Is it a story?

Well, yes and no. Knowing about Christ and knowing Christ are two different things. Telling the story of Jesus' life really doesn't get to the heart of his life. Since it's about us in the story, that is, our relationship to him, simply running through the events and some of the words doesn't feel useful to me. Just as with any other relationship, things don't follow a linear progression. Yes, the history of Christ's time on earth is recorded and can be recited; but more important is the ongoing story which is influenced by that history and very much by day-to-day living. It's sort of like how your relationship with anyone you care about happens. Some days you are together in real time talking and sharing. Other times you are remembering something that happened in the past together. And still other times you see a photo or hear a bit of that person's story that you weren't a part of at the time, but you still have a sort of claim to it now.

So I don't see this as a history lesson and therefore it isn't purely chronological. Instead, I see a history interrupted by "now time" where we and other witness interact with both the living Christ and the historical Christ. Actually, Rich did that in a lot of songs. Growing Young is the story of the prodigal son, but it's also Rich's story and our own. We're the "crying boys come running back to his arms." That doesn't fit anywhere specifically in the timeline.

More important to me is the feeling the songs in their entirety can evoke. So much of love is feeling and so much of music is, too. So ordering these songs with an eye to how they make the listener feel is important. That will involve tempos, textures, sounds and words. There's work to do on that.

Who's That Man?

Truth: I found this blog background, thought of Nick's sweater, and said, "I've got to have a blog with this background." Sometimes things happen that way. Sometimes the aesthetics, the art, draws us into something. Sometimes it's not words but images or sounds or textures or themes that grab us. That's fitting for this project.

Who's That Man is a collection of songs I picked from Rich Mullins' catalog written between 1980 and 1997 when he died. His last project was not finished in his lifetime. The Jesus Demo was recorded on a portable cassette recorder in an abandoned church 9 days before his death. Those songs focused on Jesus specifically. My idea sprang from some of those songs talking to me right after Christmas, as the final strains of Behold the Lamb were still ringing. This isn't a copy of the Jesus Record, but several of those songs are integral.

My title for it - Who's That Man - comes from one of those songs called Surely God Is With Us, which is the real theme. The voice of a 1st century witness asks "Who's that man?" about Christ, feeling his love, hearing his words, watching his miracles. That's still a huge question today. Each song I've chosen to include centers on Jesus and his impact on people like us no matter the time period. These posts will reflect on those songs.