700 Club Classics Keith Greene

Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American pianist, singer, songwriter and contemporary Christian music recording artist. Originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, Green is known as a pioneer in the Christian and Jesus Music genre. His most notable songs are "There Is a Redeemer", which was written by his wife Melody, "Oh Lord You're Beautiful", "I Want To Be More Like Jesus", "To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice", and "(Until) Your Love Broke Through".

He grew up reading the New Testament and called the mixture of being Jewish and learning about Jesus "an odd combination" that left him open-minded but confused and deeply unsatisfied. As a teen perceiving his music career had failed, he ran away from home, began smoking marijuana, and used some psychedelics in hopes of finding spiritual truth. He became interested in eastern mysticism and the "free love" culture. His five year spiritual quest eventually led him back to the Bible, writing his diary in December 1972, "Jesus, you are hereby officially welcomed into me."

By age 19, Green had stopped using drugs, lost interest in eastern mysticism, and was started seriously looking into the Biblical teachings of Jesus Christ. In early 1973 he met Melody Steiner, who was also Jewish as well as a songwriter. Becoming inseparable, the couple married at The Little Brown Church in Studio City, California, on Christmas Day, 1973. The newlywed couple sought more knowledge of Jesus together when, in March 1975, they visited a home bible-study in Brentwood, California called "Vineyard Christian Fellowship". Led by Vineyard founder Kenn Gulliksen, the Greens later said it was during the study that they felt the presence of God through the teaching and guitar-led worship. Hearing the Gospel for the first time and learning about the Jesus as a Jewish rabbi, Green and his wife became born-again followers of Christ.

Green's initial tone of ministry was influenced by the words of Jesus in the Bible. Later, he was also influenced by his friends Winkie Pratney, and Leonard Ravenhill, who pointed him to Charles Finney, a nineteenth-century revivalist preacher who preached the holiness of God to provoke conviction in his hearers. During his concerts he would often exhort his listeners to repent and commit themselves more wholly to following Christ. Through relationships with Loren Cunningham the founder of Youth with a Mission (YWAM), missions leader John Dawson, and a trip with his wife to overseas missions projects, Green saw the worldwide need for missionaries. He realized he was often too hard on growing believers and believed that all Christians needed to have at least a brief stint on the mission field. His assurance of God's unconditional love for him grew as well. This transition is evident in his music beginning with So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt in 1980. He described the changes he went through in his next-to-last article for the Last Days Magazine.

Green was signed to Contemporary Christian music label Sparrow Records in 1976 and worked on the album Firewind (1976) with Christian artists 2nd Chapter of Acts, Terry and John Michael Talbot, and Barry McGuire. Prior to Keith's signing with Sparrow Records, and two years before the release of No Compromise, Tommy James, of Tommy James and the Shondells, recorded "Don't Wanna Fall Away from You," composed by Green, for his 1976 Fantasy album In Touch.

His first solo project, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, was released in 1977 and topped the charts.His second solo release, No Compromise, followed in 1978. His wife Melody wrote that the title "seemed to capture the heart of what Keith wanted to say to other Christians—that they needed to quit compromising, stop listening to the voice of the world, and start living committed lives." In 1979, after negotiating a release from his contract with Sparrow, Green initiated a new policy of refusing to charge money for concerts or albums. Keith and Melody mortgaged their home to privately finance Green's next album, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt. The album, which featured a guest appearance by Bob Dylan, was offered through mail order and at concerts for a price determined by the purchaser. By May 1982, Green had shipped out more than 200,000 units of his album – 61,000 for free. Subsequent albums included The Keith Green Collection (1981) and Songs for the Shepherd (1982).[22] Some in the gospel industry labeled Green a "kook" for his unorthodox methods, but Green believed he had to practice what he preached, and he felt he could not charge $8.98 for a record when the gospel and salvation were free. When his music was carried by Christian bookstores, a second cassette was included free of charge for every cassette purchased to give away to a friend to help spread the Gospel.
Along with 11 others, Green died on July 28, 1982, when the Robertson STOL-modified Cessna 414 leased by Last Days Ministries crashed after takeoff from the private airstrip.