Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Old Songs

How do you make a 10-hour drive seem shorter? Listen to some old songs. On our drive from Rogers, AR, to Cypress, TX, today, I spent several hours listening to some old songs. These were songs from the early days of Christian music. These were songs from the Jesus People movement. The artists included Larry Norman, The Way, Randy Stonehill, Love Song, Phil Keaggy, Parable, and few later artists: Keith Green, Leslie Phillips, Steve Camp, DeGarmo and Key, Twila Paris, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Geoff Moore. I was struck by the passion. The passion for God, for the world, for the Kingdom of God, and for mission, is palpable in those songs. The songs are full of lyrics that I wish I had written. Many of the lyrics have impacted me for decades. 


One of my favorite lyrics is from Randy Stonehill's song, "Puppet Strings," from his album, "Welcome to Paradise." Here are the lyrics to the chorus: 

          We are all like foolish puppets who desiring to be kings 
          Now lie pitifully crippled after cutting our own strings.



Read that again. 


God has given us all that we need. God wants to supply our needs. God wants to lead us in all facets of our lives. God is, after all, God. God is the creator and sustainer. Yet, like Adam and Eve in the garden, who ate the fruit to gain divine knowledge that was not theirs to have, we cut our strings with God. We go out on our own, and find that we are often unable to accomplish even the simplest of tasks--like pray to God and love other people. As Adam and Eve found themselves banished from the garden to toil in struggle and pain, we cut ourselves off from God. God created us to be his divine image--his puppets. We are to be "Jesus with skin on," as some of my friends would put it. Our strings from God supply direction, sustenance, power, and wisdom, but we cut them. 


I don't know about you, but I want to be crippled no longer. I acknowledge my tendency to go it alone, cutting my ties with my creator. I want those strings attached. I need those strings attached. Thanks, Randy, again, for this reminder! 

1 comment:

  1. How true that is, we often tangle ourselves up, sometimrpes blaming God and then cut our strings to Him. We need to just let Him lead our lives, hide our every movement and resist the temptation to cut the strings and wonder away. Thanks for sharing this sng... It has been a while...but I too remember the passion behind the lyrics.

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