The Spiritual Condition of America, Politics, Culture, and Current Events Analyzed Through the Lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. Are we in the beginnings of a great awakening? Hi, Alex McFarland here. We have a fantastic show today.
All around the country as I travel, people talk about a revival, an awakening, a move of God's Holy Spirit. And more and more people are talking to me about a great awakening that really took place. Um, nearly 50 years ago in America and throughout Europe, too, it was called the Jesus movement, and there was a great awakening. Maybe you saw the film Jesus Revolution produced by Greg Laurie and starring Kelsey Grammer, and it dealt with Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel. It was a great, great film about a very significant time spiritually.
Well, today on the program, we're going to talk about someone that God used in a mighty way, someone that was really at the epicenter of the Jesus music and the Jesus movement. Of the 1970s, really making an impact to the present moment. And he was part of a very well-known group, just a beloved musical group called the Second Chapter of Acts. And they were very special to me because, as some of you may know, when I was in seminary, I managed for six years a Christian bookstore. And we kept pretty much on endless loop, greatest tits CDs of second chapter.
And, you know, along with people like Annie Herring and others, Matthew Ward led, and his voice brought many millions of people to a posture of worship and belief and salvation. He's with us now. It is just with the greatest imaginable honor that we welcome to our program Matthew Ward, one of the pioneers of modern contemporary Christian music. Matt Ward, welcome to our program, sir. Thank you so much.
It's an honor to be with you today. It really is.
Well, it's great to be with you. And tell us briefly, and there's so many things I want to ask you, so many people that I want to ask you about, but give us the kind of 30,000-foot synopsis of how God brought you to where you are in your journey, brother. Oh gosh. How far back do you want me to go? I mean It's been an interesting journey.
The group that I was in, the second chapter, they started like 71. After the death of my parents, I went and lived with my sister Annie. who was in the middle of nine children, I'm the youngest of nine. And uh she taught herself how to play piano and In the early days of her Christianity, she got saved in '68, I believe. And in the early days of that, Uh She felt like the Lord just started giving her songs, and uh my sister and I would come home.
from school and pull up chairs and listen to what she had and We thought, you know, that's kind of fun. We started singing with her. She's like, okay, these guys can really sing pretty good.
So that's really where the group started. Just coming home from school and listening to what the Lord had been pouring through my sister Annie. Wow, man, it just one thing led to another. You know, we uh One of the first things we did was with uh A guy by the name of Barry Maguire, who had a hit called Eve of Destruction back in the day, you know, in the 60s. He was uh in the original Broadway production of Hare.
You know, he had some notoriety, he was in some films and whatnot.
So, my brother-in-law Buck produced his first Christian album, and he asked Barry if he wouldn't mind listening to us sing. And Barry thought Oh gosh, and Nellie and I were already in bed. Buck woke us up, we came downstairs. Same for Barry. He and Barry was thinking, oh, here we go.
You know, family, no good singers, you know. But we got done singing, and he was just his jaw was on the floor, you know? Yeah.
So we ended up doing all the BGVs with him. Our first tours were with him. He really showed us the ropes, how to be humble on the road, and how to communicate to people in a real way. He was a great communicator, still is. But that's kind of how we got going, you know.
I'm kind of a music trivia guy, Matt. I think Barry Maguire did the original version of California Dreaming. Which later was made a hit by the mammas and the papas. I have no knowledge of that. You got me online.
And in fact, they say if you listen to the mamas and the papas version of California Dreaming. If you listen with headphones, some of his original vocal track is in the echo of the harmonies. Oh, wow. They say you can distinctively hear Barry's voice, because he had a very distinctive voice. I'll say, yeah.
Yeah.
So he really kind of helped you guys turn professional, didn't he? Yeah, well, I hate to use the term turned professional, but he definitely. He taught us how to be real with people, I guess. And so, yes, I equate it a little bit differently than how you put it. Yeah.
But yeah, no, sure. Yeah, he did. I mean, he was good. He was. He was an entertainer, you know, for years.
So he knew how to hit the ball out of the ballpark, you know, and he taught us the ropes and. And uh it wasn't anything contrived or anything that was unnatural. But he definitely showed us. you know, kind of the pitfalls to walk around and how to focus in on on what people needed. That's really good.
