Phil Keaggy, "The Master and the Musician"

I cannot honestly say when I first heard a Phil Keaggy song, nor can I say what song it was. I can say this, however. He blew my mind! I considered myself to be a pretty good lead guitar player in those days (the late 1970's). And, I was better than average. But here was a guy who could play things that I could only dream of--no, I could not even dream of them! I remember seeing him play with just his acoustic guitar at a small auditorium on the University of Houston campus in about 1980. I also remember a tour in 1979 or so when the panel van with the band's equipment broke down between Dallas and Houston. Phil came on stage and apologized, then played an acoustic concert for about an hour. Then someone walked out on stage and whispered in his ear. He started a little impromptu chorus of a new song, "Oh, the band is here. The band is here." Then the band set up and played their entire show for us. Wow! That was a great night! (I should thank Ray Johnson for his service to the church in those days. I know he didn't do it for me, but I sure appreciated it--even to this day!)


On my recent ten-hour drive, I heard several Phil Keaggy songs. "Do Lord" with Glass Harp. "Who Will Save the Children" with Randy Stonehill. "Shouts of Joy," which is a great worship song. One of my first great memories of Phil Keaggy was the album, "How the West Was One," with Phil, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and a Band Called David. To this day, that album (particularly Phil's portion) is one of my favorites. He tells the story of his conversion, both verbally and then in the amazing acoustic song, "My Life." Then he burns the neck up on "Time." I remember standing in the United Saints Bookstore listening to "Time," and someone commented on how the crowd went crazy when the song ended. Kemper Crabb happened to be in the store and commented, "And why wouldn't they, after hearing that?" (Or something close to that quote) Ah, the memories. 


I also remember when "Master and the Musician" came out. From the first time that "Pilgrim's Flight" came through the speakers, I was hooked. The album was an amazing soaring musical journey. I listened to it over and over and over (well, you get the point!). It was such a joy a couple of years ago to hear Phil on the 30th anniversary tour of "Master and the Musician." This album title sums up Phil Keaggy for me. He is an amazing musician--a consummate guitar player almost without equal. But, he plays for the Master, for his Lord, for Jesus! He does it with poetry, grace, and power. But he plays for the glory of his God. I am so glad. Thanks, Phil. You have been an inspiration for me! 

Larry Norman--a tortured soul?

Larry Norman was one of the pioneers of Christian rock music--in a time when the words "Christian" and "rock music" were seldom used together in a positive sense. He was certainly important in the Christian music industry. He was also a tortured soul--leaving behind him a wake of broken relationships, hard feelings, and legal entanglements. However, he also left in his wake many new followers of Jesus. Friends, family, ex-friends, critics, and fans discussed all of this ad nauseam after his death on Feb. 24, 2008. One thing that I do know: His music had a profound influence on the lives and the faith of many young Christians in the 1970's. How do I know this to be true? Because I am one of them.  

The first Larry Norman album I ever heard was "In Another Land." I loved the faith of "Rock that Doesn't Roll, the power of "Righteous Rocker," the passion of "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus?," the intimacy of "I Am A Servant," the ephemeralness of "One Way," the fun of "Shot Down," and the poignancy of "Song for a Small Circle of Friends." Who can forget the line, "Love to you, Sir Stonehill, armed with your ax full-gallop on your amp. You're so crazy and you know it, but I love you as we both crawl toward the lamp." Last weekend, I listened to several of these songs as I traveled during spring break. They brought back floods of passion of those days--days of enthusiasm, growth, and excitement. I was a fairly new believer who was learning that the boxes of my upbringing and tradition were human boxes, not divine ones. I was learning that God could move in new and exciting ways. Larry Norman (and Randy Stonehill, Resurrection Band, Petra, DeGarmo and Key, and others) helped me to see a new world of worship, discipleship, and faith. In many ways, these musicians helped to disciple me as a new believer. 

Only later would I come to enjoy Norman's other work, particularly "Only Visiting This Planet," although it had been released several years earlier, a truly powerful album that I almost wore out on my turntable. And later we would sing "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," a poignant song during those apocalyptic days of war--both cold and hot! As a rock guitar player, I also loved the live, bootleg album, "Roll Away the Stone." The version of "Song for a Small Circle of Friends" on that album is amazing. 

Still much later, I would learn of Norman's life struggles, of his failure to live up to contracts with bands, and of his unfaithfulness to friends. Because of my love for Randy Stonehill's music, their struggles particularly saddened me, although they did reconcile in the last decade or so of Norman's life. Why these musings and ramblings? Well, glad you asked. The Bible is full of people who God used. We glorify those people, often ignoring their mistakes (aka sins), forgetting just how human and flawed they were. Abraham passed his wife off as his sister to Pharaoh. Jacob lied and deceived his way to the top of the food chain. Peter denied that he knew Jesus. Yet, these people are heroes of our faith. God uses troubled souls like Jacob, fearful men like Abraham, and cowards like Peter. And, he used Larry Norman, in my life and many others. Aren't you glad God uses the imperfect, rebellious, hypocritical, and flawed people like this? It gives you and me hope! 

Undivided Heart

One of my favorite albums of all time was Twila Paris's "Cry for the Desert," released in 1990. It included "How Beautiful," which we sing in church from time to time--a beautiful Communion song about Jesus and the kingdom of God. It also included "I Will Wait" and "Fix Your Eyes." And "Cry for the Desert" is a longing for a place of close meeting with God. The song that always touched and challenged me was "Undivided Heart." This was true when I listened to on my road trip on Saturday. Here are the lyrics (the notations are mine!). 



