God's Perfect Equation
CBN.com - The most basic question everyone faces in life is Why am I here? What is my purpose? … Real meaning and significance comes from understanding and fulfilling God’s purposes for putting us on earth.
-- Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life
Nestled on the banks of the St. John River, the tiny hamlet of Fort Kent, Maine, is known for the CanAm Crown Sled Dog Race (an Iditarod qualifier) as much as it is for being the center of Acadian history and culture. It is also home to the University of Maine – Fort Kent, the northernmost satellite campus in Maine’s university system.
Dr. John Campbell Elliott has taught mathematics at the college for the last 26 years. Employing a casual teaching style with a friendly wit, the likeable 65 year old professor has been a favorite of students for more than two decades. John, as he likes to be called, seemed to be easing his way away from calculus and chaos theory toward retirement until an unusual occurrence happened to him four years ago. It happened in the shower of all places. But it was a moment he will never forget.
“Out of the blue, I began to get these melodies in my head complete with gospel lyrics I had never heard before,” remembers John. “I would run them by my wife to see if she had heard them and she had not.”
Over a period of several weeks, scores of new songs flooded his mind with no explanation. Not really knowing what to do, John began to write the words down in a notebook. As for the musical arrangements, he didn’t really know how to approach. Aside from a few piano lessons he had had as a child over 55 years prior, this math professor from northern Maine was far from being anything close to an accomplished musician.
“I got a little tape recorder and began to hum the melodies into it,” explains John. “What I was going to do with these tapes I had no idea.”
Over the next few months, every time a new song popped into his head, John would diligently write down the lyrics and sing the melody into his tape recorder. There was still no clear plan.
“During that time, I kept asking the Lord to reveal what He wanted me to do with this music,” said John. “I felt like this was happening to me for a reason but I couldn’t explain why. But I truly felt in my heart that it was God breathed.”
John received his answer nearly a year later. One Sunday evening, as he and his wife were driving home from visiting family, they passed a house of worship in a neighboring community. They noticed from an announcement on the church’s message board that there was to be a gospel concert that night. On impulse, they decided to stop.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” says John, of that night in February 2002. “The group (Duane and Friends) played a style of music that was fairly similar to the songs I had been dictating into my tape recorder. So, after the concert I hung around to talk with them.”
It was to be the first of several unlikely conversations related to his musical journey. John explained what had been happening to him over the last 12 months with the band’s leader, Duane Anderson. Duane agreed to listen to some of the crude recordings, read through the notebook of lyrics, and provide a critique.
Several days later the phone rang. Duane offered to record a rough demo of several of the first songs including one John called “Show Me the Way.” Sensing that God had led him to Duane for a reason, John accepted the offer wholeheartedly.
With demo in hand, John played the recording for anyone who would listen. Eventually a Christian radio station in a nearby town began playing them occasionally as part of their musical programming. “Show Me the Way” became a popular request.
Meanwhile, Duane and company agreed to further develop other songs John had written. This process culminated in the summer of 2002 when Duane’s band performed many of John’s “shower compositions” at a local church in their community. The concert was a success but seemingly brought a pleasantly unexpected adventure to its conclusion.
However, there was only one problem. John felt his musical adventure was just beginning.
“I went through a period of low times where I didn’t know what I was going to do next,” says John. “I just didn’t know how I could continue this. But as I was soon to find out, God was ordering my steps.”
The next few months were emotional ones as John’s musical journey seemed to grind to a halt. He was still writing music but there seemed to be no one around to help him advance what he had come to believe was a God ordained plan.
“Late one night as I was lying in bed, I was becoming very frustrated not knowing what to do next,” John recalls. “I was praying about what I should do when I truly felt I heard the Lord’s voice say, ‘Don’t give up.’”
He didn’t.
In a few weeks time, John had his answer and once again it came about in an unorthodox way. While attending a college function, he ran into a student of his, Neil Burton, who had just moved to northern Maine from the west coast where he had been making his living as … what else, a musician. His assertion piqued John’s curiosity. In a later conversation, John revealed what had been transpiring musically in his life during the previous 18 months. Intrigued by his professor’s newfound musical ambition, Neil requested a copy of the demo.
