The Kingsmen cure for what ails you

Last week I was at the Christian Book Warehouse on Merchants Rd. here in Knoxville, looking for some VBS supplies. Of course I couldn't skip past the CD racks without checking out the latest bargains. Boy, am I ever glad that I did! Read on...

If you keep up with this blog or any of my other blogs, then you are well aware that the Kingsmen Quartet is my favorite quartet of all times. I collect old Kingsmen albums and have got to attend several of their concerts. Anytime I am ever looking through CD's or albums, my eye is trained to look for anything Kingsmen. As I was browsing through the rather large rack of miscellaneous CDs that they have at the Book Warehouse, I came upon their Southern Gospel section. They had several good CD's but much to my delight they had a whole slew of The Kingsmen Live Singing in the Sun! Get this...the price was only $2.99!!! My right hand nearly beat myself silly reaching for that CD. It was one that, believe it or not, I didn't already have in my vast collection! I quickly flipped it around and read over the song list. Old News But Good News, I'm Saved, I've Been Waiting, Forever In Eternity, Anthony's Anthology, Healin' Stream, All The Good Things, The Cross Has Won Again, He's All I Need, and Testimony Meeting.

What a wealth of great Kingsmen songs on this album! Now normally I'm not a fan of Live albums but when it comes to the Kingsmen, I actually prefer the live ones. Hearing my old heroes give their testimonies on stage and hearing the crowd roar and applause, it makes me feel like I'm there with them. This CD also has all of the lyrics to each song included, making it twice as good for the price!

My very favorite cut from this CD is, "Healin' Stream." Of course my bass singing hero, Ray Dean Reese, has the lead on this one. He also gives a very powerful testimony of how God healed him from cancer. There have been a lot of people in my church that have been diagnosed with cancer this past year and we have seen them miraculously healed as well. In this 3-year old interview with the Kingsmen, the following was asked: "If the Kingsmen were forced to retire tomorrow, what would be the last two songs that the guys would agree to sing and why?" Jim Hamill - "Love Lifted Me” because of the words and the message of the song, also I feel it was written for me. Ray Reese - "Healing Stream” for the strong testimony in the song and because of what it means to me in my life."

The first verse which Ray handles in a way that no other singer could: "There's a healin' stream, that's flowing down, from a higher place above, a healin' stream where heartaches drown, it's the healing stream of love."

What a wonderful song that Larry Gatlin wrote about God's healing power! You can listen to a small sample of it here.