against the Church, Jan Hus was burned at the stake by the Church - a martyr for his insistence that Jesus "paid it all to set us free", in himself reflecting Jesus's death and murder by religious leaders in 30 AD.

"Who will command the highest praise?"

Among the artifacts and ruins of Egyptian and Greek gods in Vienna's Art History Museum, this question of the song finds a profound meaning. Even though the Egyptians commanded praise of their gods in front of the Israelites and the Greeks misattributed praise to their gods in front of the first missionaries of the early church, the people of God have stood for this principle throughout time - only one commands the highest praise; the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

"Holy King Almighty Lord"

The stunning palace grounds of Schönbrunn were a summer residence of the Habsburgs, who reigned in Europe for almost 400 years, ending in 1918. A symbol that every earthly reign comes to an end. In contrast Jesus, is called "King Almighty."

The prophet Daniel writes that to Jesus "was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."

The palaces of Potsdam serve as further images of earthly rule and reign and the blackened staircase railings show the wear of time on this palace. As the prophet Isaiah fortells of Jesus, he "brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness." Revelation says "all the angels...fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God." The Psalms cry, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!"

"I join with them and bow before"

Karlskirche (St. Charles's Church) is named after St. Charles Borromeo who founded the first seminaries and significantly reformed the Catholic Church in the 1500s. The angelic depictions are on the inside of the top dome, which we took an elevator up to see.

In one of the oldest accounts, God commands fear of Job by saying, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Who marked off its dimensions? Who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"

"Saints and angels all adore"

This church is where my grandparents were married, in 1955, who were some of the most humble, God-fearing influences on my life.

Ljubljana (pronounced Lube-lee-ah-na) is the capital city of Slovenia, where my great-grandparents were from.

"You stand alone, I stand amazed!"

Prague Castle holds the Guinness Book Record for the largest castle complex in the world. The emphasis with these amazing places is the worship of a God who is immeasurably more amazing than even the most amazing thrones, dominions, rulers, or authories on earth.

"He will command the highest praise!"

The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Germany and lies in the heart of Berlin. It was commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1788 to represent peace. Since then it has been the location of key historical events related to Napoleon, Hitler, and Ronald Reagan.

A castle dating back from 1175, just a half hour drive from my relatives' house in northern Austria.

The cross image was formed by looking upward out of the Jewish Museum's "Garden of Exile" and represents looking out of a world from which we are all strangers and foreigners to one that is above or beyond. The eye opening represents the soul's opening, surrender, and willingness to go beyond its own knowledge to catch a glimpse of its true home in the presence of God.

"All hail Redeemer, hail!"

"For he has died for me..."

This shot was taken from the hill above the medieval village of Škofja Loka, where my great grandmother grew up. Her mother passed away in giving birth to her and she was cared for by nuns in her early years.

Sveti Tomaž (St. Thomas) is a farming village atop a hill where my great grandparents fell in love! The remote hilltop church is presumably where they were married. A place both stunning in beauty and meaning.

Clear water for me represents the purity of Jesus making us clean through his blood sacrifice for us. Through our sins being washed away, we can know a life free from the trappings of sin and death, and can worship God in a way we never knew before.

"His praise and glory shall not fail..."

My relative who lives near this lake was never going to get married - her family all said "she's too in love with Jesus", and once she passed 40 she started to give up hope of marriage herself. However, through a series of miraculous events and confirmations from God, she met her husband and they married three months after they met. We sang worship songs together when I visited - such joyful hearts!

"throughout eternity!"

The film closes in the same cemetary as the beginning shot, but looking up at the columned structure in the area where ceremonies are held to honor the deceased. The statue is of Jesus, and the sun and the puffy clouds remind of typical images of heaven; the first question of the song having now been answered: only Jesus can raise the dead, and he raises our dead souls to new life, a life with him in perfect praise and joy that will never end - hallelujah!