You never forget the first times. Like the first time you ate ice cream that was so good, or that first time you see the mountains. I will never forget the first time I heard “The Champion” by Carman.
I grew up in the Muhammad Ali era. I remember the fights that he had with Larry Holmes. I remember Sugar Ray Leonard and the new guy named Evander Holyfield. Boxing was one of two sports that was my main entertainment, besides Football, loved the Cowboys.
But there was just something about Boxing that I loved. You never knew what was to be expected. Some fights were one or two rounds and then you have ones lie Ali’s last match that went on for ten rounds. I do not remember one draw, not even the local fights in Tulsa Convention Center in the 80’s that my brother and I went to with one of his friends, Tony Garcia a local middle weight boxer/ bus driver at the time.
So with all this in my life seeing these fights in 1985 I heard for the first time this song that started with the eighties style ominous synthesizer minor key. The song was The Champion, I heard it on the local Christian radio station KXOJ, at the time it was owned and run by a Christian man and they only excepter donation to keep the radio stations going.
I was hushed in awe. So much so my brother decided to buy the Champion for me on Record, I still have I believe. I listened to it and learned to love other songs like, “Saved, Delivered and Healed”, “Fear not my child”, well all of them. I played the album until I had all the songs memorized. It’s really cool now my kids know these songs and they like Carman’s songs as much as I do.
“The Champion” came to me at a time when I was still trying to grasp the importance of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. I mean I knew the story, the wisdom of it for the deliverance of our sins. He became sin on the cross so we could live and not go to hell. I knew it but it wasn’t until this song I learned the Love and heart of what God gave us.
It was then in 1985 I learned that Love God has for us. And that we can see modern symbolism in songs and learn that we learn from these ways as well as The parables Jesus taught us by; modern day parable set to music, if you will.
It’s a great memory I have, and it has taught me that Jesus is the Champion and no one NO ONE will unseat this Champion in my life.
Thanks
Kevin
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