Wednesday, May 8, 2024

It is the 8th of May 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

It is rare on this show that we get to celebrate the life of someone still alive- but it was on this day, 70 years ago in 1954, that John Michael Talbot was born, a man who would have a successful life as a country rock musician, early member of the Jesus Movement and successful Christian Contemporary artist and then made an unlikely turn into the world of Catholic spirituality and is the founder of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity a secular Franciscan Order.

Talbot was born in Oklahoma in 1954 to Dick and Jamie Talbot, the third of three children. His mother was the daughter of a Methodist minister, and his father raised a Presbyterian. Being that his mother was raised strictly as a PK (pastor's kid), they didn’t push too hard on these children- Talbot’s earliest theological thoughts concerned the “bigness” of God and that of a benevolent creator.

But his interests would center on baseball and music. He followed his big brother into playing guitar and the kind of 60’s rock music inspired by the Beatles. But it was the recommendation to turn to the new country rock typified by the Byrds that led to the early success of his first band, Mason Proffit. By 15, he was touring nationally and was married at 17. It was during this time that he would also have an encounter with Christ- he had been studying world religions but came back to his Bible. Somewhere in the midwest, in a hotel room, he came to the understanding of his sin, God’s love and forgiveness in Christ. From then on, he considered himself a Christian. His brother would also convert, and they would transform Mason Proffit into a Christian band.

Through his sister, their music reached Larry Norman and Billy Ray Hearn of Myrrh Music. When asked to sign, Talbot told Billy Ray that he was going to strike out on his own. So too was he, said Billy Ray, and the two would release two albums, 1975’s self-titled album and 1977’s The New Earth, on the newly founded Sparrow Records.

It was during this time that his marriage would fall apart, something he seems to partially attribute to his “bible thumping” and his wife’s desire to have married a rock star. He would also come into contact with catholic spirituality with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal that had ties to the Jesus Movement. He would record a sparse version of the Catholic mass with orchestra and choir. When Sparrow Music told him it wouldn’t sell, he said he wouldn’t mind as he would be entering a monastery to become a monk. The album, 1979’s The Lord’s Supper, became Sparrow’s biggest-selling album to date. Deciding he could record a few extra songs left off that album with his brother Terry, he was told it wouldn’t sell. It did. His next album was a quiet reflection on scripture- told it was too quiet (it was called “Into the Quiet”), you guessed it: it outsold his previous albums.

He would join a Franciscan monastery, but he needed more discipline and mission. One sister, Viola, was called in to help reform the house. John Michael and Viola would begin an unorthodox relationship but have also been released from their earlier vows. They would marry and form the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at his Little Portion Hermitage- an integrated Franciscan Monastery with singles, celibates, and families- each called to the Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as they see themselves called.

By the 90s, he would start his own recording label, Troubadour for the Lord, and his community was recognized as a “Public Association of the Faithful under the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas.” He has recorded over 50 albums and written more than 30 books. He has had an audience with both the Pope and Mother Theresa and also hosted a television program on TBN from 2014 to 2017. Since he has started an online teaching community, the Inner Room School of Spirituality, he also hosts retreats at his Little Portion Hermitage and, as of February of this year, has released his autobiography “Late Have I Loved You” (a phrase taken from St. Augustine’s Confessions). And so we wish the ‘Troubadour for the Lord”, John Michael Talbot,  a very happy 70th birthday on May 8th.

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary, from Psalm 93, as we approach Ascension Day tomorrow.

 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;

    indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.

Your throne was established long ago;

    you are from all eternity.

The seas have lifted up, Lord,

    the seas have lifted up their voice;

    the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,

    mightier than the breakers of the sea—

    the Lord on high is mighty.

Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;

    holiness adorns your house

    for endless days.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 8th of May 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who would want you to know that John Michael Talbot looks something like Gandalf meets Dumbledore- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who has somehow spent time inside the old TBN studios- one of the strangest places I’ve ever been… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.