Gotta Serve Somebody - reference in bible?
Sagebrush
someone tell me what it is?
Thanks,
Sagebrush
TheMightyQuinine
>Subject: Gotta Serve Somebody - reference in bible?
>From: "Sagebrush" sage...@pobox.com
>Date: 4/6/2003 10:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <hf5ka.786$kJ1.45...@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>
Ray Baldwin
It's been suggested the reference is to Matthew 4, verses 8-10:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will
give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be
gone, Satan! For it is written, " 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him
only shall you serve.' " Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and
were ministering to him.
There's been a lot of discussion on Dylan's religious meanings and references
and it's worth doing a Google Groups advanced search to dig up some of the old
rmd threads when it appears everyone treated each other with respect and
posted mostly intelligent thoughts about Dylan and his music. Oh, that we
could have that back again! I came across one good article (posted a couple of
years ago by Ken Wilson) by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.
Thanks for leading me into a trail of Dylan-based wisdom and thought from the
"golden" years.
Ray.
Bob Dylan Finds His Source
A call into the bars, into the streets, into the world, to repentance.
By Noel Paul Stookey | posted 5/24/01
From the January 4, 1980, issue of Christianity Today:
There is little need to recount Scripture or to specify chapter and verse to
substantiate the proposition that Slow Train is a Christian album. And while
there may be inquiries about the surety of his commitment, Slow Train is
testimony to Bob Dylan's completion into the Christian faith.
Slow Train Coming is more than a testimony to Bob Dylan's completion into
the Christian faith: it is a call into the bars, into the streets, into the
world, to repentance, to "the man on the cross . crucified for you. Believe in
his power, that's about all you've got to do!" Bob, Jerry Wexler, and Barry
Beckett have taken outreach and made it happen in the raw musical vernacular
of the roadhouse.
Bob Dylan's credentials are impeccable. Who continually encouraged us to
find the truth for ourselves, "Not to follow leaders" (not even himself,.in
'"It Ain't Me, Babe")? Who suspected the status quo. the cool, the
compromising ("Don't know which is worse, doin' your own thing or just bein'
cool")? Who warned the complacent that the "times are a'changing," or cried
for the realization of a mutual hope "blowin' in the wind"? Who painfully
reexamined his talents and asked, "For whom does this prosper?" so that we
might be strengthened in our own hope/thirst for righteousness'?
Not only as edification for the body, "Gotta Serve Somebody" must touch any
listener just because it identifies so many of us: our jobs, our traits, our
likes, our dislikes. How clearly in this context do we begin to see the single
choice available at the bottom line: you cannot serve two masters.
As the blind lead the blind, the political activist has misread the
reference to sheiks controlling America's power in Slow Train as a
conservative political posture; it is, in fact, an accurate portrayal of the
larger picture of world greed and man's subsequent dependence upon its
luxuries and niceties as though they were life itself. Remember the line
from Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us"? This is the ultimate
war-the extension of our own battle for control in a situation that has been
given to us. A man named Adam and a woman named Eve ate of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil and at once became "self-conscious," and hid from
God. That seed of discontent and guilt has been passed down through the
centuries and extruded through into defensive postures that bear no relation
to turning the other cheek.
Juxtaposing seemingly unrelated characters and situations, Bob historically
has spoken to us of a larger pursuit-a game bigger than local politics or the
one-night stand. His John Wesley Harding album marked an adventurous step into
the spiritual realm. And most Dylan aficionados are agreed that "My Back
Pages" was the most revealing track from Another Side of Bob Dylan. It
prophesied his dissatisfaction with himself and with goals that suddenly
seemed too obvious and short-sighted. His search wound its way through his
albums with occasional discoveries-like love, as revealed in a personal
relationship.
Scriptural references were commonplace in Dylan songs, mostly Old Testament
images. The allusions were rather strong, and there was no denying the power
and authority of lines like "the first will be last," in "The Times They Are
A'Changing."
Our Father is leading this musician into areas that are unreachable by the
pastel-suited, bouffant-haired, highly stylized `"gospel singer." No one can
fully recognize the diversity of gifts or talents within the body of Christ.
Bob's new album is a special success: not only for him personally, as God will
contrive to work through him as a person; but also musically, as it reaches
for the shadows. It beseeches a decision from the hardest hearted, the one who
is hardest to find, the outlaw-that one who never committed himself for fear
of being hurt. It is an inspiration to all brothers and sisters. Remain in
your station.
I'm sure some of the thinking behind the request for me to write about Bob
Dylan's new album, "Slow Train Coming," was the assumption that because Bob
and I shared the same times we must have shared the same space. Therefore, to
provide the perspective in which to discuss this record. I must recount the
Dylan-Stookey "relationship."
