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A Man Like Paul: Although inspired by the death of Pope Paul, this song reaches far beyond that to look at what kind of people God needs us to be.
Mountain, Mountain: Barry McGuire inspired this song with some advice he gave me. Although I've managed to chat with him a couple times since then, I never had the chance to play it for him. I hope that he might at least read the words today. Barry: you were the mountain.
My Life to You: My repertoire is filled with songs of doubt; I find they strengthen my faith, because they show me what meager alternatives there are to what I do believe.
That's When I'll Believe: The best of the songs of doubt, it reminds me of that famous quote: "People do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them."
I Use to Think: This particular song of doubt, as long ago as I wrote it, still points up the emptiness of modern thought and philosophy.
The Secret: When I played this for my good friend, now the Reverend Jeff Zurheide, it took him completely off guard--he had no idea where it was going, and was quite surprised at where it ended up. I played it once for Phil Keaggy, but I don't think he caught it. As someone once said, there are really two ways to get to heaven; it's just that only one of them works.
Holocaust: Perhaps the most powerful song I ever wrote I actually co-wrote. In addition to having a deep and striking message, it also is more poetic than much of what I have written, even in places where it has far less rhyme and meter.
Our God Is Good: The words are an indictment of us, a people who would expect our leaders in a democracy to be better men than we would expect of ourselves. The presidential race which inspired it is long forgotten, but almost every month the news brings it back to me--how can we expect our leaders to be better than we are?
Sometimes: Oh wretched man that I am! Paul cries; Who will save me...? This song is the introspection of a Christian, pulled down by the fault he finds in himself, and overwhelmed by the undeserved grace of God.
Why: I am one of those who normally strives with songs, hammering them out on anvils of paper, birthing them through great pangs. This worship song came to be in a single singing, and has been unchanged ever since.
Carpenter's Song: I didn't write this one. It was written by my good friend, now the Reverend Jeffry R. Zurheide. But it was one of the three songs which inspired us to create a rock opera, and is the opening song of that opera, so I thought I would share it here.
These Three Things: Faith, hope, and love were in a sense all denied by Peter when he thrice denied Christ. In this song from the opera, he talks about this with his wife.
Gethsemene: There were several crises of faith that weekend. Of the two who agonized in the garden, the second failed the test. Even in betrayal, the betrayer remembered his lessons in this song from the opera.
Number One: Caiaphas, High Priest in Jerusalem, must have thought he was on top of the world late on Thursday night. This song from the opera has him talking with the carpenter who made the cross, and telling his feelings in the matter.
Step by Step: One of the soldiers attending the crucifixion may have had the impressions expressed in this song from the opera, punctuated by a chorus of believers.
John's Song: The disciple whom Jesus loved was at the foot of the cross. This song from the opera puts the words he records in his gospel into a context of the feelings of that moment.
John Three: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea took the body of Jesus from the cross to the tomb. This song from the opera imagines the conversation these two members of the Jewish high council might have had at that time.
Teaching has always been part of my ministry, and of the ministry of Cardiac Output. I would invite you to take a look at some of the Bible study materials I've put on the web for your edification.