Bweinh! Soundtrack — Keith Green

April 29, 2007, 1:30 pm; posted by
Filed under Djere, Music  | 7 Comments

Every weekend, a different Bweinh!tributor will discuss a song or songwriter that inspires or interests them. Read the first four soundtrack entries here, here, here, and here.

Scene: Three teenage boys huddle together in their dark living room, illuminated only by the colorful strobing of their television. There are three sources of noise in the house: the boys, their television, and a dust-covered record player.

Our parents were involved in just about every ministry our church conducted. Worship, children’s church, youth group, cleaning ministry, “Special Touches” ministry for those who were sick, prayer chain, elders’ meetings, ministers’ fellowship meetings… you name it, they pretty much did it. And it’s not like they didn’t want to be home. But church meetings kept them out of the house anywhere from one to three nights a week.

Sure, we got into our fair share of trouble, but eventually we fell into our groove. And half of our groove was Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo. Still to this day, Steve, Tom, and I are some of the fiercest Mario Karters you’ll ever meet. (P.S. — Don’t even *think* about challenging me to Vanilla Lake 2. Seriously.)

The other half was Keith Green.

Though I’m sure he’ll correct my remembrance, Steve was poking around my parents’ room (like many teens) and discovered a dusty, forgotten box of our parents’ old records — like Bob Dylan, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Keith Green.

And from the time we discovered the box, it was Keith Green every night we played.

So while other kids were zoning out to 90s grunge rock, we had (and still have) almost every Keith Green song memorized, down to the skipping of the individual records. When we drive and “He’ll Take Care of the Rest” comes on, each of us will sing: “He’ll take care of the rest / bum bum Ju… / bum bum Ju… / bum bum Ju… / bum bum / Just believe, and you’ll receive / that comfort you need…” Just like we learned from the record.

From the orchestral, soaring highs of the Prodigal Son Suite, to the musically minor, theologically major Sheep and the Goats, Keith Green’s influence on my brothers and me cannot be overstated. His were our first and most played CDs. Steve got the entire Ministry Years collection; I bought the Songs of Devotion, Songs of Worship, Songs of Testimony, and Songs of Evangelism collections.

Being told I sounded like Keith Green on the piano was probably one of the greatest compliments I had ever received. Sure, it’s not true by any stretch of the imagination, but it was nice to hear.

If you’re looking to be challenged in your walk, your faith, your devotion, your evangelism, your worship, or your life, listen to Keith Green.

And play Mario Kart.


Comments

7 Comments to “Bweinh! Soundtrack — Keith Green”

  1. Rose on April 29th, 2007 3:30 pm

    I absolutely loved when Steve babysat because we got to listen to that record all night. Keith Green is on the list of about four singers who I would have married without ever meeting because I was so in impressed with his songs. Naturally it depended on them being my age, not married and of course not dead.

  2. Steve on April 29th, 2007 10:00 pm

    The others:
    Yanni
    Raffi
    Fergie

  3. misserose on April 29th, 2007 11:32 pm

    Keith Green is on my “most influential people” list. (most influential to ME)

  4. Josh J on April 30th, 2007 12:53 pm

    First off, Keith Green is easily the most influential recording artist in my life, my soundtrack choice of CTD notwithstanding.

    Secondly, consider the the Vanilla Lake 2 challenge issued. This isn’t going to be pretty.

  5. Steve on April 30th, 2007 1:39 pm

    The three of us (four, with Tom) are a formidable presence in the world of Super Nintendo Mario Kart. But it is certainly true that you are both my consistent superiors at Vanilla Lake 2, although I have had some more recent success against Djere there. I can’t wait to see you battle.

  6. Dsweetgoober on May 3rd, 2007 9:21 am

    Keith Green is by far my first love in Chritian Music. NO COMPROMISE!

  7. Danelle on February 16th, 2008 2:20 am

    LOL~ Love it. Keith Green + Nintendo…I’d go with Tetris but that’s cause it’s the only game I can play for more than three minutes (or so) without using up all of my lives.

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