Where was home base? As the second chapter of Acts was solidifying and you're recording, you're touring, where was your home base? Our home base in the early days was always in Southern California somewhere, we started out in Hollywood. ended up in Burbank and Northridge and you know different places, but you're either the valley, San Fernando Valley or in Hollywood basically. Were were you ever at any of the large outdoor baptisms like at Pirates Cove and everything, where Chuck Smith baptized many, many people and Josh McDowell as well?
Yeah.
I don't recall probably. I mean, I was, you know, fourteen. I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I do recall being one of the. earlier concerts that we did. Was out on a beach on a flatbed trailer.
They had generators for power. And it was with uh The group love song. Sure. And so. That was one of the first things, and that was with all of those guys.
All those people you just mentioned were there. I don't remember baptisms going on per se, but I'm sure there were some.
Now, Love Song was the kind of the praise team at Calvary Chapel. Is that right? There were a few groups that came out of there, Mustard Seed Faith. I mean, there was a bunch of them. But yeah, they were right up there being the prominent kind of face for all that.
Yeah.
Were you guys, especially in Southern California, did you think, oh my goodness, the Lord is really doing something big here? Because the Jesus movement, I think, is very significant in America's spiritual history. Were you cognizant that something really important God was doing? You know, people have called us pioneers, for instance, but you don't know you're a pioneer until years later and you look back and you go, well, by golly, I was.
So in the same sense, When we were in the midst of that, right in the middle of that beginning and and so on through it. It just seemed like that was just What we were doing then. I never looked at it like, oh, we're in a great move of God now that won't be like this in 10 years, you know? We were just trying to be obedient to what we felt like God had us doing. And we kept it simple, you know, and never really looked at it like.
We were doing anything particularly special or in a particularly special time. But looking back on it, yeah, oh, definitely, it was for sure. For sure, a special time, you know. Tell me, how did you meet Pat Boone? He was the one that got us our first record contract, actually.
My brother-in-law was engineering an album for Pat. And Pat got turned on to us and really loved us, and he kind of presented us to MGM Records.
So, our first recording was on my 13th birthday. Wow. And it was for MGM Records, a song called Jesus Is. Wow. And it's like, I was like a soprano, and it's hilarious, you know.
Yeah, it's look it up if you haven't heard it. It's pretty cute.
Well, we got to take a brief break. We're talking to Matthew Ward, just an amazing musician, singer, and leader for the gospel in the last few decades. Before we take our first break, Matthew, give us your website and we'll come back and talk further. What's your website, brother? My website is Matthew Ward, 2G's, matthewward.com.
Matthewward.com. Hey, folks, a brief break and we'll come back. Stay tuned. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.
In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly and we seem to be on a rapid moral decline. We've rejected God, morality, and we've almost completely lost our sense of patriotism. It's no wonder that many are asking the question: is this the end of America? Hi, Alex McFarland here, and I want to make you aware of my book, The Assault on America: How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. You know, our nation has seen politicians that are corrupted by greed and they've got a vested interest in power, and many of our elected officials seem to care little about the country that they've been appointed to serve.
Read my book, The Assault on America. We can stand up for our great nation and defend America before it's too late. It's available everywhere. You can learn more on my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Read the book, The Assault on America: How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late.
He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarlane here.
So honored to be talking with my brother in Christ and just a renowned singer of the gospel, Matthew Ward, his website, matthewward.com. If you listen to this program, you know, we love the Lord, we love music, and we've interviewed lots and lots of great people serving Christ in the music industry, well, in the music ministry, I should say, and Matthew Ward among them. Before the break, you were talking about the single Jesus Is on MGM.
So that's like a national release and help people understand. It was very significant. And I remember those days, and we'll talk about this, but you know, Ocean had put your hand in the hand of the man. You remember that? Right.
Yep. Godly Music that was focused on Jesus. I mean, it was in the charts back in those days, wasn't it? It was starting. I mean, there really wasn't anything there wasn't anything called Christian radio then.
I mean, it was all secular, pretty much AM radio. At least when we started it was. Yeah, so we did a song. After that, called I'm So Happy, and that song. actually got into the top 10.
a radio station uh in Sacramento. loved it and it got into the top ten or top five in that market.
So That was pretty neat. Uh, that song got some recognition. It was fun.
