Scripture Songs

[turtletwo]

14 minutes ago, SisterActs2 said:

Hey Gandalf.... I know you are younger than me but these are the same people I listened to when I got born again in 1978.  There are a lot more too.   I was actually thinking of 2nd Chapter of Acts - although it is really about Acts Chapter 2 - when I went for this username!  Did you ever hear Barry McGuire (I am pretty sure it was him; someone correct me if I am wrong, please) talk about the time he was on a boat and they saw some dolphins?  He grabbed a "dish towel", bent down over the edge of the boat and touched them with it and they loved the game, coming back for more..... and there were quite a few of them, by the sounds of it.  I listened to that story on my "tape" many times.  It seemed to be one of his treasured memories.

@SisterActs2Hi there. I've been enjoying your input. I owned a couple Barry Mcguire records back in 1973 and 1974. As to "dolphins"- I was intrigued by the story behind it you spoke of. So I went over to YouTube just now and found it. It is from the recording "To the Bride" It is a cool story.  Barry is so funny! Thanks for telling us about it. It can be found on YouTube by typing in Dolphins-Barry McGuire if you want to hear it there. I'm guessing you don't have the cassette anymore? But you never know. I have Christian music cassettes from that far back, though some are in better shape than others..

 P.S. Here is some info I just read that I wanted to share with you.

To the Bride, released in 1975, is a two-LP live album featuring Barry McGuire, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and a band called David. The album was culled from four concerts performed in the summer of 1975 and is the first of two live albums that 2nd Chapter of Acts recorded for Myrrh Records, although the majority of the concert is performed by McGuire. The album was re-released on two CDs in 2007 with one song excluded.

[GandalfTheWise]

@turtletwo @SisterActs2    This is a great thread.

I was born in the early 60s and saved in the early 70s.   I lived out in the middle of rural WI for much of my early life and never really saw a Christian concert for a long time.   My exposure to Christian music was from the Larry Black Show and vinyl albums and cassettes.  Jesus Solid Rock sounds vaguely familiar but I cannot recall hearing it.  I think there was also a Scott Ross (?) show but never heard that either.

I love the Barry McGuire dolphin story as well.  I think we used to have the album it was on, and maybe still do.  As we were recently moving, we've still got a number of those old albums, and somewhere picked up a cheap USB turntable we were going to use to digitize them.  I'd been in a couple local Christian bands, sadly a bit before recording technology was as common.  The demo cassette from my first band got lost somewhere and the only cassette of our second band was so awful I cannot bear to listen to it.

We went to Lifest  (see Lifest.com for more info) for about 5 or 6 years.  The last time was maybe about 7 or 8 years ago.  We almost went to Cornerstone festival in Illinois back in the late 80s.

I was doing some quick Bing searches to remember the name of Cornerstone.  I ran across a couple articles.  I had forgotten that a number of the first Christian musicians to adopt rock instruments and genre had gotten run out of churches...literally.  Some Christians were convinced they were on drugs and demon possessed.  Cornerstone festival was among the first to openly embrace these musicians.  I recall DeGarmo and Key telling about one of their first performances in a church.  A church elder unplugged the sound system mid guitar solo, as he stood there wondering why his guitar cut out,  the same elder walked out and tell them to leave.  Instead of celebrating when some of these artists were invited into secular venues where Christian musicians had never been before, it became an excuse to shun them.

With regard to praise music, as I was growing up, there was a local Methodist minister who served 3 little churches.  He implemented a sunday night (as I recall) service (maybe monthly or weekly) that was more or less a good old pentecostal worship service that we went to a few times.  There were some local Christians that had a praise band (in hindsight probably for a small independent church) and often were invited for special music and concerts in the area.   Other than that, it was piano/organ/choir classical hymns with a bit of gospel thrown in at times.   When I got to college, I joined a small pentecostal church which was when I discovered that some churches sang something other than 3 traditional hymns in a service as well as talked about being born-again openly.  It was a combination of hymns, old gospel numbers, and choruses.

[turtletwo]

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

 This is a great thread.

@GandalfTheWiseI'm glad you like it. I appreciate your posts. They add a lot.

 

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

I was born in the early 60s and saved in the early 70s.

 

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

When I got to college, I joined a small pentecostal church which was when I discovered that some churches sang something other than 3 traditional hymns in a service as well as talked about being born-again openly.  It was a combination of hymns, old gospel numbers, and choruses.

Me too.  We have a lot in common. All of the above are true of me except that I began attending my Pentecostal church as a child.

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

As we were recently moving, we've still got a number of those old albums, and somewhere picked up a cheap USB turntable we were going to use to digitize them.

Cool idea. Wish I had a way of doing that with my collection. So which albums do you own? Interested to know. 

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

I'd been in a couple local Christian bands, sadly a bit before recording technology was as common.  

