Opryland Memories

January 22, 2025 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

This year will mark 28 years since Opryland USA theme park went away. I still think that tearing down Opryland to put up a mall was the dumbest thing Nashville has ever done. At least, it’s in the top ten.

I miss that place. I miss the rides. I miss the shows. I miss those little fruit drinks that came in the plastic containers shaped like fruit. I miss it all.

Most of all, I miss knowing that a place like that exists. I understand that Dollywood is still around and isn’t that far away, but it’s not the same. There is so much history and so many memories from 1972 to 1997.

Maybe what I miss in a way is how life was back in 1997. No social media. No constant 24 hour news channels. Less craziness in the world (or maybe it seemed less crazy because there weren’t CNN and Fox News channels constantly reminding us of how bad everything is).

These days, I’m always on the lookout for Opryland memorabilia. So far, I have a couple of t-shirts, a couple of records, and some key chains and glasses. Every time I go to Goodwill, I check for Opryland shirts.

There really is no point to this story, other than if you want to send me Opryland stuff, that would be great. Sometimes I get nostalgic and need to write it down. Also, it helps me remember more good times from back then.

Thanks, Opryland USA, for some of the best memories!

Still Rolls the Stone

January 19, 2025 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

As you know, I am currently collecting old CCM vinyl. One of my favorite parts is discovering artists that I missed back in the day because they weren’t my style of music at the time. One of those is Bob Bennett, a singer-songwriter in the vein of James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg.

One of his songs that resonated deeply with me is the song Still Rolls the Stone, which speaks to Easter but also speaks to God’s ability to make any dead thing come alive and to turn those of us who were dead in our trespasses and sins into living sons and daughters of God.

Basically, the gist of the song is that because of an empty tomb on a Sunday morning, we can trust God to keep His promises and to finish what He started in each of us:

“Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone from the grave

I tore off my grave clothes
And cried a pool of tears
For the voice of the Living One
Who spoke the stars and spheres
Has called me from my darkness
And led me to this place
Where the dead leap
And the blind see His face

Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone from the grave

Hearts aflame with mercy
Like the sun in midnight sky
While the doubter shrugs his shoulders
And the cynic wonders why
But as it is in Heaven
So now we proclaim
The Lord tells us here to do the same

Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
(Rolls the stone away)
Still rolls the stone from the grave, oh…

Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
(Rolls the stone away)
Still rolls the stone from the grave

In the still of a Sunday morning
A grave stands open wide
And a promise kept
While the world slept
Means that no one is inside

Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone from the grave, oh…

Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
(Rolls the stone away)
Still rolls the stone from the grave

Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone
Still rolls the stone from the grave” (Bob Bennett)

Christmas Ain’t Over

December 25, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

For years, I’d always get a little sad around this time, knowing that Christmas Day was drawing to a close and with it Christmas for another year. I’d always have a bit of a letdown, although New Year’s Eve helped a bit.

This year, I’m celebrating for as long as I can. I refuse to let go of Christmas even after all the decorations are taken down and put back into boxes destined for the attic until next November. Even when all the stores go back to business as usual and all the radio stations revert back to their regular rotation of music, I still hold on to Christmas.

I’m siding with the ancients who took 12 whole days to encapture fully all that Jesus our Emmanuel born on this day means. If you want to truly understand this concept, read the book Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton. It will change your thinking about Christmas for sure.

The 12 days of Christmas last from December 25 until January 6, the Epiphany which celebrates the circumcision of Jesus, the visit of the Wise Men, and the wedding at Cana, according to my internet sources. So that means that there are 11 more days to party.

But for me, Christmas isn’t a date on a calendar but a state of mind. I want to carry that mindset with me beyond January 6 into the new year and all the way up until it’s socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas again in 2025.

I will take down my tree and put away my decorations, but I won’t stop the spirit of Christmas. I might even listen to Christmas records and watch Christmas movies past January. The audacity! And as always, I will definitely be on the lookout for After Christmas Day Bargains for decorations for next Christmas.

But as one man said, Jesus doesn’t just live in our hearts one day out of the year but all the days of the year, and all the years of all our lives. So why should Christmas stop on December 25 or even January 6?

