Youth Pastor

Beyond Belief – Petra

Rick France 1976, 1993, Arena Rock, Hard Rock , , , , , , ,
Beyond Belief
Petra

In the 1990’s I was once asked, “If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one album by Petra, which album would you choose?” For me, Beyond Belief was that album; only because the album Jekyll & Hyde was not released until 2003 and this was a 90’s question. That type of question always confused me though because it always makes me wonder, “How am I going to play that album on this deserted island?” But I digress. Beyond Belief is an awesome album with great songs from start to finish but there is that one song that triggers those special memories regarding youth camps.

Promised Land Bible Church was a non-denominational church and as a result we did not have access to the normal youth camps that drew teens from every church in the state of that particular denomination. So we had to improvise. Being that I had come out of the Wesleyan Church, which had extremely strict rules at camp here in the south regarding mixed bathing (girls and guys swimming together), shorts and for that matter pants period for the girls, a couple of my friends who were youth pastors for two of the larger Wesleyan youth groups at that time here in Georgia were starting to think outside the box and organize their own camp. When I caught wind of this I contacted Billy Ginn of Northside Wesleyan Church and Greg Moore of Winder Wesleyan Church about joining in on the adventure. For several years our three church youth groups had some pretty awesome times and not just with these camps, but lock-ins, Atlantafest and many other events.

One of the camps we did had the theme “I Believe” and I was in charge of t-shirt design that year and came up with this idea involving the song “Creed” off of Beyond Belief. Being a musician I did not want to break any copyright laws so since email, texts and twitter did not exist at the time, I thought I would send a letter to Petra requesting permission to use the lyrics of the song. Petra responded by saying something like, “Have at it – it’s the Apostle’s Creed.” After the “duh” moment had passed, I designed a t-shirt that had a scroll on it with the words from the song “Creed”; because theirs did rhyme and flow a little better than the original Apostle’s Creed.

I cannot say for sure if the 1993 camp was the actual “Creed” t-shirt camp, but it stands out in my memory thanks to Jesse Marescalco. That year our camp was just outside of Dahlonega, GA at Camp Glisson. With its beautiful waterfall and lake it was one of my favorite places to take LightForce for retreats and camps. We had baptisms at the foot of those falls on more than one occasion and we watched Daniel Dean climb the falls as a water moccasin climbed with him just a bit faster about 10 ft away. This particular camp is where deep spiritual decisions were made every day by Carissa Gillespie who each morning would move her hair back and forth and ask, “Should I wear my hair up or down today? Up or down? Up or down?” For the sake of time though, maybe I should get on with the story at hand by first taking one more little rabbit trail.

When I was attending Tyner Junior High we use to play this game we called bombardment in gym. Basically everyone was divided into two teams and no one could cross center court. Several of those red rubber balls were placed in the middle and when the whistle blew it was high energy team dodgeball; don’t get hit but hit everyone on the other team as hard as you possibly can. The team with the last man standing won and I loved it. I couldn’t wear my glasses but I could dodge those red blurs with the best of them thanks to my cat like reflexes developed from years of clumsiness. There is just nothing like going through puberty with big red whelps on the side of your face to highlight the acne.

Fast forward back to camp 1993 and it was a rainy night so we had to come up with something to do in the gym. We had three youth groups with about equal number of teens and a whole bunch of red rubber balls. It seemed logical for me to suggest bombardment and we decided we would have two youth groups face off and the winner take on the third. First up was Northside vs LightForce with Winder taking on the winner. Since I do not have a competitive bone in my body it was only natural that I only had one thought in mind and that was to WIN! On a side note, I was later told by Ashley Gard that right before we started play Jesse said, “Finally a game where you can hurt someone!” I guess he had the gift of prophecy.

Once Greg gave the signal to start, that gym became a bloody massacre of rubber ball induced carnage on both sides of the court. Bodies were falling like rain that evening as the onslaught of rubber balls were flying back and forth leaving nothing but the cries of pain and defeat in its wake.  I was focused, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli; my eyes were intent on Billy and one of his teens, Tobin Hines, who I thought was the only real competition standing between myself and victory when one of my own came to stand beside me and said, “Rick, I think I threw my shoulder out!” As any loving youth pastor would do, I maintained my gaze on the task at hand and simply said with the deepest of compassion, “Go tell Billy.” I have no idea what the conversation was between them, but since Billy is less competitive than me and much more spiritual he must have had a similar reaction and told him to go see his wife Tina.

