Others like outlive your life Features >>
-160.webp)
About the Book
"Outlive Your Life" by Max Lucado is a book that challenges readers to make a lasting impact on the world by embodying the teachings of Jesus and living a life of purpose, compassion, and generosity. Through inspiring stories and practical advice, Lucado encourages readers to use their unique talents and resources to make a difference in the lives of others and leave a positive legacy that outlives them.
Keith Green
Born on October 21, 1953, in Sheepshead Bay, NY; died on July 28, 1982, in Lindale, TX; married Melody Steiner, 1973; children: Josiah (deceased), Keith, Bethany (deceased), Rebekah. Addresses: Record company--Sparrow Records, P.O. Box 5085, Brentwood, TN 37024. Website--Keith Green Official Website: http://www.lastdaysministries.org.
Known for his uncompromising approach to both his faith and his music, Keith Green has become a legendary figure in Contemporary Christian music since his death in 1982. Taking on the role of a modern-day prophet, he earned a fervent following thanks to his explicit evangelical message and buoyant brand of pop-rock. Green was a critic both of secular society and of commercial tendencies within the Christian community. Since his passing, he has been the subject of several tribute albums and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
From early childhood onward, it seemed certain that Green would become a musician. Born in New York, he relocated to the San Fernando Valley area of California with his family not long after. At age eight, he began to perform in stage musicals, appearing in such notable roles as Kurt Von Trapp in a local production of The Sound of Music. In 1965 he published his first song, "The Way I Used to Be," and became the youngest member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. That same year he signed a five-year recording contract with Decca Records and released his first single, "Cheese and Crackers."
Though Green was groomed to be a teenage idol, he never quite achieved success. The late 1960s found him experimenting with drugs and dabbling in various Eastern religions. His life began to turn around after he met (and eventually married) songwriter Melody Steiner in the early 1970s. Under Steiner's guidance, Green began to explore fundamentalist Christianity. Before fully embracing the faith, he began keeping company with singer/songwriters Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill, two of Southern California's best-known Christian rock artists. His skills as a singer and composer began to develop as he edged closer to religious conversion. Finally, in 1975 he became a committed Christian after becoming involved with the Vineyard, a well-known San Fernando Valley church. With a convert's fervor, Green became involved in a series of Christian music projects, including the band Good News and the stage musical Firewind. He also began writing spiritually themed songs, among them "Your Love Broke Through," which went on to become a Christian pop standard recorded by Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy, and others.
Dedicating his reawakened creativity to glorifying God, Green founded Last Days Ministries in 1977. He and his followers evangelized to young rock music fans, street people, and others not being reached by conventional churches. At the same time, he made his debut as a Christian recording artist, signing with Sparrow Records and releasing the album For Him Who Has Ears to Hear. This song collection displays the essentials of Green's musical style: exuberant singing, piano-based melodies, and well-crafted pop/rock production. Among the best-known tracks on Green's first album are "You Put This Love in My Heart," "No One Believes Me Anymore," and "Your Love Broke Through." Balancing the warm-hearted testimony of these tunes are some humorous moments, including "No One Believes Me Anymore," a mock lament sung from the Devil's point of view. Overall, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear introduced Green to the Christian music market as a gifted musical evangelist of enormous potential.
As his audience grew, Green made clear that his focus was on spreading Christian teaching rather than providing entertainment. He sought to challenge the assumptions of his fellow believers, criticizing Christians who took their faith for granted. Some compared him with the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, who decried the loose morals and weak faith of his generation. A number of the songs on Green's 1978 album No Compromise were addressed to the spiritually lazy. Most important among these is "Asleep at the Light," a ringing call for Christian activism sung by Green with palpable emotion. Less intense but still effective is the playful "Dear John (Letter to the Devil)" and the country-tinged "Soften Your Heart." All three of these songs received considerable airplay on Christian music stations.
Green was uneasy in his role as an emerging celebrity. He spoke out against the Christian music industry's increasing tendency to imitate secular show business ways. "Why do we idolize Christian singers and speakers?," he asked in a statement issued through Last Days Ministries. "We go from glorifying musicians in the world, to glorifying Christian musicians. It's all idolatry! ... It's true that there are many men and women of God who are greatly anointed to call down the Spirit of God on His people and the unsaved. But Satan is getting a great victory as we seem to worship these ministers on tapes and records...."
Turning away from the California Christian music scene, Green relocated to Lindale, a small east Texas community, in 1978. In addition to maintaining Last Days Ministries, he decided to launch his own record company, Pretty Good Records. Through this label, he released his next album, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt, in 1980. This eclectic effort pokes fun at weak-spirited believers in its title track and offers a personal confession of need in "I Want to Be More Like Jesus." The most enduringly popular track proved to be "Oh Lord You're Beautiful," a powerful hymn that became a favorite at Christian worship services. In a bold move, Green announced that So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt would be sold for a variable price, even given away for free to those unable to pay. This decision sent shock waves through the Christian music industry, causing other artists to reconsider their album and concert pricing policies. An estimated 200,000 copies of the album were eventually distributed on a "pay what you can afford" basis.
