Jukebox Hero

When one is growing up, one dreams of all manners of futures. There were moments in my young life when I thought of becoming a doctor, a missionary, a teacher, a writer, a history professor, a hermit, even a traveling hobo. Some of those dreams seem laughable to me now; others make me occasionally wonder about roads not taken.

Perhaps no dream interested me as greatly, however, as being a rock & roll musician. Sure, stardom carries its own allures which many people have desired. I never desired the stardom as much as I dreamt of the possibility of making music for a living. Yes, that future inevitably included hanging out with Paul McCartney, Bono, and probably a supermodel or two. But I can honestly say that the most important part of that dream for me was making the music, recording it, hearing it on the radio, and playing it before crowds of at least mildly interested fans.

I wasn't very old when God looked at that dream and said, "No, Keith. That's not what I want for you." Part of that was simply because I wasn't very good; part of that was that the Lord had another calling on my life. I am now in my 16th year of pastoral ministry, and I am grateful for the opportunities I have received to share the good news of Jesus with many people. It is a humbling yet exciting life.

Jefferson church has recently begun a ministry to and with a personal care home in urban Clairton. It is a place which serves people of lower economic stations, many of whom have mental health issues or drug-related issues. I am hopeful that this ministry continues to bear wonderful fruit, as I think it's been a true blessing both for the care home and for our congregation. I hope it grows into a true "symbiosis", and we rely on one another as family.

Part of our ministry includes worship on the first Thursday of each month. During that time, we sing, pray, hear the word read & proclaimed, and share the Bread & Cup together. It has become a wondrous time of confession and renewal in the Spirit.

As I have at other ministry events and worshipful times, I play guitar and lead singing. I confess that my skills are rusty and I'm always tempted to jump into a song by the Beatles or Creedence Clearwater Revival or Tom Petty, but God has enabled me to adequately accompany our praises and joyful noises. Recently, something wonderful has happened. The Spirit has worked through me...not to help me play as well as George Harrison or Scotty Moore or Eric Clapton...but to bring a particular tiny group of the Body of Christ into moments of true worship, not only with a real experience of the presence of God but far more importantly a sense that our praise is real, authentic, sincere and welcomed.

These are difficult emotions to describe. While I have felt similar feelings in my preaching ministry, the sense while playing guitar and singing at the personal care home rings "you've come full circle" to me, as if my weak gifts are being used in the most appropriate way. I am grateful for the journey.

This isn't to say that I'll never sing or play rock & roll again; it remains somewhat of a dream. I remain absolutely convinced that rock & roll is the greatest form of music ever devised by humankind, and that most of what passes today for "pop" music or even contemporary Christian music pales in comparison to the best of rock & roll. But I am thankful that a passion of mine has found a way to be of service to Christ's Kingdom, even in a limited fashion. God is truly good.

Happy Birthday John Lennon

John Lennon was born sixty-nine years ago today.

Here is a performance by John Lennon in 1968 from the Rolling Stones' TV special "Rock & Roll Circus". Mick Jagger handles the introduction, followed by a pretty cool performance of the Beatles' "Yer Blues" featuring Eric Clapton on guitar, Keith Richards on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums.

Greatest Songwriters in Rock and Roll History

1 - John Lennon & Paul McCartney

2 - Bob Dylan

3 - Chuck Berry

4 - Carole King & Gerry Goffin

5 - Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

6 - Smokey Robinson

7 - Brian Wilson

8 - Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier & Eddie Holland

9 - Paul Simon

10 - George Harrison

Greatest Drummers in Rock and Roll History

1 - Ringo Starr

2 - Keith Moon

3 - Ginger Baker

4 - D.J. Fontana

5 - Stewart Copeland

6 - Earl Palmer

7 - Mitch Mitchell

8 - Hal Blaine

9 - John Bonham

10 - Gene Chrisman

Greatest Bassists in Rock and Roll History

1 - Paul McCartney

2 - John Entwistle

3 - Bill Black

4 - Carol Kaye

5 - James Jamerson

6 - Jack Bruce

7 - John McVie

8 - Chris Squire

9 - Noel Redding

10 - John Paul Jones

Greatest Guitarists in Rock and Roll History

1 - Jimi Hendrix

2 - Eric Clapton

3 - Chuck Berry

4 - Carl Perkins

5 - Scotty Moore

6 - George Harrison

7 - Steve Cropper

8 - Eddie Willis

9 - Jimmy Page

10 - The Edge

Greatest Singers in Rock and Roll History (male)

