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Rez Band and JPUSA

Discussion in 'Music Ministry' started by SpiritualMadMan, May 4, 2006.

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  1. SpiritualMadMan

    SpiritualMadMan New Member

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    Well,

    As a Rez Band Listener... Of the Older Vynil anyway. [​IMG]

    I have a few things to say...

    1st, at 53 I can get past the "noise" and hear and most often understand the Lyrics...

    2nd, Rez Band was never meant to be an evengelical band...

    Is has been a Christian Conscience with many songs pinging on church inaction on social issues and benevolence...

    The lyrics were never meant to bring people to Jesus...

    The Musical Style is designed to bring people to concerts where the Gospel is unequivocably shared...

    It is highly relavent to people in that particular 'culture'...

    People who wouldn't even think of visiting a church in what they would consider their worst nightmares...

    JPUSA, the Fellowship of which Rez Band and Glen Kaiser is a part of has ministry upon ministry in the Chicago Area. Specifically in areas the classical staid and 'proper' church has written off as hopeless...


    This Link points to the lyrics of "Waves" the first cut on "Awaiting Your Reply"

    http://www.firestream.net/viewlyrics.php?id=8443&band=Rez&album=Awaiting%20Your%20Reply&year=1978

    I will post some more Links as time permits tonight...

    Two of my favorites are:

    "Broken Promises" which is about how we break our promises top God but He doesn't break His to us...

    and

    "Concert for a Queen" which Glen wrote to his spouse and it's about the love two share in Jesus as a married couple...


    As for some of the newer stuff...

    I haven't followed the Band in years...

    But, I'll see if I can find Glen's e-mail again and ask him about it...

    I don't expect the anti-CCM crowd to accept Rez Band...

    I don't even listen to them as a steady diet myself...

    Mostly, because I get tired of being beaten over the head about not doing enough socially or benevolence wise...

    But, to make a sweeping and blanket statement....

    Not all the lyrics are angry there are a number that are quite 'sweet'...

    Not all the lyrics are 'bloody'...

    The original Rez band was not Heavy Metal but Hard Rock...

    I'll dig through what I have and see what I can share...

    Mike Sr.
    Other songs I like:
    "The Crossing"
    "The Chair"
    "Wolfsong"

    oh yes, And, I wouldn't be a CCM'er if I didn't like "Elevator Music"... :D
     
    #1 SpiritualMadMan, May 4, 2006
  2. gekko

    gekko New Member

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    hey. there's some great Christian Elevator Music out there.

    ok. only one artist i know of: Othello
    great stuff.
     
    #2 gekko, May 4, 2006
  3. Joshua Rhodes

    Joshua Rhodes <img src=/jrhodes.jpg>

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    SMM - didn't know all that. I'd never heard of REZ until I started working in a Christian bookstore. But they weren't very popular in the Texas region I was in. SO still don't know much.
     
    #3 Joshua Rhodes, May 4, 2006
  4. SpiritualMadMan

    SpiritualMadMan New Member

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    They aren't quite as 'old' as Petra was/is...

    But, they've been around a long time, too...

    (Though, I absolutely prefer Petra's Lyrics over Rez Band's. Much clearer and doctrinally supportable...)

    I'll look at the Copyrights on my vinyl and see what the dates are...

    Might be an interesting thread to post on 'Old Christian Bands' we like?

    Gekko, I've never heard of Othello as a Christian Band? Shakespeare, maybe... [​IMG]

    Mike Sr.
     
    #4 SpiritualMadMan, May 4, 2006
  5. SpiritualMadMan

    SpiritualMadMan New Member

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    OK here's my list of Vinyl...

    Awaiting Your Reply - 1978 Like a lot

    Rainbows End - 1979 really liked
    "Midnight Son" - talks of jesus being our Light in the midst of the night
    "Strongman" - talks of how tough we try to be and how that toughness has to die to let Jesus mend us.
    "Afrikaans" - is a lament against apartheid
    "Skyline"
    "Paint a Picture" - talks of all the sadness in life then Paints a Picture of the Cross
    "Rainbows End" - Talks about Jesus being the Living Ark and the Rainbows End
    "Concert For A Queen" - This was written to Wendi, Glen's Wife...
    http://www.calvarypraise.com//viewer2.asp?val=4528.txt&typ=C
    "Sacrifice of Love" - talks about jesus' Sacrifice, the narrow road and the price to be paid. Today or later on ...
    "The Wolfsong" - Talks about hypocrits that know all the right words to say, clothes to wear but has no love. And compares them with true children who are known by their love.
    "Every Time It Rains" - this is about reflection every time it rains and why does jesus love us even though we treat Him so wrong at times...

    Colours - 1980 - I didn't really care much for this one...

    Mommy Don't Love Daddy Anymore - 1981 Coming from a divorced family this title spoke volumes to me... But, they always point back to Jesus...

    DMZ - 1982 I didn't really get into this album...
    It may have been because of my Navy background...
    Maybe the lyrics weren't as clear as I like...
    Not really sure...

    May go through each album one at a time if there's interest?

    I guess i'll have to hook the old Turntable up and copy to CD...

    Now that I've been nostalgic...

    I need to go see what they've been up to while I've been gone...

