Law & Gospel Radio

F A Q s

How did you come up with the idea of creating a CD of original songs?

Our former pastor (Kevin Armbrust) was really into writing and recording music.  At that time I was into learning other people’s songs on the guitar.  He frequently urged me to write and record original songs.

So all of the songs on the CD are original?

Yes, except for “I Cry”, one of the bonus tracks.  “I Cry” was a song that our former 7th grade home room teacher (Lydia Holz) used to sing at a youth camp she went to in Colorado .  Lydia was the St. John’s Lutheran School Praise Band leader, and “I Cry” was one of the favorite songs that the St. John’s Praise Band used to sing and perform.

How did you come up with the idea of presenting the songs in a radio format?

I was inspired to write “Hippo” after I heard a sermon delivered (in 1991) by my former pastor and good friend, Father Greg Tournoux.  He preached a sermon about how the Holy Spirit worked through Scripture to convert St. Augustine of Hippo.  After I heard the sermon, I read more about St. Augustine , and discovered that his mother, Monica, was a devoted Christian who constantly worried about Augustine, and prayed for him persistently.  She would seek counsel from her pastor, Ambrose, and cry.  Ambrose told her that with so many tears, God would surely convert Augustine.   I was so impressed by the sermon that I asked Father Tournoux for a copy of it.   When I was making the CD, I thought an excerpt from the sermon would make for a good introduction.  I dug out the sermon, looked Father Tournoux up on the internet, emailed him a copy of the sermon, and asked him to record it for me.  The sound quality of the sermon recording reminded me of something you would hear on an old radio.  Hence, the idea of the radio show.

What gave you the idea for “Confession”?  It is a bit “over the top” – even scary.

The fear of hell should be scary.  Before Martin Luther began to read the Scriptures, he saw Jesus as an angry judge and didn’t understand God’s grace.  All Luther understood was the Law, which he couldn’t keep perfectly.  He knew that he wasn’t good enough to go to heaven, but he kept trying to earn God’s favor by trying desperately not to sin.  He would even punish himself physically to show God how serious he was.  The film, “Luther, the Movie” does a terrific job of showing Luther’s anguish.  The Bible tells us that Satan accuses us – and we know that at times Satan uses Scripture out of context to do so.  Luther felt very accused until the Holy Spirit made the Gospel clear to him.

What about the song effects in Confession?

The idea for thunder at the beginning comes from the first part of the movie, when Luther was in a terrible thunderstorm, and was terrified.  He begged for his life to be spared, and promised that he would become a monk if God allowed him to live.  The fire, of course, represents the fires of hell.  The voices in the background are Satan’s voices, reminding Luther that he isn’t worthy to go to heaven.  What the voices are saying are true, but focus only on the Law, which leaves us no hope.  The baby crying represents all of the sadness, helplessness, and despair that accompany someone in that hopeless condition.  The screams represent the torments of hell, which we deserve.  The crucifixion sound effects at the end are paradoxical.  They are horrific, and they remind us of Christ’s love – that He took on all of our sins, and paid our penalty for sin so we don’t have to.  The film “The Passion of the Christ” was my inspiration for that part of “Confession”.        

Confession is almost immediately followed by a sermon excerpt, which transitions the mood from despair to hope.

Sure and certain hope!  Law and Gospel should never be intermingled, and Law should always be followed by the Gospel.  Lydia Holz helped me quite a bit with ideas for the CD.  I mentioned that I wanted to have a sermon excerpt to segue into the next song “He is the One.”  She suggested using a voice that sounded like a country revival preacher – with all of its enthusiasm and fervor.  In her opinion, Tom Hardin would be perfect for the part.  Tom is a former Baptist who was very familiar with "revival preaching" style.  Lydia was right – he did a fantastic job!

Is it true that several songs on the CD were co-authored by St. John’s Lutheran School students?

Yes, I typically write the music and the melody, then my 6th grade Religion students and I work on the lyrics together.  We perform the song during a Chapel service that we lead in the spring every year.  We use a theme that corresponds with something we are studying in class.  Every class since the Class of 2005 has written a song.

Do all of the St. John’s graduating classes since 2005 have a song on this CD?  

