Old Tunes, New Insight

...To paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Resurrection Band - now that's a name haven't heard in a long time."
The name Resurrection Band came up in a conversation the other day, and it prompted me to pull out some of my CD's I haven't listened to in a while and revisit them, but while enjoying the music I also reflected on how far these folks were ahead of their time. Then again, maybe it's just me that is catching on to their relevance.
For those poor, deprived among you that are unfamiliar, Resurrection Band was a band that was produced out of the Jesus Movement of the early 70's. They eventually settled in Chicago and formed a community called Jesus People USA, or JPUSA. In high school, this seemed cool, certainly, and admirable, and certainly unusual, but now I understand that their way of life continues to be one of the closest things I've ever seen to New Testament Christianity, community-wise. The community lives in the inner city of Chicago and exist commune-style where they share everything and minister materially to hundreds of street people with food, clothes and shelter every day. All the money the band made has gone back into the community. They have been doing this for 30 years, long before the majority of the church, or the press and the Compassion crowd in Hollywood were paying attention.
The band itself, fronted by Glenn and Wendi Kaiser, and including originally, Stu Heiss, John Herrin, and Jim Denton started playing together in the early 70's and recorded two different albums they gave away at concerts, one rock and the other acoustic. They were given a gift of the money that allowed them to record their first commercial album, Awaiting Your Reply. A small Houston-based label, Star Song took a chance and released the album to surprising success. Christian rock like Rez Band was playing was pretty unheard of at the time and they broke ground that allowed a lot of other bands to follow.
Personally, Rez's second and third albums, Rainbow's End and Colours are my favorite. Rainbow's End is a little more blues-influenced and a little less folk-y than a lot of Awaiting Your Reply, and begins the band's trend of outspoken social commentary long before it was trendy. The song 'Afrikaans' is one of the first by any band to confront South Africa's racist system of apartheid a full year before Peter Gabriel's 'Biko' (the album was released in 1979) Colours is harder rock that talks about God's sovereignty and love, and features a lot of commentary on inner city life and American culture, making Resurrection Band more outspoken than any Christian artist other than Larry Norman at that time. During the mid 80's they were influenced heavily by new wave, but then moved back to a harder and bluesier sound.
Rez Band has recorded many great albums with hard hitting messages full of conviction, and that is the main thing I appreciate them for - their focus on ministry. Their lyrics constantly seek to be the conscious of the Church, reminding us of the suffering people around us and recalling our mission to go into all the world. Their concerts usually always featured Glenn's fiery preaching and an altar call at the end of the show. In an era when so much Christian music sounds alike and preaches to the choir, it's refreshing to hear a voice crying in the wilderness, a Jeremiah reminding us that our calling is outside our comfy, air-conditioned church buildings. I appreciate their music, but even more, their sincerity. They don't mind making you feel uncomfortable by speaking the truth. Everyone needs someone like that in their life.