Did you play an instrument in your bands or only sing?

In the 70's me and 3 other girls started a group. One played piano, another guitar ( while me and my best friend only sang.) We auditioned for a record producer with the Larry Norman classic "I wish we'd all been ready." We were told that individually we all had nice voices but that we were essentially singing the same voice part. "Come back, girls when you can harmonize," he said. Somehow, we never did get that down. lol. Oh well... We went on to serve the Lord in other capacities. 

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

 We almost went to Cornerstone festival in Illinois back in the late 80s.

I just read that the 2012 Festival was their last. 

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

Cornerstone festival was among the first to openly embrace these musicians. 

 They chose to be God-pleasers rather than man-pleasers. They disregarded their rejection from much of the church and cared about the new way God was flowing (rather than the status quo.)

19 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

A church elder unplugged the sound system mid guitar solo, as he stood there wondering why his guitar cut out,  the same elder walked out and tell them to leave.

Thanks for sharing this experience DeGarmo and Key had. Yes, the churches were very resistant to this change in musical direction at first. (Sadly, some still are.)

I think it is ironic that singers like Keith Green who were not approved of by the conservative churches/radio stations when he was alive... nowadays welcome his "There is a Redeemer" and 'Oh Lord You're Beautiful" as modern day hymns... That is, if sung by someone else. They didn't want to be associated with his 'look' (unusual hair/casual clothes), drums (added to his studio recordings. His concerts were just Keith on piano), etc.

Keith did some excellent scripture songs including Romans 7, Psalm 23, Psalm 8, etc.

Gandalf, did you ever go to a Keith Green concert? Or any other early Christian music concerts?

 

 

[Marilyn C]

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:34 PM, Neighbor said:

I suspect few in America holiday, sounds Canadian or continental European, most here vacation, if they take  break at all.  Some Christians "retreat", but it isn't either vacation nor I suspect holidaying.

Holidays? Okay!

Obviously I am just having early morning here fun. Love the idea, having "on holidays".

Does one have to also work in order to have  on holidays? I'm now i guess retired can I go be on holidays?

Are we, up over as compared to your down under? Just a rhetorical pondering-

Hi Neighbor,

I do so love your early morning ponderings. Hubby and I had such a laugh. It must be about the language we are used to - on holidays, vacation, etc. Probably an English term, I`ll have to ask mabel. So to answer your important ponderings -

Do you have to work to have a holiday? Mmmm well people do work and then holiday and there are droves of them where we are up and down the West Coast of western Australia. Then like us we are retired and that group is called the `grey nomads,` older folks who are `spending the kids inheritance` as people say. And they are the bulk of the caravans, while the motor homes are the foreigners, and the camper trailers are usually the young folk and many with children.

My hubby although `semi-retired` still puts in a full days work on his brother`s farm to help them with harvesting, hay carting, and all the preparation done on a farm. we also `farm sit` for friends so they can have a `holiday!` `Farm sitting` involves looking after the animals and feeding out hay to the stock.

So what to see here in Aussie. Well you can go to the section just for those with 500 and over and see our Great Aussie Adventure there in full technicolour pics. (Worthy Gold)

We here in Aussie are also called `the little island off the coast of new Zealand.` So go figure that one!

Hope you can have a `holiday ` one day a break from your normal routine and off to explore God`s wonders.

all the best, Marilyn. 

 

[Marilyn C]

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 9:02 PM, GandalfTheWise said:

A bit off track here for a few old-timer stories, then more back on track...   

As a young Christian (in my teens), I listened to the Larry Norman, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy, Keith Green, DeGarmo and Key, Barry McGuire, Talbot Brothers, Petra, etc. generation of Christians who were among the first to put Christian music into what's now considered the rock/blue/pop genre.  Christian music for decades had already been put into country/folk/gospel genre which was generally well accepted, but at the time the rock/blues/pop genre was quite radical.   I remember Lamb as well but didn't listen to much of their music but did see some of their songs in various song books.   This was before there were many Christian radio stations (and the one I did have in the area was purely hymns, organ, piano, and choir along with devotionals) and well before the internet.  Most of the songs I heard were someone else's albums or from word of mouth.    This is probably off a bit off topic, but I fondly remember the "Larry Black Show" that played Sunday mornings on the local rock station.  That was where I heard most Christian musicians for the first time.  

For a number of years we attended Lifest (big Christian music festival in Wisconsin) with our family.  Once we saw Daniel Amos performing in one of the side tents.  My wife had enjoyed their music.   One of my daughters laughed a bit at all those gray haired people doing a perhaps somewhat geriatric version of a mosh pit in front of the stage.  For a few moments between songs, they'd interact with the (small and aged) crowd.  It was amazing how many people had been touched by their music decades before including one man who was a truck driver who'd been saved after hearing shotgun angel.   Later that night at the main event concert,  I leaned over and whispered (well probably shouted) in my daughter's ear if she remembered the Daniel Amos stage.  She laughed.  I pointed out to the large crowd and mosh pit and said, "fast forward 30 years....".  She got a stunned look on her face and immediately understood what I meant.  Each generation of Christian musicians does things that deeply reach some of their generation and then become largely forgotten by the next.

