One of the great new trends in worship music is to invite worshippers to dance before the Lord with a contemporary, exciting EDM feel and upbeat musical arrangements. Some recent examples of songs we've been able to sing and dance along with include the energetic songs "Alive" and "Wake" by Hillsong Young & Free, "#LITO (Love in the Open)" by Press Play, "Shine Like the Stars" by Misty Edwards and "Endless Praise" by Planetshakers. The new collection of songs by Soulfire Revolution comes in that same upbeat vein.
 
Soulfire Revolution is from Bogota, Colombia. Their debut album Revival included the hit songs "Spirit Break Out" featuring TobyMac and "Revival" featuring Jesus Culture's Kim Walker-Smith. Their new album Afterglow picks up where Revival left off, with more high energy and Spirit-filled worship songs including "Arise," "Lost in Your Love," "Set Us Free," "Set the World on Fire" and "Afterglow." Their brand of worship songs is great for fans of Hillsong Young & Free, Satellites & Sirens and Press Play. I had the opportunity to interview Lorena Castellanos about their upbeat worship song "Set the World on Fire."
 
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

During these last two years, we've been focused on our local church and going back to leading worship and being in the presence of God. We've also made some trips to Nashville and met with some different writers, including Martin Smith, for a couple of the songs on the album. We also worked with Josh Silverberg, who we wrote "Revival" with for our last album. 

We really wanted to show people who we are with this album. We're from Bogota, Columbia, which is where I'm calling you from right now. We want to show people the revival we are experiencing at our home church. We recorded the album in two weekends, one in English and one in Spanish. My favorite worship albums are the live albums, where you can feel the presence of God and connect. These songs are written for the church. We've done a lot of touring in South America, and we've loved working with Dream Records to release this album.
 
Basically, these last two years the Holy Spirit has been talking to me about Acts, which is my favorite Book of the Bible. In Acts 1:8 it says "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses." Our prayer was that the Holy Spirit would come upon us. We thought the first single should be this song, because when the Holy Spirit is in you, you want to do something for Him and not just enjoy a good worship song, but go out there and find others to share to.
 
Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV): "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.'"
 
Acts 1:7-8 (MSG): He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."
 
Acts 1:8 (NIV): "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
 
Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV): "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."
 
What is the takeaway message?

As the song says, it starts on the inside of us. It's got to be that fire in you. One of my favorite songs on the album is "Fire Fall Down," which is based on Elijah when he was confronted and said that whoever the true God is will respond with fire. That song is such an anointed song based on that passage. People really connect to the idea of the power of the Holy Spirit falling upon them and showing the world who the true God is. 

With everything going on in America and around the world, with people mocking God, you're either a Christian or you're not. You can show you are a Christian to others by the power of the Holy Spirit within you. That way you'll live according to His Word. Our prayer for this song and this album is that the power of the Holy Spirit would fall upon us and those who hear the album, and at the same time they would be motivated to testify about Jesus in the way He commanded us to in the Great Commission. 

I feel that's the message. It's all about the Holy Spirit. When you watch the music video, it's a huge crowd worshipping along. That's our church, and we invited a lot of other people. We heard a message about Acts 1 and 2, and that day we were able to play some of our songs, and we saw the supernatural miracle of thousands of people giving their lives to Jesus. Our biggest motivation is to worship God. Stand up and preach the Good News and show others the fire in your hearts. I believe there can be a revival in America.
 
Lyrics:
We want to see a change in us
You're all we need

We give you our whole lives
Your perfect love will set us free

Woah, woah - we want Your flame to grow
Woah woah God ignite our souls

We wanna set the world on fire
It starts on the inside, it starts on the inside
We wanna bring the dead to life
It starts on the inside

It's time to believe that we can be the ones who make history
We need Your strength to love the lost and give our everything
 
I love how the music of this album matches the excitement being expressed lyrically. Our God is worthy of all of our praise, and we'll be singing and dancing before Him for eternity. This song gives believers a foretaste of that celebration. One of my favorite things about "singing a new song to the Lord" is that the idea of worship in Heaven is an exciting picture for me, and that's the glimpse that we gain from this collection of high energy songs.
 
It delighted God that David, a man after God's own heart, danced unashamed before the Lord. This song is an example of being obedient to that calling to make God the object of all of our worship. I love how the Lord is bringing up worship leaders who are unashamed of the Gospel and are about proclaiming the Truth of God's Word. A revival is something that God wants us to pray for, and biblically we are commanded to spread the Good News of the Gospel. In Mark 16:15, Jesus commands: "Preach the Gospel to every creature." There are no conditions or exceptions in that command. It's more of a lifestyle that Jesus calls us to live as Christians. That's how we can set the world on fire.
 
I love the image of an "Afterglow." Once the Light of the Holy Spirit is in you, you can now show that light to others as you live your daily life, including outside of a worship context. If you are doing everything for God's glory, then you are demonstrating the love of Jesus in every encounter that you have with people. Sometimes you need to be ignited and ask for a fresh filling of His Spirit.
 
We need to pray daily that the Holy Spirit would shine the Light of Jesus through us. With a fresh filling and singing along with this song, you can have the courage and excitement to live biblically. If you are having trouble living a biblical lifestyle, this song is a great way to connect with God daily in a fun and exciting way. That's cause for a dance party! 

God tells us repeatedly in His Word to sing and dance before Him. This song is a great answer to that calling. Join in with the angels and saints and dance and sing before Him,"We wanna set the world on fire, it starts on the inside, it starts on the inside, we wanna bring the dead to life, it starts on the inside." Amen to that!
 
(Watch the music video here.)