God's Wonderful People -- Lanny Wolfe

This was the scene in 1974, Salt Lake City, in what is known as the Salt Palace (see picture). Lanny Wolfe was 32 years old, and he was feeling something like a warm blanket come over himself, as he thought about “God’s Wonderful People”. It wasn’t a one-time occurrence for Lanny, a songwriter who had grown accustomed to this sensation, and knew what to do with this moment. He wasn’t seeking attention, but really reveled in that moment, that he was just one of the crowd. Lanny didn’t need the stage to feel the music flow inside, and he didn’t need to know everyone in the crowd on a first-name basis to have this warm feeling. These were the people with whom he felt a visceral sense of belonging, a sense of contentment at the same time that he felt overwhelmed. With all of these impressions flowing in his being, is it any wonder that a song soon emerged?

 

Lanny Wolfe had shared many times with crowds not unlike the one where he found himself one night in Utah in 1974 (or about that time), as a result of his chosen profession. He had been part of bible college music departments in California and in Missouri by the mid-1970s, and would go on to the same role in Mississippi for the next nearly 20 years, and then on to worship director positions in Texas, Florida, and Indiana after that. All the while, Lanny was building ‘family’ memories, so perhaps in 1974 it’s not a stretch to say that he was already conscious that his part in the kingdom was a gift, one which gave him a deep sense of devotion to the Giver. Perhaps that was most evident when the 10,000 people sang together at the conference where Lanny found himself, something that would have struck a special chord in his musical being. Lanny was off to one side, in some bleachers that were not central to the events in the Salt Palace. Did that allow him to more easily observe the assembled, to identify some people’s faces, and to recall his own personal history with them? Lanny says the good and bad times with these people were part of what he imagined, both in the past and what he expected would come about in the future. Celebrations and lamentations, it didn’t matter, because Lanny knew he could depend on this family to be present in his life no matter what the circumstances. All these thoughts welled to the surface, so the speak, and Lanny did not ignore what was happening – in fact, he’d used many similar episodes to concoct new songs. He already had the chorus for ‘God’s Wonderful Family’ written by the time he returned to a nearby motel, and remembers distinctly sharing it with two people who had been part of his musical family. Some people take pictures to remember special moments, and others like Lanny compose musical portraits to commemorate those times.  

 

The song chorus he wrote while sitting in Salt Palace was probably really the only way for Lanny to express adequately what was going on in his head and his heart that evening in Utah. He already had the pictures in his mind of people there, so all he needed were sounds and musical notation to capture and take to another level what was spinning inside himself. He dedicates this song, and another similar one named ‘God’s Family’ (see blog entry for June 26, 2021), for someone he considers pretty special in his life – someone named George. ‘George’s Song’, which Lanny writes on the front page for these two song stories, refers to his childhood/teenage-days pastor, George Chambers. But Lanny hastens to add that many, many people are part of his ‘family’ of believers. It seems as if they’ve helped keep Lanny rooted, in touch with himself and his role in the family. Sound familiar? It’s great to be in a family!      

 

 

See this site to obtain the book “More than Wonderful”, where the story to the song is found: https://paradigmmusic.net/

 

Author’s biography is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanny_Wolfe

 

Source for the picture: Salt_Palace_-_West_Temple_entrance_-_12_September_2012.JPG (2392×3528) (wikimedia.org)

 

Heaven Is In My Heart -- Graham Kendrick

 

Graham Kendrick wanted the gathered to feel something, and respond. That, simply put, was how Graham could imagine people answering, by saying “Heaven Is In My Heart”, when prompted to explain why they were marching in a parade-like atmosphere. While Kendrick certainly understood what God on earth was saying when a group of learned people asked him to describe His kingdom, Graham didn’t really envision the same thing as Jesus did when He answered. Graham wanted people to make the kingdom visible, an exuberant expression that would demonstrate something to the world. He and others might have started with a vision for how this would look in Britain, but it didn’t stop there. And, it certainly didn’t remain confined inside each person, as someone might conclude when reading the Master’s words.

