 |
 Ken Medema "Song of Transformation" Program #4021 First air date October 27, 1996 |
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Biography
Ken Medema,
from San Francisco, California, is a singer, songwriter and keyboard
virtuoso. At a very early age, he demonstrated extraordinary musical
ability—a gift made all the more remarkable because he has been blind
from birth. He studied music therapy at Michigan State University and
worked for a while in a psychiatric hospital, but his yearning to be a
full-time songwriter and performer was very strong. This year Ken
celebrates twenty-five years of life "on the road." He
performs about 160 concerts a year, thrilling audiences with his ability
to make them sense the sacred within themselves and in surprising
places. [Biographical information is correct as of the broadcast date
noted above.]
"Song
of Transformation" Wade in the water, wade in the water,
children; Well now, thirty eight years I was
lying there I watched them come and I watched them
go I've got no one to help me Well a stranger comes to me one day, Flash! In my mind I am a boy again Sure I'd like to walk again When next that stranger spoke to me He brought me to the healing stream; He made me Ken Medema: Now
we move from the story of a man stuck in the rut of inactivity and
sickness to the story of a woman stuck in the rut of busyness and
frantic activity. Join us. This is Martha's story. Can you believe it? He's coming to our
house for dinner! (Knock, knock, knock) Come right in, sit here, make yourself
at home. Come right in, Jesus. Mary, come on, there is work to be
done, dear. Pardon me. She looks sweet sitting
there are your feet. Martha, you're worried for so many
things. There's a time to cook and clean and
mend. There's a time to do what's proper and
polite. Are you bound to mop and broom and
stove? There's a time to work without delay. Ken Medema: To
people blocked along the way, to people stuck in the ruts of despair and
hopelessness, to people who can't get beyond their own busyness, who
can't see the bigger picture, the biblical story always comes along and
says, "No. You are bound for greater things." So when I meet you on the highway, I
will greet you with a song; And we'll go singing, singing: Help me find the chains that bind me
as we walk into the light. And we'll go singing, singing: Interview with Ken Medema
Lydia Talbot: Ken Medema, your music is
music of transformation. Terrific, passionate images!
Ken Medema: Thank you. Talbot: You've been blind since
birth. You do not see color, and yet, how do you imagine the energizing,
passionate things that you write about? Medema: Well, I suppose a lot of it
comes from hearing people talk and from hearing great literature, and
from being told stories. I mean, I think the imagination can be fired
whether one of the senses is lacking or not. People tell stories about
things they see. People communicate in words, and I listen so my mind is
full of all those visual images. They may be totally unlike what anybody
else sees. Lydia: Some people have called you a
blind photographer. You are an extraordinary man of vision. Play another
song for us. Medema: I'd
love to. This is called "The Greatest Love of All." So if I swim the flooded river to
protect you from the storm, this is love. If I walk a thousand highways just to
be here by your side, this is love. I've heard it said that love's a
feeling but this is only just a start, So if I walk through wind and fire to
bring you back when you are lost, this is love. I've heard it said that love's a
feeling but this is only just a start, So if I walk through wind and fire to
bring you back when you are lost, this is love. Lydia Talbot: Ken Medema, thank you
so much for that passionate gift of music. As ministry it touches and
transforms so many lives. Thanks so much again, Ken. It's a joy and an
inspiration to have you here. Ken Medema: Thank
you. It's great to be here.
Ken Medema: I believe that the
biblical stories have incredible power to change lives, and for that
reason, I would like to sing you two stories from sacred scripture. The
first one is about the man who lay there in the pool of Bethzatha. For
38 years he had lain there, stuck in his own rut, and the day that Jesus
came along, here is what happened:
Wade in the Water [John 5: 2-9}
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children;
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.
By the side of the healing stream.
Thirty eight years is a long, long time
When life has dashed your dreams.
Day after weary day.
If this is life, then give me death;
Please just take my life away:
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children;
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.
Said would you like to walk again?
Please don't raise those hopes I screamed
Because I just can't stand the pain!
Leaping and hopping down the street;
Leaping and hopping and singing and running
Swift as a dancer on my feet.
But I have no one at all
To take me to the healing stream
When the angel comes to call.
I've got no one to help me
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children;
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.
Sing it over.
