Signs of the Times in Song with Trevor Baker, Part 2

Gary:  Welcome to Search the Scriptures 24/7, featuring T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. I’m Gary Carmichael. We’re glad you could be here! In today’s program, Tom is joined once again by his guest, Trevor Baker as they talk about: Signs of the Times in Song.  And now, here’s Tom.

Tom: Thanks, Gary. For part 2 of my session with Trevor Baker – Trevor is a man who ministers in song. He’s a songwriter, musician, singer, and, as we mentioned last week, some of his music – well, he’s not trying to win a popularity contest. At the same time, he wants to bless people and encourage people – encourage them in the Word of God; get them to think biblically, which is no small task these days. So, Trevor, welcome back to Search the Scriptures 24/7.

Trevor: Thank you for having me again. I appreciate it.

Tom: Now, Trevor – as I mentioned last week, some of the songs that Trevor’s written are not enthusiastically received. I mean, he’s a good singer. He’s a great musician, but it has to do with the content of his songs – the lyrics. If you didn’t listen to our program last week, you’re going to get a little taste of that in this session. So, Trevor, as we talked, your lyrics – I think they bless me no end, but this is what I’ve been doing, along with Dave Hunt, you know – I had the privilege of encouraging the body of Christ to search the Scriptures daily to get back to the Word of God, to be Bereans. So, I love that stuff. But it’s not always a popular thing, so, Trevor, could you just give us an example of …maybe you’ve been to a church, you were invited, yet the response is…they’re not very happy with what you had to sing and to say. Do you have an example of that?

Trevor: Well, yeah. Well, let me backtrack just a little bit.

Tom: Sure.

Trevor:  When I was younger and I worked on farms for a dozen years – I worked on 140-some farms all over the place. I moved an hour from home to do that, and it was in a little place, and many of these farmers were Catholic. I wasn’t used to that. I had never been around that a whole lot. And so I started…you know, you’re trying to reach out to them, and there were some good moments. But I noticed something that would frustrate me. It’s like there was a blindness, like something in front of their eyes. They can’t understand. And you realize that it comes from a religious oppression of big leaders, and whatnot. And I didn’t understand it at all.

And then, when I started to sing, I would run into other settings that were not Catholic settings, but I guess they were more Calvinist, is what it would be. And I didn’t know what that was in the beginning. But I would see the same – only a notch or two removed from what I’d see in those Catholic farmers. And they didn’t seem to understand when you’d talk about the Lord changing your life. I’d just look at these blank stares and I couldn't figure it out.

And then, there was some mistreatment in different places. It was kind of hard sometimes. One example would be…I went into one church. He went through my songs (the pastor) and he could only find one that was “fit” to sing, and so I sang it, but obviously it was a bit of a nerve-wracking morning. And he talked to me afterward, and he said that I should come out with a “Christ-centered” CD. That would be a really good thing to do. And then he also, during that morning, he turned to my wife, and he said, “What kind of a Bible do you have?”

And she said, “King James. I’m not used to people asking me questions like that.”

And he said, in a not-very-nice tone, “That’s not good enough. You need a John

MacArthur Commentary Bible.”       

And I couldn’t figure out what was it in these people that made them so…I don’t know what the word is – mean, I guess. But it goes back to Pharisee times. They would throw the good guys in the prison sometimes, and they would come back out and they would go back into the temple to preach. You know, the angel would let them out of the prison, and they’d go right into the temple. And I’m sure they preached on the streets, too, but why did they go right into the temple? Because that’s where the religious oppression – the big guys were in there! And they had to go in there and tell them, basically, of the real life that God wants for them.

And this song, You Don’t Have the Right - I sweat all night when God gave me that song. Matter of fact, I had cold chills, I sweat so bad. I was just shaking. I thought, Lord, do I have the right to sing this song? But it’s not meant to…I’m not just beating up people! There’s scriptures in the Bible where it says, “If they stop these little ones from coming to me, it’s better a millstone were hung around the neck and they were thrown into the middle of the sea.” Jesus said these things! So if he said it, it must be pretty serious stuff. And I’ve felt the abuse of these leaders from different settings.