          There have been days when I would die for You
          And days when I would not die to me (I can feel that one!)
          There have been nights when I would cry with You
          For the sins of the world and the pain in the city
          But some nights I cried only tears of self-pity (That one hurts!)
          I need a love that will always endure
          Give me a love that is simple and pure


          CHORUS
          Give me an undivided heart, Place a new spirit in me (Ezekiel 11:19)
          Give me an undivided heart, That I may fear Your name (Psalm 86:11)
          Undivided, undivided heart, Undivided, undivided heart


          Lord, You have seen me giving all that I'm worth
          But only to find me taking more (Why am I so self-centered?)
          There are those times when I embrace the earth
          When I rise to the need and I welcome the labor
          And then I must fight to forgive my own neighbor (Struggling to forgive my neighbor, forget loving my enemy, right?)
          I need a love that will always endure
         Give me a love that is simple and pure


I find my own struggles in this song. This song speaks to my own wishy-washy nature--up and down. However, the song also gives me hope. It gives me hope because the struggle has been a human problem for millennia. The quotes from Ezekiel and the psalm show this to be the case. Interestingly, both of the verses were quoted in the sermon this morning. Is that a coincidence? Maybe, or maybe not. 


We are on a journey. We will not win every battle, and not every day will be marked by self-sacrifice, submission to God, and service to others. However, God will hear our prayers as he did the psalmist's prayer. We can pray fervently and work hard. We can ask God for guidance and follow as humbly as our human self will go. It is a journey--the missional journey of the Kingdom of God. It is great to be on it with so many others--past and present. 

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! 

Jeremiah 29:11 in the Real World

In my last post, I promised to post my two Jeremiah papers. These are a bit long, so I will not post them here. However, here are links to the two papers. The first link is a fairly detailed interpretive study of Jeremiah 29:11. It includes a lot of Hebrew, but I have transliterated and translated into English for non-Hebrew readers. The second paper is a brief look at Jeremiah 29:11 in the real world--or as real as Facebook, blogs, magazines, Amazon, and ministries can get. If you have time to read them, let me know what you think. 


Shalom or Ra'ah: Jeremiah 29:11 in Its Canonical and Literary Context


Jeremiah 29:11 as a Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century Church

Academics in the real world?

I learned several things last weekend at the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies. For those who don't know (which is, of course, almost everyone--part of the point of this blog), this is the regional meeting of members of such austere groups as Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), American Academy of Religion (AAR), American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), and Association for the Scientific Study of Religion (ASSR). I have included these names and their alphabet soup abbreviations for a purpose, which you will soon learn. At this meeting, academics present papers representing their research to groups of other academics who share their research interests. Yes, it can be as scintillating (and boring) as it sounds.  

I learned that presenting papers at these meetings makes you feel more a part of the conference. I know this seems obvious, but since I have been doing double-duty at the school (teaching and administration) for several years, I have not written many papers. This year I presented two papers, which gave me a new sense of credibility (perhaps only imaginary, but it still felt good) to discuss a variety of matters with people in the meetings. 

The other things I learned--the real point of this blog--is that many people feel my frustration at the failure of academics to make connection with the world at large. I presented two papers on Jeremiah 29:11. One of these papers was an interpretation of the verse based on the Hebrew text. However, the paper was more than this. I wanted to suggest ways that academics could help the church read this verse. As many of you know, Jeremiah 29:11 is everywhere these days--from websites, plaques, posters, t-shirts, songs, blogs, and magazines (this ubiquity was the topic of the second paper). However, the verse is usually misread to be a promise to every individual follower of Jesus that God has a great plan for that individual life. Sometimes it becomes a mantra recited in faith to somehow bring about the hope which it presents. Now, I am not against the idea that God has a plan for individuals, but I do have a problem with reading Jeremiah 29:11 this way. The verse is a promise to the exiled people of ancient Israel that, even in the darkness of Babylon, God is with them. God is watching over them. God will deliver them--after they are faithful to make Babylon better and learn to seek God wholeheartedly again.

My purpose in blog is not to interpret the paper. I will post the paper to the blog at a later date for that. For now, it will suffice to say that I found virtually no academic work that sought to discuss the application of this verse in the church or individual lives. The academic writers did not acknowledge the popularity of the verse in current Christian culture. They did, in other words, leave the people in the church and culture on their own to make application the verse. I think this is a mistake. Academics need to serve the church by helping non-academics--whether they are teachers, pastors, college students, teenagers, seekers, disciples, well, everyone--understand the Bible better. Unfortunately, we academics have indeed built our ivory towers and placed ourselves above the rest of the world that we need to teach. Shame on us. 

However, I learned at this meetings that many others feel the same as me. I know because they told me. Now, we just need to find ways to connect with the public better. There is hope for our future! 

Divided!

What divides us? Race. Economics. Politics. Religious denomination. Theology. Yes, all of these divide us. Politically, the US is so divided that I do not see the two primary parties ever being able to work together again. And among my Facebook friends, I see people loving and hating both sides. It hurts my soul to read some of what my friends post--on both sides. I know that we need to speak out--and it's our right in the US. 


And, what about theological controversy. Bring up evolution. Bring up gay rights. Bring up social justice. Bring up predestination. Bring up open theism. Bring up loving the "alien in the land" (to use a good biblical term). People will chew each other up and tear them apart--right there on my Facebook Newsfeed. I know that we need to stand for truth--whatever that is. What's sad is that all of my Facebook friends who are posting these items are Christians. But...


I was just reading 1 Corinthians 1-3. In these chapters, Paul tells us the things that Christians can and should be divided over. He goes into all of the important things that should divide us. You know what they are? The Voice reads, "Do not allow anything or anyone to create division among you" (1 Cor. 1:10). Nothing? That sounds unreasonable, don't you think? Don't you think?