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children;
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.
His words were like some cosmic song:
Made mountains shake, and boulders quake
And thunder crash and lightning flash;
And morning crossed my midnight skies
And hope arose like eagle's fly.
Rise take up your bed and walk, he said.
He made me taste of hopes and dreams;
This stranger took my hand
And led me to the promised land.
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children;
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.
God's gonna trouble the water.
Sing it over.
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children;
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.
I say, God's gonna trouble the water.
Can You Believe It?
[Luke 10: 38-42]
Come, sister Mary, we must get the whole thing together.
Dear brother, Lazarus, you'll entertain Him.
You'll make Him feel at home.
He's been so busy, and He must be weary,
And we're very fortunate that He would consent to...
Oh my gosh! He's early!
We are very honored, sir, that you would even come.
Yes, you can hear what they say from the kitchen!
Mary, come on, you are bothering me now, and I don't like to make,
don't like to make, don't like to make a scene!
But don't you know, sir, there's a lot to be accomplished here if
we expect to eat?
We will talk at the table face to face.
But for now, sir, would you help me keep my liberated sister in
her place?
One thing is lacking which Mary has found, and it will not be
taken away.
Martha, cone join us, your dinner will wait.
Soon, I will be gone and it will be too late.
Dinner can wait today.
And there's a time for crying with a friend.
Look around, do you see what time it is?
Put down your pots and pans awhile.
But there's a time to break away and do what's right
Look around, do you see what time it is?
Put down your pots and pans
awhile.
Are you bound to walls that will not move?
You try so hard to please and still you find no peace.
Stop and listen, cause there's another voice a'calling.
But there's a time for putting work away
Look around, do you see what time it is?
Put down your pots and pans awhile.
Put down your pots and pans awhile.
Bound for Greater Things
We'll play music by the roadside on the days when the journey
seems too long;
In the rain and in the fire I will strain to hear you sing;
The kingdom is our heart's desire; and we are bound for greater
things.
We are bound for greater things; bound to walk that higher road.
Drawn by dreams and lead by visions we will know the grace of God.
We will leave the past behind us; we will fly on eagles' wings.
We will run that race before us; we are bound for greater things.
We can see with clearer vision things that confused us just last
night.
The One who made the golden morning - the One who gave our spirits
wings,
Gave us these hands to help each other on our way to greater
things.
We are bound for greater things; bound to walk a higher road.
Drawn by dreams and lead by visions - ah, you got to have a vision
- we will taste,
we will see, we will smell the grace of God.
We will leave our past so far behind; we will fly through the
morning sky on
the wings of the eagles.
We will run that race before us; oh, yeah, now, strike up the band
and join that chorus;
for, children, don't be afraid to keep on walking, don't be afraid
to keep on moving,
don't be afraid to keep on praying, don't be afraid to keep on
striving,
don't be afraid to run that race before us.
And just remember, children, when you're standing out there, out
on the edge of the promise land, and you've been waiting in that
wilderness for forty long years, and you think you'll never,
never, never find
And just remember, children, when you're locked up in that prison
late at night, chained to your guards like Paul and Silas, and all
you can do is sing and pray, you are bound for greater things.
You are bound, you are bound, you are bound for greater things.
Interviewed by Lydia Talbot
The Greatest Love of All
If I brave the wind of winter to be sure you're safe and warm,
this is love.
If I stumble in the darkness when I hear your urgent call, this is
love.
But if I give my life to save you - this is the greatest love of
all.
If I give up friends and family, if for love I lose my pride, this
is love.
And if I lose my reputation, lose my name, my face, my all, this
is love.
But if I give my life to save you - this is the greatest love of
all.
'Cause feelings change as fast as weather
And love's a matter of the mind and will,
A matter of the head and heart.
If you cost me my possessions, and if I gladly bear the cost, this
is love.
If I face the soldier's weapons, if I climb that prison wall, this
is love.
But if I give my life to save you - this is the greatest love of
all.
'Cause feelings change as fast as weather
And love's a matter of the mind and will,
A matter of the head and heart.
And if you cost me my possessions, and if I gladly bear the cost,
this is love.
If I face the soldier's weapons, and if I climb that prison wall,
this is love.
But if I give my life to save you - this is the greatest love of
all.