    But, a few sites I've visited indicate that the newer stuff just isn't nearly as good as the 'Classic' stuff...

    Now, is that because I am getting older?

    Or, did the band really go downhill around the time of DMZ?

    I wish I had permission to print the lyrics out...

    Not all are 'great'... Some actually 'stink'...

    But, there are a few real gems...

    Mike Sr.
     
    #5 SpiritualMadMan, May 4, 2006
  6. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    I got into a shouting match with Glenn Kaiser one year at Creation and we had to be seperated before we came to blows. So, needless to say, I've never cared for their music since then.

    I also blame him for sucking the life and any and all testosterone out of Darrell Mansfield's music.
     
    #6 Mike McK, May 4, 2006
  7. SpiritualMadMan

    SpiritualMadMan New Member

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    I had one e-Mail exchange with Glen on the subject of Praise and Worship in which we shared mutual concerns...

    Have pretty much lost track and touch since then...

    I have no doubt that the various JPUSA bands have gone through a lot of change over the years...

    I found one site that shared about being at their last concert...

    So, it may all be a moot issue now...

    Man! I must really be getting old! Rez bnad and Petra both off the horizon...

    That's as bad as not having a version of Star Trek to watch! :D

    Should I even ask what the two of you were arguing about?
     
    #7 SpiritualMadMan, May 4, 2006
  8. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    I was working at Creation one year and Kaiser was giving a seminar. Afterward, we started to talk and he asked me what I did, so I told him that I was a full time musician. Started out fine. As we talked, I started to tell him some more things about that, like how I was really close to stepping up to the next level (if music were baseball, you might say that I played at the AA level) and that I didn't know what I wanted to do, that I wanted to go for it, but I didn't like the travelling or the politics and that the money wasn't terrific, etc. All of the things that musicians complain about.

    Suffice to say, he took it upon himself to tell me what a jerk I was for selling out and how I had no faith and had abandoned God because I wanted to play mainstream music and pay my bills, rather than to play Christian music for gas money.

    He decided to make it a personal attack and I took it as one.
     
    #8 Mike McK, May 4, 2006
  9. SpiritualMadMan

    SpiritualMadMan New Member

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    I can understand how that would 'hurt'...

    From the other side of the coin...

    I also know that if I had a musician in my church that was really good and had been a super blessing and then found out they had to go secular to survive...

    I would understand... But, it would hurt...

    Especially coming from a "Faith" background like I do...

    My own druthers would be to never put 'my' musicians in that predicament by have a full time paid staff. Including a core stage band for Praise and Worship...

    It's a shame Glen (and you) ramped the conversation up to conflict...

    Because I think had you both been able to stay calm Glen might have been able to impart some faith and pray with you. (Maybe... As one song says, "Here's Hoping!")

    BTW: I know of an excellent Keyboard Player who was more or less forced to leave a church I attended because the only way he could make enough to feed his family was to play at a piano lounge...

    Sad... I think the church should have made it a matter of Prayer and Support... Not a point of contention and separation...

    I hope you are doing well now?

    And, I hope that where you are doesn't require compromising your Christian Faith or Integrity...

    That is my biggest concern about Christian Musicians going secular...

    Is that they may not be able to survive with Faith...

    If they can... Then they can be in a unique position to drag souls from the flames...

    Mike Sr.
     
    #9 SpiritualMadMan, May 5, 2006
  10. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    That's just the problem, though. He wasn't trying to be edifying. He was just looking for an excuse to wag his finger in my face.

    If he had offered some constructive criticism or said, "have you considered..." or something like that, I would have been grateful for the advice. But he chose to attack me personally and he didn't even know me or the prayer or consideration I had put into it.

    You have to understand, the money part was more of an issue to him than it was to me. The money was just one small reason I didn't want to play Christian music.

    Having been involved in the concert end of Christian music (that's why I was working at Creation) and getting to know many of the artists and people in the industry, I just didn't like that culture.

    I also didn't think that playing to church audiences was a good outlet for the music I wanted to do.

    Most importantly, I didn't feel a calling from God to do Christian music and I didn't have any interest in doing Christian music because it's extremely limiting.



    Things have changed quite a bit since then. I'm not making my living as a musician anymore, but rather just doing it part time for fun. Unfortunately, I found that while I thought that lifestyle would help me to have the kind of life I wanted, it was actually standing in the way of the life I wanted.

    Like I said, my goal was never to become rich or famous, but just to have a good time playing music while paying my bills and not have to put up with being away from home or the baggage that comes from being on the road with a band.

    And the car crash didn't really help matters any.

    I figured I could do that just as easily locally. Now, I rarely go any further than from Baltimore/Annapolis/Ocean City to New York.

    Right now, I have a pick up band that does just a couple of dates a month, but as summer picks up, that will too. None of this is to say that I might not pick up one day where I left off. Who knows?

    As far as compromising my faith or integrity, that's never really been an issue. We don't sing songs that would be objectionable and the guys I play with all know that I'm a Christian and they respect that. Being in bars isn't a big deal because I very rarely drink more than two beers, anyway. Besides, with the medication I'm on right now, I can't drink, anyway.

    I used to post much more about my experiences, but I think this may be the first time I've talked about them at all since the accident.
     
    #10 Mike McK, May 5, 2006
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