Unlike some of his Christian music peers, Green showed little desire to dilute his message in hopes of reaching a wider audience. His 1982 album Songs to the Shepherd concentrates on worshipful material, praising the Lord in musical settings ranging from uplifting pop ("You Are the One") to blues-seasoned rock ("O God Our Lord") to old-fashioned country ("Draw Me"). While these songs were little-heard outside the Christian community, they helped fire Green's already-committed audience to a greater level of devotion. Fusing his work as a performer and evangelist, he toured actively during the early 1980s, mixing personal testimonials and heartfelt exhortations in between his musical numbers.
Green's life was cut short just as he began to hit his stride as a musician and minister. On July 28, 1982, he boarded a small Cessna aircraft for a brief sightseeing flight around his property in Lindale. Also on board were his son Josiah and daughter Bethany, along with the pilot and eight other passengers. Overloaded, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing everyone on board. Recovering from her loss, Melody Green decided to carry on with Last Days Ministries and Pretty Good Records. Recordings of her husband's music were released posthumously, beginning with Prodigal Son and Jesus Commands Us to Go in 1983. Though lacking the cohesiveness of the albums released during his lifetime, both these song collections capture Green in strong creative moments. Prodigal Son's dramatic title track is a particular highpoint.
Melody Green continued to guide Last Days Ministries through the coming years and, in 1985, also took on the directorship of Americans against Abortion. Green's musical legacy remained vital as well, with many of his best-known recordings repackaged in compilation albums by Sparrow during the 1980s and 1990s. Multi-artist tribute albums also began to appear, starting with 1992's No Compromise: Remembering the Music of Keith Green. 2001 saw the release of Start Right Here: Remembering the Life of Keith Green, featuring spirited interpretations of his songs by such notable Christian rock acts as MxPx, Joy Electric, and Starflyer 59. Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Greencontains covers of Green tunes by Michael W. Smith, Twila Paris, Rebecca St. James, and other top-rank Christian pop/rock talents.
On November 27, 2001, Green was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. The honor served as an acknowledgment of his continuing influence in Contemporary Christian music some 20 years after his death. Green's intensity and dedication have continued to make him a role model for younger Christian performers, such as Rebecca St. James, who paid tribute to him in a Sparrow Records press biography. "I think what touches me most about him was that he was so committed to loving God and living for Him," she said of Green. "I know he was very strong-willed and people were sometimes offended at what he did and said, but it all came out of a pure motive of trying to be committed to Him in every part of his life. He wasn't going to back down just because of what people thought of him. That, to me, says that he was more focused on pleasing God than on pleasing man, something I think we should all try to focus on."
Keith Green's Career
Began career as child stage actor and composer, early 1960s; signed with Decca, released debut single, "Cheese and Crackers," 1965; began writing Christian songs, mid-1970s; founded Last Days Ministries, released first album, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, 1977; founded Pretty Good Records, released album So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt, 1980.
Keith Green's Awards
Induction (posthumous), Gospel Music Hall of Fame, 2001.
Famous Works
For Him Who Has Ears To Hear , Sparrow, 1977.
No Compromise , Sparrow, 1978.
So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt , Pretty Good, 1980.
The Keith Green Collection , Sparrow, 1981.
Songs for the Shepherd , Pretty Good, 1982.
The Prodigal Son , Pretty Good, 1983.
Jesus Commands Us to Go , Pretty Good, 1984.
Because of You--Songs of Testimony , Sparrow, 1998.
Here I Am, Send Me--Songs of Evangelism , Sparrow, 1998.
Oh Lord, You're Beautiful--Songs of Worship , Sparrow, 1998.
Make My Life a Prayer to You--Songs of Devotion , Sparrow, 1998.