No, I have enough material for another CD - maybe two.  Their songs will be included on the next one.

Tell me about the song that follows “Confession”.

My sixth grade Religion class during my first year of teaching was extremely musical.  I thought it would be neat if we wrote a song together, and then performed it during a chapel service.  We worked on it for a while until someone in the class lost the rhyming dictionary that we were using, so the idea kind of fizzled out.  When those same students were in eighth grade, we tried again, and wrote “He is the One.”  They performed it for chapel, their graduation banquet, and their graduation service.   They did a magnificent job.  I tried to record them singing it several years later, but only about half of them were able to come to our recording session.  One of the parents was going to play the lead guitar parts.  I simply didn’t have time to pull it all together like I wanted to.  Lydia sings the version of the song after “Confession”.  I included the partial-class version that the students recorded as one of the Bonus Tracks.    

Where did the phrase “tolle legge” come from?

Tolle legge is a Latin phrase that means “pick it up and read it”.  It was the phrase that the small child (angel) spoke to Augustine when he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, immediately before He became a Christian.  Father Tournoux explains this true story in his sermon excerpt that precedes the song “Hippo”.  A couple of students helped me with voice-overs.  The first “tolle legges” that are spoken on the CD were done by a second grader.  The “tolle legge”, "pick it up and read it”, and the giggling that you hear immediately before the song begins were done by a girl in kindergarten.

Why did you name the song about St. Augustine “Hippo”?

I used to play in a band comprised of several church members.   Pastor Armbrust was in the band, and he came up with the name “Hippo”.  Augustine was a bishop in Hippo, Africa , and is considered to be one of the theological “giants” of the Christian Church.

There seems to be a lot of symbolism in the song “Crossbow”.  Can you elaborate?

When Lydia and I found out that Pastor Armbrust was going to be leaving us, we decided to write a song about him and how God used him at St. John’s .  Pastor Armbrust frequently preached and taught about the importance of coming to the foot of the Cross.  Lydia wrote the lyrics that reference that.  Pastor Armbrust also talked a lot about symbolism in the Bible.  For example, the wilderness was where God was found, and the city was an allegory for sin.  Lydia and I came up with the concept that even though we should stay in the wilderness (with God), we tend to roam toward the city (and into sin).  The imagery of God as a hunter, One who is relentless in His pursuit of us because of His love for us was what we homed in on for the lyrics of the song.  The name “Armbrust” means crossbow in German.  God, the hunter, uses us to accomplish His will (in this case, a “crossbow” or Pastor Armbrust).  The arrow that He uses, which is dipped in the blood of His sacrifice, is the faith that we receive.  God’s aim is perfect, so He pierces our hearts, and convicts us of our desperate need for His Son, our Savior. Lydia obtained a CD with an Advent Service that Pastor Armbrust led, and we used “the Lord’s Prayer” and a sermon clip that drives home the truth of God’s forgiveness through Christ from that service. 

What is “Levi” about?

Matthew, the disciple.  The class of 2009 co-wrote the lyrics of this song with me.  It turned out really well, and Lydia ’s voice really makes it shine.  We overdubbed her voice on the harmony parts.  This version was one we did after school one day in the 6th grade classroom with a $2 mic plugged directly into line-in.  I planned to re-record it with additional instruments and better mics, but ran out of time.  Lydia suggested we use the “unplugged” version.  The excerpt from the classroom was done with the same students who co-wrote the song. 

Who recorded the sermon excerpt that precedes “Moriah”?

I was looking for an enthusiastic Black-Gospel voice for this one.  Former principal Phil Rogers provided what I needed, which describes what must have been Abraham’s confusion and absolute despondency when He heard God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Phil came through, and provided a great segue into the song.  The song is an unfinished demo, but gives you another taste of the kinds of songs that I write with students.  I intended to use this demo as a starting point for the class of 2008 (when they were in 7th grade).  They decided they didn't want to write a song that year.  I'll eventually re-do it and expand it.

Why didn’t you write lyrics for Emmaus? 

I did – but never could get the melody to work out quite right.  The song was actually an experiment with my daughter’s keyboard that my wife and I bought her for her 6th birthday.  I wanted to see if I could record something with it that would capture the mood that the friends on the way to Emmaus must have been experiencing.  I included the intended lyrics in the CD booklet.

