So, out of the blue today (Sunday, Feb 8th), this blog had a record number of new visitors come to the site. Who knows where they all came from, but to those of you who know me and come here from Facebook, I'll just tell you that I put my stuff out other places and still over half my traffic is new visitors. It's a good thing, too, because we're going to need 'fresh eyes', as they say, to discuss this week's worship leader, Rita Springer.
Now, if you were at GCC, or GCCC, or GCCCCCCCCQF (new church plant), or one of the youths I had while I was a youth pastor, you know that we all love Rita Springer and her stuff. For me, it was actually kind of a no-brainer to put her on the top 100 list at least once (who knows, maybe more??). Back in the early 2000s, I just kind of accepted that Rita Springer was, you know, a big-time worship leader.
But the question I have is this: Is Rita Springer as well-known nationally as she was to us 'back in the day'? (I just coined that phrase). Anyway, this is where you come in, new visitor Todd from Saginaw, Michigan. You see, Todd (can I call you Todd?), I need to know how big a deal Rita Springer is from someone who didn't attend our church and youth outings. So Todd, I know it's your first time here, but tell us in the comments section everything you know about Rita Springer. Please and Thank You.
Andy Fun Fact: In this post HERE, I referenced the time I killed a hobo in Saginaw, Michigan**. Our newest reader Todd here also happens to be from Saginaw, Michigan. The two mentions, though very coincidental, are unrelated.
** No hobos were harmed in the writing of this blog.
One of the things that throws me off about Rita Springer is that she doesn't have her own Wikipedia page. Who in this day and age doesn't have their own Wiki page? Heck, 4 of my cats have their own Wikipedia pages (the others haven't earned it yet). When you search for Rita Springer on Wikipedia, you get 5 or 6 mentions from stuff she did with other artists, but it says 'the page Rita Springer doesn't exist'.
And it's a shame. Rita Springer has A LOT of good stuff. I checked my iTunes and I have no fewer than 8 Rita Springer songs on my main playlists. I had almost forgotten that Rita did a very solid remake of song #91 on our countdown, You Said. But we're not here to talk about Rita's illustrious career, we're here to talk about her great 2002 song, Worth It All.
Reader Mailbag Time: Todd from Saginaw, Michigan asks, "Hey, does it always take you this long to get to the song?"
You know what, Todd - shut up. You're starting to bug me. Don't make me ban you.
The song itself can best be described as beautiful intensity, and plays like sort of Melissa Etheridge meets Jesus kind of a thing. It's interesting, and totally unintentional, that this song sort of dovetails with last week's song, Trading My Sorrows by Darrell Evans. Evans lyric "Though the sorrow may last for the night, His joy comes with the morning", is a different side of the same coin as Rita Springer's "You're gonna be worth it all".
Both songs implore us to disregard momentary struggles and questions and rest on an assurance of future glory. If you are a Christian living in America in the 21st century, it might be a little hard to understand the relevance of such sentiments. But make no mistake, for the vast majority of Christians historically worldwide, stuggles, hardship, and conflict, etc have been a part of their daily existence.
Now, if you were at GCC, or GCCC, or GCCCCCCCCQF (new church plant), or one of the youths I had while I was a youth pastor, you know that we all love Rita Springer and her stuff. For me, it was actually kind of a no-brainer to put her on the top 100 list at least once (who knows, maybe more??). Back in the early 2000s, I just kind of accepted that Rita Springer was, you know, a big-time worship leader.
But the question I have is this: Is Rita Springer as well-known nationally as she was to us 'back in the day'? (I just coined that phrase). Anyway, this is where you come in, new visitor Todd from Saginaw, Michigan. You see, Todd (can I call you Todd?), I need to know how big a deal Rita Springer is from someone who didn't attend our church and youth outings. So Todd, I know it's your first time here, but tell us in the comments section everything you know about Rita Springer. Please and Thank You.
Andy Fun Fact: In this post HERE, I referenced the time I killed a hobo in Saginaw, Michigan**. Our newest reader Todd here also happens to be from Saginaw, Michigan. The two mentions, though very coincidental, are unrelated.
** No hobos were harmed in the writing of this blog.
 |
| I will give you 3 guesses to figure out how exactly I came up with that picture. Go. |
And it's a shame. Rita Springer has A LOT of good stuff. I checked my iTunes and I have no fewer than 8 Rita Springer songs on my main playlists. I had almost forgotten that Rita did a very solid remake of song #91 on our countdown, You Said. But we're not here to talk about Rita's illustrious career, we're here to talk about her great 2002 song, Worth It All.
Reader Mailbag Time: Todd from Saginaw, Michigan asks, "Hey, does it always take you this long to get to the song?"
You know what, Todd - shut up. You're starting to bug me. Don't make me ban you.
The song itself can best be described as beautiful intensity, and plays like sort of Melissa Etheridge meets Jesus kind of a thing. It's interesting, and totally unintentional, that this song sort of dovetails with last week's song, Trading My Sorrows by Darrell Evans. Evans lyric "Though the sorrow may last for the night, His joy comes with the morning", is a different side of the same coin as Rita Springer's "You're gonna be worth it all".
Both songs implore us to disregard momentary struggles and questions and rest on an assurance of future glory. If you are a Christian living in America in the 21st century, it might be a little hard to understand the relevance of such sentiments. But make no mistake, for the vast majority of Christians historically worldwide, stuggles, hardship, and conflict, etc have been a part of their daily existence.
Another thing that I really appreciate about Rita Springer is that despite the fact that she's a single woman, she's never seemed to give in to the temptation to write a lot of 'Jesus is my boyfriend' songs - songs which seem so popular nowadays. Disturbingly, it's not just the ladies who write these songs, but the men as well.
Can you imagine some popular male Christian artist (let's call him Chris), going up to the pearly gates to meet Jesus for the first time. Jesus says to Chris "Well done, good an faithful servant, you may enter". And Chris says, "Awesome! Hey Jesus, did you hear all the songs I wrote for you?".
Just then, Jesus pulls Chris aside and says he wants to talk, "Listen, Chris, I've listened to all your songs, and I appreciate what you've written for me. You see, I like you, I really do. I just don't like you in that way, ok?" Wow, awk-ward.
HEY!. With that last little bit there, I think I've figured out a way not to have to worry what would happen if I got a bunch of new readers and they kept coming back.
Anyway, I appreciate that Rita's songs seem to have a little more depth than your average worship song today, so good on her. Here's a really well done video found on youtube for Rita Springer's Worth it All. Enjoy.
Can you imagine some popular male Christian artist (let's call him Chris), going up to the pearly gates to meet Jesus for the first time. Jesus says to Chris "Well done, good an faithful servant, you may enter". And Chris says, "Awesome! Hey Jesus, did you hear all the songs I wrote for you?".
Just then, Jesus pulls Chris aside and says he wants to talk, "Listen, Chris, I've listened to all your songs, and I appreciate what you've written for me. You see, I like you, I really do. I just don't like you in that way, ok?" Wow, awk-ward.
HEY!. With that last little bit there, I think I've figured out a way not to have to worry what would happen if I got a bunch of new readers and they kept coming back.
Anyway, I appreciate that Rita's songs seem to have a little more depth than your average worship song today, so good on her. Here's a really well done video found on youtube for Rita Springer's Worth it All. Enjoy.
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