Tom: Well, Trevor, as you’re aware, or I’m sure our listeners are, I mean, you track with Jesus in the Gospels, and who do you have trouble with? He didn’t have trouble with Caesar. He didn’t have trouble with the secular world or anything. His trouble came from the religious leaders. And, sadly, when we go to the Book of Revelation, we can see that the seven churches, some of them were doing pretty well, but this is the bride of Christ He’s addressing, and there are errors. There are corrections that He says you need to make, and of course the Laodicean church would be typical in general. I think we could find all of those seven churches in the church today – in various churches. So anyway, let’s let our folks who are listening hear “You Don’t Have the Right.” So, go ahead, Gary, let’s play that.

Trevor: (music)

            So you’ve been picked by God before all time began,

            And He doesn’t care about the soul of every man.

            You’ll get this message out to everyone you can

            With bits and pieces of the Bible in your hand.

            The arrogance that I hear in your voice

            Proclaims that heaven is nobody’s choice,

            That God controls the human race like little toys.

            But there’s no logic in your words, it’s only noise.

            You may think the average Joe ain’t got the smarts -

            That we won’t question all your ludicrous remarks.

            But you’re forgetting that God speaks to tender hearts,

            And that’s kinda where salvation really starts.

            And then you tell me nothing happened on that night

            When I cried to God and I received my sight.

            Well, I’m sorry, sir, but you don’t have the right

            To be shading everything that’s black and white.

            Now, Mr. Washer, and all those like yourself,

            Should be locked away on some forgotten shelf.

            There are souls outside the gate, and it’s almost twelve.

            And that stuff you’re trying to peddle sure don’t help.

            That smug look of yours sure gives you guys away.

            It makes it hard to take in anything you say.

            That smooth tongue of yours might say you know the way,

            But to me you’re only actors in a play.

            You speak a little truth and draw your listeners in,

            That’s how your crafty made-up stories all begin.

            But this power-tripping game you’ll never win,

            ‘Cuz some can add, and we don’t buy web you spin.

            How can you tell us nothing happened on that night

            When we cried to God and we received our sight?

            Well, I’m sorry, sir, but you don’t have the right

            You’ve pushed it far enough, and now you’ve got a fight.

            You’ve bullied your way into homes and lives,

            And your fur and teeth are cleverly disguised,

            Well, here’s one verse I think you should try on for size:

            “God hides the truth from those who think they’re wise.”

            Jesus said to come to Him just like a child,

            And I know you find that concept pretty wild.

            It pulls the plug on your theology and style,

            And heaven knows that we’re allowed to have a smile!

            Now I don’t do this kind of singing just for spite.

            It’s ‘cuz you’ve taken heaven’s door and slammed it tight.

            And millions like me who bowed their hearts one night

            Would like to tell you, sir, that you don’t have the right.

Tom: Trevor, that experience is…you know, it doesn’t happen all the time – a least to me, out there. But certainly, you’re speaking to the choir here. You have a concern that we have at The Berean Call. That’s why Dave Hunt wrote a book called What Love Is This?, and I can’t begin to tell you how many reformed churches that had Dave speak, that had me speak, they just shut – boom! – they just slammed shut.

Now, okay, how about this, though, Trevor? With many of the places where you’ve ministered, give us an example where you’ve been – I would say – delightfully encouraged by the fellowship, how they’ve responded to your music. Give me an example or two!

Trevor: Aww, there’s many examples. Actually I sat down last year when we had a bit of a sabbatical, and I wrote a bit of a book, which I’d never done. But I felt God saying, “Just write down a book of remembrance.” And I was amazed how the good rises to the top, and you remember the good settings where, you know, you meet the guy along the back wall…you’ve just driven a whole bunch of hours and you’re so dead tired you’re thinking, “I don’t want to sing…” And some guy is leaning against the back wall, and he tells you how twelve years ago he was out in the bush hunting on Sunday morning and God met him. And he just…he’s too simple to make up a story. He’s just a real guy! And you pause for a minute, and you say, “Oh, Lord, thank you.”