The battle of the church youth groups continued as more and more teens were being laid to waste and it was down to just a few survivors. Billy and I had begun to talk a little smack and the wagering of mess hall cleanup duties began to take center court. Suddenly, I heard the soft voice of that sweetest of all angels deep within my soul as my wife yelled, “RICK FRANCE!” which was quickly followed by Tina’s, “BILLY GINN! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Timeout was reluctantly called and I could see the look of fear in Billy’s eyes as I’m sure he also saw in mine. We both walked over to our wives like two 5 year olds who had just gotten caught and yet we had no idea what we were in trouble for. There behind our most loving and understanding wives who had decreed their undying love to us for better or worse, stood Jesse. His arm was at a 90 degree angle from where it should have been. It was literally hanging in front of his chest and I must admit it sort of grossed me out because I had never seen anything so misplaced in my life. Jesse had this taunting grin on his face that seemed to say, “You guys are in trouble now!” I do not know what Kathy and Tina said because they were yelling at us both at the same time and who could understand either of them talking over each other in such a rude fashion. In my defense I tried to throw Billy under the bus and said, “I sent him to Billy” but that just seemed to get us both in that much more trouble.

After our wives finally calmed down, I noticed tears flowing down Jesse’s cheeks which I am sure had more to do with the verbal beat down he had just witnessed of these two pillars of God in his life; much more than any pain that he might have been suffering from the dislocation of his arm from his shoulder, but a decision was finally made to take him to the ER. I went to get his medical release form and met Kathy and Jesse at the car and we made the trek to this little hospital in Dahlonega that was more like a doctor’s office. While we were waiting I made that midnight phone call that every youth pastor dreads that basically starts like this, “I want you to know that Jesse is all right but . . .”

They gave Jesse a shot of dilaudid and while we waited on the arrival of his parents, Jesse became very talkative. There is an unspoken agreement between youth pastors and parents that says, “I won’t believe anything your teen says about you if you don’t believe anything he says about me.” I listened to Jesse say more that night than he had spoken in all the conversations the two of us had over all the years combined and Jesse was in one of my discipleship groups so we spoke with each other multiple times a week outside of church. Kathy and I learned a lot of family secrets that night and I can honestly say I don’t remember a single one of them; and if I did there is that unspoken agreement.

Not long after his parents arrived he was dismissed and he somehow managed to talk his parents into letting him return to camp with his arm in a sling; probably because they didn’t want to listen to him all the way back to Woodstock since he had yet to shut up. Whatever the reason the three of us returned to camp and the week went on without anymore incidents to speak of. Well, until RJ Dunn and Stephanie Neal attempted to not be outdone by each spraining their ankle and wrist respectively; at least neither required the dreaded phone call and a trip to the ER.

Every now and then I still get in trouble for not paying attention and maybe even a little competitive when I shouldn’t be. Most of all, I just miss those LightForce days and all of the teens that made those days so special. I still think of them as my own. We saw many of them come to Christ at those events with the three groups and thanks to Facebook I still get a few messages here and there from my kids. Many are still walking the walk and talking the talk. Some have become pastors, worship leaders and church leaders themselves but every one of my kids are still in my prayers. I still want to see each one put their faith where it matters most; know what you believe and why you believe it; keep those arms & shoulders square and take that leap of faith to that higher place Beyond Belief.

Rick E. France

 

State Of Independence – Jon and Vangelis

Rick France 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2004, Electronic, Prog Rock , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
State Of Independence
Jon and Vangelis

In 1991 my daughters, Katie and Melissa, were taking dance at Rose Barile’s Alpharetta Dance Theatre (ADT). That year for the Senior Company, which my daughters were too young for at the time, Rose had choreographed a liturgical dance to the song “State Of Independence” which I had the pleasure of watching on several occasions. Being a huge fan of Yes since the album Fragile, I recognized Jon Anderson’s voice right off the bat. Initially I thought it was from a Yes album that I might have missed, but soon discovered it was from a Jon and Vangelis album entitled The Friends of Mr Cairo. This particular song along with Rose’s dance became a staple in my life in more ways than one. As a result this song has multiple storylines as well as timelines in my life but in order to get the full story we must step back in time a bit to the time where it all began with a close family friend, Jennifer Williams, who was also dancing at ADT.

