Pour Out Your Spirit -- Gary Rhodes

 

Could he have been reading about what transpired in the 1^st Century, about an amazing day when the Christian church was born? Gary Rhodes had the musical gift in the early 1990s, including around the year 1994 when he prayed “Pour Out Your Spirit” in a musical petition, probably a method that was familiar to him from previous experiences. From the Glen Rose, Texas area (in Somervell County, see the map), where Gary and others had produced an inspiring musical story called The Promise (in 1989), Gary had really settled into his life’s passion, to tell stories of God through music. Asking for God to bestow a further measure of the Spirit might have seemed a bit unusual for anyone looking at what Gary was already doing. But, we all feel the need to call out to Him and sense Him more tangibly at times. Jesus’ entry into planet earth was fairly mild compared to what would happen some 33 years later, including after He ascended, when a strong wind inhabited 12 men who’d known God face-to-face. That kind of phenomenon doesn’t happen every day, and sure got the attention of the thousands who were in Jerusalem that day.

 

Did Gary want something amazing, a renewal of sorts as 1994 transpired? Had something in life grown a little stale? We do not know, since this composer has not openly shared any background regarding why asking for the Spirit was important to him in 1994. But, taking a look at what he penned does give us some ideas. He wanted a ‘fresh touch’ (v.1), and more ‘passion’ (v.2). When the apostles felt the Spirit come upon them (Acts 2), it was with great effect so that many who had not known Jesus were drawn to hear what Peter had to say to them about their Messiah. He was someone that many of them had heard about, and yet they had not been moved enough to cling to Him…yet. Could a similar experience have been on Gary’s mind? He’d been intimately involved in producing musicals (he wrote or arranged seven of the 25 songs in The Promise), and had already or would eventually be engaged in many other productions (Jesus, Son of God; Lift Up Your Eyes; He’s Alive; and Experiencing God, all musicals [and maybe others?] that would be attributed to him), but did he still feel that something was missing? Another fellow in history named Apollos and some other Christ-believers (Acts 18:24-19:6) had not received the Spirit, so something was missing until they received Him. Perhaps that was what Gary longed to see happen where he was, to observe people’s lives being changed more clearly and powerfully because of the Spirit’s presence and indwelling influence. One cannot tell stories about God in well-done musical productions without some sense of desire to see His impact on people. Just take note of the titles of the musicals that Gary touched – all of which direct the observer’s attention to God – and it must have energized Gary to keep up these efforts. Once a person gets a taste of God, the appetite only grows. Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8a), David once wrote. That sounds something like what Gary might have felt, to have the ‘fire’ (v.1) of His Spirit ‘burn(ed)…deep in (his) heart’ (v.2), so that His ‘glory might be known’(v.2). In short, Gary wanted to be more like one of His disciples about whom he’d probably read many times, and a better good news-spreader.  

   

Are you and I any less capable than Gary Rhodes? I cannot write and produce musicals, but I can do other things. Do you write some (like me), teach classes, preach sermons, help run/repair equipment at a church, help feed others, send cards of encouragement to sick people, or any countless number of other activities that might not be noted as particularly powerful Spirit-filled activities? Gary apparently wanted something ‘fresh’, but that didn’t necessarily mean something in his kit-bag was tossed aside. Injection of new energy – ‘passion’ -- is how Gary characterized it. Jesus got tired, too, so He understands that tedium can invade the human spirit at times. It’s kind of amazing to be reminded that Jesus also experienced the Spirit coming upon Himself at times too, although He was already God. But, He was conceived through the Spirit, had the Spirit alight on Him after being baptized, was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, returned to his home region (Galilee) with the Spirit’s power, and more (try doing a search on ‘Jesus’ and ‘Spirit’ to see these episodes). He’s always there…perhaps Jesus just invited Him in more often than you and I do.  

 

See the link here to a still-running musical (The Promise) for which the composer arranged much of the music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Promise_(musical)

 

See information on the map here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Texas_highlighting_Somervell_County.svg …The following statement is associated with the graphic: I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

Break My Heart -- Clint Rhodes

 

He was just a kid. Or was he? That’s two statements that someone might have said about Clint Rhodes in quick succession when discovering what he did as a teenager. He was perhaps as normal and well-adjusted as any other young person, and yet sensitive enough to say “Break My Heart” when he thought about himself and his peers in relation to the God he’d been raised to honor. Perhaps Clint was near Midlothian in northeast Texas (see map here), or perhaps at least somewhere in that state in 1997, but for sure one can say he was near the heart of the One to whom he prayed the day he penned his poem. You think he also might have been in touch with or reading about the king who authored Psalm 51 in the wake of a very great sin? Meet Clint Rhodes, and see what he has to say.

 

I’ll let Clint say it in his own words, regarding what was going on when he took up his pen as a youth:

I wrote it 24 years ago now when I was a Junior in High School. I was preparing to give a message to my youth group about having a soft and contrite heart in relation to our sin rather than a hard heart. I think sometimes God needs to love us with tough love to help us see our sin for what it is so asking him to break our hearts is asking for this love.

 

What teenager have you known who asked for what Clint did in 1997? I certainly didn’t when I was 17 years old! Instead, what often comes from the mouth of a teenager sounds more like ‘why are you so mean?’, ‘my friends get to do this!’, and ‘stop treating me like a baby!’. And, does it really stop when the teenager grows up, or does the rebel just mature physically? You could ask the now-40-something Clint about it if you contacted him today in his role as a minister at the Creekside Church in Midlothian. And, as a father, he could probably tell you about the responses his own children provide to the discipline he undoubtedly has to dispense on occasion. Do you think it would be unusual if Clint said that his kids or any of the church’s members asked, as a matter of course, for their hearts to be broken? So, agreed that it would be somewhat rare for any of us, young or old, to ask to be broken. But Clint knew that repentance is important, and that that begins with submission to a God who loves those He’s made.

 

That ‘tough love’ Clint mentions must have been something he saw was needed in his youth group. What was going on that spurred Clint is probably not that much different than what you might imagine goes on among youth almost anywhere. Perhaps seeing the consequences of bad choices made by those he knew was what helped Clint underscore his message to his friends. And, bible stories add a lot of punch too, particularly those about King David and perhaps the biggest mistake he ever made (2 Sam. 12), and the tough love God had to use on him to soften his heart. Clint’s method was not that different than David’s --write a song, and save it to remind yourself and others that humility is the posture we need before Him.     

 

 

 

 

The song story was acquired via electronic communication with the author on 10/7/2020, and is the only source for the story.

 

Read a few facts about the song’s author at the church where he ministers here: https://creekside-church.com/team/