Spinning the Christmas Classics

December 19, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I think music has always been an essential part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my first memories involve hearing my grandmother sing or listening to the old Elvis records.

It made sense when I got a turntable for Christmas two years ago that I’d start stockpiling a collection of Christmas records, especially the classic recordings from the likes of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Ella Fitzgerald.

It’s not like I wasn’t listening to Christmas music before 2022. I had (and still have) my massive collection of Christmas CDs that will one day all be compiled into a massive playlist somewhere. But dropping the needle on a record is like turning back the calendar to 1979 when I could hardly contain my excitement for Santa and presents.

Christmas music was actually my introduction to a lot of great music from the 40s and 50s. Pretty much all the standard versions of the holiday classics are from that era. To risk sounding like an old fart, to me the music from that era was from real singers and real musicians who didn’t need autotune or pitch correction or and kind of computer software to make indelible musical memories.

I don’t even mind having to get up every 20 minutes or so to flip the records over. The physical act makes the nostalgia so much more potent. And all those great songs are basically the soundtrack for all my Decembers for as far back as I can remember. Wrapping presents and decorating the tree isn’t quite the same without a little White Christmas from Bing or a Blue Christmas from Elvis.

And of course all those carols remind me of the real reason for the season, especially O Little Town of Bethlehem and Silent Night. There’s a reason why we still sing lyrics penned centuries ago. There’s a reason why people are still recording those hymns from the 1800s. The message is still as true and powerful now as it was 2,000 years ago on the first Christmas night.

So I guess I’ll keep playing the records and adding to my collection for as long as there are Christmases to celebrate. Christ the Lord is born today. Hallelujah!

What Rocking Chair is This?

December 6, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I had a bit of a surreal, random moment earlier today. I was at one of my favorite places in Nashville, the Rabbit Room. I was sitting in a rocking chair on the wraparound porch, basking in the blazing sun on a wintry day.

Suddenly, I heard a sound as if it were coming from a distance. It took me a while to place the melody — Greensleeves, or as it is more commonly known, What Child is This. Whatever it was sounded like either a trumpet playing low or a trombone playing high. I sat there and let the words fill my mind as the music played:

“What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While the good shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary

Raise, oh raise, the song on high
His mother sings her lullaby
Joy, oh joy, for Christ is born
The Babe, the Son of Mary

What Child is this
What Child is this (what Child is this)

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary” (William Chatterton Dix).

Advent needs to be a time of reflection rather than a time of rushing around. I get that people are busy, but if there’s no margin for marveling at the mystery of the incarnation, then we’re too busy. We’ve let too many unimportant things get in the way of the main thing.

So let us come and adore the Christ child this Advent season in the midst of all the buying and wrapping and decorating and baking. Let us remember He’s why we’re celebrating.

It’s Christmas Music Season

November 28, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

My favorite time of the year has officially begun. One of the many reasons for Advent and Christmas being the best is because of all the great music (including the album shown above) that I love to revisit every year around this time.

I get nostalgic around the middle of November, and I’m drawn to the music that my parents and grandparents have loved. I go back to those old records I listened to when I was little and couldn’t wait for Santa to show up.

I really believe that music is the closest thing to time travel that we have. It’s amazing how certain songs can conjure up memories and images from the recesses of your mind and almost bring them back to life again. I can almost see the faces and hear the conversations and smell the bread baking in the oven.

The last two years, I have been tracking down all the old records from way back when, especially those classic Christmas recordings of yore. As much as I like some of the new music (or more accurately, a small fraction of it), I yearn for the tried and true acts like Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and so many others who set the standards and recorded the definitive versions of so many Christmas songs that we all know and love.

So from now until possibly the middle of January, I will be revisiting my Christmas collection (and adding to it whenever I get the chance). Throw in a peppermint mocha and a comfy chair and I am a very happy dude.

Scriptural Hymnal

October 11, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / 3 Comments

I went to a concert tonight at Christ Community Church that was a bit atypical. What made it unusual is that it was a Scriptural Hymnal Release Celebration — basically, the words of Scripture set to music.

I’m all for modern worship. I’m all for the classic hymns. But there’s something especially powerful about straight up singing the Word of God. Knowing that instead of singing words about God or words to God, you’re singing God’s words back to God is a mind-blowing concept.