In 1987, before Kathy and I got married, I was doing a weekly Bible Study at her house with the teens from Antioch Christian Church where Kathy attended. I was in the band ForeSight and my hair was halfway down my back and permed like most any 80’s hair band guitarist of the day. My hair was as wide as my shoulders and it was BIG! I was in my second year of discipleship with Jack Vandiver and he use to crack this joke all the time about people having an attitude of “Turn or Burn, Try or Fry, Shake or Bake” that I thought was quite funny. So I had this car tag airbrushed that had a Bible in the upper left corner and flames in the lower right corner with the words “Turn or Burn”. I’m sure everyone doesn’t see the humor that I saw in this or even see any good coming from it, but one time I pulled over on I 85 to help this girl who had a flat and she told me that the only reason she let me help her was because of this tag.

Anyways, Kathy was already friends with the Williams family which consisted of Brenda and her three children Jennifer, Ben and Lindsey but the first one I met was Jen, a young teen at the time that Kathy had invited to the Bible Study. I remember when she came in she had quite an attitude and opinion already formed regarding me. She obviously did not want to be there and beyond huffing and puffing at pretty much everything I said, she did not participate in the discussion and was quick to leave as soon as the opportunity arose. Later, Kathy informed me that she was quite offended by my car tag and as a result had no interest in anything I had to say. I never told Jen this before, but I actually removed that tag because of her. I never intended to offend her or anyone else and I was not going to let a car tag cause anyone to stay away from Christ. Needless to say, I never saw her again at the Bible Study but our lives would connect again a couple of years later.

Kathy and I were married on February 13, 1988, and we still live in the same house of that Bible Study. Right before we got married, my hairdresser bride-to-be talked me into cutting my hair which endeared her to my mom for life. We were married at Promised Land Bible Church (PLBC) where I soon became the Youth Pastor and began working with the teens of LightForce. I’m not sure exactly what year the Williams family became a part of PLBC, but Ben was one of the teens that we built the youth group on. However, my relationship with Ben is a story for another day.

By 1991, Jen had become a pretty important part of our lives both at ADT where Jen, in my opinion, was an accomplished ballerina as well as at PLBC. While she did not regularly attend LightForce, most likely due to her being a Junior in High School and most the teens were Ben’s age and therefore just kids, she did attend PLBC regularly and was involved in many special events we did. One of my favorite things she did with us, which I still have on VHS, was our Youth Sunday on May 19, 1991. We reenacted an Isaac Air Freight skit named “Let’s Trade Your Salvation” and Jen played the part of Carol Barrel. The host of the show, Monty Lucifer (played by Philip Gard), would try to get Bernadette Weiser (played by Amanda Ayers) to trade her little bag of Salvation (which contained a Bible) for various prizes. At one point Jen stood beside a crock pot, in first position of course, and pointed to it while Jay Tatellyaboutit (played by Lee Stewart) said, “This is no ordinary crock pot Monty, but a Spiegel crock pot. If you want to get crocked tonight this is the pot for you. That’s Spiegel, Chicago 666, Illinois.” In hindsight, probably not the best line for a Sunday morning. Jen, or rather Carol Barrel, later modeled a mink coat for Bernadette (that wasn’t mink) while standing in third position – because you can take the ballerina out of the ballet but you can’t take the ballet out of the ballerina.

Kathy and I had season tickets to the Atlanta Ballet back then, but I mainly went to hear the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform. I never really appreciated ballet until we started going to watch Jen perform with ADT. She was a beautiful dancer and it was watching her perform that caught my attention and developed my appreciation for ballet and dance. Watching Jen and the work she put into it; the grace in which she danced, it was like a light came on in me. I finally saw the beauty and the art of dance all come together in her. The first time I saw her and the Senior Company perform “State Of Independence”, well that was all it took for me to be hooked once and for all. Those flowing white dresses and the precision of those young ladies as they interpreted that song was one of the most beautiful, artistic dances I have ever witnessed. Years later when I began to dream and work on my own Christmas production of “The Star”, that dance influenced the vision I had for the angels and the white flowing dresses that we used for the angels. Just as in the dance that Jen was a part of, the angels would hold the hem of their skirts and spread them out to form their wings as they would dance in “The Star”.

