#267 JUSTICE by Steve Camp (1988)

JUSTICE by Steve Camp (1988)
Sparrow SPD-1172

Producer:
Steve Camp

File Under: CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Playing Marbles With Diamonds

By 1988, Steve Camp was already developing a reputation as the conscience of CCM. He was a FOL (friend of Larry) in the Jesus Music days but steered clear of Norman’s Solid Rock label. Signing instead with Myrrh, Camp released three albums of accessible pop/rock CCM. 

L-R: Larry Norman, Steve Camp, Keith Green

And then Keith Green died in a fiery plane crash.

Beginning with 1983’s It’s a Dying World, Camp’s music took on a more somber, even defiant tone. He felt a call of sorts to pick up Green’s mantle and deliver contemporary music with a prophetic edge.

Sure, there was the occasional Lazy Jane just to give the video shows something to play on Saturday nights, but most of Camp’s 1980s albums featured strong words of conviction, much of it directed at the Church. Now that I think about it, even the light and bouncy Lazy Jane was a pretty direct indictment of complacent Christians! At times it seemed that Camp’s lyrical sharp elbows contained a little bit of anger or judgment, whereas most people excused Green’s as coming from a place of passion. 

Steve was already somewhat of a firebrand by the time Justice hit store shelves. And the material on this album took things up a notch or two.

Steve Camp was “born in a religious town that had a very good name,” as we learned in a song called Shake Me to Wake Me. Born in 1955 in Wheaton, IL, Camp later studied music composition and theory at Roosevelt University in Chicago. After one single, released on a secular label, Camp settled in at Myrrh. He struck gold on his third album (For Every Man) with Run to the Battle, a song that would top Christian radio charts for 16 straight weeks.

The song contained the line, “I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of hell,” foreshadowing the tone and plainspoken nature of Camp’s later work. Camp relocated from Myrrh to Sparrow in 1984.

Justice was Steve Camp’s 9th album and is notable for taking on serious issues that weren’t always tackled head-on by his peers in the Christian music industry.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

The title track is a mid-tempo rocker with some gritty harmonica work by Terry McMillan. This one wastes no time taking on adultery/fornication, Nancy Reagan’s reliance on astrology, Oral Roberts’ fundraising techniques, churchgoers who do not feed the poor...it even questions President Reagan’s Christian faith. 

Yep, we’re off and running.

"I think the title cut I took the most criticism about," Steve revealed in an interview with Jan Willem. "There was the verse on President Reagan. I voted for him, but again, a man's politics is one thing but a believer's politics should reflect, I believe, the values of his faith. When someone claims to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and yet gets his daily direction from the stars, then you have to question whether that man is sincerely a Christian."

[The astrology thing was all Nancy. -Ed.] 

Near the end of the song, Justice contains this thought...

Take your evil deeds

Out of my sight

Stop doing what is wrong

And do what is right

Well, there you go. That sums up a lot of Steve Camp songs, right?

Interestingly, the term ‘justice’ has been pretty effectively hijacked by the political and religious left these days, and Steve Camp is neither! On the album's back cover, Camp defines justice as "the holiness and mercy of God in action." He wrote, "The highest demonstration of this was Jesus laying down his life for the atonement of our sin. With Christ as our example, may we exercise compassion to our world..." and then he quotes the famous passage from Philippians 2 that says our attitude should be like that of Christ Jesus. 

L-R: Rob Frazier, President Trump, Steve Camp

Sidebar: In recent years, Camp has come under criticism for his vocal, public support of President Donald Trump. Sort of makes you wonder about Camp's friendship and close, working relationship with the decidedly anti-Trump Rob Frazier. Frazier co-wrote virtually the entire Justice album with Camp and sang some background vocals. Of course, it’s always possible that the two (who toured together and collaborated a lot back in the day) just decided to agree to disagree where politics were concerned and focus on more important things.

"Shakeup Tour" poster: Rick Cua, Steve Camp & Rob Frazier

In a Crossrhythms interview, Camp told Jan Willem, "Rob is a good buddy of mine, he's a pastor's kid and I'm not, so it gives a good balance. When we first met we hit it off immediately. We started to write songs and it seemed like we were a good complement for each other. We've written for each other's records and for other artists. Rob has had a good year, his album Heartland has done well in the States. I thank the Lord for Rob."

Maybe Frazier’s leftward tilt is a recent phenomenon, who knows...

Next up is one of the record’s better tracks. Music critic Thom Granger thinks Playing Marbles with Diamonds owes a little something to Jackson Browne, musically. Recorded in the wake of the Jimmy Swaggart and PTL scandals, this song laments the fact that “our heroes are falling” and “a leader is hard to find.” Camp offers a somewhat harsh critique of his fellow Christians when he sings...