Now, w were you doing a lot of touring and performing across the country? We hadn't really started touring much yet, but pretty quick after that. I mean, once we had a The album that we did with MGM was never really released. You know, they went, huh, we probably shouldn't release this, you know?
So there's songs on that that people haven't heard. As far as I know, I have the only test pressing of that record. Oh, wow. And it's it's pretty cool. I mean one of my brothers sang a song on it, you know so it's it's real unusual.
There's some songs, like I said, no one's heard. Pretty cool tunes too, really, really fun.
Now were were were they all originals? Yeah, my sister wrote I think all but one of them. Yeah, guy named Ed Eddie Overstreet wrote wrote one. Tell me how you came on the name Second Chapter of Acts. Yeah, that's That's a good one.
We were all new Christians. You know, I mean, Buck and Annie were born-again Christians. about two years before Nellie and I were. But um We got together one day and said, you know, we were trying to figure out a name for the group, right? We were, you know, let's call ourselves the vine, or you know, we had all these groovy ideas for a name for a group.
And Buck felt like the Lord Spoke to him and said the second chapter of Acts, but he didn't want to just push that on us. He said, This is what I'm thinking, this is what I'm feeling. He goes, I don't even know what the second chapter of Acts is about. Like I said, we were all new Christians, we didn't know the word. Yeah.
And so We all went to our rooms and we read the chapter and we came back together and talked about it and went. Wow. I mean, if you were stuck on a desert island and that's the only chapter of the Bible you had. You'd be pretty good. You pretty much have the plan of salvation right there.
Amen. It's an awesome, powerful chapter in the New Testament. And so we felt, wow, if the Lord wants to call us by that, even though I didn't care for the name, I mean, it sounded like a bad play or something. The circuit show, you know, you know. Yeah, I remember one time we were going to play at some place like the Whiskey Ago Go or someplace in LA, some place like that.
It wasn't that place, but like that. And the billboard said Tonight appearing secondhand X. Yeah.
So we got all kind of, you know, screwed up, you know, billboards and stuff. But you know what? I bet.
Now, Annie Hearing's husband was Buck, right? Right. And so we kind of thought that name up. But I'll bet it got people into the word because, I mean, a certain percentage of people would have gone, hmm. Acts, the book of Acts.
I'll read chapter two, you know? Yeah, it's like I wonder why they named themselves after that book. Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, oh, I bet a lot of people Poured into it because of that. You're absolutely right. Let me name some names. And some of you, let me encourage everybody listening. We're talking with Matthew Ward.
You need to familiarize yourself with the Jesus movement because church history. Besides rejoicing over what God has done to bring people to a knowledge of Jesus. I mean, I think church history is very inspiring. This is a very inspiring part of what God did in our nation. And many believe, myself included, that we are on the kind of doorstep of another great move of God's Holy Spirit.
Matt, can I name some names and you just give me your reaction? Tell me about your journey, one of whom. Massive, massive hero to me, Phil Keggie. Oh yeah. Ah man, Phil is one of my favorite people.
We did a tour with him in 19. He played on our second album, I believe it was. And then Buck produced his. Love Broke Through album. which was, I think, his first release after his What a Day, if I'm not mistaken.
Which was his first Christian album. Yeah.
Uh so we were involved with him from Pretty early on, and he always amazed me. I would just go out in the studio when he would do overdubs, and I would just sit down and watch him play. Oh, yeah. You know, just you know, I'd leave the studio. I mean, I'd leave the control room, go out in the room where he was actually recording, and sit in front of him and just watch him play.
You know, it was just fat, it was fascinating. Great stories. I mean, he and I used to skateboard together back in the day, we ran together. Uh, you know, did all kinds of nutty, nutty stuff when we were young enough to do it. Just one of the greatest guitar players ever.
And I urge you to seek out Phil Kege's stuff. Tell me about the recording, Yahweh. Oh, gosh. I remember Bits and that was a long time ago. Phil played on that, right?
Yeah, oh, you sure did. Yeah, he sure did. And Phil was never He never liked to Be in because he didn't sight read. Yeah.
He didn't like to be in the room with the other four guys or whatever. Playing live, recording live. He liked to come in and overdub stuff. After the track was Recorded. Sure.
And I believe that was the case with that.
So when he did a solo work on Yahweh, which was awesome, it was kind of after the fact. But that was what he was comfortable doing, and I don't blame him. I mean, I like doing overdubs with vocals too, so. I totally get where he's coming from with that. But that was a fun record, you know, really.
