Friday Flashback

[In 2011 Keynote celebrates 45 years of ministry. We thought we would use our Friday posts to look back on God’s faithfulness through the years.]

Today is a re-post of a great story from the early years of The New Folk. We’ve linked to the story in a few earlier posts, but wanted to share it here for any who may have missed it.

The New Folk and blue sky nine, For Pete’s Sake!

The setting: 1967 – University of Colorado

Peter, a graduate student in mathematics, headed home from a long day of studying. Along the way, he heard some music and decided to stop  by the concert. He not only heard the music of The New Folk [Keynote’s first band], he also heard their testimonies. While Peter came from an academic, moral and upright family, he had no spiritual foundation. He had no reason to think he needed God, but he knew he wanted some purpose to his life. Listening to The New Folk, he was overwhelmed by their stories of who Jesus was, that He’d risen from the dead, and how their relationship with Him had changed their lives and given them meaning. He’d never heard an invitation to receive Christ before and it got his mind spinning.

A week later, Peter and his recent bride, Polly, caught a showing of “For Pete’s Sake,” an evangelistic film produced by The Billy Graham Association. For the second time in a week, he heard an invitation to receive Christ. After the film, Peter went forward and talked to a Crusade staff person working the film outreach. In the conversation, he asked Peter if he’d like to receive Christ personally.

“No,” said Peter. “I’m not sure that I would mean the same thing as you’d mean by saying ‘receive Christ.’ I’d like to think about it some more first.” “Okay,” the staffer said and then challenged him; “I think you should begin reading the Bible. I think you should read the Gospel of John.”

So, Peter did. That very night, in fact…all 21 chapters. He read until 5 am the next morning! After reading John’s Gospel, he became convinced that Jesus was, in fact, God, and that he needed Him to be his Lord. That morning, he made a decision to receive Christ.

Peter and Polly never had any more contact with The New Folk or the staff person from the film, but for the last 43 years, they have loved and served the Lord,  missing very few Sundays at church and raising six Christ-following children – who have now given them 15 grandchildren.

You may be wondering where blue sky nine comes into this story. Recently the band stayed with Peter and Polly when last minute housing was needed on a tour in New Hampshire. As they got to know each other that evening, Peter realized his story of coming to Christ started with a band just like blue sky nine…44 years earlier!

What stories might God write in the lives of today’s concert goers? Perhaps one day in the future, another Keynote artist will encounter someone whose life-change story started at a blue sky nine concert!