Jay Rinkel's Note:
David Di Sabatino is a regular contributer to the Chuck Girard "Ask Chuck"
page. He specializes in researching the early days of the Jesus Movement.
Although much is said about 'Jesus music' as a social phenomenon emerging out of the rock'n'roll culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s, people tend to forget the creative manner in which the Spirit of God worked to express itself through young songwriters. Although most were self-admitted novices in the Christian faith, the spiritual vitality that is evident in their first recorded works have become testaments to the perplexing reality that God often risks using fragile and innocent vessels to transmit eternal truths. Many albums come to mind that fit this category, most of the artists admitting that their limited doctrinal understanding of the Christian faith was hidden under a wellspring of zealous enthusiasm.
Bob Bennett's 'First Things First' comes immediately to my mind. Though only saved three years prior to its release in 1979, Bennett's lyrics reflected an honesty that was a refreshing change to songs that sometimes lapsed into the realm of 'easy believism.' The song 'Carpenter Gone Bad?' is especially poignant in its wrestling with the human-divine equation of Christ that we sometimes ascribe to without really knowing what it means. Bennett's songs reveal the struggle of the Christian life in songs such as 'You're Welcome Here' and 'I Belong To You.' There is no hint of having arrived, but the listener is compelled into a world where sinner and saint stand on equal footing. It is obvious that Bennett strives for more than the usual pat answers. For him life seems to be a journey where spiritual breakthroughs are as in evidence as outright failures. In an age of materialism where superficiality is the bane of our age, and Contemporary Christian musicians are as susceptible to selling their souls as anyone else, the CCM genre has also produced glimpses of spiritual brilliance. This album is definitely one of them.