As with all things in life, the winds of change come and go. In 1993 this young lady spread her own wings and moved to New York City where she still lives today. The rest of her family moved to Oklahoma that same year. We remained in touch and from time to time they would come home to visit. I know it was mainly because their dad still lives here, but I like to think that they came to see us too.

By 2004, Ben was living in Tennessee, Jen was still in New York and Brenda and Lindsey were in Oklahoma, but that summer they all came to Hickory Flat at the same time for a little reunion that we got to be a part of. Our living room was packed with both families and we were laughing and reminiscing for hours on end. Jen mentioned she had just turned 30 and I was shocked because to me she was still this young teenage girl. I commented that there was no way she was “that old”. She acted like I had offended her by calling her old and played that card quite a bit that week as I recall.

The following Sunday after church we all went to Ryan’s to eat before they headed home. I was sitting directly across from Jen when she piped up and said, “Kathy, whatever happened to that long haired jerk you were dating that was doing that Bible Study at your house?” No one said a word or rather no one could even get in a word edgewise as Jen went on what seemed like a 10 minute tirade about how she couldn’t stand that jerk and how awful he was and yadda, yadda, yadda. When she finally did stop I just smiled and said, “She married him.”

Her eyes got as big as the moon. Her mouth dropped wide open and she exclaimed, “Nooooooo!”

We got a lot of stares due to the amount of laughter at our table over the next few minutes and truth be known, I am quite thankful she never realized until that moment that I was the same person. If she would have known that, I might not have ever had such a sweet friend as her for all these years. I quite possibly would not have appreciated my own daughters’ dance, and as a result I might have missed out on those early years of their dance due to my own ignorance. I might have never even thought of using dancers to portray the angels in “The Star” and that production would have fallen short of the beauty and wonder that it became. I might have never had the relationship with Ben and Brenda and Lindsey that means so much to me to this day. My life would have been a whole lot different and contained a lot less laughter and had far fewer memories to treasure without this beautiful dancer if she had put two and two together.

This song is on my phone to this day in my favorite “Prog Playlist” which I listen to more than any other play list. Every time this song comes on I envision the Senior Company and Jennifer dancing to it. I still see the white skirts flowing to the beat of the song and the exquisite performance of the routine. As I watch her dance in my mind’s eye, I lift her up in prayer every single time and the thought of her always changes my countenance for the better. You see, she still brings joy to my life as the flood of memories pass before me. I still appreciate everything about her both then and now because my life was blessed to watch this beautiful dancer grow from a young, obstinate teen into her own beautiful State Of Independence.

Rick E. France

Tales Of Wonder – WhiteHeart

Rick France 1992, Rock , , , , , ,
Tales Of Wonder
WhiteHeart

WhiteHeart’s Tales Of Wonder. What a great album! I was already a long time WhiteHeart fan, but this one made me a true WhiteHeart FANATIC! I bought it as soon as it hit the stores in January of 1992, and I hardly listened to anything else for several months and beyond. I considered Tales of Wonder the bands defining work for many years however, Freedom is right there with it. I would be hard pressed to choose between the two as to which is their best work.

I was Youth Pastor at Promised Land Bible Church (PLBC) from 1988-1994 and we had named the youth group LightForce – a very 80’s name I might add. Since then I have helped with the youth at other churches and even been the “Youth Leader” in certain situations for a season, but PLBC was the last time that I was on staff at a church as a Youth Pastor and LightForce is definitely the group of teens that I hold dearest to my heart to this day.

In February of 1992, LightForce went on a ski trip to Sugar Mountain outside of Boone, NC. We did not have a church bus or van so we made the trip with a fairly large number of vehicles in order to carry all of the teens, chaperones and luggage. We started our journey late on a Friday night. Cell phones were not quite in vogue at the time, but we were fortunate enough to have some short range two-way handheld radios for each driver in our convoy thanks to the McKoy’s. Just in case we got separated. Which we did. Multiple times. Mainly due to the winter storm we encountered along the way that turned our six hour trek into about a nine hour adventure in wrong turns and road conditions.