1 - Elvis Presley

2 - John Lennon

3 - Paul McCartney

4 - Marvin Gaye

5 - Otis Redding

6 - Sam Cooke

7 - Freddie Mercury

8 - Jackie Wilson

9 - Roy Orbison

10 - Michael Jackson

Greatest Bands in Rock and Roll History

1 - The Beatles

2 - The Who

3 - The Rolling Stones

4 - U2

5 - Creedence Clearwater Revival

6 - The Beach Boys

7 - Cream

8 - Led Zeppelin

9 - Queen

10 - Guns n'Roses

The World Changed 45 Years Ago Today...

"All Together Now" movie

Friday Top Ten: Best Beatles Albums

1 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

2 - Revolver (1966)

3 - The Beatles ("The White Album") (1968)

4 - Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

5 - Rubber Soul (1965)

6 - Abbey Road (1969)

7 - A Hard Day's Night (1964)

8 - Help! (1965)

9 - Beatles for Sale (1964)

10 - Let It Be (1970)

Note: All albums British editions except Magical Mystery Tour (US edition).

It was 40 years ago today...

On this date in 1967, EMI/Capitol Records released the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Without question, it is the most influential album of the rock and roll era, and arguably the most significant piece of Western music since Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

If you've never listened to this masterwork by the twentieth century's most important musical artist, I urge you to do so posthaste.

The Beatles began recording the album near the end of 1966. Too tired from incessant touring to even think about hitting the road again, too burned out from controversies ranging from John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" confusion to a disastrous stop in the Philippines which nearly cost the band their lives, and still by far the most popular musical act on the planet, the group decided to concentrate their efforts on recording an album of music which initially reflected their childhood memories from Liverpool, England.

The first fruits of these sessions were Lennon's achingly lovely "Strawberry Fields Forever" and Paul McCartney's "Penny Lane". Brilliant and far more complex than the pop music of the day, the songs were released as a 45 RPM single, quickly hitting #1 and still considered the greatest double-sided single in history.

Recording continued as the band felt free to experiment with new sounds and new approaches to pop songwriting (as well as popular drugs of the day, such as marijuana and LSD). While the Beatles toyed with their studio masterpiece, the Monkees took over the airwaves and Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys (with the aid of the brilliant session band known as the "Wrecking Crew") released the stunningly beautiful album Pet Sounds, which remains one of the true masterpieces of twentieth century music.

When Sgt. Pepper was released on June 1, 1967, it forever revolutionized popular culture, from the music to the artistic album cover to the thoughts, ideas, and freedom evident in the project. Music historians note that with Sgt. Pepper, popular music ceased to be music simply "to be danced to" and began to be music "to be listened to".

From the rocking intro of the title song (employing one of McCartney's all-time greatest "rock" vocals), to the brilliant simplicity of "With a Little Help from My Friends", to the psychedelic beauty of Lennon's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", to George Harrison's trip into Eastern mysticism "Within You Without You", to the dance hall memories of "When I'm 64", to the jaw-dropping experience of "A Day in the Life" (considered by many critics to be the greatest single recording of the twentieth century, and featuring perhaps the finest, most creative drumwork in rock and roll history, courtesy of Ringo Starr), and every song in between, the album is an adventure for the ears and the intellect.

If you're not a Beatles fan, you should be. If you've never listened to Sgt. Pepper, do your ears a favor and listen to it. If you've listened to it before, listen again and experience again God's great gift of music.

1964: The Tribute

Robyn and I had a wonderful time on Friday night. A great couple from JUMC, the Kudravys, had given us a very thoughtful Christmas gift: a night with them enjoying 1964: The Tribute, the best Beatles tribute band in the world. Great fun!

