Some things just resonate

On Jude2.com I posted a note about an old song by Chuck Girard, "Lay Your Burden Down."  That song stuck in my head, even though I have not heard it in years… some songs, some messages just resonate in your head and heart.  As I prepared a sermon from Matthew 11, and came to the familiar passage that says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I sat in my office with the sound of Chuck Girard's voice repeating the signature lines of that song, over and over.  I found myself wishing he was here to sing that song as an invitation at the end of that sermon.

After posting something about Chuck -- (I had not heard anything about him in a long time, and had no idea where he was) -- I was surprised to get a response from another poster on Jude2 who said "Chuck attends our church…"   That meant he was relocated to Nashville after years in California. Small world, indeed.

Chuck may never know until heaven the influence he had on people like me. I wore the grooves off of some vinyl disks when I discovered songs like…

    "Little Country Church"

    "A Love Song"

    "Don't Shoot the Wounded"

    "Rock 'N Roll Preacher"

    "Sometimes Alleluia"

    "Lay Your Burden Down"

Not only was his music authentic, and heart-felt, but it was GOOD. I was really turned off by the only other Christian musical genre available to me up until that time -- Southern Gospel was not a relevant style for me, when my secular influences were the Beatles, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, James Brown, Poco… the whole four-guys-in-matching-tacky-suits thing was a huge turn-off to me. Here comes Chuck, Larry Norman, Keith Green, Richie Furay (speaking of Poco), Phil Keaggy, Leon Patillo, Gary S. Paxton, and a few others, and suddenly I didn't feel like I was out of sync with what God was doing; I was just out of cultural sync with the Alabama of the late 60's and early 70's.  

It is unlikely that Chuck or any of those artists will stumble across this, unless they are GOOGLING their name to see what is out there, but if they do: THANK YOU for giving me hope and talking about Jesus in a way that made me think, explore, and hunger. Thanks for expanding my horizons and making me see that there are many valid expressions of the truth of God's Word, and that God simply won't crawl into the box for any of us.

I recommend Chuck Girard's book (what on earth is the title??) that deals with music, anointing and worship. You can check it out online at http://chuck.org/newbook.html