At one point I began to get a bit sleepy, so I put Tales Of Wonder in and cranked it up. I was pumped up as soon as “Raging Of The Moon” kicked in. So much that I decided everyone needed to hear it. So I paused the CD, picked up the handheld radio and announced, “And now for your listening pleasure, THIS is my prediction for the album of the year!” I then started the CD over and placed the handheld radio in the speaker and held that button down for over 5 minutes until the song had completed. If not for my thumb starting to cramp I might have played the whole CD that way. I then asked everyone in the convoy, “How’s that for great music?”

The response was an overwhelming sound of static. No one was responding and after multiple checks I determined that everyone’s batteries must have died. I pulled up beside one of the cars and got the drivers attention and he unashamedly let me know that they had turned the radio off once they realized I was going to play the whole song. The same story was repeated later by every driver after they each randomly checked to see if I had completed my mission. The only explanation I can come up with is that it just didn’t sound as awesome through those little handheld speakers as it did in my car – at least that’s the story I choose to believe.

Anyways, we did finally make it to our hotel and everyone got a little bit of sleep before we got up and went to Sugar Mountain. Thanks to the winter storm we had an unexpected bonus of fresh, real snow on top of the man made base. Still, I had decided not to ski and just hang out at the lodge to help Kathy watch Stephen since he was only three at the time. Our group consisted of accomplished skiers like Jon and Carlton McKoy as well as intermediate and first timers. For the first timers, one of which was RJ Dunn, I had arranged a group lesson on the Bunny Slope. I left Stephen with Kathy in the lodge so that I could see how the lessons were going and when I got there RJ was nowhere to be found. I was told that he had skipped the lesson and went with Jon and Carlton to the top. The Black Diamond. The steepest and longest slope on the mountain.

Not long after I returned to the lodge, Jon and Carlton showed up but without RJ. They told me he was still at the top. So I sent them right back up to check on him and to bring him back. Later, they returned and informed me that he did not want any help and was going to do it on his own. Thus began the longest day of my ministry. The next time I saw the McKoy’s they informed me that he was still working his way down to the intermediate slope area. He was evidently skiing about 5 feet at a time before he fell down plus he was having to take extended rests by this time.

After what seemed an eternity he made it to the intermediate slope and I started getting more frequent reports from more skiers in our group. Evidently he was improving to 10 to 15 feet stints and had learned to stop himself by diving head first into the snow. The reports continued to come in for hours and everyone appeared to be taking great pleasure in the event, especially the fact that RJ refused to have anyone help him out what-so-ever!

Just over six hours passed and I was starting to worry that RJ was not going to make it in time for our scheduled departure. Then suddenly the door to the lodge swung open and in stepped Rudolph’s Abominable Snowman. The bibs we rented were all colorful blues, greens and reds, but I could not tell you what color he was wearing for the amount of snow that was packed on him. He had dug two holes out in order to see and another hole was carved out for his mouth. You could see his teeth in the depths of the snow and tell that he was grinning from ear to ear. He held his arms straight up in the air like he had just made a touchdown and yelled, “I Just Skied The Black Diamond!”

I immediately heard a female voice exclaim, “it only took you six hours too!” I have no idea who it was that made the comment. Whoever it was making her comedy debut, she brought the house down. Even those who were not in our group were cracking up but that did not deter RJ. He had done it. He had conquered The Black Diamond. From the looks of him he had brought a very large portion of The Black Diamond with him as proof.

The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful as we drove a bunch of sleeping teens back to Woodstock, GA, but the memories of that trip have lasted a lifetime. As I listen to this WhiteHeart CD I can’t help but chuckle at the sight of RJ walking into that lodge. I can still feel the relief of knowing that he was back safe and sound and I’m even a little proud of his self proclaimed accomplishment.

This music takes me back to those days with LightForce and it’s not just this particular CD that brings them to the forefront of my mind. Music was a major part of our time together and I can guarantee you that this is not the last story to tell involving LightForce but one of many. You see with LightForce there are many Tales Of Wonder.

Rick E. France

 

No Glasses Needed – In 3-D

Rick France 1986, Alternative, Prog Rock , ,
In Another Land Larry Norman
No Glasses Needed
In 3-D

It’s obvious that I have not been very loyal to working on this blog. After all, it has been almost three years since the last entry and even that one was only the second entry I had ever made. I can’t guarantee that I will improve on this, but at least I know that improvement is needed and I’m going to make an attempt at it.