I met Bob in Greenwich Village in 1960, when he sang at the Gaslight, a
coffee house (remember those?). His impact on me was considerable: the first
night he was a singer of traditional ballads: the second night he was an
innovator, using the folk idiom to speak in parables. Following his
performance that second night, I asked him if he had heard of the
counterfeit ticket scam that resulted in the sinking of the Bear Mountain
Picnic vessel, when holders of all tickets (real or fake) boarded the ship,
heedless of its capacity. The next night he returned with "Talking Bear
Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues."
We had sporadic contact from 1961 to 1967. There was the Newport Folk
Festival, where Bob's electric presentation was welcomed by a crowd thirsty
for the perception and content in his music.
Then Woodstock, 1967: I'm looking for truth; Bob is recovering from a
motorcycle accident. He graciously allows a friend and me into the house to
ask questions of the universe. He is totally honest with me, kind-and
suggests I do some Bible reading. Thanks, Bob.
1968, Dylan's movie time: I'm a seeker in monk's clothing, cavorting with
Tiny Tim and Howard Alk and a winterscape. I end up on the cutting room
floor.
Again 1968: Bob returns from the Holy Land; there is excitement in his
voice. He has slides. I have slides. We have families. Some maybes are
exchanged.
1974. I've moved to Maine. Bob passes through with the Rolling Thunder
Review, close enough to attend. I don't.
People speak of the " Dylan enigma"; I see growth. The "basement tapes" are so
scriptural I can't believe that everyone doesn't know who the Mighty Quinn is
or in which "book" too much of nothing transpires.
1979. I hear a rumor: Dylan's a Christian. I hear of a personal encounter
that speaks so eloquently of a changed heart I know the rumor must be true. I
hear "Slow Train."<END SIDEBAR>
Musician Noel Paul Stookey is best known as Paul of Peter, Paul, and Mary,
whose personal spiritual odyssey was described in Christianity Today's issue
of May 19, 1978.
Jim Linwood
>> someone tell me what it is?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Sagebrush
"The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve." (Matthew 20:28)
JL
Jesse Jones
> I sort of assume that this song refers to some passage in the bible. Could
> someone tell me what it is?
>
The issue of choosing whom you will serve is a common one in the Bible.
These are a couple of oft-quoted examples:
"Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond
the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but
as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Josh 24:15
"No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one
and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and wealth." Luke 16:13
Alan Fraser
The new gospel compilation Gotta Servce Somebody gives a Bible
reference for each of the songs. These are:
Gotta Serve Somebody - Joshua 24:15 (as above)
When You Gonna Wake Up - Corinthians 15:34
I Believe In You - Philippians 1:29
Are You Ready? - Mathew 25;10
Solid Rock - Matthew 7:24
Saving Grace - Ephesians 2:8
What Can I Do For You? - Matthew 22:37
Pressing On - Luke 16:16
Saved - Jeremiah 17:14
When He Returns - Proverbs 18:12
Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking - Mark 10:49
I don't know whether these references were provided by Bob or by the
album compilers
Alan
Sydney Weidman
I doubt it. In biblical times, everyone believed in some God or gods so
everyone *did* serve somebody. Even the Romans. Saying "ya gotta serve
somebody" with the emphasis on "somebody" implies somebody as opposed to
nobody. Modern people think they serve nobody, i.e. they can be their
own masters. Maybe Bob was just saying that they can never really serve
*nobody* -- they'll wind up serving someone or something one way or
another. I don't think you'd find that particular sentiment in the bible
because no one back then was fool enough to claim to be their own
master. Only us moderns are that stupid.
Cheers,
Syd.
Sagebrush
Thanks to you and the other folks who responded. I appreciate it.
Sagebrush
Bill Goldman
this passage in her terrific version of the song.
On 7/4/03 5:48 am, in article 20030407014830...@mb-cm.aol.com,
tko...@mindspring.com
> Sagebrush wrote:
> > I sort of assume that this song refers to some passage in the bible. Could
> > someone tell me what it is?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Sagebrush
> >
> >
>
> I doubt it. In biblical times, everyone believed in some God or gods so
> everyone *did* serve somebody. Even the Romans. Saying "ya gotta serve
Today, many people serve mammon, or materialism. Too many.
S1994s
>From: tko...@mindspring.com
>Date: 4/8/2003 11:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <590c4a45.03040...@posting.google.com>
>
>Sydney We
Luke 16:13. No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one,
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and Mammon.