And I’ve had many places where, you know, sometimes…I don’t know, I’ve seen a lot of…had tearful handshakes. I can’t narrow it down to one example…I’m trying to scratch my brain about that. Because I think…in 2009, when I had a bit of a burnout, or whatever it was, the Lord began to give me CDs, songs, and whatnot, and it’s through the dark moments, I guess, and the low places that you start to…when you read the Book of Psalms, then you realize just exactly a little more what it actually meant, and how it brings out …I don’t know how to explain it…the gratefulness. You know, when they sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” you can start to sing that, or say it, to yourself, and you understand more how you’re in God’s hand, and it’s okay even if you have a few enemies here and there. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’ll be okay.

Tom: You know what I’m thinking about, Trevor, is – because I know a number of the places, especially of late, where you’ve had the opportunity to minister – certainly Mike Warren, who’s going to be speaking at our conference – his church, his fellowship; I think of Zane McCourtney, his fellowship. And I could tell you, having spoken at this church – actually, I’ve never really…I’ve attended Mike Warren’s church, I’ve never really spoken there, but I know his fellowship, and I know Mike really well, so, I could see an enthusiastic response on those guys, both Zane and…

Trevor: Yeah…well, let me just conclude that little thought, because last September, a few doors opened like that. After our Sabbatical, it’s almost like you think, I’m tired and worn out, and I’m finished! I can’t do this road life. And my wife said to me, “This almost feels like a new beginning!” And we began to get some invites to places like you just mentioned in the last…well, less than a year. I have to pinch myself sometimes, like, I’m not used to being in front of crowds. And then you invite me to the Berean Call Conference – I’m not used to that! Sometimes I wonder, Is this actually happening? There are…I’m not alone! I’m not alone!

Tom: Right.                        

Trevor: And it feels very good. It helps.

Tom: It absolutely does. And it works both ways, you know, as I mentioned last week, we hear all this music out [there], and I’m not saying…I’m not big time against this and that…Oh, by the way, Trevor, Dave Hunt, who I ministered with and had the opportunity to be with for almost four decades, when I would speak at a church after Dave had maybe been at the church three or four times, the people who would tremble in their boots would be the worship leaders, okay? [Laughing] Because what they were doing or saying, man, as soon as he got up to the pulpit, he would let it go. You know, “What’s with all this repetition over and over and over…!” He would really get on them. So, they would look at me like, “Oh no! Here it comes again!” And I’d say, “No, no, come on, guys, I’m an easy going guy. That’s Dave’s deal.” Although I wasn’t too pleased with some of that anyway.

Now, you talk about your trips; you talk about…I want you to tell – see, because I know you’re, although you say within the last year you’ve had fellowships that really blessed you, but, Trevor, wait a minute! Don’t you have a classic collection of automobiles? And I want you to explain to our listeners how they accommodate your travel to your various engagements. C’mon!

Trevor:  [Laughing] Classics!! Classic – I’m not sure that’s the right word for them.

Tom: [Laughing] Right! Go ahead! Well, wait a minute! We’ll decide that. You tell us what you drive.