We started the night at a new (for us) downtown restaurant called the "Sonoma Grille" (excellent steak), then off to the Benedum Center for the show. As many of my friends know, I consider the Beatles to be by far the greatest and most important musicians of our era, comparable to Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven in their respective periods. To see this great music recreated onstage with 2000 other loyal fans was great. We had seats in the sixth row, so I really felt a part of the event. We got to spend time with friends of the Kudravys as well, which was a lot of fun.

The show was fantastic, the music was faithful and timeless, but the best part of the night was spending time with my beautiful wife and two wonderful friends in Christ. Enjoying the simple pleasures of great music and fine food is a real treasure, and one I hope I never take for granted.

If "1964: The Tribute" returns next year (which is the hope), I encourage all people who love good music to try and catch them; it's worth the effort!

Merry Christmas from George Harrison

And So This is Christmas...

In October 1971, John Lennon wrote and recorded (with Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band, and the Harlem Community Choir) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", which is perhaps the best modern Christmas song. The secondary refrain of the song features the phrase, "War is over if you want it", a phrase most people of my generation didn't fully appreciate until recent years.

The song begins with the now classic phrase, "And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?"

Christmas is, among other things, an opportunity to review our lives and our ministries in the waning year, and to evaluate how faithful and effective we have been. It's an opportunity to celebrate the successes...whether strong spiritual growth, increased worship attendance, or facility improvements (all of which Jefferson church can celebrate this year).

It's also an opportunity to be honest about the imperative Jesus gave to us. That imperative is often summed up by many in Matthew 28:16-20, a wonderful passage which, frankly, needs to be "fleshed out" a bit in order to fully graps its meaning.

For me, this is where Matthew 25:31-46 comes into play. How do we make disciples? It's the mission of the Church, after all, and rightly so. How do we do it? What does it mean to make disciples?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 25.

"Truly, I say to you,
as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren,
you did it to me."

Faithfully making disciples (which is synonomous with faithfully being disciples) means, in some way, serving those to whom Jesus referred as "the least of these".

Who are "the least of these"? According to Jesus in Matthew 25, these are folks who are are hungry, who are thirsty, who need clothed, who are strangers and outcasts, who are in prison, who are poor. What are we doing for "the least of these"?

It seems to me that if we are not doing enough to meet their needs, which communicates to them the love God has for them, then we are failures. In the big picture...the "Kingdom picture"...it simply doesn't matter if strong spiritual growth, increased worship attendance, or facility improvements are present. These things don't matter to God; what matters is how we have communicated the love of God to "the least of these", because Jesus relates not to the affluent or the comfortable (as Matthew 25 makes clear), but to the outcast, the poor, the disinherited (to borrow Howard Thurman's wonderful terminology).

If we fail? Jesus says we get "eternal punishment". If we are faithful? "Eternal life". In fact, Jesus is pretty clear on this point, and doesn't leave us very much wiggle room. It's not just a matter of not doing evil; it's also a matter of actively doing good.

As commentators Ralph Earle and Walter Wessel state, "The judgment of the righteous is based not on an intellectual faith but on a faith that demands loving action toward others." Let me risk heresy: it may well be that despite our traditional evangelical appeals to salvation by grace through faith, that how faithful we are in serving "the least of these" determines our eternal destiny, at least in part.

I get so tired of American materialism, which absolutely infects the Church, especially in white suburbia (I don't know who coined the phrase "affluenza", but it's spot on correct). It infects the Church Universal, the United Methodist Church and Western PA Conference (I'm still waiting for that new church start in downtown Pittsburgh or rural Appalachia, as opposed to a wealthy white suburb...). We are just too comfortable.

I am tired of Charge Conference forms and statistical reports which ask for terribly mundane and ultimately meaningless details such as the amount congregations collected in loose change offering. That's silly. Even recording the number of people in Sunday School is ultimately pointless (with all due respect to my well-meaning colleagues who value that sort of information). What we should be held accountable for...particularly those of us in affluent suburbia..is the number of hungry people we fed...the number of children who recieved winter clothing...the number of inmates we visited at the county prison or the regional hospital or the local personal care home...and what we did to stand with those who suffer from racism, AIDS, or hate.

The Church has misplaced its priorities, and the world is suffering for it. May God have mercy upon us.

