“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Maybe we are the ones straining out gnats and swallowing camels, just like Yeshua said about the … well, you know, those guys. Maybe, just maybe, we are focusing on the wrong things. And he sure talks a lot about “God” and “Jesus.” I’ve never read anything to make me think he followed the dietary laws. In fact, the song To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice makes reference to church on Sunday and on Wednesday night. Now, wait, why are we talking about a popular contemporary Christian singer on a Messianic blog? Keith Green wasn’t a Sabbath or Feast keeper. I will never forget listening to and talking about these songs and the newsletters with my dad in his “man cave” way before that was a popular term.
But after checking it out, a short while later he, too, subscribed to the Last Days Newsletter and, to my surprise, bought Keith Green’s first album, For Him Who Has Ears To Hear. I remember sharing this with my dad, who probably was a little bit skeptical. Printed on one side was Keith’s testimony beginning with “It was in the spring of 1973 that I first prayed to Jesus…” and on the other side was a continuation of the story describing “The Birth of Last Days.” After reading it, I signed up for the Last Days Newsletter, published by the Last Days Community that Keith and his wife Melody had formed. Then inside the pocket, separate from the plain sleeve containing the 12-inch vinyl record, was a 10-inch by 10-inch paper insert. The album jacket opened like a book, with the lyrics to the songs and other credits printed on the inside.
I got it from a local Christian book store that used to sell everything in the store for half-price a few days after Christmas. There may have been a song I heard from it on the radio, or maybe it was just the unique album cover that attracted my attention. I purchased my first Keith Green album, No Compromise, in 1979.
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