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,

One Tin Soldier

Jerry, Melissa and Lorelei Hanbery welcomed Juliet Ruby to the world on Monday, and everyone is doing well.  Also please pray for for buddy Jeremy Godwin, who is having surgery today!


I am not sure why, but we seem to be having a week of blog posts themed around music.  I first wrote about this particular song back in October of 2009.  I never saw the original Billy Jack, yet few movies have ever had as much influence on my youth ministry career.  The hit song from that movie was One Tin Soldier, written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and performed by Coven.   We sang it at camp when I was a camper, and continued to sing it off and on my first few years on the Quaker Lake Camp staff.  We sang it so much, in fact, that we got sick of it. In fact, like many great youth group songs, it at some point made it to the Youth Group Jukebox of Cheese (Songs that are cheesy, but as some point became popular with a group).  But you can't keep a good song down, and it would make comebacks during my time at Springfield Friends Meeting, and, after another hiatus, at First UMC-Kissimmee.  The reasons it kept coming back are simple; it has a wonderfully catchy melody and a message that resonates with students in every generation- peace and love.  And it hits the nail on the head on the number one reason for violence in our world- greed.  I offer this thought:  the arrival of the Christ-child was heralded by angels singing "Peace on earth; good will to all people."  Why, then, do we still have war, famine and injustice?  A bumper sticker says it all:  Know Jesus, Know Peace;  No Jesus, No Peace.  Here are the amazing lyrics to One Tin Soldier.

Listen children to a story that was written long ago

about a kingdom on a mountain and the valley folks below

On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath the stone

and the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own

CHORUS: 

So go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend

Do it in the name of Heaven you can justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing, come the judgement day

On the bloody morning after....One tin soldier rides away

So the the people of the valley sent a message up the hill

asking for the buried treasure, tons of gold for which they'd kill

Came an answer from the mountain with our brothers we will share

all the secrets of our mountain, all the riches buried there

CHORUS

Now the valley cried with anger "Mount your horses!  Draw your swords!"

So they killed the mountain people and they won their just rewards

Now they stood beside the treasure on the mountain, dark and red

Turned the stone and looked beneath it...

Peace on earth, was all it said.

All of our armies and weapons and technology and fear have not made the world a safer place.  "Why don't you look into Jesus...you know He's got the answers...     -Larry Norman

Because of Jesus,

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!

Youth Sunday, 1999

I am sure that many of you are aware of "live blogging," the act of attending an event and blogging while you watch.  Such blogs usually contain reports of the actual event as well as opinionated comments from the blogger.  Today I introduce you to "retro-blogging."  This is the act of watching a VHS tape from over a decade ago and creating a blog post from the event.  As with live blogs, this post will contain actual information about the event as well as lame comments from the writer.  I hope you enjoy!

The tape I am watching is from a Youth Sunday at FUMC-K in the Spring of 1999.  We did at least one of these youth-led Sundays each year while I was serving the church in Kissimmee;  they were always well received and the students loved doing them.  This tape was made for me by the great Pat Pribyl during the 8:30 AM service;  we actually did all three services that day.  So let's get started!

Cathy Thacker (former Youth Counselor who was by then on the church staff and is now a UMC pastor) did the announcements (John and Pat Willis were away) and had the honor of breaking the news to many unsuspecting elderly attenders that the youth were in charge of the service.  She also mentioned that the United Methodist Committee on Relief was seeking money to help with the influx of refugees from Kosovo.  Seems like a lifetime ago.  I am sure there was still some confusion in the congregation at this point, for after Cathy sat down...nothing happened!  There were no youth sitting in the choir area, which is where the youth always were on such Sundays.  The only people upfront were Andrew Lewis and the Youth Praise Band, and they were not playing.  Eventually, Kristen Landry and Lindsey Lupfer came down the aisles, serving as acolytes, and brought in the "Light of Christ."  Then they left as well.  It seemed as if we had forgotten what came next...

Suddenly the silence was pierced by the sound of a lone flautist (I believe it was Sara Kohl?)  playing Prepare Ye from Godspell.  The flute was then joined by a lone voice (the camera is not showing the congregation, it is showing the platform, so I don't know who sang first) from the crowd, and after one time through the chorus another voice joined in.  And then another.  My memory tells me it was the Reep twins and Jill Souther who were the first three voices, but I am not certain.  After the three voices had joined as one, the Praise Band kicked in and all of the youth and Youth Counselors- about 50 people total- who were hiding in the congregation begin to stand, sing and make their way to the choir loft.  There is clapping, shouting, smiling- mostly from the participants.  The congregations still looks a bit confused.  Finally the whole group is in place.  It was a great (if I may say so myself), albeit under-appreciated, opening to worship.  (Full disclosure:  I just had to pause the tape so I could move clothes from the washer to the dryer.  This retro blogging thing is hard work!)

We opened the next part of worship with what was referred to in those days as a Praise Block.  For us it was a chance to sing some of our favorite music in worship with our church family.  For many others, it meant standing for a long period of time singing songs they didn't know and/or didn't care much for!  I introduced the first song, I Found Jesus, by acknowledging this fact; I said "You may not know this song, but sing it anyway!"  There was loud laughter.  The Praise Band cranked it up. The band featured Jacob Lupfer on keyboards, Jay Lynes on bass, Tommy Weaver and Jason Fry on guitars, and Josh Fry on drums.  After the first song, Colleen Martin gave the congregation an official youth welcome, telling them that "this might get a little weird, and it's not going to be what you are used to."  A wonderful understatement.  The band and Andrew then led us through great versions of Lord I Lift Your Name On High and Lord You Have My Heart.  The band sat down and Andrew led us in a rousing chorus of Step By Step ("Oh God, You are my God..."), and then I took over and led our favorite youth group worship tune, Sing Alleluia to the Lord.  I've said it here before and will do so again at some point, but when that group sang that song it was like the angels were joining in- and this time was no exception.

