I have an amazing opportunity ahead of me this week that I need a lot of prayer for. This will be a huge jump in my comfort zone. It could also catapult my life and career like nothing else.
Or it will flop and never get off the ground.
Kairos at Beto 60 is a big event in a lot of ways. It will transform some men’s lives by making them sons of God. Since Kairos does these big weekends twice a year it means this marks 30 years at the George Beto Unit for this core group of volunteers.
Thirty years is a great milestone that should have something special for folks to remember it by. Well, God has given me a song that could fit that bill like nothing else can.
A year ago I attended my first Kairos, #58. I had the chorus to this song then but nothing else. I didn’t know when or how God wanted me to use or present this song in public.
As I sat in the chapel listening to the band play incredible praise and worship music God impressed upon my heart that this would be the prefect place to bring this song out for human consumption.
Up until this point I’ve been singing it to myself while driving down the road in an eighteen wheeler, along with the other songs God has given me.
Going back forty plus years I remember experiencing the magic of songs for the first time. The way they could transport me to another time, feel a certain emotion or lift my spirits intrigued me.
I remember saying, to no one in particular, “when I grow up I want to write songs.”
You think I would have learned to play an instrument. I didn’t. I had a great opportunity to learn to play the piano in college, but I didn’t feel like I had enough time or focus to do it right so I passed on it then.
I’m here to tell y’all that when a dream is from God it’s going to happen whether you prepare for it or not.
I admit that I’m biased about the songs I have, but some of them are really good. King Who Washes Feet is one of my favorites.
That’s the song I want to sing with the Kairos Beto 60 Band this weekend.
Like I said earlier I only had the chorus to this song a year ago. I knew the themes of the three verses. The first verse is about the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. As I heard someone on the radio say recently, it’s when Jesus went into a department store and changed all the price tags.
The second verse is about the scene in Revelation when seven seals are presented that hold back God’s plagues in the last days. They search for someone worthy enough to open the seals to no avail…until Jesus steps forward.
The third verse tells about the crown we’ll receive when we get to heaven only to lay it at Jesus’s feet.
The chorus plays on the paradoxes that make up the person who was God in a human body, Jesus.
While I’m driving I have time to work on the lyrics. I usually change them up until something sticks. Sometimes I can write the words down while I’m parked. I did this for the third verse a couple of weeks ago…yeah, this song didn’t come together until quite recently.
When I went back and read what I wrote after I got back home I remember fighting back the gag reflex. That’s how bad it was. Until last Thursday when I parked at my nighttime hangout in Batesville, Arkansas. Don’t try looking it up on a map unless you have a lot of time to kill.
It was good that I left the old lyrics at home. Now I could start fresh. I prayed long before I parked as I tried different lyrics while driving. As usual God showed up at the last minute. I like what I ended up with.
I’ll give you the words to the first verse so you can see why a Texas maximum security prison is the perfect place to sing this in public for the first time.
Who would dare tell me to love my enemy
When he takes my coat give him my shirt
Who has the audacity to say that I should pray
Good for someone who treats me lower than dirt
Who in his right mind would say that when I find
Someone in need that I should just give to him
Who would dare insist when someone makes a fist
I should just stand there and let him hit me again
He is the King who washes feet…then the rest of the chorus.
Now you see why I felt led to present this in a prison. How many of these guys have been taught the very opposite of what Jesus taught here?
I have a major hurdle to clear to make this a reality. The prison chaplain needs to give his blessing on this song before it can be sung in this chapel.
Walter White and I hit it off immediately a year ago when we first met. Not too many of us guys out there with parents who thought it was clever to give their kids a name with the initials WW.
If he endorses this song then the next challenge will be with the band. We won’t have time to practice this song anywhere before we/I sing it in public the first time. I think I can sing it for them in the chaplain’s office while they think about how their instrument will fit in.
I’m praying for a massive movement of the Holy Spirit among us to make this great. I’ve heard these guys play. This could easily happen.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when I found out I wasn’t going to be assigned to a table this go around. I love getting to know six inmates this way. But, the position I have this time gives me access to the chaplain and band better than any other position.
I think God might be up to something here.
I haven’t told anybody on the team about this. I want to surprise them with it. Y’all are the first ones to hear about this so keep it our little secret.
Don’t keep it a secret from God, though. Storm the gates of heaven with requests to make this song a reality.
I don’t want to record this song to make me famous. I want to make Jesus more famous with it.
Any fame that I receive will be a cross I have to bear. I pray I use that fame to bring out the other songs and stories and poems and prayers and whatever else God gives me the stewardship of to build His kingdom.
I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence that the title I have during this Kairos will be Head Servant.
I hope I successfully carry that title all the way to heaven with me.
I’ll see you later. Wade