Later, John’s phone rang again. Neil liked his music and just happened to have his own multi-track studio. He was willing to not only record a couple of John’s songs but also play all of the instruments. All John needed to do was find a vocalist. He looked no further than his own church, enlisting Betty Gagne, a friend who had a professional singing background.
“It’s a funny thing because I kept having these low times when I didn’t know what I was going to do next but God always provided,” says John. “Every time, someone else would come along. And then that person would fade out and then someone else would come in.”
During the final stages of recording, Neil suggested that John contact a friend of his, Fred Lays, who he thought could take his music to the next level. However, that friend lived 10 hours away in Nova Scotia.
John was at another crossroads. Should he jump at the chance to have his music recorded with the help of a seasoned professional or just be satisfied with the distance this hobby had already traveled?
“There was never any question,” remembers John. “I knew that it was a long way to Nova Scotia but once again I just felt like that was the direction the Lord was leading me to go in with my music.”
Through the wonders of modern technology, John communicated with Fred via emails and phone calls for several months. They sent musical tracks back and forth over the Internet. Eventually they arrived at a very critical juncture: for the project to continue, John and his vocalist (Betty Gagne) would need to come to Nova Scotia.
The most dreary, barren months of the year in northern Maine are typically in January and February. With daily temperatures hovering in the single digits, the snow piles high on each side of the road, towering over cars that travel in between. Each day can be more depressing than the last, yet John, his wife Lucy, Betty, and her husband Raymond, drove the 10 hours to Nova Scotia with great optimism.
When they arrived, John finally met Fred, an accomplished record producer and musician, who would soon be heading to Nashville to record his first album as a mainstream country performer.
Just as Neil had done several months earlier, Fred not only engineered the recording, but also assisted John by arranging the music and playing each instrument. Betty sang all of the lead vocal tracks.
In the summer, the project came full circle when Fred completed the final production elements of the album and turned the finished product back over to John. The unthinkable had happened. A 65 year old college professor with virtually no musical background, thinking more about retirement than songwriting, had produced a full-length professional gospel album, whose origins were rooted in the shower. It is hard to imagine but it truly illustrates the power of the Lord Jesus Christ at work in the lives of ordinary people.
“If you had told me five years ago that this was going to happen I would have told you that it sounds very unusual and unlikely,” says John. “I would have thought I was day dreaming. I would have never have expected it to happen.”
The album, “I Will Pray for You”, is a collection of 10 songs of faith and devotion that straddles the line between country and southern gospel. Highlighted by the title track, John’s lyrics are firmly rooted in scripture and derived from living in the every day. One song, “Do You Believe in Angels”, is based on a past experience that was highly personal to him.
“That song sprang from a specific instance in my life when my son, who was seven at the time, nearly died,” John explains. “Different people can identify with that in various ways. In fact, almost all of the songs – people have said to me that there is something in their life or was in their life where they can identify with what I am writing about. I think that is the main reason why people react to these songs. They can see that happening in their life. I am just happy they can find comfort and encouragement from them.”
As you have read throughout this story, John Elliott was given a special gift by his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He did not ask for it, but John was given the privilege of sharing the gospel with others through words and song.
It is important to remember that John did not turn his back on God when presented with such a wonderful blessing. Too often when we are given opportunities to share the personal gifts and talents God has given us, we turn away with the assumption someone else will do it. While he did not completely understand what was happening, John was obedient to God by writing down these words and melodies as they came to him.
In II Timothy 1:7, the apostle Paul writes, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
As sap flows within a plant, from its roots to its leaves carrying with it nourishment to aid in the development of fruit, so the spirit of God flows within us, bringing to us the very power of God. God’s spirit ministers through us to others, speaking to the hearts of so many who are struggling in the dying world we live in.*
In this the week we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, families and friends will exchange presents that symbolize the greatest gift that God has ever given us. As you open these blessings, consider your purpose on this earth. Think about how you can honor God with the talents and skills He has so eloquently blessed you with. Then use them. The world will be a better place because of your willingness.
What gift do you have to give?
Portions from The Transformer, study Bible used in this article.
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