Who wrote the excerpt that Pastor Speaks reads immediately before “Emmaus”?

My father, a retired Southern Baptist pastor, wrote an article for the local newspaper several years ago at Easter time.  He sent me the article, and I asked Pastor Speaks to read it for me to introduce “Emmaus.”

How did you come up with the name “Shades” for your collaboration with the saxophone player?

Shades is short for "Different Shades of Brown".  A student in Religion class once asked if it was a sin to be black.  I was almost as shocked by the question as was the African American student sitting in the class.  The student's question dealt with the symbolism of light and darkness, robes of white, the imagery of darkness and sin, etc.  I don't think he intended his question to be taken as a racial comment.  His question did alert me to the necessity of talking about race from a Biblical perspective.  I showed a DVD to the class to generate discussion, which emphasized that biological differences between "races" are minute.  In actuality, no one is really white or black - we are all different shades of brown.  There is only one race - the human race, and there are really only two different groups of people - those saved, and those lost.  William Russell, one of the Extended Care Instructors at St. John’s , was really interested in learning how to play the guitar and  asked me if I would give him guitar lessons.  During our conversation, he mentioned that he played sax and trombone.  I played some original guitar ideas for him, and he indicated that he could come up with some supporting music.  William and I are different shades of brown, and are part of the "saved" group.  "Praise God!", as William would say.

What is included on the Bonus Tracks?

(1) Several testimonies by St. John's church members and others affiliated with the school.  They spoke from their hearts about what the Gospel means to them personally.  

(2) The "He is the One" demo that about half of the Class of 2005 sang on.  I invited all of them to meet one day during the summer to record the song.

(3) A live version of the song that the girls in the Class of 2006 recorded.  This was recorded during their chapel performance.  Some of the boys in the class provide guitar and drums accompaniment.  

(4) A song entitled "It's True", by Tim Istock.  I taught Tim's daughters in Sunday School when they were in second grade (before I became a teacher at St. John's ).  I later taught them in middle school at St. John's .  Tim is an excellent songwriter, and we trade original song ideas back and forth from time to time.

(5) "Used 2B Blue" is a blues "jam" that I played with one of my former students who is now in high school.  He comes back to St. John's about once a week to play guitar.  Originally these guitar sessions were lessons that I gave him.  Now he gives me lessons.   

(6) "I Cry" was performed by the St. John's Lutheran Praise Band in the spring of 2008.  This band was comprised of several middle school students who sang, a middle school drummer, me on guitar, and Lydia Holz, who played piano and led the group.  The Praise Band was a fantastic experience for me.  Getting together with them to practice and perform always made my day.

Do you have plans to record additional CDs?

Yes, I have enough material for at least two more CDs.  I plan to continue the Law and Gospel theme on the next one.  I'm shooting for an Easter time frame for the release.

Who did the artwork for the cover?

Debbie Patterson, the art instructor at St. John's created the cover.  She did an art project with her students in which they created surreal art mini-posters.  They turned out really well, so I asked her to help me with the CD cover. 

Who did the artwork for the sticker on the CD?

A couple of girls in the Class of 2009 worked on that.  They doodled a lot during class, and I noticed some talent.  I asked them to work on the scales of Law and Gospel, with the Gospel (Christ's Death & Resurrection) predominating.  One of the girls wouldn't admit to any artistic ability, so she colored in what the other girl drew.

What do you hope to accomplish with this CD?

First and foremost, to glorify God, and point to His Son.  I also hope that we can sell a large number of these.  Every cent will go towards supporting the school in some way.  A lot of people have helped out by donating materials, time, and talent for this project.

What if I buy one and there is something wrong with it?

If you're referring to technical issues, let me know and I'll create another one for you.  My email address is tbaldwin@stjohnsws.org.  Some of the ones sold initially will play on a home stereo but not a car stereo, and vice-versa.  If you simply don't like the music, etc., remember that it's for a good cause.  If you have a dog, perhaps you can use the CD as a Frisbee for your dog to retrieve.

Song samples can be found on http://www.stjohnsws.org/school.  Click on Law & Gospel Radio.