For those of us who are old enough, there is “old Petra” and Petra. Petra, in the days of my youth, wrote songs like “More Power to Ya,” “Judas’ Kiss,” “The Coloring Song,” and many, many more. Why am I bringing this up? I was at work a few weeks ago, listening fondly to “Old Petra,” remembering how when I first became a Christian, they were the first Christian group I listened to. I remember feeling empowered, so glad I chose to become a Christian, and back in those days, Petra was considered pretty hard music, so it fit in nicely with what my peers were listening too.
I took my love of Petra to Delanco Camp, playing their songs on retreats, at summer camp, and basked in the sweetness of their powerful Biblically based songs. Listening to songs from my youth reminded me of camp, as I first started going to Delanco on youth retreats then eventually went to summer camp. I was still a young Christian, and like my first listen to Christian music, camp was very exciting and new.
Now, at 40-something years old, Petra is no longer together, but camp is, stronger than ever. I even worked this past summer on staff, and the experience was awesome! camp Delanco and Petra have a couple things in common, I thought. Both were instrumental in developing my Christian walk, and the legacy left by both Petra and Delanco Camp will last a lifetime for those who paid attention to what they had to offer.
Petra showed me it was cool to be a Christian, and Delanco taught me how to be a better one. Some music gets better with age, and in my opinion, Petra fits that category, and Delanco….Delanco definitely gets better with age! My kids now go there, and they are experiencing the same joys I did, minus the good music I had! It is fun to think of the good ol’ days, but for Delanco, her future looks even better.
What group is or has empowered you in your Christian walk? Answer in the comments.
Purchase Petra music at iTunes.
I've been thinking about this and the best I can come up with as far as a band that had a big impact on me when I was a camper was probably the O.C. Supertones. I was big into ska for a spell in high school and when the Supertones came along it gave me not only another good ska-punk band to listen to but a ska-punk band that was unashamed of the gospel. Good times.