Sure. Yeah, I mean Okay, here's a name, Arthur Blessit. Yeah.
Did you know Arthur? I did know Arthur. Yeah, not really well, but. We would run into him when we did events and stuff. He'd be out there with his cross, you know?
Yeah.
He had a a coffee house and a Christian place on the Sunset Strip, didn't he? I believe he did. I wasn't really involved much with that or with him, but I kn I knew him, but I I wouldn't say he was a friend, but I was acquainted with who he was and what he was about. Sure, sure. We've got to take a brief break.
Matthew Ward of the second chapter of Acts, his website is matthewward.com, spelled just like it sounds. Stay tuned, folks. More with Matthew Ward after this brief break. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.
Mike Segovia here, producer of the Alex McFarlane Show. Here's Alex talking about prayer. You know, folks, our nation needs a spiritual awakening so desperately. We need the Holy Spirit of God to sweep across this nation, and prayer is the key. Please, if you would go to alexmacfarlane.com/slash united in prayer.
We'll send you a weekly devotional. We'll help your family, your church start praying with power. AlexMcFarland.com/slash united in prayer. Uh He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show.
Welcome back to the program. We're going to resume our conversation with Matthew Ward. Very honored to have him. Let me encourage people, please, if you would, to go on the website alexmacfarland.com. A lot going on.
I'm very blessed to be traveling and speaking in a lot of places this fall. As you hear this, I'll probably be in Montana at a family retreat talking about marriage and family from God's perspective. But also, we've got October 3rd, a month from now, Conversations That Matter. You know, we've been doing these biblical worldviews and apologetics. We've been so blessed to use great speakers over the years, people like Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel.
I mean, you name it. We've been very blessed to work with them. We have a Conversations That Matter event on October 3rd about reaching Muslims for Christ. How do you share Jesus and what Christ did on the cross to pay for our sin debt? And God loves the Arabic world.
The Bible says, Whosoever will may come.
So, we've got an event we will be live streaming at October 3rd. Complete information is at alexmcfarlane.com, along with several hundred articles the Lord's allowed me to write. We give God the glory, and so please keep us in prayer as you feel so led. Support, and you can do that online securely. I give God the glory.
We just wrapped up our eighth youth camp of the summer. We had more than 400 teenagers since June that received Christ as their Savior. We give them material, we try to help them grow in the Lord.
So, folks, we're in it to win it. We love the Lord, we want the whole wide world to know. I'm sure you share that sentiment. Please keep us in prayer and consider supporting what God is doing through this ministry. And also, go to the website, if you would, matthewward.com.
He's our very special guest. And, Matthew, I just want to say how much I appreciate your time and just your stand for Jesus. For all these years, absolutely. I appreciate you very much. That's cool.
I appreciate you as well. I got to hear you fairly recently up at Andrew Womack's.
So that was kind of fun.
Well, that's great. And oh my goodness, talking about some things the Lord is doing, building that university up at Woodland Park, Colorado. You know, in a way, I mean, we're still, I think, on the ripple effect of the Jesus movement. Because as I travel, and I'll throw it back to you, but everywhere I go, it doesn't matter all 50 states and even Canada, I'll meet people and I'll say, How did you come to the Lord? Many, many people of a certain age will tell stories about how in the early 70s there was an amazing movement on campuses, a movement among young people, or people might say, well, my mother and dad got saved.
You know, at a Billy Graham event in 1973 or something. And, you know, do you still believe, and I do, but do you think we're still benefiting from the ripple effects of the Jesus movement that God began in Southern California so many years ago? I, you know, I think so. I mean, I think God. Loves to continue life and expose himself to as many people as he can in a very positive way.
That whole movement did that, and I think there are. Aspects of that and different channels that people are operating in that are a direct result of what happened. during what we call the Jesus movement.
So yeah, I think there's definitely still a A ripple effect, if you will, of what God did then is carrying on and being passed down. Kind of neat to see. Sure. Do you think, for those that have only read about it in books, tell us about the turbulence. Of the late sixties in the And does the season in which we're in now feel like that to you all over again?
Are there any similarities?
Well, you got to realize I was pretty young then, you know.
Okay.