I learned tonight that over the next year or so, there will be 100 songs released on 10 albums. How cool would it be if churches all across the country picked up on these hymns and incorporated them into their worship? I mean you can’t get better theology than that. You definitely can’t get more biblical than the Bible.

It reminded me more than a little of Handel’s Messiah, but with contemporary arrangements and using the NIV instead of the KJV. But I guess Messiah was contemporary for its time. It only seems antiquated because it’s around 400 years old. Not that I mind. I still love Handel’s Messiah and listen to it at least once every year.

But this was what I needed. What better way to get Scripture into your mind than having it become an ear worm through hearing the songs? What better way to pray and praise than singing God’s word back to God?

Much thanks to Randall Goodgame, A. S. Peterson, and the good folks at the Rabbit Room for this one. It was a truly spectacular night.

God in Unexpected Places

September 28, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Earlier today, I wanted some soothing background music, so I turned on a DirecTV channel called Soundscapes that plays vaguely new-agey music. Mostly, it’s instrumental, so I can read or do other things without being distracted.

Then they started playing a song called “If A Rose Could Speak, ” and lo and behold, a woman starts singing. I was definitely not expecting that. But it was mostly generic lyrics about love, so I didn’t really pay much attention.

Then the song went into a kind of counter-melody. I instantly recognized the tune, but I couldn’t place it. The more I heard, the more I knew that I knew it, but couldn’t remember where. Then the line hit me: “Lord of all, to thee we raise / This our hymn of grateful praise.”

It was the melody of the old hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth.”

I’m sure that it could also be the melody to another old song from ye olden days. Hymn writers were known to take familiar songs and add new lyrics to them so that people would recognize them and catch on faster.

But it was an odd moment for me in the middle of my day. It was also a gentle reminder that even with all the evil that seems to run rampant all over the world, the Earth still belongs to the Lord. Jesus is still in control. Even a broken and fallen creation can still glorify and bring praise to the Creator.

For those unfamiliar with the old hymn, here are the words in full:

“For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light,

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild,

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

For yourself, best gift divine,
to the world so freely given,
agent of God’s grand design:
peace on earth and joy in heaven.

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise” (Folliott Sandford Pierpoint).

Lamb

July 21, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Recently, I discovered an old-school CCM group. Technically, they’re a Messianic Jewish group that’s a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll (if you got that reference, it’s probably time to schedule your next colonoscopy).

This record definitely has a Jewish feel to it. Primarily, the lyrics are partly in Hebrew (spelled phonetically and thankfully with translations so I can follow along). It’s about as Scriptural as you can get. In fact, many of the songs are straight from Scripture.

Lately, I’ve been appreciating more and more the Jewish roots of my Christian faith. I think churches do a disservice when they try to separate Christianity from Judaism, especially considering that Jesus Himself was Jewish and took the Law very seriously (not so much with the extra traditions and man-made laws the religious leaders created to further burden the people they were supposed to be helping).

I imagine these songs are probably on a streaming service somewhere, but I still love putting the record on the turntable and dropping the needle and hearing music from 1976 (or whatever year the music was recorded) coming out of my speakers. It’s still just as magical for me as it was when I was little.

Also, this music is a reminder that God still cares about His people. The Bible says that in the last days a multitude of Jewish people will embrace Yeshua as Messiah. I’m praying that day comes soon. I long to see true Israel finally recognize Jesus as the one they have been waiting for all these years.

My next quest (or one of my next quests) is to find more old Lamb records. The hunt continues!

This is the God We Have Waited For

July 16, 2024 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“It will be said on that day,
    ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation'” (Isaiah 25:9, ESV).

“[Verse 1]
A refuge for the poor
A shelter from the storm
This is our God
And He will wipe away your tears
And return your wasted years
This is our God

[Chorus 1]
Oh, hmm, this is our God
Oh, hmm, this is our God

[Verse 2]
A father to the orphan
A healer to the broken
This is our God
And He brings peace to our madness
And comfort in our sadness
This is our God

[Chorus 1]

[Chorus 2]
This is the one we have waited for
This is the one we have waited for
This is the one we have waited for
Oh, this is our God

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