Qorban

Qorban

Bob Neff - Flute

                                                     Don Pleskach - Bass/Vocals

Vince Peddle - Guitar/Vocals

Bill Graening - Keyboards/Vocals

Silvia Bryan - Violin

Chuck McInnes - Classical and Electric Guitar

[I've been over this ground before in my testimony, but since I'm posting the music, I thought I'd explain about  my memories of Qorban]

In early 1976 I was invited one night to an informal concert in the basement of my church in Green, Ohio. Truth is that when I was invited I was initially reluctant to go. I was new to Ohio and that church, so I didn't know the kids there very well, and until that time the only Christian music I'd ever heard was from the Baptist Hymnal or Southern Gospel - neither of which, to put it in the mildest terms, appealed me in the least. At best I was envisioning some sort of lame Up With People kind of thing.
   But Julie, the girl who'd called to invite me, assured me that this was nothing of the sort. I'd like it, she promised. And she was right. What I heard and the people I met were unlike any I'd encountered before. I was surrounded by young, joyful, outspoken Christians - both the band and the kids from the church - and they brought the gospel to me in a way I could hear for the first time. Later that night I encountered Christ personally. (whether that was my moment of salvation or if a seed was planted that would  sprout 35 years later, I can't say. You can read about this in excruciating detail in "This Prodigal's Story" on this blogs header).
    The band blew me away. I was a budding guitarist myself, and an intense lover of music. These guys were great musicians and song writers - very impressive - and a few of their tunes have stuck in my head right until current times.  A couple of weeks later Julie, who was friends with band members, again invited me to hear the band - this time at a coffee house in Cleveland. We rode up with the keyboardist Bill Graening, and I can't begin to tell you how great an experience that was for the fifteen year old I was then. There was just no parallel to this movement of young Christians back in my native North Carolina, and for this misfit kid to find himself immersed in  genuine Christian love like I experienced around these folks was, quite literally, a revelation.
   So, fast forward a few decades to 2010. After a lifetime of walking outside of God's will, I finally submitted my life fully to Him. (!) This led me to remember  back to that night in 1976 and the band Qorban. Wondering whatever became of them I googled the name to see if I might find some mention of them, but came up empty handed. But at the same time I also began to seek out my friend Julie on the net, and there I hit the mark. I found her and we exchanged a flurry of messages about the old times. Of course, our memories of the band were prominently featured. (Getting back in touch with Julie was huge! I counted her as my favorite Ohio friend, but I'd lost track of her after about 1978. I never stopped wondering where she was and what she was doing. So I was just overjoyed to find her again. I love that I've found lots of friends on the Internet that I would have never heard from again in the pre-WWW days.)
    Well, turns out that Julie has kept in touch with band member Bob Neff and his wife Donna. The band had recorded an albums worth of original material back in 1980 when it became obvious that Qorban had run it's course and they were all planning to move on. Complaining that her original cassette of that album had become unplayable, Bob was good enough to digitize the cuts from old cassette tapes he had and sent her a CD. To my delight she promptly got a copy into my hands.
   Popping it immediately into the CD player I was instantly flooded with memories. Some cuts, like Psalm 40, had stayed with me nearly intact over the years. Others I recognized after hearing them again, and others I'd never heard. Again, the musicianship - vocal and instrumental - and song writing were very impressive. These  guys are pros.  I recall a couple of covers they did: Larry Norman's The Outlaw, and Didn't He by Randy Matthews, and missed hearing those, but, like I said, this was all original stuff on the CD. There was another tune called Maranatha which is also missing here, so I assume it wasn't a Qorban original. But, it was a very pleasant experience to hear it all again after so long.
    It's obvious, listening to the entire CD, that this was a diverse group of musicians. Sometimes they're jazzy, sometimes ethereal, and with Spiritual Railway and Eatin' Beats Pickin' even throw a little country into the mix. Sort of Sea Level (or Sweet Comfort Band)  meets Dan Fogelberg  meets Poco! But it's mainly just their own sound. And the arrangements are very impressively intricate.The flute and violin lend real uniqueness. (I remembered that these guys were good, but I didn't understand how good at the time!)
    The more I listen to this collection the more I'm coming to appreciate it on purely musical merits rather than simply for my nostalgic connection to it. But I do feel connected to the music. I saw Qorban perform twice thirty-six years ago. But since God used them to speak to me, those two encounters have remained vivid in my memory all through the years, and the night I first met them, and Christ, stands out as the single most remarkable of my life. My gratitude toward my friend Julie and the members of this band for being there to plant the seed of salvation in my heart is incalculable.
    If you've stumbled upon my humble blog and haven't yet come to know Christ yourself, I hope you will soon.
  MORE VIDEO LATER

