When I was first Born Again in Feb 1990, one of my early tapes (yes, I still used cassette tapes often in those days) was a Christian band called Petra. I did not know a lot about the band other than they had been around for some time and had quite a few member changes over the years. For a number years there, I bought all their new CDs (yes, I moved up : ) and I kind of lost track of them in the late 90’s as I did for most of the Christian music field as this was a time when secular computer programming work along with finally getting married carried me into a form of back burner Christianity for a number of years. Of course, that dark time is clearly over for me and, as another one of my early music tapes by Carmen would say “I’m sold out the whole route” completely Born Again, “Radically Saved” that is ;)
Anyway, my wife had heard Petra from my old CD and tapes for some time. One song she wants to sing in church is “Take Me In”. It is a wonderful worship song. I cannot tell you the hours I would sing that to God in worship along with others from that album back in my early days. I do not think bands have a clue at what praise their praise generates to God from others reaching out to God through their music. Talk about a ministry that goes on and on long after the person has went home to heaven!
We believe that Christians should always obey the laws of the land as long as those laws do not violate our Christian beliefs. This includes what some might consider trivial such as intentionally speeding on the road, or violation of copyright. Just because it seems like everyone does it, that does not make it right. If it is in violation of the law of the land then it is a sin, plain and simple. While I am not prefect, I do my best to not open doors to sin as much as I can.
So, I spent some time trying to hunt down an accompaniment track of the song. During this hunt I find out that Petra as a band had retired. That was news to me since I had not kept up with the Christian music industry even though I only listen to Christian music. I found their official store and asked if they knew were I could find the background track, but the news was not good. They said that it was extremely rare as it was out for production for quite some time and my only hope was to find a used one somewhere.
After a bit more digging, I came by House of Bob:
http://www.houseofbob.com/
This is the site for Bob Hartman, the founder of the band who stayed with it until its retirement. Browsing the site, I was surprised to see a little of his testimony as I had never heard any part of it. One point in his life, drastically changed it forever, it was at Kent State University, where the tragedy of the war protest ended with four students shot and killed. That started his mind working and within a year Bob received Jesus and was Born Again. Later, he would go one to start the Ministry known as Petra. I am sure glad he did, I have been blessed over the years enjoying their music and I know they have many rewards waiting in heaven for them and many more to come. I cannot imagine how many people have turned to Jesus through their music and how many people their music has helped them to focus on God.
While talking about Petra, I have to mention also about John W. Schlitt. Be sure to watch his testimony at:
http://www.johnwschlitt.com/promoters/biography.html
For more information about Petra, check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra_band