New Centricity Artist Jordan Feliz's debut full-length project, The River features songs that were co-written by Feliz including hit single and We Love Award -winning Song of the Year "The River," which sings "We're goin' down to the river, down to the river, down to the river to pray. Let's get washed by the water, washed by the water, and rise up in amazing grace." 

"I'm a big melody guy," Jordan has said, "and musically 'The River' is my own personal happy place. It's a great driving groove that just feels good to sing." That sound has carried over into the full length album, which Feliz crafted using methods born of classic rock brought into a contemporary setting. He kept the tracks simple and organic, allowing the musical and lyrical core of each song to shine. This fresh, mainstream sound with Christian lyrics is resonating with fans and radio everywhere. I had the chance to speak with Jordan about "Never Too Far Gone."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

Becoming a new dad has influenced me in so many ways, and I've learned so much about myself and about the Lord in it. This song is really special for me. My wife and I lost a baby before we had our daughter. We went through this phase as a husband and wife of being angry and irritated at the Lord. We felt like He took something from us. Then we truly found redemption and ran back into His arms, and we realized He was our satisfaction and would fill the hole that was in us. 

In that, we had our baby girl, and the first thought I had as I was holding her was that I had never felt that much love in my life. There's nothing that she could ever say or do that would ever make me not love her. I'm going to love her for the rest of my days. At that moment, I was overwhelmed in thinking about how that's how the Lord, the Creator of the universe, feels about each and every one of us. 

I was overwhelmed by holding my daughter for the first time and by the presence of God in that moment, knowing that I had been so frustrated, and the things I had said to Him in my brokenness with our lost baby. It doesn't matter where you are going, where you've been, or what you've said, there is absolutely nothing that will separate you from the love of Jesus.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

John 7:38 (NKJV): "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Zephaniah 3:17 (VOICE): "The Eternal your God is standing right here among you, and He is the champion who will rescue you. He will joyfully celebrate over you; He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband."

Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV): "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV): "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV): "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions---it is by grace you have been saved."

What is the takeaway message?

You can run as far as you can get from God, and literally He's still right beside you. You will never be too far gone. The song really hits home and is such an anthem for me in my life. People feel this way, and they need to hear this as well. God's given me this platform, and I want to tell people about His love and that He loves them no matter where they've been. 

Being with Jason Ingram writing this song, he pours Jesus out of him. In talking about the idea for this song, I was terrified about writing a song from the Lord's perspective. It can get legalistic for people. God's love has no legalism. We are loved by God's love, that's it. There's no doubt in anybody's mind, from any denomination, of God's love. He's our Father. If I walked up to a dad and asked him if he loved his baby girl, there's no way he's not going to say he loves her. It was effortless in our hearts that this is for sure how the Lord feels about us, not only biblically, but also from our own personal walks. 

There's something special about telling somebody no matter what you've done, He's right there. All you've got to do is come to Him, ask for forgiveness, turn your life around and walk in a relationship with Him. We've lost the ability to see that in our culture for some reason. We have that opportunity every day to invite Him into our lives.

Lyrics: 
I have loved you from the start
I have seen your hurting heart

And you feel so lonely
But you keep on hiding
Cause you feel so guilty
For what you've done but

There's no distance too far
That I can't reach you
There's no place that's so dark
That I can't find you
Anywhere that you are
If you need proof
Take a look at these scars
And know I love you
Doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Doesn't matter what you've done
You are never, you are never
Never too far gone

You have run down every road
And you've lost your way back home

And you feel so dirty
You know you're unworthy
Feeling undeserving
Of any love but

There's no distance too far
That I can't reach you
There's no place that's so dark
That I can't find you
Anywhere that you are
If you need proof
Take a look at these scars
And know I love you
Doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Doesn't matter what you've done
You are never, you are never
Never too far gone

You will never outrun my love, my love, my love
You will never outrun my love, my love, my love
You will never outrun my love, my love, my love
You will never outrun my love, my love, my love

There's no distance too far
That I can't reach you
There's no place that's so dark
That I can't find you
Anywhere that you are
If you need proof
Take a look at these scars
And know I love you
Doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Doesn't matter what you've done
You are never, you are never
Never too far gone
Never too far gone
Never too far gone

The energy and infectious enthusiasm of the musical feel and celebratory message of this song cause me to worship along loudly, "in Spirit and in Truth." The combination of the stellar vocals, up-tempo melody and OneRepublic-like musical inflection really brings home this solid Gospel message. The message of this song is so personal and biblical as it is directed to both believers and non-believers to know that there is no condemnation for our sins when we accept Jesus as our substitute and Savior.

This is one of my favorite songs of the year. I can't get enough of the Biblical truth found here, and I love when artists take God's Word from the Bible and turn it into a great and catchy song filled with truth. This song is sung as God singing over us as expressed in Zephaniah 3:17, and I sing it to Him with all of my heart. He is worthy of all of our praise and devotion. We were dead in our sins and by grace we were saved and made alive in Christ!

We can all know that when we bring our heavy hearts to God in sincere prayer, He hears us and sings back to us. He wants a relationship with us, and He is rejoicing over us with singing, which blows me away every time I think about it. When you are feeling alone or confused about the world and life is overwhelming, you can always know that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. 

No matter where you are in your walk with Jesus, this song is a salvation message that Jesus, through The Holy Spirit, is by your side. His love for us will never change, and nothing can separate us from it. That's cause to celebrate. The Good News of the Gospel which this song perfectly portrays is that God accepts us no matter what we've done or what we are going through.  As the song sings, "Doesn't matter what you've done, You are never, you are never, never too far gone." Amen to that!

Watch the lyric video below.