The old folks finally got to sit down so that Sara Autrey and Jay Lynes could do the Children's Moment.  They used an apple to talk about the Fruits of the Spirit, and how having God in our lives makes us do good things.  The fruits theme continued with a skit featuring Adam Hill as a thorn bush who thinks he is a fig tree, and Nate Kern as a passer-by.  Adam tries to convince Nate to try a fig; all Nate could see were thorns.  Adam tries a dozen different arguments, including seeking to convince Nate that his thorns are in fact spiked figs.  It is a very well done, hilarious skit that hopefully illustrates that you aren't truly a Christian if there is no fruit in your life.  To make certain everyone "got it," this is followed by Teresa Reep (one of our seniors) reading the scripture about fruits from Galatians 5:16-26.  At one point while reading, she stumbles on the phrase "sexual immorality."  I cannot prove it, but it sounds as if she was about to say "sexual immortality" and caught herself.   A shame, really...THAT would have stirred some discussion on scripture!

Next up were three more seniors who were delivering the Message for the day.  Jill Souther was first, talking about  how she only had 30 days of high school left, and about overcoming doubt and obstacles in her own life with faith.  She told several good stories to illustrate her point.  (I went to get a bottle of water and left the tape running; you know, that Jill could really talk!!!)  Once Jill was done, Cyndi Reep (only 25 days left) took the pulpit and talked openly about feeling as if she had slipped away from God in her senior year.  She then pointed out, quite brilliantly, that our spiritual journey contains both mountains and valleys, and that we tend to grow in our faith more in the valleys.  Jacob Lupfer went last, and spoke from the heart to his church family.  He estimated that he had "met God in this place" over 900 times in his life, which he deduced made him an elder at age 18.  Jacob, who had bright red hair, also questioned if as he got older and his hair started turning gray would it, at some point, be pink?    He encouraged people to reach out and share their faith with the community, chiding himself for not having done a better job, and exulting some of his peers for being master evangelists.  All three speakers were excellent that day; I am still proud of them as I write this today.  They were not just "cute youth;"  they said important things!

We were now headed down the home stretch of this service.  Melissa Lynes took Joys and Concerns from the congregation and led us all in prayer.  Celia Thacker and myself presented information about Compassion International to the crowd, explaining that we as a youth group were now sponsoring two children, and that we had 19 others we hoped that different families, Sunday School classes and small groups in the church would sponsor.  Erica Souther then called our Youth Ushers forward and prayed over the offering.  As the special music while the plates were passed the entire youth choir sang dc Talk's Into Jesus.  I loved that song then,but looking back, it needs to placed in the Youth Group Jukebox of Cheese.  It was not much a group singing song...   The service closed with the entire congregation singing Pass It On (I managed to play it without laughing), which featured rousing shouts of PRAISE GOD from the youth at the appropriate times.  And looking back this morning, I do indeed praise God for days like that one.

I didn't know it at the time (I certainly do now), but in many ways that day marked the end of an era at FUMC-K.  In a few weeks John Willis would be moved (A bad memory-I just shivered and broke out in a cold sweat!) to another church; this important group of seniors would graduate; and I would enter a summer with an intern not named Jerry Hanbery.  A cold wind was about to blow through the church.  But on that day, God was smiling on us and the Holy Spirit was moving among us.  This retro blogging is pretty cool-  but in all honesty, you had to be there!  Have a blessed weekend!

Because of Jesus,

One Tin Soldier

I never saw the original Billy Jack, yet few movies have ever had as much influence on my youth ministry career.  The big song from that movie was One Tin Soldier, written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and performed by Coven.   We sang it at camp when I was a camper, and continued to sing it off and on my first few years on the Quaker Lake Camp staff.  We sang it so much, in fact, that we got sick of it. In fact, like many great youth group songs, it at some point made it to the Youth Group Jukebox of Cheese (Songs that are cheesy, but as some point became popular with a group).  But you can't keep a good song down, and it would make comebacks during my time at Springfield Friends Meeting, and, after another hiatus, at First UMC-Kissimmee.  The reasons it kept coming back are simple; it has a wonderfully catchy melody and a message that resonates with students in our world- peace and brotherhood.  And it hits the nail on the head on the number one reason for violence in our world- greed.  I offer this thought:  the arrival of the Christ-child was heralded by angels singing "Peace on earth; good will to all people."  Why, then, do we still have war, famine and injustice?  A bumper sticker says it all:  Know Jesus, Know Peace;  No Jesus, No Peace.  Here is One Tin Soldier.

Listen children to a story that was written long ago

about a kingdom on a mountain and the valley folks below

On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath the stone

and the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own

CHORUS: 

So go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend

Do it in the name of Heaven you can justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing, come the judgement day

On the bloody morning after....One tin soldier rides away

So the the people of the valley sent a message up the hill

asking for the buried treasure, tons of gold for which they'd kill

Came an answer from the mountain with our brothers we will share

all the secrets of our mountain, all the riches buried there

CHORUS

Now the valley cried with anger "Mount your horses!  Draw your swords!"

So they killed the mountain people and they won their just rewards

Now they stood beside the treasure on the mountain, dark and red

Turned the stone and looked beneath it...

Peace on earth, was all it said.

All of our armies and weapons and technology and fear have not made the world a safer place.  "Why don't you look into Jesus...you know He's got the answers...     -Larry Norman