Lynn Keesecker was a songwriter feeling the upbeat
of God’s blessing. That much we could surmise just by looking at the words he
recorded over 30 years ago. He’s not left us much else to explain his
circumstances and why he was feeling ebullient. But, various internet sources
suggest he was a 29-year-old working in the music industry, perhaps in
Nashville, Tennessee, when he recorded the song “Yes, Lord, Yes”. To Keesecker,
the bounty he experienced he attributed to the One to whom he wanted to
reciprocate. “Give back to Him, because He has given me everything that makes
me feel this way – it’s His anyway”; that might sum up how this young composer
calculated his life’s purpose.
Lynn Edward Keesecker had been pursuing Christian ministry
for several years by the time he would write his affirmation-ode to God in
1983. He’d attended Azusa Pacific University, in the Los Angeles area, in the
middle-to-late 1970s, evidently because he wanted a higher education from this
college affiliated with the evangelical Christian community. Since he was later
a music-writer, we might guess that was his emphasis as a college student,
seeing himself entering that field upon graduation. Perhaps things were going
well or even better than he could have worked out for himself by the early 1980s
after graduating. He’d gone to the Nashville area and was at Word Records when
he felt the urge to express his sentiments about how things were going. One
cannot discount, however, that for Lynn to express his thoughts the way he did
might alternately imply that he’d had his share of challenges too. ‘Trust and
obey’, after hearing the ‘Spirit speak(s) to me’ could have been Keesecker
reminiscing about an episode that challenged his notions of the path he was on.
There’s no hint of regret in his voice,
though, so by this time, even at just 29 years, perhaps he’d already had lots
of practice following Him no matter what the consequences. There’s biblical
references associated with “Yes, Lord, Yes” to Samuel (1 Sam. 3:9) and a later
writer (Hebrews 10:22) emphasizing faith, and especially being unafraid to be
draw close to the Holy God. Could those references have been especially relevant
for Keesecker? Had he perhaps trembled initially at God’s wave to follow,
before tagging along in His footsteps?
We’ll leave it right there, and hope Lynn Keesecker
helps us at some future point understand just what prompted him the say ‘Yes’
with such conviction. Maybe he’s still finding the path requires him to respond,
whether or not he’s still engaged in the music business. He’s probably still
engaged in life, and that’s God-business, not matter what the details are.
March 1, 2020 UPDATE! A reader has responded with the
details of what made Lynn say ‘YES’…it’s in one of the replies to this entry
below, but I’ll include it here too! …the story of
how Lynn came to write "Yes, Lord, Yes. he was a member of the same Church
my late husband, and I as well as my sister and her husband, First Church of
the Nazarene of Pasadena (Yes the home to the Rose Bowl Parade). Lynn and my
sister attended the same college Azusa Pacific. We had a large building
expansion program (the Church had grown from 500-600 to almost 2000 in a short
period of time), and after several years, they were trying to raise enough to
pay off the debt. So our Pastor dubbed it the "Yes, Lord" campaign.
Our Pastor asked Lynn to write a theme song for the campaign. It quickly became
the theme song for our church for a number of years after that. It was not
really until quite a few years later that I started hearing it on the radio. My
local radio station in Allentown, PA, WJCS, still plays it regularly on their
Sacred Story in Song, and Weekend Worship in Song programs.
Thanks for reading and sharing with Song Scoops!
See following links for brief biographic facts of
someone with the same name as the song’s composer, and who therefore may be the
composer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-keesecker-ab662a5
The music company that recorded the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_Records
The
composer’s education was here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azusa_Pacific_University
3 comments:
I have personal knowledge of the story of how Lynn came to write "Yes, Lord, Yes. he was a member of the same Church my late husband, and I as well as my sister and her husband, First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena (Yes the home to the Rose Bowl Parade). Lynn and my sister attended the same college Azusa Pacific. We had a large building expansion program (the Church had grown from 500-600 to almost 2000 in a short period of time), and after several years, they were trying to raise enough to pay off the debt. So our Pastor dubbed it the "Yes, Lord" campaign. Our Pastor asked Lynn to write a theme song for the campaign. It quickly became the theme song for our church for a number of years after that. It was not really until quite a few years later that I started hearing it on the radio. My local radio station in Allentown, PA, WJCS, still plays it regularly on their Sacred Story in Song, and Weekend Worship in Song programs.
Thanks you for your response. The website did not ask for my name. It is Carolyn Grimm Morrow. I am glad you enjoyed my update.
Thanks Carolyn! I am energized to know people like you read this blog...I'll keep writing, even if the details remain hidden for a time. This episode proves that something just might bubble to the surface after gestating for a while.
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