For the past several weeks, thanks to a gentleman on Facebook who I guess should remain nameless since I have never met him – we shall just call him Jeff Parker because, that’s his name. Thanks to Jeff, I have been listening to an album I thought had been long lost since it has never been released on CD. This was one of my favorite albums in the 80’s by a band named In 3-D and the album was “No Glasses Needed.” Released in 1985 just before I became a Christian, it was one of the first albums I purchased after my conversion.

In those early months, I was hanging out at the Christian Armory in Atlanta, GA on a regular basis. Mainly because if it was available – the Armory usually had it in stock. “No Glasses Needed” was suggested to me by one of the music department employee’s and after listening to the demo I purchased the LP on the spot. In 1985, very few Christian albums were being released on CD thanks to the industry being reluctant to change after being burned so bad with an overstock of 8-tracks in the late 70’s. So the only choice at that time was to either purchase a cassette or an LP. I chose LP’s because you could easily record them to cassette and usually at a higher quality than the ones you could purchase.

Any ways, this album became a staple in my car. Heavily influenced by the Police with a little bit of Floyd thrown in here and there with some very tasteful guitar work. It was perfect for my newly found faith in helping me to let go of my past life. However the main memory I have of this album happened a year later. Fast forward to sometime in 1986 where I was working as the Youth Pastor at Decatur Wesleyan Church where Jack Vandiver, the associate pastor, had taken me under his wing and leading me through discipleship.

I started the youth group at Decatur Wesleyan with only two teenage girls attending the church at the time, but it quickly grew to over 30 kids in just a matter of months. One of those kids was a twelve year old named Michael. Michael’s mom and dad did not go to church, but his mom liked the fact that Michael had taken interest in something that she saw as a positive influence. I would swing by his house every Sunday morning and evening on my way to church and Michael would grab the “No Glasses Needed” cassette and pop it in every single time. He couldn’t carry a tune to save his life, but he knew every word to every song and we would sing and talk week after week.

I believe Michael was the first person that I was blessed to lead to Christ. If he wasn’t the first, he was the first one that I remember and just like me, he was on fire right out of the chute. He loved Jesus; he loved his new found faith and he wanted to be at church every time the doors were open. When I started my first discipleship group, he was in it and he was like a sponge. But no matter what the event was, if there was a cassette player involved, at some point In 3-D’s “No Glasses Needed” was going in.

I remember one time his parent’s asked me to drop by their house. They told me that Michael was not doing very well at school and they had tried everything they could think of to motivate him to bring his grades up but nothing seemed to work. They had decided that the one thing he seemed to enjoy the most was church. They had made the decision to ground him from church until he brought his grades up, and they would let me know when, and in my mind if ever, I could pick him up again. They asked that I not contact him during this time. I left that day thinking I would not ever get to see him again, but the youth at my church evidently had more faith than me. They would pray for him every week, even when I forgot to mention him. Some of them, I later found out, were actually helping him study at school and after a couple of month’s I got the call from his parent’s that I never thought I would get.

A couple of the teens asked if they could ride with me when I went to pick Michael up for that first youth meeting after the grounding. I remember knocking on his door and the smile on his face as we returned to my car. When I started the car up, one of the guys had already put this tape in and the singing began right off the bat, “He’s Livin’ In The Real World! Livin’ In The Real World! He Can See, It’s Right In Front Of His Eyes!”

As I listen today, I can see Michael’s face as well as that smile of his that seemed to never quit. The memories of the joy in that car on that one day are so real right now that it’s hard for me to believe that it was over thirty years ago. I have no idea where Michael is today. I don’t know what he grew up to do in life. I don’t know if he has a wife and kids but I truly believe that he has kept the faith; that he continued the course; that he will finish the race. From time to time I continue to lift his name in prayer before the throne. I have spoken of  his story to others as an example of dedication and accomplishment. And I know that someday we will meet again and we are going to walk those streets of gold together and we are going to sing, maybe even on key for a change. Most of all, we will see our Savior face to face in all His glory, No Glasses Needed!

Rick E. France