So. It's hard for me to compare the realities of say the late sixties with what is current because the late 60s I was you know ten years old I was born in 58, so 68 out of 10. But I do see some similarities. I see there's a real big difference, though, too. I think.
As weird as it sounds, I think we had a better moral compass. in the late 60s. By and large, than we do now in this country. I think so many people have. Said wrong is right and right is wrong lately.
and are living that way. And are trying to pass laws that would push that sort of doctrine. When I didn't see it so much in the 60s, what I did see was a rebellion. uh against authority against the status quo and wanting to do it differently. There was that.
But I just think the compass is a bit screwed up. Today. Yeah.
I would agree. You know, even though in the sixties and early seventies, I mean, there were you know, there was a lot going on. And frankly, I think one of the worst things to ever happen to the world was the drug revolution of the sixties and just the um I've seen illegal drugs destroy more young lives, and that's very heartbreaking. But at least there was kind of this residue. Of the Christian moral compass, which I think to a degree has been almost just about forgotten.
Let me ask you, who are some of the other artists with whom you've worked that made an especially lasting impression on you? Other musical artists. Oh, sure. One of my favorites, just because I love her heart, and she's such a sweetie, and she's been consistent. Throughout the years, and we even had her come here about eight miles from where I live and help put a concert on that she did.
And we just like we had church, it was amazing. is uh Nancy Honeytree. I don't know if you know that name or are familiar with her, but She was definitely around. They had a place in Fort Wayne, Indiana called the Adams Apple, and it was a. Yeah, really cool little venue.
But she's uh she's made a real a real impact on me. Uh one of the people that I just loved to be with, 'cause she was sweet, and all that her voice was Kelly Willard. Was another one. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's obvious biggies, you know, Keith Green.
You know, I loved Andre Crouch, it was great, we got along great. I mean, you name it. I mean, I I knew pretty much everybody, but But those were the guys, you know, and Keggie was always fun to to be around and have stories, make them laugh and And whatnot.
So, you know, I just was fortunate to be involved with. Just about anybody that had any foot in the door with any kind of uh You know, say in that industry.
So it was fun. We're almost out of time, but talk to us about Vietnam. I know you're going there soon. We will be there very soon. Right.
I don't like to throw out dates because then that lets people know when to break into my house, you know. Yeah, sure, sure. But soon. And the thing I love about it is, it's an organization called World Challenge. It's been around forever.
It was started by David Wilkerson, Crossing the Switchblade. Yeah, sure, sure. Et cetera.
Well, one of his kids, one of his sons, Gary Wilkerson, is one of my best friends. I've known him for probably 48 years. We're gonna go over, my wife and I are going with them, he and his wife, Kelly. They have some orphanages there that we're going to check out. We kind of want to get more involved with kind of some of what they're doing over there because they've transitioned more into a.
what they call pure religion, taking care of the widows and the orphans. I mean, it's in the Bible, you know. Yes, it is. Oh, it's right there. And so we want to be front and center with that.
As we get older, it's something that we could look at and think we can handle doing. And so we're going to go over there just to kind of check out. you know, how they do what they're doing and you know how could we make things better or help them make things better. It's just an overview. deal right now, but it's gonna be powerful, I think.
Well, when you get back, I want you to come back on and tell us what God is doing. You know, in the meantime, I know your biography came out a few years ago. What's the title of your book, by the way? It's called My Second Chapter. Clever title.
There you go. There you go. We're almost out of time here. Brother, on behalf of millions of listeners, thank you. Oh, absolutely.
I loved it. Loved and appreciated. And we'll talk again soon, I hope. Alex McFarland here. What a joy to visit with the people God is using in such creative ways, Matthew Ward.
Among them. And remember, folks, Jesus is as close by as a prayer, and your labor in the Lord is not in vain. We'll see you next time. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth.
Learn more and donate securely online at alexmacfarlane.com. You may also reach us by calling 1-877-YESGOD and the number 1. That's 1-877-Y-E-S-G-O-D-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarlane Show.
Producer Mike for the Alex McFarlane Show, listen to this. Alex is the Christian voice we need right now. I love listening to him, and the guests he has on the show are just amazing. I highly recommend his podcast. Great words, Alex.
Well, we give God the glory. We thank the listeners for kind sentiments like that, but we give God all the glory. But, folks, please listen in, spread the word. You're spreading the gospel. Tell others about our programming, and we sincerely thank you.
