I've Been Crucified with Christ – Paul, the Apostle

A dispute was threatening the foundation of the newborn church, and he was committed to reversing this. He was Paul, the once-accuser, now-fervent believer, who wrote the words of a letter to a group of straying Christians to express dismay and denunciation, and to underscore his allegiance to the One he defended by saying “I’ve Been Crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). Though he was probably elsewhere, the Apostle who wrote no less than 13 messages contained in 21^st Century bibles was thinking of a place called Galatia (see the map) in a time when the 1^st Century was around 50 years old. Today, we would say it was in central Turkey (in Paul’s time, known as the Roman province of Asia Minor), where Paul had visited and first converted some to unadulterated faith. He was saying, for effect, ‘how dare you!’

This apostle usually didn’t hold back his thoughts, did he? As a persecutor, he was rabid in his methods to chase, capture, and condemn to death many Christians. And then, he had his own fanaticism stood on its head while on a road to Damascus, causing him to sacrifice a very promising Jewish status, perhaps even leadership of people. But, he gave it all up, putting himself in harm’s way multiple times, and walking a path that would eventually get himself killed. So, undoubtedly Paul was sincere in the purest sense as he stressed to these people in Asia Minor how much he believed – he knew his faith was a dangerous one, that he was ‘crucified with Christ’, in effect. If he put himself out on this spiritual limb, he wasn’t about to be dismissive of what he saw as gross error in their morphed beliefs. They were still pinning down people with outmoded Jewish practices – circumcision, chief among them. Particularly galling for Paul were the hypocritical actions of a brother – Peter. Paul’s words are vivid straight out of the box as the letter begins…’astonished’ (Gal. 1:6), ‘…pervert’ (1:7), ‘…eternally condemned’ (1:8). It’s therefore not likely a mis-print when he addresses with an exclamation mark this group as ‘You foolish Galatians!’ (3:1) Christ is supreme, and loyalty to Him requires nothing else to save the believer, period. Toss the old law aside, Paul emphasized, and focus on Christ’s gracious sacrifice. Paul’s own life was subsumed in the Divine One, according to the words of this one-verse song. Paul lived, even if crucified; he was still fleshly, but with a consecration to the spiritual One who had sacrificed for him, the still-fleshly.

So, stop counting on one’s own effort, because it will never get you within eyeshot of the Holy One. Only His own sacrifice has meaning in God’s throne room. Twenty centuries after Paul’s original words, an anonymous music-writer fused the notes with the words that he read in the King James Version of the bible, creating a memory tonic for Paul’s meaningful words first penned for a people committing grievous error. What does one do to underscore a commitment to another? Paul knew what to do. He lived it, and died for it. He crucified his old life for it.        

The only resource used for the above story is the KJV version of the bible for the original words used in the song verbatim; and the New International Version of the bible for background information on the letter to the Galatians.  

Shine On Us -- Michael W. and Debbie Smith

Mid-career, and this composer/author and his wife were probably in Nashville, Tennessee when they crafted this song – Shine On Us – as a personal appeal to their Creator. If it sounds like a prayer when Michael W. Smith and his wife Debbie play it in concert, your insides aren’t misleading you, as Michael seems to confirm with his own recollection of what happened the first time he tried out the music and a few of the words. The way it came out, with just a few simple but powerful thoughts, is probably the way the One above would prefer that we talk to Him when we pray. He wants it to be personal, and He wants us to rely on Him for the deepest need every one of us has – for Himself and the light He brings to blot out darkness in someone’s life.    

Mid-life in 1996 was just about upon him, which is about as much detail as one can gather from available printed information to ascertain what prompted Michael’s thoughts in ‘Shine On Us’. That is, until you watch what Michael W. Smith says on a live stage when he introduces this song. In a 2016 concert (watch the youtube video ref’d below) he says it happened this way. During a prayer meeting, ‘Shine On Us’ was written spontaneously and with just a few people present  -- an intimate setting, as he says – that allowed the Spirt to move. He says he just ad-libbed on the spot, and at the end of the evening could not stop playing the tune, and thought to himself that it was really something special. Later, his wife Debbie helped him finish off the lyrics. Michael indicates the song’s lyrics were really something he felt was so profound, given the way events in the world arise. Michael shakes his head, and puts his face in his hands, as if to say, ‘Lord, we need you here below so much…would You be with us in our moment of desperation?’ And, so Michael and Debbie prayed for not only His face’s light to shine (v.1), but also for the very building blocks of God’s character to bless them – for grace (v.2), and for love (v.3). Are there any other elements of God that are more necessary? His light shone in the very beginning, exposing what He was doing – creating (Gen. 1:1). And, grace is what I need the most when I stand before Him (Rom. 5:2). His love for me is at the root of His being – He IS love (1 John 4:8). This kind of prayer never grows old, does it?