I recall the "scripture set to music" era of worship music fondly mostly in the 70s and 80s.  In the campus ministry I was at, we had a series of books (I can see them in my head by cannot recall the names).  Many of us musicians from that era would often just sit down at a piano or with a guitar and a bible for our private worship times, and just start putting scripture verses to music or start praying in music and song.   That birthed a generation of worship leaders for whom leading worship was just doing what we did in private, except with other people around.  I wonder how many unknown songs and psalms were done as special music or extemporaneously during worship and prayer similar to 2nd Chapter of Acts version of Psalm 61 (on the How the West was One album).  It was not just a set of songs (or usually choruses as they were called) to be sung, but it was a way of worship that had its roots both in a personal expression to God as well as a more liturgical congregation expression of scripture together.  

In hindsight, I think part of what caused that to dry up was technology.  In those days, at best you'd see a lead sheet (lyrics, melody notes, and chords) of a song (like the books we talked about earlier), and probably never heard the song actually sung before.  Indeed, some songs I'd lead worship with I had never actually heard anyone else sing before.   Each worship leader would try out the song as written and make their own version of it.  Once worship CDs started coming out (which in general was a good thing in that it allowed anyone to play it anywhere), one side effect was that worship leading started to be more about doing songs the way everyone knew them and had heard them.  It was no longer so much about self-expression of singing to God with your own style, words, and melody, but singing things the same way as everyone else.  Technology basically took what was a more extemporaneous and personal expression and turned it into modern day hymns to be sung the prescribed way.  In hindsight, I wonder if part of the move toward more "touchy feely" types of worship songs wasn't in some part to try to retain that personal expression dynamic that was lost when technology caused a uniformity of song performance.  ahh... whatever... the ramblings of an old dinosaur of a worship leader remembering the good old days....    

 

 

 

Hi Gandalfthewise,

Sounds like my journey too bro. I was the one playing the piano and later keyboard. We`d play the songs flowing one to the other and slowing down, or just playing the music and people had time to meditate on the Lord and pray and praise Him. Plenty of time and not man controlled or trying to be excellent, just people singing from their hearts.

Nowadays from what I can see in some places, the band does it all and it doesn`t matter if people sing or not.

Marilyn.

BTW we listened to the same people, and what good words they used and not complex, which helps you lift your heart to the Lord. I love Hymns too and each have a place, I believe.

[GandalfTheWise]

@turtletwo  I missed out on all the concerts of that era except for a "Concert for the Arts" (I forget exactly what it was called) that included the Talbot Brothers.  It included much music from The Painter album.   We just got done moving after 20 years in one place.  I'll have to take a look in the box we put the albums in at some point when I find it.  I'm sure when I run across it at some point I'll remember this thread.    I used to enjoy getting the old Last Days Newsletter from Keith Green and crew.

I played guitar, bass, keyboards, and did some singing (baritone voice).  I was a worship leader for many years.  I mostly did lead guitar in the bands along with a bit of keyboard and vocals.  I was way too self-concious in front of people to comfortably sing.   (Worship leading was way different for me because I was not the center of attention.)   I developed a Stanley Jordan tapping style of lead so I ended up with a unique sound somewhat reminiscent of Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits).   I'd also fill in a lot wherever I was needed.  I was also a good sound man.  For a time I got a good local reputation in main line churches as a musician because I'd improvise hymns and Christmas carols on piano rather than playing them note for note like they were used to.   As a practical matter, my technical musical skills were perhaps a bit above average for the typical church group.  My creativity, emotion, and ability to flow with a song were my strong points.

It's interesting.  I've been out of music for close to a decade now but have been getting back into it.  My old Roland keyboard, fender twin, and guitars are now set up by my desk for the past month or so and I've started playing again.  I went through a stretch of major spiritual transformation and emotional healing a few years back and the self-consciousness is gone.  Lately, I've been feeling free when I play because I don't care what people think anymore.  We do therapy dog visits to senior centers (which have old pianos sitting around) and I started just improvising on a few chords for some background music and found I truly enjoyed it. It was the first time I'd touched a piano in many years.  There was a sense of freedom I'd never had in the decades before.  I'm not quite sure what direction God has with this and I have yet to start playing with anyone else after our move, but it's fun to have music back in my life again.

