Jars of Clay has built an extraordinary career based on the uncompromising integrity of its music, worldview and humanitarianism. Jars of Clay's last album, Good Monsters, was my favorite album from this group since the amazing self-titled debut. Good Monsters managed to reinvent the band’s sound while tackling subjects as diverse and demanding as social responsibility, spiritual doubt and the duality of the human heart. Now, three years later, Jars of Clay returns with The Long Fall Back To Earth.

The album's first single, "Two Hands," builds on the duality theme from Good Monsters. One of the songs the band considers a cornerstone for the project as a whole, "Two Hands" deals with our inborn, yet often unspoken desire to just do more for our world, while struggling to keep our innate selfishness in check. This song is so convicting for me, which is typical for Jars of Clay, whose music introduced me to the Gospel and led me to seek Jesus, for which I’m eternally grateful.

"That song touches a very simple longing in our hearts for unity under one roof, so to speak," Dan Haseltine says. "One side of us wants to serve Christ and love others, while the other side is concerned only with looking out for ourselves. By reconciling the sides of our heart--both good and bad--to bring the full weight of who we are in Christ, we can use our hands to serve and love others well in a way that honors Him."

Here are more band member comments about "Two Hands":

"'Two Hands' was the last song we wrote for the record. We'd been trying to find a way to try to connect all the various themes of the album--relationships, faith, social justice--with one unifying anthem." --Dan Haseltine

"With 'Two Hands,' we're trying to take all our ideas, theories and knowledge and directly connect them to our hearts in the belief that, when we do, we can move into the fullness of who we are as God created us and give of ourselves in powerful ways to those around us." --Steve Mason

"You'll see a theme in our recent records about the dual nature of the human heart. On Good Monsters, we explored the pain of this duality, but The Fall Fall Back To Earth examines that duality from a more innocent, hopeful place and purely expresses the longing to see those things that are broken be mended." --Matt Odmark

Here are the lyrics:

I’ve been living out of sanity
I’ve been splitting hairs and blurring lines
I am a house that is divided
In my heart and in my mind

I use one hand to pull you closer
The other to push you away
If I had two hands doing the same thing
Lifted high, lifted high

I have a broken disposition
I’m a liar who thirsts for the truth
And while I ache for faith to hold me
I need to feel the scars and see the proof

And if we just keep digging we can reach the foundation
Of our souls
And if we just keep cutting all the chains from our hearts
We’ll lose control

And it feels like giving in
It feels like starting over
It feels like waking up, and you know it’s coming
It feels like a brand new day
Open your eyes

I can’t help but actually raise my hands in worship while I listen to this song by one of my all-time favorite bands. I love the simplicity of the message and complexity of the lyrics. We all have our moments where we use "one hand to pull God closer, and the other to push God away." Imagine how much closer we’d all be with God if we gave Him all of our lives, talents and attention. This song is the ringtone on my phone and is a great constant reminder that God wants all of me not just the parts I give Him. What a great message and way to challenge ourselves as followers of Jesus.

Here’s the video for this amazing song: