Sources II

Continuing on the theme of exploring the Sources for Jesus music that were available to me during the 1970s and 80s, I’ve posted another page. This time, it is information and airchecks about The Larry Black Show. As before, see the “Pages” section to the right, or click on the “Radio” button at the top of any page of the site to see these articles.

Tags: Larry Black Show

Ever feel like nothing is going right, nothing goes your way? Every day seems to be a struggle, a fight just to get through everything? You can have that feeling if you don’t have all of your instructions; you can’t do your job if you have not been told how to do it. Or maybe you’ve been told how to do it, but you didn’t listen very closely or you just plain forgot.

You’ve got pressure on all sides – your boss is wanting more work out of you, and your customers are wanting answers to their questions. Here you are in the middle, trying desparately to please both sides, and quite sure that you are failing both miserably.

Getting yourself centered can help. And I don’t mean “sit on a mat on the floor with your legs in the lotus position and find the center of your being”. The center of your being might very well be rather empty, and what you are looking for is not more emptiness. The “center” you need is to connect with the One who made you.

Connecting with God – there seem to be a million ideas on how to do that, from the very traditional to the very weird. The only God and the only connection that is satisfying and fulfilling is that connection with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Your connection with him is through prayer. And prayer doesn’t have to be a flowery, well designed, grammatically correct statement that your English teacher would be proud of. It simply has to be a statement from your heart.

Your prayer might just be one word: “Help!” Or possibly two words: “I’m lonely” or “I’m scared”. Or it could be tears that don’t stop.

The prayer you need starts with this: “Jesus, I know I’ve screwed it up again. I need your help desparately. I admit my mistakes – my sins – to you. I’m sorry for those sins. Please come into my heart, and make it your own home. Clean out the garbage there, put yourself in control of my life, and I will follow what you want me to do.”

And whether this is a prayer you’ve never prayed before, or whether this is a re-aquaintance with the savior that you have been ignoring, God will gladly welcome you back. And if you’ve offered that prayer in sincerity, with a determination to make that connection with God on a daily basis, through prayer and through reading his Word, the Bible, you are on the road to getting those struggles and pressures in life to start being easier to handle.

Terry Clark released his first solo album in 1978 called Welcome. On that album is a song with a visually strange title: Ugadano Thawanu Maija. Read it (or listen to the song below) and you’ll know what he means. And carefully read the words: It tells in brief what I’ve labored to say here with many more words.

Tags: help, prayer, Terry Clark

This post takes a break from song lyrics.. Instead, I want to point out articles that I have put up as pages on this site. See the “Pages” section to the right, or click on the “Radio” button at the top of any page of the site to see these articles. 

The first article briefly discusses where I heard most of my first “Jesus music” songs.

The second article gives background about The Scott Ross Show, including airchecks from the show.

The third article expands on the information on KYMS 106.3 from Santa Ana, California beyond what I posted in the Wikipedia article about the station, including airchecks of the jingles played by the station during its years of operation.

 

There are other articles planned; see the Contents on each page of this Radio section for a list of coming attractions. I’ll make mention of them here when they are completed and ready to read.

Tags: KYMS, Scott Ross

A life can be full of joy, of happiness, of love, and so much more. But so many lives have only a pittance of these qualities, and too much of the qualities of sorrow, sadness, regret, and pain. All too often these are present because of our own actions and choices. But sometimes these things enter our lives from people or events over which we have no control.

The tragedies of life ultimately affect each of us. You lose a parent, a child, a friend, or a spouse, to death through injury or illness. Or perhaps the loss is a separation due to distance or disagreement. Maybe the tragedy is personal, a disease or accident that leaves you with a permanent reminder – pain, dizziness or nausea that is always with you. Or it may be a mark left behind by that accident or by the surgeon’s knife.

Regardless of the specific disaster that you’ve been through, the common sequela is the scar. This mark could be one that is visible to the eye, or hidden beneath your skin, or a wound to your soul and spirit that is no less painful just because it is intangible.

Scars tell a story. They are a reminder of the events that brought you to the place in life where you are. Sometimes the scar is a sign of defeat. Sometimes it is a sign of something much greater.

Jesus changed in a strange and subtle way after he suffered beatings, crucifixion, and death at the hands of his Roman executioners. When he rose from the dead and appeared to his friends, they didn’t recognize him right away. We don’t know exactly what had changed, his face or his height or his build, or just a blindness in the eyes of those who should know his appearance better than any alive at that time. But in most cases it was his scars that got their attention, and made them realize that they were again in the presence of the One they loved. And even in heaven, we are told that it is what happened to Jesus that makes him recognizeable for who he is (Revelation 5:6).

Michael Card, on the title track of his 1984 album Known By The Scars, sings about the significance of the scars of Jesus. God considered those scars important enough to leave them where they are. Know for certain, that if the Son of God himself endured suffering and wears his scars proudly through all time, that this same Jesus can somehow take your scars and make them into a story of victory for your life!

Tags: Michael Card, pain, scars