   I've lately come under the conviction that I should become more involved with Compassion International. I've sponsored a child for about the past year, but I'd like to contribute my time as well. April 22nd is Compassion Sunday where volunteers around the country will be doing presentations at their local churches urging others to join Compassion in their mission to help as many desperately impoverished children as possible through sponsorship of individual kids or through simple donations. I'll be among the presenters. Please take a moment to watch his and other Compassion videos I'll be posting in the coming weeks. Thanks!
A Pastor's Perspective from Compassion International on Vimeo.

Hopelessly Human

  I've been quite silent, blog-wise, for the past few weeks, but I have a pretty good excuse. About a month ago I got a call from my Dad that he was having chest pains. Dad's eighty two, has Lymphoma, and has an over thirty year history of heart disease. Well, in the ER it was discovered that he'd had a small heart attack. (When it's someone you love there's no such thing as a "small" heart attack!).
   This led to three hospitalizations, a tricky stent placement, and some pretty dismal days where it seemed doubtful that he'd recover to any significant degree if at all. In fact, there was a point where I was fairly certain I'd never bring him home at all.
   During the hospitalizations my sister Lynn and I found ourselves physically taxed way beyond anything resembling our comfort levels. I can't speak for her, but there were times when I was feeling pretty close to the limit of my physical and mental strength. For me this doesn't take much since my standard level of functioning is pretty close to maxed out daily due to Muscular Dystrophy. Add any thing extra, and I'm flagging pretty quickly.
   Now the point of all this isn't to whine (though I confess that I'm very prone to doing just that), but to talk about the lessons learned and insights gained during this time.
   God reminded all of us of his sovereignty is a very immediate manner. In the midst of a day where things were going pretty well for me, a Friday where I was counting the hours 'till I could go home for the weekend and enjoy my family, there came an abrupt change of plans which kept me from home for nearly the entire next week. And for my sister it was just the same. She suddenly found herself on the way from North Carolina, and wouldn't get home herself for a week and a half. Dad, of course, learned this on a deeper level than anyone. God holds all the cards.
    And it was a very real reminder that our busy human plans come to nothing. That our human strength comes to nothing. That we are all, ultimately, helpless before him. Hopelessly human, we are.
    For me there came a moment where I realized that I was completely out of resources. I can do nothing to positively affect my own physical condition. I could do nothing to improve my Dad's condition.  I was being called upon to shoulder more weight that I could shoulder, and in that moment I had to trust in Him to a greater degree than I ever had before.
    At the time it didn't feel like I was getting much help. I cried out to Him for the strength to bear up to the challenge, and just went on feeling exhausted. I was only afterwards that it occurred to me that I had shouldered the load. It never became more than I could bear. He came through.
    It occurs to me now that when I plead for His help it isn't, in reality, for simply enough, but enough to allow for my total comfort and then some. I'm asking for my way to be made easy. But we're never offered that guarantee are we? He promises to meet our needs, but not that our road would be soft and level. In fact, anyone paying attention to the gospels will understand that He makes no such promises at all.
   It's also occurred to me to consider just how much help we're constantly receiving without even realizing it. I shudder to imagine what I'd face were He to suddenly withdraw and leave me truly alone.
   1 Peter refers to our bring refined by fire in the manner that gold is refined. I take these times of stress as just such refinement. I've learned quite a bit about myself - both good and bad, and about God and his modus operandi. He's constantly teaching us. Refining us. And sometimes (usually, I think) that process is something less than the pleasant lesson we'd prefer.
    If what has happened with my Dad wasn't enough, my mother in law slipped and fell and cracked a cervical vertebrae (broke her neck, in other words), and after spending a couple of weeks in a very uncomfortable neck brace had to be rushed to the ER last night with an extreme headache. We're still waiting for word on that situation.
   Meanwhile, all of the worldly stressors that my wife and I have wrangled with over the past few years still exist. The weight is ponderous. God is indeed allowing us to struggle in order that we seek and rely upon his strength.
   I have in my minds eye the man I'd like to be. I've lived with the miserable mess of a man that I made of myself for quite long enough. I eagerly look forward to realizing a bit of the man He's forging. I pray that I stay out of his way long enough to get the job done.