Michael and Debbie had already been creating music for many years when ‘Shine On Us’ was born, and it had been 20 years since they’d first performed it, when they sang it again in the 2016 concert. That means that what they expressed in 1996 was more or less centrally fixated along their timeline, as well as along their spirit-line. That says something about the believer’s journey, that I must keep the basics with Him always fresh and pivotal in my walk. Michael says they were beginning a new church relationship when ‘Shine On Us’ emerged, so the Smiths were evidently seeking spiritual guidance as they contemplated this event. Apprehension or excitement, it really doesn’t matter which feeling is present; I need His light, grace, and love. He’s my anchor, and apparently the Smiths still believe this, too. Keep singing and sharing how He shines, Michael and Debbie!  

The author/composer shares the genesis of the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuKfaCosmI

See the following link for biography of author: https://hymnary.org/person/Smith_MW

Also see here: http://michaelwsmith.com/

And, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_W._Smith

Covenant of Love -- Keith Lancaster

Anybody who calls himself a “musicianary” is really serious about his role in music in the Creator’s world. That much can be said about Keith Lancaster, a guy who’s in touch with the “Covenant of Love” that he feels compelled to proclaim through the gift of music he teaches to others. It was around 1996, and whether Keith was in Cullman, Alabama (see the map-picture here) – where he lives currently – or somewhere else is not clear. Did he actually conceive the song while there, or was it during one of his many ventures on the road to teach acapella music? Cullman is just a point of contact for Keith and what he does, really, as his biography makes clear. He has what he calls ‘…the greatest instrument of music ever created’. He’s not boasting, but instead recognizing Him who gave and still guides Keith in what he does. He – God -- is the keeper of the covenant.

Keith Lancaster’s life has multiple facets that all lead back to the music and the God who has given him this role as a ‘musicianary’.  @Musicianary is how you can reach him, the culmination of what began even before 1982 when 25-year old Keith established the Acapella Ministries. It was an outgrowth of the singing group ACAPELLA that Keith and three friends started in Tennessee, and which has spawned several other groups – Acapella Vocal Band (AVB), Vocal Union, The Lancasters, and Durant. So, in 1996 during the midst of this burgeoning music ministry, Keith wrote about the covenant embedded inside a Divine love that he was experiencing and communicating in all his travels. What had become crystal clear to the middle-aged Keith, some 14 years after he began to form his vision for his life’s work, was that God was still at work to ‘keep His covenant of love’, a refrain he has us sing to remind us that God’s still active in each of us. What precise circumstances motivated Keith to write ‘Covenant…’ is not clear from any of his online information. Yet, just read a bit, and you surmise that he must feel his cup overflowing, and that when he and his wife Sharon (his co-musicianary) travel to conduct Praise and Harmony workshops, Worship Leader Institute gatherings, or “Singing at Sea” cruise vacations, they are conduits of a special bond with God. It’s not surprising that they’ve been to all 50 states of the U. S., as well as provided training for worship leaders from other nations through the worship institute they facilitate.

Do you suppose that the Lancasters feel just an obligation to travel and do what they do to make better singers among those they meet? It’s much more than that, wouldn’t you say? They must feel that God’s mission in their lives is something in which they’ve become emotionally and spiritually invested – God’s purpose is theirs too. A life spent joining voices together in a common adoration is a pretty special thing. In fact, it’s probably pretty hard or nearly impossible to adequately describe it; it has to be experienced. And, once you have that sense of exhilaration wash over you, you keep coming back for more. That would certainly explain what has been going on with Acapella and its offspring since 1982. The Lancasters didn’t invent this, but they’re doing their part to underscore the phenomenon…and its real origin. It’s all Him.

See this site for author/composer’s story: http://www.keithlancaster.com/

Also see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lancaster