Monday's Mourning Ministry - There Is A Redeemer ~Keith Green

Monday's Mourning Ministry

There Is A Redeemer

~Keith Green

The following song is such a wonderful follow-up to Easter. The song There Is A Redeemer by Keith Green was written by Keith's wife Melody (now his widow and grieving mother of two of their  precious children) and Keith put the song to music. I remember singing many of Keith's songs when I was in college, and even as I was singing in our church choir of this last decade, we were still singing his songs, particularly this one. Keith and his wife Melody have a remarkable testimony as "completed Jews." Keith was tragically killed in a plane crash at the age of 28; two of their precious children were in the plane with him, and they too lost their lives.  The details of Keith and Melody's testimony and of Keith's and their children's untimely deaths follow just below the song lyrics. 

The song came to mind as I have just finished reading grieving father, Dennis Mansfield's book about his son Nate, called Beautiful Nate. It was a very good book for me to read as Dennis and his wife Susan are strong Christians (Dennis was employed by Focus for the Family for a few years), and their Nate had struggled with drugs over the years. Melody Green (then widowed from Keith) became a mentor to Nate and a friend to Dennis; she had written the forward to Beautiful Nate. (The book was excellent by the way!)

May you enjoy There Is A Redeemer ...

There Is A Redeemer

~Keith Green

Written by Melody Green, 

co-founder, Last Days Ministries 

from the album, O Lord You're Beautiful

There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Jesus My Redeemer, name above all names,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,

O for sinners slain.

Thank You, O my Father, for giving us Your Son,

And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done.

When I stand in Glory, I will see His face

and There I will serve my King forever in that Holy Place!

Thank You, O my Father for giving us Your Son

And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done.

There is a Redeemer, Jesus God's own Son,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Thank You O my Father for giving us Your Son

And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done,

And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done.

~~~~~

Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 -- July 28, 1982) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Green is also known for numerous popular modern hymns, including "O Lord, You're Beautiful" and "There Is A Redeemer." 

Keith had a Jewish heritage and was raised in Christian Science. He grew up reading the New Testament and called the mixture of being Jewish and learning about Jesus "an odd combination" that left him open minded but deeply unsatisfied. He began doing drugs and became interested in eastern mysticism and "free love." After experiencing what Green described as a "bad trip," he abandoned drug use and became interested in philosophy and theology. Green later stated, however, that in the midst of his skepticism, he felt that God "broke through [his] calloused heart," and he became a follower of Jesus, a Jewish believer in Jesus the Messiah. Soon afterward, Keith's wife Melody, whom he had married in 1973 and was also Jewish, also became a Jewish believer in Jesus. It was during this time that the newlyweds became involved with the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Southern California, although they never forsook their Jewish roots or identity as Jews.

Along with eleven others, Keith Green died on July 28, 1982, when the Cessna 414 leased by Last Days Ministries crashed after takeoff from the private airstrip located on the LDM property. The small two-engine plane was carrying eleven passengers and the pilot, Don Burmeister for an aerial tour[12] of the LDM property and the surrounding area. Green and two of his children, three year old Josiah and two year old Bethany, were on board the plane, along with visiting missionaries John and Dede Smalley and their six children.

Keith's music will live for as long as Jesus tarries.

~history from YouTube site

http://youtu.be/yYhXsRLaL-0