CHUCK GIRARD- Singer, Songwriter, Recording Artist, and Worship Leader
A Pioneer of Contemporary Christian Music, Member and Co-Founder of the CCM group 'LOVE SONG.'
A Pioneer of Contemporary Christian Music, Member and Co-Founder of the CCM group 'LOVE SONG.'
Walk as i walk
Now here's a song with a story! (The full story will be in my upcoming biography, but here is a condensed version.)
I just came through a time of divine revelation on the state of my life and marriage at the end of the ordeal of my alcohol addiction. The Holy Spirit had showed me in no uncertain terms that I had really lost the love of my wife, and that my life was in for a complete rebuilding and renewal.
I believe that we are triune beings, body, soul, and spirit. As a result of this very dramatic confrontation with the state of my life, I had become a broken man. This was a good breaking, the kind that God does because he loves us. But I also had a broken heart.
We use the idea that our heart has been broken in a very clichéd way- in life, in songs, and poems. I can tell you what I had was a real broken heart. There is a physical ache to the whole process, and I knew that it was going to be quite a time before I would become whole in that sense again.
However, the spirit part of me was one with God again and up on Mount Zion. But my soul was crushed. My mind needed to be renewed to the word of God, and I needed to get my life back on track. My relationship with my wife felt very fragile. I had no assurance that she would stay with me.
I had a booking up in Canada where I needed to be gone for a week. I did not want to go because I did not want to leave my wife. I wanted to minister to her and try to win back her love. I had not read the Word in a long time. About a year earlier I'd signed up for Kenneth Copeland's newsletter, "Believers Voice Of Victory." At this time I was still at the Vineyard and the word on Kenneth Copeland was that he was “anathema." (Anathema, a term derived from Greek ἀνάθεμα, which meant something dedicated and, in the Septuagint and New Testament, something dedicated to evil and thus accursed...) We had been warned from the pulpit not to listen to his teachings.
Well the first thing I do when that happens is go check out what he's teaching. I actually liked what he said on his TV show, and I signed up to receive his magazine. However, I was still spiritually anemic, and usually just threw it in the trash when it came. But now I'm getting ready to leave on this trip to Canada, and the magazine arrives in the mail a couple of days before. This time I really looked it over.
As I say I had not read the Word in a long time, and this little booklet actually became my Bible for the next month or so. The theme of this month's magazine was "Following The Faith Of Abraham." I didn't know what that meant, but I started to read the whole magazine. On the back of each issue, was a prayer. This month's prayer was entitled "Walk As I Walk." The lyrics to my song are a nearly exact paraphrase of the prayer on the back of that magazine. This prayer and the contents of that newsletter kept me going during the whole trip to Canada.
When I got home I ordered some more Copeland material, and started to glean from his teachings. It was a life changer for both my wife and me.
Disclaimer: Now, I understand the controversy in many circles regarding Copeland’s teachings. I myself am very cautious in this regard, and am not advocating the whole of his teachings. But I will tell you, that this was a divine appointment, and God really used Kenneth’s and Gloria’s teachings in a very profound way in our lives. I consider him a man of God and a man of integrity today. But I do walk cautiously.
Chuck
I just came through a time of divine revelation on the state of my life and marriage at the end of the ordeal of my alcohol addiction. The Holy Spirit had showed me in no uncertain terms that I had really lost the love of my wife, and that my life was in for a complete rebuilding and renewal.
I believe that we are triune beings, body, soul, and spirit. As a result of this very dramatic confrontation with the state of my life, I had become a broken man. This was a good breaking, the kind that God does because he loves us. But I also had a broken heart.
We use the idea that our heart has been broken in a very clichéd way- in life, in songs, and poems. I can tell you what I had was a real broken heart. There is a physical ache to the whole process, and I knew that it was going to be quite a time before I would become whole in that sense again.
However, the spirit part of me was one with God again and up on Mount Zion. But my soul was crushed. My mind needed to be renewed to the word of God, and I needed to get my life back on track. My relationship with my wife felt very fragile. I had no assurance that she would stay with me.
I had a booking up in Canada where I needed to be gone for a week. I did not want to go because I did not want to leave my wife. I wanted to minister to her and try to win back her love. I had not read the Word in a long time. About a year earlier I'd signed up for Kenneth Copeland's newsletter, "Believers Voice Of Victory." At this time I was still at the Vineyard and the word on Kenneth Copeland was that he was “anathema." (Anathema, a term derived from Greek ἀνάθεμα, which meant something dedicated and, in the Septuagint and New Testament, something dedicated to evil and thus accursed...) We had been warned from the pulpit not to listen to his teachings.
Well the first thing I do when that happens is go check out what he's teaching. I actually liked what he said on his TV show, and I signed up to receive his magazine. However, I was still spiritually anemic, and usually just threw it in the trash when it came. But now I'm getting ready to leave on this trip to Canada, and the magazine arrives in the mail a couple of days before. This time I really looked it over.
As I say I had not read the Word in a long time, and this little booklet actually became my Bible for the next month or so. The theme of this month's magazine was "Following The Faith Of Abraham." I didn't know what that meant, but I started to read the whole magazine. On the back of each issue, was a prayer. This month's prayer was entitled "Walk As I Walk." The lyrics to my song are a nearly exact paraphrase of the prayer on the back of that magazine. This prayer and the contents of that newsletter kept me going during the whole trip to Canada.
When I got home I ordered some more Copeland material, and started to glean from his teachings. It was a life changer for both my wife and me.
Disclaimer: Now, I understand the controversy in many circles regarding Copeland’s teachings. I myself am very cautious in this regard, and am not advocating the whole of his teachings. But I will tell you, that this was a divine appointment, and God really used Kenneth’s and Gloria’s teachings in a very profound way in our lives. I consider him a man of God and a man of integrity today. But I do walk cautiously.
Chuck
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Chuck Girard's Music
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