He Loves Me / Second Chapter of Acts / 1974

[Songs that made a difference in my life]

Let’s go back a few decades to the 70’s. To a band called Second Chapter of Acts, two sisters and a brother who had long hair and could sing.

I loved the entire With Footnotes album.  I ran into it in 1979 or so, when it was a few years older.  Perhaps it was because I liked the vocal harmonies, perhaps it was because of the edgy (for its time in CCM) guitar work.  I don’t know.

I do like the playful piano by Michael Omartian, the gritty guitar work, the sensitivity that it finds itself in at the beginning and the end, and a number of other factors.  Vocally, Annie Herring moves into the Janice Joplin range in the bridge, and I “dug” it as a teen.  Freebee, check out bassist Michael Been’s work in the 80s in the band called The Call.

Lyrically, we have a contrast between the carelessness of our life and the intentionality of Jesus.  We blunder through blindly and ignore the light.  This is still the case.  This is the story of humanity.  That which is trivial sells like hotcakes, and the truth is hard to give away.

Despite our ignorance and stupidity (yeah, I’m talking about me, primarily), Jesus has but one heart for us.  It is the heart of Calvary.  It is the way of nails.  The way of the cross.

He thought about us on that cross, and just before that in the garden (John 17).  Those are precious words to me.

Open your eyes.  Look at the light.  Seek the Father.

These things spoke to my Spirit, made me want to study Scripture and see what it said.

The only thing we could change is our appearance, and that does very little.  We must let the light in, let the Spirit in, and let him change us.

That takes some submission to him, and for him.  The confession of knowing we do wrong is a strong thing too. May we find the strength to repent and let him change us.

It’s courageous to do so.

The message is so simple and powerful.

Thank you, dear friends.

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