Trevor: Well, okay, I’m not a car nut. I have no car magazines in my house. If it gets me from point A to point B, that’s all I care about. But the last twelve years, the Lord has, in humorous ways, provided me with a bunch of these – they’re mostly Geo Metros, three-cylinder little cars. I’ve had nine of them over that period of time. And some cost as little as $1000 each. And they just keep going. They have little Suzuki engines in them, and they’re a cross between a minivan and a sewing machine, sort of. So I pack up all my stuff in there, and some people think, “Oh, you’re a stingy little guy. You drive around in those things….” Well, the truth is, I’ve done – in the last twelve years – I’ve done eleven CDs, and I’ve done the math on it, and because of the Lord providing these little cars, and saving on gas, and I sleep in them sometimes, too, at the truck stops, I’ve been able…that paid for eight of those eleven CDs – for the production. If I didn’t have those, I would chew up all of my earnings in motel costs and driving, and car payments, and so that’s where these things came from. But it is…people do laugh at me, because they’ll stand outside after the concert and …it’s like “Honey, honey!” she says, “We’ve got to leave.” And he says, “Oh no, I’ve got to stand here and see this guy put all of that equipment in the car. I can’t believe he can put it in there!” And they stand there and laugh at me… It’s a little bit of a humorous thing….

Tom: Yeah, well, wait a minute. We’re going to continue with this a little bit more, because, folks, we’re going to play one of Trevor’s songs. Now he told me this was done early in his ministry in music, and, well, I’m going to take a wild guess that most of your songs are initially put together during your hours upon hours of driving time. Now, if I’m wrong about that in general, I can’t be wrong about this next Trevor Baker original titled “The Cow Song.” Go ahead, Gary. Run this!

Trevor: [music]

            Well, there’s somethin’ I discovered livin’ in this world.

            Well, I found that God made other things, not just us boys and girls.

            He made a bunch of animals, they’re not all like you and me.

            God was sorta like experimentin’, see?

            Now, when God first started out, well He must have had the jitters.

            He made porcupines and kangaroos and funny lookin’ critters.

            Ah, but then there came perfection, or what we’ve come to know by now

            As the magnificent, the one and only cow!

            Yes, when God made the cow, He made a masterpiece!

            They’re wonderful to gaze upon, and milk’s good for your teeth.

            Ah, yes, they’re a little smelly, but that don’t change how I feel now.

            The greatest animal God made is still the cow.

            Now you might think I’m crazy, just another mental case.          

            But when God dished out the animals, well, I think He made mistakes.

            I mean, just look at all them skunks; you can’t get more weird than that!

            If God weren’t tryin’ to pull a joke, I’ll eat my hat!

            Ah, but those cows have super qualities that are seldom seen around.

            You can milk them, you can pat them, you can sell them by the pound.

            Well, their eyes are big, their ears are cute. I'm tellin’ you, they’re just a hoot.

            I guess you know by now I love cows!

            ‘Cuz when God made the cow, He made a masterpiece.

            They’re wonderful to gaze upon, and milk’s good for your teeth.

            Oh, yes, they’re a little smelly, but that don’t change how I feel now.

            The greatest animal God made is still the cow.

            Now, you might disagree with me, and I guess you have that right.

            You fell in love with your Chihuahua almost overnight.

            Well if a dog makes you happy, I guess that’s up to you.

            But as for me, I still prefer the ones that moooo.

            ‘Cuz when God made the cow, He made a masterpiece.

            They’re wonderful to gaze upon and milk’s good for your teeth!

            Oh, yes, they’re a little smelly; that don’t change how I feel now.

            The greatest animal God made is still the cow.

            The greatest animal God made is still the cow.

            (I think I’m in love!)

Tom:  Now that’s definitely Trevor’s tongue-in-cheek lighter touch. Or it may have something to do with “road delirium,” but a few of his songs don’t bring smiles in some places. But that one, okay? Who’s going to argue with that one, Trevor? Give us a brief perspective: tell us how that one came about.

Trevor:  Okay, well this was actually before being on the road. This was on the farms, and my very first CD, I had this little song, and I debated at the last minute: Should I put this on? No! No, I can’t. No, not in a Christian CD. This is just a little kid’s song that I played to the kids and called The Cow Song. But I ended up putting it on there, and God knew, because the doors were going to open shortly after that.

