A Vintage Post: Radical Man (Beefy Cheesy!)

The FUMC-Kissimmee Reunion is tomorrow- but I am already enjoying it!  Teresa has been her a couple of days and we are having a blast, and this morning we are meeting Jennifer (Bob) Kuramochi for brunch!  Here's another vintage post to keep you going while we have TOO much fun!

My youth group at FUMC-K loved to sing.  In any youth ministry you always have those who love to sing for fun, another group that loves to sing for worship, and a group that doesn't really care for singing at all.  In Kissimmee we had all of those, but I was also blessed with a large group that simply loved to sing, no matter the time or the occasion.  And since I loved leading them in song, we had some amazing times together just singing.  On Ski Trips, on the porch of the Betsy B, or in the Youth Room, we sang our hearts out.  As I look back, we sang many classic youth group songs, and sooner or later I will blog about some of our favorites.  But today I want to focus on a song from the Youth Group Jukebox of Cheese (see also One Tin Soldier) - a youth group novelty song that we loved to sing and that is a nice follow-up to yesterday's post on Radical Christianity, which I hope all of you will read.

Yohann Anderson (YO to his friends, and I am proud to count myself among them) was one of the great pioneers of using a wide range of songs in student ministry.  His Songs book and his Songs and Creations publishing house were staples of the youth ministry scene until the advent of praise bands and contemporary worship music in the late 1990's.  His book gave us everything from Proud Mary and Pharaoh, Pharaoh to Sing Alleluia.   He also taught me a philosophy of group singing dynamics that I used my entire career.  In fact, it was on his advice that after finding our singing to be disgustingly unenthusiastic at Wesley Memorial in 2002 that I ditched our praise band and went back to simply leading with guitar, and got fantastic results.  In 1992 he wrote a funky little song called Radical Man about the life and teachings of Jesus.  We started singing it in Kissimmee around 1995, and for several years it was one of our favorites.  There was a pause in the chorus, during which it had originally been YO's intent for the singers to yell, "YES!"  I gave my group the freedom of yelling other things, and very quickly the phrase of choice to yell became, "BEEFY CHEESY!"  I have no idea why (the who may have been Connor Lewis) this started, but it caught on and quickly became a tradition.  But the song was more than just a goofy youth group song; it had a message about the nature of Christ that was (and is) important.  Check out the lyrics to Radical Man; if you are feeling really brave, click the video below and you can hear me sing it...

CHORUS:  Well they called Him the rebel-rousin' Radical Man.

loved a party, loved his friends

Laughed with joy, surprised the sad, made all the self-righteous people mad

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh...(BEEFY CHEESY!)

The rebel-rousin' Radical Man, oh yeah, the rebel-rousin' Radical Man

Healed the sick, raised the dead, irritated people with the truth He said

Upset their religious plans, painted God with a human hand

Said "Outside things will pass away, concentrate on what will stay

Love your enemies, feed the poor," Radical Man said "I'm the door..."

"Do to others what you want from them, forgive each other, don't condemn

A greedy attitude will never last, the Kingdom of God is for those who ask"

"People come before material things, we're not puppets on anyone's strings

Live like a child, by my side, come be happy no need to hide..."

"Love your neighbor as yourself, don't hoard money for power and wealth

First look at your own mistakes, not the speck in another's face"

He gave His body and gave His blood, stirred us up to feel His love

"Whatever you do, you do to Me, celebrate life, you are free..."

If the students in my youth group in Kissimmee learned NOTHING ELSE in my 6 years, I could live with them just knowing the truths contained in that silly little song.  Jesus is indeed the Radical Man, and if we truly follow His teachings and His example, we will be radical too!  Who knew that one of the signs of being a Jesus Freak was knowing when to yell "BEEFY CHEESY!"   Thank you, YO, for so many things, but especially for Radical Man. 

One final note:  I tried this song with a couple of groups after leaving Kissimmee and they just didn't get it... Radical Man is exclusive to Kissimmee!

Because of the Radical Man,