Thankfully, in this season of new life, miracles can still happen. Led by the Spirit, we can reclaim the mission, and begin to take Matthew 25 seriously. We can know penitence, forgiveness, and second chances...or third...or fourth. It's not too late to seek faithfulness. It's not too late for us to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" (as was said about Eleanor Roosevelt).

"And So This is Christmas, and what have we done?" John Lennon sang in 1971. May we search our hearts this holiday season and promise our Lord that at Christmas 2007, we will have a more faithful answer to that question.

Merry Christmas from Paul & Linda (& Wings)

On this day...

In 1980, John Lennon was murdered outside his home in Manhattan. Lennon was the leader of the Beatles, who unquestionably reign as the most significant musical artists of the twentieth century. Lennon's voice remains one of the most searingly honest and powerfully raw musical instruments ever recorded, and his songs remain among the greatest ever written. His example as an unbearably honest artist and as an activist for peace continue to inspire people all over the world.

Like millions of others, my life was changed by the life and especially the music of John Lennon. So much of my "embedded theology" comes from his music and the imperfect but exceedingly genuine way he lived his life. So, as the world remembers those dark events of twenty-six years ago, I thank God for John Lennon.

"You say you want a revolution,
Well, you know we all want to change the world.
You tell me that it’s evolution,
Well, you know we all want to change the world.
But when you talk about destruction,
Don’t you know that you can count me out?
Don’t you know it’s going to be alright?
You say you got a real solution,
Well, you know we’d all love to see the plan.
You ask me for a contribution,
Well, you know we’re all doing what we can.
But if you want money for people with minds that hate,
All I can tell you is, brother, you'll have to wait.
Don’t you know it’s going to be alright?
You say you’ll change the Constitution,
Well, you know we all want to change your head.
You tell me it’s the institution,
Well, you know you'd better free your mind instead.
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.
Don’t you know it’s going to be alright?"

(Lennon/McCartney, 1968)

Merry Christmas from John & Yoko

Pete Best

Last evening, I went to see Pete Best (actually, the "Pete Best Band") live at Hartwood Acres in northern Allegheny County. Pete Best was the drummer for the Beatles in their early, formative years, while they were playing in the Cavern in Liverpool and playing 8 hour sets, 7 days a week in Hamburg, Germany. He was fired by the band and their manager Brian Epstein in 1962, when they were signed to a recording contract. The far more inventive Ringo Starr was his replacement. Pete Best labored in obscurity while the Beatles went on to worldwide stardom and acclaim.

I'm happy to say that Pete Best's ship finally came in the in mid-1990s, when The Beatles Anthology series of CDs was released, featuring several recordings the band made in the early 1960s with their old drummer. As a result of those recordings, and the success of the Anthology project (all three double CD sets topped the charts upon their release in 1995 and 1996), Pete Best became a millionaire, and now tours the world with his band.

First, the concert was slightly marred because Pete's opening act was scheduled to be Denny Laine, former guitarist for both Wings and the Moody Blues, but Denny was a no show. But when the Pete Best Band took the stage, it was clear they were there to have fun and give a good show. Essentially, as my brother and I quickly noticed, they are a good oldies band with a gimmick...Pete Best being their gimmick.

Pete was one of two drummers and seemed to do a fine job, playing rock and roll classics (such as "Twist and Shout", "Besame Mucho", and "What'd I Say") and a few very early Beatles numbers ("I Saw Her Standing There", "P.S. I Love You", "Hello Little Girl"). He spoke a few times, recalling the early days with "John, Paul, George, and Stuart" (Stuart Sutcliffe being the Beatles' original bassist, who left the group and died before their fame), and the Liverpudlian band gave the audience a good show.

Surprisingly, thousands of people turned out for the concert on the lawn, and a good time was had by all. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing an actual Beatle.

The Beatles at Shea Stadium, 1966

The Beatles, the greatest and most important musical artists of the past century, were so big in their day that they were forced to do something new...perform in sports stadiums to accomodate their fans. Pretty common today, it was unheard of in the 1960s. This is a great clip of their historic concert in New York City. Click on the image to play.