I ended up on a TV show called The Valley Farmer. And they put me on a bale of hay down in the middle between two rows of cows in one of those barns I worked in, and they filmed me. And I sang three songs, and I gave my testimony, and I started to get calls to sing at these fairs, and I’d be in the beer tents singing gospel music, and I was so nervous. I mean, seriously! I would grip the guitar so tight that my whole arm would fall asleep in my hand, and the pick would fly out of my hand. So, this little cow song was sort of an icebreaker, I guess. Or it gave me some relief from my nerves for just a moment.

And then, as I would give these CDs to people on the farms, it had The Cow Song on it, so you know they’re going to listen to the other songs on the CD, too. And some farmers – they’d never mention anything about it, but you’d go back three years later to work on their farm for a weekend, and you get in their old truck to get a load of hay out of the shed, and there’s your cassette in their player.

So I’m still using that song today. It just…I don’t know, it helps relax me just a little bit. And people fall off their chairs…

Tom: Yeah, and it’s really – I mean, I don’t even have to say this – it’s tongue-in-cheek…

Trevor: If I could just add another part. See, this was right after – not too many years after I came to the Lord. I was suicidal before I had come to the Lord. And I didn’t know how to laugh for many years. And God, you know, that’s just an example of what God brings: not only peace to your life, but He brings a little chuckle back, that you can laugh at simple things in life, which is part of it all, I think.

Tom: And there’s a fittingness here, because you do wear a COWboy hat! [Laughing] You are a cowboy. Even though you’re not quite as far west as we are here in Oregon, by the way… Oh, man, this has been great, Trevor.

You know, my guest, if you’ve just joined us, my guest has been Trevor Baker, and as I mentioned last week, and I’ll repeat it this week, I’m thrilled that he’s accepted an invitation to speak, teach, and perform at our conference here in Bend, which is, again, the last weekend in August.

You know, in my view, he’s a breath of fresh air in what passes for the Christian music scene, much of which is, sadly, just kind of repetitious mood music, putting people into a “mood,” which we don’t need. We need the truth. Yeah, we want to be entertained. We love beautiful music. There are many talented people out there. But what…and I think most would agree, Trevor, that we’ve lost content. That’s why people get excited about the hymns. Hymns have content. They teach. They instruct. They correct. And that’s somewhat removed from the current Christian music scene. So, anyway, we want to encourage discernment and to get it in whatever form we can.

Trevor, again, we’ve never met personally. I’m really looking forward to being with you in August. But this is what we need, bro. And I want people – as you’ve heard – whether it be a ministry like The Berean Call or other apologetics ministries where we’re trying to encourage people to get back to the Word, to search the Scriptures, and so on. It’s not popular, and it’s becoming less and less popular. Nevertheless, who are we – Trevor, and we’ve only got about a minute left, but I want you to just add something to this. We minister to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. We’re in a rescue operation. I don’t see us turning this around, and I don’t find in the Scriptures that there’s going to be great revival at the end, and so on. When Jesus returns, that’s a whole different story. And we need – I’m looking out for you, here. We need you guys to pray for Trevor and his ministry, as well as The Berean Call and other ministries that are doing the same.

Do you think that’s the case, Trevor?

Trevor: Yes, we’ve had more people send us letters in the last five years or so and sometimes I think I’m annoying people, and then I get letters that say, “We’re praying for you,” and, yeah, it’s more important than I probably realize.

Tom: My guest has been Trevor Baker, and, Trevor, it’s been an absolute delight having you on the program. So, God bless you, bro. And thank you for being on Search the Scriptures 24/7.

Trevor: Oh, thank you, Tom. This is encouraging for me in a lot of ways.

Tom:  Praise the Lord.

Gary: You’ve been listening to Search the Scriptures 24/7 with T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. We offer a wide variety of resources to help you in your study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials and a free subscription to our monthly newsletter contact us at PO Box 7019 Bend, Oregon, 97708. Call us at 800.937.6638; or visit our website at the bereancall.org. I’m Gary Carmichael;  thanks for joining us and we hope you can be back again next week. Until then, we encourage you to Search the Scriptures 24/7.