Oldies but Goodies / Who Remembers Petra?

The mind is such an amazing gift that God has given us.  How thoughts flow from one to another, then another and another, sometimes in a few seconds, sometimes in a few days or longer.  This week as I often do, I was listening to podcasts while walking in the mornings, which I am about to do now.  One of the podcasts I was listening to from Focus on the Family featured Kirk and Chelsea Cameron.    Remember them from the old TV 1970s sitcom Growing Pains? or the Christian Left Behind series? or Fireproof?  This two-part broadcast titled Making Your Marriage a High Priority can be heard here: PART 1 and PART 2 . They've now been together 20 years and have six children.

Anyway, Kirk was mentioning how he first met Chelsea and referred to the old 1970s Christian group Petra.  Petra--I haven't even heard of that rock band in quite some time.  As a new Christian just out of college in the mid-1970s, (here I am in 1973) Petra was one of the first contemporary (at that time) groups that I was introduced to. If you've never heard of them, they retired in 2005. I got to hear them live in concert in the early 1980s.  I enjoyed so many of their songs then, just as the young people today tend to enjoy the more contemporary of the Christian worship songs these days.  The tastes are not always the same between the generations but the principle is--the younger do tend to favor the more modern music, at least for a season.  That's why I've always thought it is best to have the old hymns WITH  the newer music in a worship service...particularly newer songs that are not "ditties" (one or more phrases repeated over and over and over...).  Anyone have a soap box?

Petra 1979

Petra 2005

This morning I woke up for no obvious reason, thinking about Petra and one of my old faves of theirs--More Power To Ya.  (This was a popular "hip" phrase from the 1970s.)  I googled Petra and found this neat website with a list of all their songs and lyrics.  Scrolling down to the song I was looking for, I found these lyrics.  They used the common phrase of the time and put an entirely new meaning to it.  Old songs   continue to be a comfort to my soul as in my mind, even today, 30+ years later, I could "hear" some of the old familiar words  plainly:

More power to ya

When you're trusting with your whole heart 
in the message you have heard 

More power to ya 

When we're all in one accord 

They that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew, 
they shall renew their strength 

So be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might
Put on all His armor and fight the good fight
In all of our weakness, He becomes so strong
When He gives us the power and the strength to carry on

I guess it's true that the older memories (particularly musical ones) are retained longer than the short-term ones.  Ah, a trip down memory lane and depending on the memory, strengthens our faith. Thank you, Lord, for things that you bring to our minds when we least expect it and need it.  A note to the younger people reading this blog today--what memories are you making? what are you listening to? what are you filling your mind with?   These will stay with you for a lifetime.

Psalm 77:6 

I will remember my song in the night; 

I will meditate with my heart, 

And my spirit ponders...