An Evening with Michael Card and a Week of Remembering

Last evening our church hosted an evening with Michael Card. Since we were helping with merchandise sales, we were invited to share a meal with him and the other workers. Just listening to him talk took me back to our days in Nashville at TNU and I realized how much his work has been a part of my life. This act of remembering goes well with my post from yesterday, so this week, I'd like to take time to share some of his songs that have helped me to better understand the work of Christ. 

El Shaddai is the first song by Michael Card that I remember hearing. During our years at TNU contemporary Christian music began its ascent, and El Shaddai was part of that. A number of the artists, during that time, would come to our chapel services and we were exposed to music that had it's roots in the Jesus Movement, country, and gospel music genres. Michael's music was different in that he spent a great deal of time  studying the word of God and then translating what he had gleaned from his studies into musical form. El Shaddai afforded  me my first glimpse into a God who could be understood by his names. But it wasn't until two years ago, while taking Dr. Michael Williams' class, God and His Word, that I began to better understand the significance of this way of choosing to reveal Himself to His people. Dr. Williams states it this way in his book, Far as the Curse is Found, (specifically he is referring to the name Yahweh) : 

The revelation of God as Yahweh is also significant in the exodus story because it presents God as personal. The giving of his name is the promise of his personal presence. By and large the deities of the ancient near East were impersonal deities, little more than personifications of natural forces. ... There is no relationship, no communication, no reciprocal action, no moral obligation. ... By giving his name to Israel, Yahewh says to them, 'you can count on me. And my deeds on your behalf will be my proof.'

That a people would enter into a personal relationship with their god would have been a startlingly new concept in the ancient Near East. It is as if this God gives his people his business card, but in doing so, he turns it over and writes on the back of it an additional number;'here's my private line.'