"I Speak Jesus" - Good or Bad Song?

Before we look at the song “I Speak Jesus” and ask the question is it a good or bad song, I want to help you, the reader, understand what I believe. I believe that salvation is through Jesus alone by faith alone. There is no other name under heaven that can save a person from the penalty of their sins (Acts 4:12). This salvation is received by faith alone, not through works so that no one is able to boast (Ephesians 2:8). God treated us in a way that we do no deserve when He sent is one and only Son to die upon the cross (John 3:16; Romans 6:23).

I also believe that the Gospel of Jesus is the only answer for our world today. We live in a sinful, wicked world. The only way to slow down wickedness is by people repenting of their sins and turning to follow Jesus. If we want our communities to be different, if we want our neighborhoods to be different, it will not happen through a political party or a political system. It will only happen as people's lives are changed by responding to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I also believe that God is at work in this world today, as He was in the Apostles’ day or as He was throughout the Old Testament. Scripture makes it clear that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, which means that God still breaks into this world displaying His power and glory to us through signs and wonders. Because I have called out the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement, because I have questioned the songs people are singing in churches, because I question how people engage in spiritual warfare I have been labeled at someone who doesn’t believe the Holy Spirit is active today through signs and wonders. This is far from the truth. My big question is why we as followers of Jesus follow man’s methods as opposed to Scriptural truth. Why do we have to invent new ways of doing something when Scripture already tells us how we are to think and act and pray concerning these things. The biggest question I have with all of this is why do we as Americans treat God as our good luck charm that will rescue us from our problems, yet we do not live our daily lives to bring Him glory and honor? God is active and He reveals Himself every day through signs and wonders to remind us that He is the one true living God who desires for us to submit to Him every moment of every day.

As we analyze this next song, I realize that many people will not agree with me. In fact over these last several blog posts, as I analyzed these different songs, I have received comments and emails stating just that. But before you respond in anger and become a “keyboard warrior” please go to Scripture. Don't just pluck out random verses to prove your point, but actually study the Bible passages within their contexts. People have asked me, “Why are you doing this?” The reason for these blog posts is to cause people to pause and examine what songs are being used within their churches because it matters. The music we listen to; the music we sing at the public gatherings of believers affect our lives. We must make sure that the music that feeds our souls as believers in Jesus is based upon Scriptural truth, not man’s. Which is why I have chosen to define a “good song” as a song that is aligned with the clear teachings of God’s Word, the Bible, while a “bad song” is a song that goes against the clear teachings of God’s Word.

The song “I Speak Jesus” is the number sixteen song for the week of September 7, 2026. Here are the lyrics:

I Speak Jesus

Verse 1

I just want to speak the Name of Jesus

Over every heart and every mind

'Cause I know there is peace within Your presence

I speak Jesus

Verse 2

I just want to speak the Name of Jesus

'Til every dark addiction starts to break

Declaring there is hope and there is freedom

I speak Jesus

Chorus

('Cause) Your Name is power

Your Name is healing

Your Name is life

Break every stronghold

Shine through the shadows

Burn like a fire

Verse 3

I just want to speak the Name of Jesus

Over fear and all anxiety

To every soul held captive by depression

I speak Jesus

Verse 4

Shout Jesus from the mountains

Jesus in the streets

Jesus in the darkness over every enemy

Jesus for my fam'ly

I speak the holy Name Jesus

To me, this entire song revolves around these questions: Is there power in the name of Jesus? And if so, why is there power in the name of Jesus? As we answer these questions, we need to look at Philippians 2:6-11 where Paul explains why “Jesus” is the name that is above every name.

As Paul is writing this letter, he explains to the believers in Philippi that they need to follow Jesus’ example of being a servant, an example of humility. He then quotes what modern day Bible scholars think is a hymn or a creed that the early church circulated. How Jesus, who is God, did not use His divinity for his own advantage. There are many examples in the Gospel that shows this. Even when Jesus is getting arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter takes out his sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus rebukes him and tells Him that He could call twelve legions (54,000 – 63,000) of angels to come and defend Him, but He did not because this is part of God’s plan (Matthew 26:47-56). He could have turned the stone into bread in Matthew 4, but He didn’t because it was a temptation from Satan. Jesus lived His live with humility even to the point of a criminal’s death. I think we forget just how insane Jesus dying on the cross really is because we have spiritualized it. Only criminals died on the cross, specifically people who committed a crime against the Roman empire. This form of punishment was only reserved for hardened criminals and Jesus not only was crucified, but was also flogged, belittled, slandered, humiliated and yet He did not fight back. He willingly followed the Father’s plan. And because of His obedience to the Father’s plan, Paul says, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

Why is “Jesus” the name above every name? Because of who Jesus is and what He has done; He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father’s plan of salvation. But if I just speak the name of Jesus is there power in the name "Jesus" by itself? The answer is no. Before you through stones at me as a heretic, I would ask you to think about a couple of things. First, when you are at your job surrounded by non-believers do you here them yell “Jesus Christ”? When I worked at a public school, or on a painting crew, I would hear Jesus’ name all the time, especially when people got hurt or mad. When they yell out “Jesus” is there power? No. Secondly, if you are a “white Anglo” like me, you may not realize that in certain cultures people are named "Jesus" to this day. I will never forget when I lived in Boston, a person at the church I served at as a youth pastor told me how he had to fire Jesus this past week. You see, Jesus was a Spanish man. When my friend said, “Jesus, you're fired” was their power? No. Thirdly, do you realize that there was another “Jesus’” in the New Testament? Matthew 27:16 tells us about one of them, “At that time, they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabas.”  When Pilate yells out “Jesus Barabas” was their power in the name “Jesus”? No.

So, when we talk about Jesus the Messiah, why is their power in His name? Because of who He is and what He has done. Why did demons trembled when they interacted with Jesus throughout the Gospels? Because Jesus the Messiah is the Son of God. They knew who He was, which is why they obeyed. The name “Jesus” in and of itself has no power, unless it is connected to the person and character of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

Is the song, “I Speak Jesus” a good song? I would say no, because it doesn’t connect the name of Jesus with the person and character of Jesus. Just shouting the name "Jesus" at the top of your lungs will not free anyone, will not heal anyone, will not save anyone’s family, will not cause the demons and Satan to leave. This song teaches that the name or the word itself has power apart from the person and character.

Instead of shouting “Jesus!” shouldn’t we be proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to every single person? Shouldn’t we be telling our kids about who Jesus is and what He has done instead of just speaking Jesus over them? Shouldn’t we be laying hands on people, praying for them according to James 5:13-18, asking the Father to have grace and mercy upon them, to reveal Himself to them and to work through physical, emotional, and spiritual pain for His glory? Shouldn’t we, as followers of Jesus, not fear Satan and his demons and realize as Martin Luther wrote over 500 years ago, “We tremble not for him, His rage we can endure, For lo his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him” ("A Mighty Fortress is Our God").

There is power in the name of Jesus the Messiah because He is the Son of God, who came and lived an obedient life to the Father’s plan, even to the point of a criminal’s death. It is because of who Jesus is and what He has done that gives His name power. But if a person doesn’t know who Jesus is and what He has done, then just shouting or speaking the name does absolutely nothing. If it did, then why aren’t lives being changed and communities being changed as millions of people sing this song every week? The only way our communities will changed, is through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.