There's a whole lot more than preaching to the choir

Kneeling at the altar or paying our tithe

We've been treating God like He's happiness for hire

We've been playing marbles with diamonds

Camp never did like awards shows. He was asked in an interview what he would do if he ever won a Dove award. "I'd walk up and put it down on the stage and say, 'If anyone would like this, they can take it home as a paper-weight, or you can cut off the top and use it like a vase. I'm happy to be honoured by the GMA, but that's not why we sing. We sing to honor Jesus Christ, to serve Him. This award means nothing in the economy of God.'"

Lauren Daigle displaying some hardware

He continued: "Most likely, I wouldn't go to the awards show. I certainly won't go from here on in. I didn't go last year. I want to do something better with my time. I'd rather be at home with my wife and kids than be at that stupid show." And so he delivers a thinly veiled jab at the Doves with these lines from Playing Marbles...

We thank the "man upstairs" for the things people praise us for

Oh, we give God the glory but we're happy to take the award

And he wasn’t done. Keep in mind this was in the pre-megachurch era... 

There's a whole lot more than raising lots of money

Building our churches and spreading our fame

Faith is just the dice that you roll to get lucky

We've been playing marbles with diamonds

Camp then worries that “we've been riding down a freeway instead of on a narrow road” before one of the coolest endings you’ll hear anywhere. Overall, a very effective and memorable song.

In a ballad called Don’t Tell Them Jesus Loves Them, Camp says don’t bother unless you’re willing to love them, too. This one laments the plight of prostitutes and the hungry. If you get the feeling that this would not make a good party album...you’re very perceptive. By the way, the unmistakable voice of Ashley Cleveland can be heard in a supporting role on this track; Cleveland sings backing vocals on 9 of the album’s ten songs.

Living Dangerously in the Hands of God might have been inspired by Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, the famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards. The music to this one was almost certainly inspired by Bruce Hornsby’s sound that was popular at that time. Living Dangerously calls the believer to risk it all, be faithful to God’s call, abandoned to grace and anchored in the Lord’s love. The song’s first of two recitations is vintage Camp:

There's safety in complacency. But God is calling us out of our comfort zone into a life of complete surrender to the cross. To live dangerously is not to live recklessly but righteously. And it is because of God's radical grace for us that we can risk living a life of radical obedience for Him.

In the late 1980s, AIDS was scary. More than just an STD, it was a death sentence. Wrapping up Side One of Justice was a We Are the World/Do Something Now-style anthem that challenged Christians to reach out to AIDS sufferers with love and compassion. The song is remembered for a provocative line that asked, Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry? This one got quite a bit of attention and radio airplay. It featured the Bobby Jones Nashville Choir and some vocal gymnastics from the likes of Margaret Becker, BeBe Winans, Marty McCall and Steve Green. Jim Horn turns in an impassioned sax solo.

When it came to AIDS, Camp did more than talk. He was actively involved for a time with an AIDS ministry. "I visit AIDS patients in many cities that I go to," he told Crossrhythms magazine. "We have established a hospice in a house in Nashville. I do visit some. In the States we have AIDS patients that come to concerts. They come out and I always give a 10 minute segment or so on the AIDS issue."

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been challenged enough to last me a while...and we’ve got a whole side to go!

First, a look at the all-star cast responsible for Justice. In addition to those already mentioned, the record also included performances by keyboardists Phil Madeira, John Andrew Schreiner, Carl Marsh and Phil Naish; guitarists James Hollihan, Dave Perkins, Michael Landau, and Jerry McPherson; the great Al Perkins on peddle steel; Leland Sklar on bass; and drummers Chris McHugh (of White Heart) and Carlos Vega. Camp himself played keyboards and did some drum machine programming.

Justice was produced by Steve Camp and recorded by David Schober, with assistance from engineers Wade Jennings, Howard Steel, Carry Summers and Kevin Twit (and you can thank the Lord every day that your name isn’t Twit. Would’ve made middle school especially difficult, right?). The album was recorded at Bill Schnee Studios in North Hollywood, CA, at The Bennett House in Franklin, TN, and at OmniSound Studios in Nashville. It was mixed by Bill Schnee, Jeff Balding, and David Schober at Bill Schnee Studios, OmniSound Studios, and the much-loved Mama Jo's Recording Studio in North Hollywood, CA. Justice was mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab in LA. 

Barbara Catanzaro-Hearn and Peter Nomura took care of the art direction, design and artwork, while Mark Tucker and Victoria Pearson took the photos.

Justice sort of runs out of gas on Side Two.

First up, the provocatively titled Hell is Burning While the Church Sleeps is unequally yoked. The pointed lyrical barbs are weakened by the generic rock and roll on this track. Just doesn’t seem like the right marriage of words and music. I don’t know...it feels like Steve had already mentioned the devil and hell in so many songs that it had just sort of lost its punch by this point. The shock value was gone. But the song contains its share of Keith Greenisms...including Camp literally name-dropping Green in the lyrics!

Outside, the battle rages on

Inside, it's nice and safe and warm

No need to ever be alarmed

Like our dear brother Keith once said:

"We're so well fed, but still we're dead!"