 

"Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17: 20-21, New International Version). Now, when Graham Kendrick read those words, he might have easily said that we cannot say what the kingdom looks like, and we’re not going to contradict the Lord. Instead, as Graham and others talked about their joint venture called March for Jesus, they felt that those participating should exhibit something – an expression in one’s words that testify to what is going on inside. If someone knew he or she was made for eternity with Him, how would that look and sound? In short, Graham wanted onlookers to see an unquenchable joy among people singing ‘Heaven Is In My Heart’, as they marched and unashamedly told the world what He does right now, and plans to do in the future. Graham says that while it’s part of the ‘kingdom is now and not yet’ explanation that Jesus told followers more than two millennia ago, the message that he’s conveying focuses on an outgrowth from the ‘not yet’ part – that we have hope, even as we live in the ‘not yet’ time. The organizers of March for Jesus, which was first planned in London in 1987, thought believers from various denominations could fix their attention, and of those watching, on Jesus. He is Lord, and will come to take us home – unquestionably the greatest source of an ‘Amen’ in the believer’s life. The thoughts of his majesty and holiness (v.1); his all-powerful sacrifice that purchases certain redemption for all (v.2); and the presence of Him in us now and for all times (v.3), are enough to make Graham’s song’s title words leap from the spirit of the worshipper in every other line of the song. Because of the way Graham’s song words flow, heaven is unambiguously a place of never-ending ecstasy. Who couldn’t march for that!  

 

After London, the March for Jesus took off in many other places, and is continuing to spread and be celebrated today. It stretched across the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and to Brazil, where millions took part in 1993. There’s March for Jesus times scheduled for the United States in all 50 states and more in 2022, according to the website for the event. But, you and I don’t need to wait until next year to do what Graham Kendrick has given us opportunity to do already, today. Let it show in my words, in my attitude, in my behavior, and on my face. Graham and the others who organized the first march must have thought that what we have is too wonderful to keep to ourselves. Eternity, now and in the next phase of existence, is big and beautiful, with our God present to crown our faith. What could be better!  

 

See here for author biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Kendrick

See here for the song’s brief story: https://www.grahamkendrick.co.uk/stories-behind-the-songs/stories-behind-the-song/heaven-is-in-my-heart

Here is the description of the event for which the song was developed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_for_Jesus

See the official site of the event that the author and others organize across the world: https://themarchforjesus.org/

Song for the Nations -- Chris Christensen

 

Chris Christensen had been to many places in the world, even before he turned 30, so he must have been considering that what he would write would emerge from his travelling background. And so, it must have come as little surprise that he was in the midst of a trip between Portland and Seattle on the American northwest coast one morning in the mid-1980s when “Song for the Nations” sprang from inside him. It would take him several hours to get where he was going to a conference, so Chris took advantage of the time, most likely while he was on stretches of Interstate 5 between northwest Oregon and the Puget Sound area of Washington, where Seattle is located. So, how many times did Chris pass a road sign, like this one, on that trip? Chris probably could not say, nor whether the signs might have been a subliminal reminder that he possessed something like a traveler’s gene, and a desire to spread a message wider and faster than he could travel.

 

Chris Christensen may have germinated the seed for ‘Song for the Nations’ while he spent much of his first quarter-century travelling between three continents. His missionary parents moved the family from the United States to South Africa when he was but a toddler. By his mid-teens, Chris’ family had come back to the U.S., where Chris would stay for college. But, then he and Laura (whom he would marry) began their land-hopping between Africa, Europe, and North America, as Chris’ music ministry carried them abroad. It was on one return trip to the U.S., when Chris attended a conference in Seattle, that he wrote the song so effortlessly between there and Portland. He must have felt that this episode to finally bring the song to fruition was leading him somewhere, particularly when he had the chance to sing the song for the first time at the conference. He’d been many places by that time, and seen many versions of Christianity in various languages, so what he wanted to say could not be limited by human communication barriers. What things did Chris say in the song, ideas that compelled one man at the conference to tell Chris that ‘Song…’ would certainly be used by God? Shining God’s light (v.1), spreading a message of hope and healing through salvation (v.2-3), and of ultimate joy (v.4) that would make His kingdom spread over the globe (v.5) were what Chris envisioned. God’s not complicated, Chris seemed to want to say; He’s just waiting for people with open arms, using us mortals to embrace seekers with His presence.

 

Chris’ vision wasn’t to touch just some people. His emphasis is on multitudes – notice the plural nature of his words. ‘Nations’, ‘peoples’, ‘whole world’ are repeated in every verse of his song. Chris had no doubt seen how some things in God’s delivery and people’s receipt of the message are universal – they can go anywhere and be recognized without much explanation. Similarly, it must have dawned on Chris in all his travels, that some road signs and rules have common features. Did the signs for Interstate 5 that day in the mid-1980s look much different to Chris than others on different freeways in the U.S., or indeed in other countries on different continents? You and I also know traffic lights when we see them – green is ‘go’, yellow is ‘caution’, and red is ‘stop’ just about anywhere we could go on planet Earth. Chris would probably agree. Are you on green, yellow, or red with God on your journey?

 

 

 

See author biography here, which also contains the brief episode of the song’s birth: https://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Chris_Christensen_The_American_songwriter_and_worship_leader/40276/p1/