The Price of a Free Album

In 1979, Christian musician Keith Green made a decision that stunned the music industry. At the height of his popularity, with albums selling briskly and concert halls packed, he announced that his music would be available for whatever people could afford — including nothing at all. Anyone could write to his ministry, Last Days Ministries, and receive his records free of charge.

His record label thought he had lost his mind. Industry friends warned him he was throwing away a fortune. And in financial terms, they were right. Green and his wife Melody sacrificed potentially millions in revenue. But Green had become convinced of something that wouldn't let him go: the gospel should never have a price tag attached to it.

He didn't stop there. The Greens opened their Texas home to drug addicts, runaways, and anyone desperate enough to knock on their door. They fed them, housed them, and shared the love of Christ with them — often at great personal cost.

Keith Green died in a plane crash in 1982 at just twenty-eight years old. But his short life preached a sermon that still echoes: sacrifice isn't about what we lose. It's about what we declare to be more valuable than what we're holding.

The Apostle Paul understood this arithmetic. "I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8).

What are you gripping so tightly that the Almighty is asking you to open your hands and release?