We need to hear it once again

Camp has revealed that the title of this song came from a book written by Leonard Ravenhill, who was a close friend of Keith Green. [Ed. note - I had the opportunity to visit the grave markers for Keith Green and his children at a cemetery near Lindale, Texas in 2018. Leonard Ravenhill's grave is just a few feet away.] "I miss Keith and I praise the Lord for his zeal for God while he was still alive," said Camp. "I think Keith showed me that Christian music ought to be biblically based, exciting, enjoyable and fun to listen to, but never compromising or watering down the truth to accomplish that. No hidden lyrics, no double meanings, no crossover goals here. Keith was not trying to crossover into the secular market just to make a name for himself. He was trying to boldly proclaim the Cross and he knew the Cross carried with it an offence. And so, yeah, I praise the Lord for Keith."

L-R: Leonard Ravenhill, Keith Green

Then, apparently we were watching too much Wheel of Fortune. I’m tellin’ ya...nothing got by Steve!

Oh, we burn away the hours

By the light of our TV

While Pat and Vanna tell us

There's a "Wheel" to meet our need

But we've got a job to do

We must do it very well

If we can ever live the truth

We can rescue our neighbor from hell

In a call-back to his debut album, Camp covers Larry Norman with The Great American Novel. On his first release, Camp covered 2 or 3 Norman songs and it’s nice to see him pay tribute once again to the Founding Father of Christian Rock, even if this particular cover is a bit uninspired. AllMusic reviewer Darryl Cater accuses Camp of turning this track into a “Phil Collins synth ballad.”

Servants Without Scars is an unmemorable, unremarkable song. Like many others from Camp's catalog, it’s about holiness, purity, sacrifice.

Love That Will Not Let Me Go is a beautiful and thoughtful power ballad on God’s love, and the album closes with I Believe in You, an “I’ll be there for you, man” heartland rocker.

In the words of one reviewer, “If you're ready to consider the possibility that Jesus demands a lot more of your life than warming a seat on Sundays and a quick prayer before eating, this might be the kick in the seat of the pants you need.” 

"I know [Justice] was a bit controversial," Camp said in that Crossrhythms interview, "especially the songs about AIDS and so on. I didn't set out to be controversial with the record. The book of Micah is really what I based the theme of Justice on. I know it's a familiar verse, but Micah 6:8 says, 'What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.' That really sums up a lot of the practicality of being a Christian. So reading that and hearing Tony Campolo speak on the theme of justice I felt: 'Boy, justice is doing what's right.' Isaiah 30, verse 9 says, 'This is a rebellious people, false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instructions of the Lord.' That's kind of our culture today, people refusing to listen to the truth, although they have it. Verse 10 says this: 'Who say to the seers you must not see visions and to the prophets you must not prophesy to us what is right but speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions.' People are taken with illusions today rather than what is right; what makes them feel good rather than what is true. So Justice wrote itself very easily. I looked at the AIDS issue and hunger. I only had to look in the mirror to see a sleeping Christian at the time. I had to write about my own depravity; I was thinking about others as well but l really only had to write about myself and to ask 'Have I done justice? Have I shown mercy? Have I walked humbly with my God? Have I helped people with AIDS? Am I the one playing marbles with diamonds?' When I delivered [it] to the [record] company, their first response was 'Why did you make such a negative album?' I looked at it as being honest. Justice was a turning point for me. It took a while to sell, but it sold very well in the States."

In his Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, author Mark Allan Powell called Justice “both challenging and accessible, compelling and memorable.”

For the most part, Steve Camp’s music took on a softer, more adult contemporary tone in the post-Justice years. 

Over time, Steve Camp developed a reputation as an outspoken critic of the CCM industry. He ruffled all kinds of feathers with his 107 THESES: A Call to Reformation for the Contemporary Christian Music Industry in 1998. It was a document that called for all in the CCM industry to return to the authority of Scripture, to spiritual accountability, and to reject being unequally yoked with an unbelieving world. Let’s just say it was met with mixed reviews. He also got in a little hot water when he publicly criticized a “worship” tour featuring Michael W. Smith and Third Day because Chevrolet was the tour’s main sponsor. And then there was the time he used a bad word in a CCM interview. 

The guy has been no stranger to controversy.

And it does get under some people’s skin. But I, like many others, appreciate his passion, conviction, and uncompromised stance. Above all, I appreciate his love for and devotion to the Word of God. Yes, at times his songs were “preachy.” But many of his songs also spoke beautifully of God’s love and grace. I mean, c'mon...would a self-righteous pharisee reach out to AIDS patients in the 1980s, at the height of the fear and hysteria? Would an angry, judgmental man write a song encouraging us to "love them back to life again?"

Over the years, Camp obtained an immense working knowledge of Scripture and theology, reading an average of 3-4 books a week, studying the Greek language, and gathering an expansive personal library of historical and theological works. Today, he pastors a church in Florida. Calvinist, satirist, biblical reformer, evangelical provocateur, singer, songwriter, producer, pastor, teacher. Camp ain’t messin’ around. 

I for one am thankful that Steve Camp is still living dangerously in the hands of God.