CCM Thursday: The Holy Books

I first became aware of James Ward at the 1982 National Youth Workers Convention, when this James Taylor looking dude took the main stage and absolutely blew us away with piano playing and soulful voice.  Later on, he would would do concerts for us at North Carolina Yearly Meeting sessions and at Youthquake '91 in Vermont.  For many years he served as the musical director for Youth Specialties at the NYWC.  But the most important thing James ever did for me was teach me to rap...


I had already passed my 30th birthday in 1990 when I started to get serious about memorizing scripture (for really the first time since my childhood).  Among the things I wanted to commit to memory were all of the books of the bible.  In 1985, James had written a rap called The Holy Books, and I decided to use it to help me with my memorization.  It worked like a charm. To this day if I need to locate a particular book of the bible in my mind, watch my lips.  You may see them move as I silently rap my way through the Old and New Testaments.  I used to perform the rap on occasion, only to prove that I could really do it!  :)


In July of 2010 I put together a little video of the song and posted it to YouTube as a teaching aid for anyone trying to learn the Holy Books.  As that video approaches 10,000 views, I thought I would share it with my blog readers for the first time.  It is cheesy.  It's silly.  But it works.  And I can promise you from personal experience- learn this song and you'll never forget the books of the bible again!  Enjoy, and have a blessed day!