[Neighbor]

Oh! Singing scripture, okay. Well I guess then as a Fernando Ortega groupie, I have been exposed to  a little of it and do love it. See Psalms 139 Fernando Ortega on You Tube. ( I'm  really looking forward to the privilege of taking  my sweet Texas peach  to The Cove, N. C. USA come Christmas season to be at his concert there)

Edited August 30, 2018 by Neighbor

[Neighbor]

58 minutes ago, Marilyn C said:

Hi Neighbor,

I do so love your early morning ponderings. Hubby and I had such a laugh. It must be about the language we are used to - on holidays, vacation, etc. Probably an English term, I`ll have to ask mabel. So to answer your important ponderings -

Do you have to work to have a holiday? Mmmm well people do work and then holiday and there are droves of them where we are up and down the West Coast of western Australia. Then like us we are retired and that group is called the `grey nomads,` older folks who are `spending the kids inheritance` as people say. And they are the bulk of the caravans, while the motor homes are the foreigners, and the camper trailers are usually the young folk and many with children.

My hubby although `semi-retired` still puts in a full days work on his brother`s farm to help them with harvesting, hay carting, and all the preparation done on a farm. we also `farm sit` for friends so they can have a `holiday!` `Farm sitting` involves looking after the animals and feeding out hay to the stock.

So what to see here in Aussie. Well you can go to the section just for those with 500 and over and see our Great Aussie Adventure there in full technicolour pics. (Worthy Gold)

We here in Aussie are also called `the little island off the coast of new Zealand.` So go figure that one!

Hope you can have a `holiday ` one day a break from your normal routine and off to explore God`s wonders.

all the best, Marilyn. 

 

Thanks. I guess I have "holidayed" some. Been around the States USA a bit anyway, just don't have an interest in travel outside the USA. Parochial of me I guess. 

[turtletwo]

4 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Oh! Singing scripture, okay. Well I guess then as a Fernando Ortega groupie, I have been exposed to  a little of it and do love it. See Psalms 139 Fernando Ortega on You Tube. ( I'm  really looking forward to the privilege of taking  my sweet Texas peach  to The Cove, N. C. USA come Christmas season to be at his concert there)

@NeighborGood one. Psalm 139. Fernando does it well.

Wow! That will be quite an experience for the two of you to see him in concert. Make sure to tell me about it when you get back. Okay? I like Fernando, too. 

Guess what, Neighbor? I've been listening to pbnradio.com ever since you told me about it. Top notch music! I heard a beautiful rendition of James 4:10 the other day on there. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

YouTube has a different version of it (also good) by Maranatha uploaded byLockexoo7. 

A couple favorites of mine, Neighbor (check 'em out, if you get a chance):

"Psalm 5 - Maranatha Singers (With Lyrics)"

and

"As The Deer - Maranatha Singers (With Lyrics)"

 

 

Singing scripture never grows old for me because:

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Isaiah 40:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

[turtletwo]

4 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

We just got done moving after 20 years in one place.  I'll have to take a look in the box we put the albums in at some point when I find it.  I'm sure when I run across it at some point I'll remember this thread.  

Sounds good.

4 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

I used to enjoy getting the old Last Days Newsletter from Keith Green and crew.

 I remember those! I loved them. The messages were no compromise. And the artwork was one of a kind. Sadly, I lost most of mine through moves I made over the years. Do you still have any of yours?

 

5 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

 For a time I got a good local reputation in main line churches as a musician because I'd improvise hymns and Christmas carols on piano rather than playing them note for note like they were used to.

Interesting. I don't think I've heard this done before. I like the concept of this unique approach in that it is more natural and relaxed.

5 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

 My creativity, emotion, and ability to flow with a song were my strong points.

This is important. Too stiff and structured can impede the flow of the Holy Spirit. 

5 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

I went through a stretch of major spiritual transformation and emotional healing a few years back and the self-consciousness is gone.  Lately, I've been feeling free when I play because I don't care what people think anymore.

I praise God that He has done this work in your life! To get to the point where we do all things for the glory of God is vital.

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."Colossians 3:17

 

"Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart"Ephesians 6:6

5 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

We do therapy dog visits to senior centers (which have old pianos sitting around) and I started just improvising on a few chords for some background music and found I truly enjoyed it. It was the first time I'd touched a piano in many years.  There was a sense of freedom I'd never had in the decades before.  I'm not quite sure what direction God has with this and I have yet to start playing with anyone else after our move, but it's fun to have music back in my life again.

That ministry is really needed! Therapy dogs were a life saver to my mom while living in a nursing home and lonely.

As for this feeling of release after decades of your musical gift lying dormant...what a remarkable thing that is! God works in mysterious ways. I can only imagine how enjoyable it must be to have music back after such a long period. God is good!

The future... only time will tell. But it's a turning point, right? An unexpected blessing. It's been said "I'm looking forward to the future and feeling grateful for the past." I would add to that, "And living in the moment." Enjoy your new sense of freedom! Thanks for sharing from your heart.