walk in his providence - how god opens doors for you
When the master in Jesus’s parable gave talents to his servants and went away, two got busy multiplying their master’s money, and one hid his talent in the dirt. Something similar can happen when people like us hear about the providence of God. On the one hand, few doctrines have inflamed more holy ambition in the hearts of God’s people. When some hear that God rules over galaxies and governments, over winds and waves, and over every detail in our little lives (Ephesians 1:11), they get busy doing good. Christians gripped by providence have built hospitals, ended slave trades, founded orphanages, launched reformations, and pierced the darkness of unreached peoples. On the other hand, few doctrines have been used more often to excuse passivity, sloth, and the sovereignty of the status quo. When some hear that God reigns over all, they reach for the remote, kick up their feet, take sin a little less seriously, bury their talents six feet under. They may do good when the opportunity arises, when the schedule allows, but they will rarely search  for good to do. How could the all-pervasive providence of God energize some and paralyze others? How could it cause some to blaze boldly into the unknown, and others to putter on the same tired paths, rarely dreaming, never risking? Waiting for an Open Door When William Carey, the pioneering missionary to India, first proposed the idea of sending Christians to unreached places, an older pastor reportedly protested, “Sit down, young man, sit down and be still. When God wants to convert the heathen, he will do it without consulting either you or me.” Such an application of God’s providence is simplistic, unbiblical, irresponsible — and yet also understandable. Though many of us would never make such a statement, we have our own ways of allowing providence to lull us into passivity. Consider the common language of waiting or praying for “an open door.” The phrase “open door” comes from the apostle Paul (Colossians 4:3–4), yet many of us use the phrase in ways the apostle didn’t. Paul prayed for open doors, yes, but then he vigorously turned handles (compare 1 Corinthians 16:8–9 with Acts 19:1–10). Many of us, on the other hand, sit in the hallway of life, waiting until a divine hand should swing a door open and push us through it. Too often, by saying, “There was no open door,” we mean that there was no obvious, divine orchestration of events that made our path unmistakable. “I didn’t share the gospel because no one seemed interested.” “I didn’t have that hard conversation because we just never ran into each other.” “I didn’t confess that sin because there didn’t seem to be a good time.” Providence, if distorted, can excuse us from all manner of uncomfortable duties. When William Carey gazed toward India, he did not see what we might call an open door: fifty million Muslims and Hindus living half a world and two oceans away. Hence the pastor’s response. Yet Carey went anyway, believing that God, in his providence, could make a way where there seemed to be no way. And India is still bearing fruit from his faith. For Such a Time as This Carey found his inspiration, of course, from dozens of men and women in Scripture who ventured forth into discomfort and danger by the power of God’s providence. Where did Jonathan find the courage to attack an army with only his armor-bearer at his side? Providence: “Come, . . . it may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). How did Esther muster the courage to risk the king’s fury? Providence: “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Why did David step toward Goliath with only a sling and five stones? Providence: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). “God has planned for some doors to open only as we push them.” Some hear, “God reigns over all,” and think, “Then what difference could my effort make?” Others, like Jonathan, Esther, and David, heard, “God reigns over all,” and thought, “Then God can use even my effort, small though it is.” And so, after thinking, weighing, and praying, they went forth — not always sure that God would prosper their plans, but deeply confident that, if he wanted to, no force in heaven or on earth could stop him. In other words, they knew their God ruled in heaven. They saw a need on the earth. And with “Your kingdom come” burning through the chambers of their hearts (Matthew 6:10), they dreamed up something new for the sake of his name. Act the Providence of God Perhaps, for some of us, the difficulty lies here: we expect to react to  the providence of God, but not to act  the providence of God. Some of us live as though providence were something only to react to . We wait for a clear, providential open door, and then we react to that providence by walking through the doorway. But as we’ve seen, God has planned for some doors to open only as we push them. He has planned for us to act  his providence. Paul gives us the clearest biblical expression of this dynamic in Philippians 2:12–13: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Notice: Our work does not follow  God’s work. Rather, our work is the simultaneous effect  of God’s work. Or as John Piper writes, “What Paul makes plain here is how fully our own effort is called into action. We do not wait for the miracle; we act the miracle” ( Providence , 652). Sometimes, to be sure, God is pleased to place some good work right in our lap. Perhaps someone really does ask about the hope that is in us, or the hard conversation we need to have opens easily and naturally. In moments like these, we do indeed react to God’s providence. But God can be just as active in us when our effort is fully involved: when we invite a neighbor over to study the Bible together, or when we arrange a time and place for the difficult talk. We need not wait for something unmistakably divine, something unquestionably providential, before we work out our salvation in all kinds of obedience. Instead, we need only see some good work to do, entrust ourselves to God through earnest prayer, work hard in conscious dependence on him, and then, once finished, turn around and say with Paul, “It was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). And thus we act  the providence of God. Imagine Good In his providence, God has prepared good works for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). But many of them will not come as we passively drift beneath God’s providence. They will come to us, instead, as we strain our renewed minds, bend our born-again imaginations, and fashion possibilities in the factory of our new hearts — knowing that every good resolve is a spark of his providence. “You are who you are, what you are, where you are, because of the all-pervasive providence of God.” So look around you. Nothing about your life is an accident. You are who you are, what you are, where you are, because of the all-pervasive providence of God. He has given you whatever talents you have, in his wisdom, for such a time as this — so that you would add a stroke to the canvas in front of you, chisel away at the statue you see, speak and act in the drama you’re in, so that this world looks a little more like the work of art God is redeeming it to be. There are neighbors to befriend, children to disciple, churches to plant, crisis-pregnancy centers to serve, and a thousand tasks at our jobs to do with excellence and love. And how will we know if God, in his providence, has opened a door for any of these opportunities? We will pray and turn the handle.
