As I’ve told you a month or so ago, the Mississippi Kairos Music Team has released a new CD of the best Praise and Worship Songs, played and sung better than you ever heard those two dozen songs done before.  

That ain’t bragging, and I had a confirmation of that fact, which I suppose is safe to tell you now.

Immediately after the initial release of that CD, we left on a trip that took us close to 2,000 miles through four states, most of it Interstate driving, which as you probably know may be rightly classed as high speed travel!

When there is a 70 MPH limit, I can see pushing that a little when on long straight deserted stretches, but we all know that the worst high-speed driving is in and around large cities. Why the police don’t enforce the speed limits around, say, Atlanta, is beyond me, unless the cops simply have better sense than to get out there amongst all those fools!

Big Robert taught me to (excuse my French, but it’s a direct quote) drive with the mantra: “Son, you just drive like everyone else on the road is a damn fool!” He drummed that into me, growing up.

Okay, once a country boy has negotiated urban interstate traffic around a couple of major cities, then lined out on an Interstate Highway with relatively little traffic in sight, he relaxes some, plugs a good CD into the car stereo, and breathes a sigh of relief.

I done that, and the CD I plugged in was the one with me singing both lead and bass with the MS Kairos Music Team. The Kairos Prison Ministry is a 30+ year-old organization that works in 32 states and a dozen foreign countries presently, and it’s been in MS of almost 20 years. I got into it 17 years ago, and it has been a Major Blessing in my life, as well as Betsy’s.

That CD starts off with a lively rendition of “I’ll Fly Away,” then goes right into the good version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and goes through songs like “Down by the Riverside, Jesus on the Mainline, Jesus is the Rock,” and others before building up to the slower worship songs like “Yahweh,” and “Abba Father,” and “Holy Ground,” then a crescendo builds toward the end with “Bread of Life, Our God Reigns, Hallelujah He Is Coming,” and the Kairos National Anthem, “Lights of the City.”  

I hit that last crescendo while on an almost deserted stretch of highway, and I was really With It! I mean, I was helping out on those low notes with the bass turned up, so I could feel them in my breastbone!

Then I saw the blue lights coming up fast behind me.

When that happens, you initially tap the brakes, glance at the speedometer, and hope that the patrolman is merely coming by you headed for an emergency somewhere ahead of you on the highway, right? I pulled over to let him by, but he slowed behind me while I braked and pulled onto the gravel shoulder.

Thinking fast, I grabbed another copy of that CD, and bailed out of the car. I met him between our vehicles with the question, “Sir, are you a Christian?”

That took him aback momentarily, but he nodded, opening his mouth to say that he didn’t mind giving out tickets to speeding Christians, but I interrupted, “Do you like good Praise and Worship Music?”

He frowned and nodded while flipping to a blank page on his ticket book, but I forced the CD into his hand atop the book.

“Well, I work in the Kairos Prison Ministry, and our Kairos Music Team has just released this new CD, and I was listening to it, and just got caught up in the Spirit, out here where it’s almost deserted – except for me and you. I deserve a ticket for my sins, and here’s my business card with my address and phone number.  

I’m asking you to plug in this CD on a long stretch of road, and see if by the end of  it you aren’t caught up in the Spirit, too, and maybe you’ll understand why I was going a little faster than I should have been, and you’ll have mercy on me. If not, call me and I’ll send you a check for whatever I owe you tonight, but keep the CD.”

It’s been two months, and I haven’t heard back from him, thank the Lord. If you’d like that powerful CD, send Kairos $23 @ P.O. Box 6, Stoneville MS 38776!