Without Love: A Collection of Songs and Thoughts

By Reverend Eric Perry

Have you ever experienced something that left you scratching your head while asking these questions: Who thought this was a good idea? or Where is God in this mess? Eric Perry has wrestled with these questions. Without Love is a unique collection of writings and songs from his life experiences. The book examines bad times, unexpected loss, suffering, faith, and hope from the power of Christs love shared. In the midst of the most tragic life experiences, Perry has found that Christ is present. Without Love shares the inspiration behind Perrys style of songwriting, and he invites the reader to join the Welkin Ringers Woo Hoo Jubilee Band.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512762853

Reverend Eric Perry

Eric Perry grew up chasing his bluetick coonhounds through the swamps and woods of southern Michigan. He graduated from Lakeview High School and Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek. He earned a BA in philosophy and religion from Spring Arbor University and an MA in comparative religion from Western Michigan University. An ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church of North America, he has been a pastor for over twenty years and has taught as an adjunct college instructor. Having experienced the painful loss of his first wife, Dana, to breast cancer in 2004, he raised his four young children as a single father. He married his wife Kari in 2011 and joined their families, which consists of nine children. Perry is a musician and songwriter. His musical genre blends gospel, blues, rock, and country into a style he calls northern blue zydeco. He enjoys reading Michigan folklore, fishing, hunting, and actively supporting the modern-day abolitionist movement. He lives on a farm in Hastings, Michigan.

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Copyright © 2016 Eric Perry.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-6286-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6287-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6285-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016918488

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/22/2016

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Without Love: Liner Notes

Bad Times

Motherless Children

Soul Cry

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Port-au-Prince

Snakebite

Tree’d a Possum

North Star Freedom

Fried Chicken Evangelism

A Table Set for Three (2015)

The Bluesman

Comin’ Home

Hit the Sawdust Trail

The Welkin Ringers Woo Hoo Jubilee Band

Iron Horse Rolling Songbook

Junker George

Michigan Steel

Angelique and the Loup Garou

Soul Cry

Your Wanted Man

Snakebite

North Star Freedom

Tree’d a Possum

Port-au-Prince

A Table Set for Three

Eye of the Gator

How Do I Pray for an Angel?

Mean Old Train Blues

Fond du Lac-Cadillac

In loving memory of Dana Maria Perry and

Michael L. Gillen

Foreword

Raw is a short word with a deep meaning and multiple nuances. Raw human emotion is intense, unconcealed, unrestrained, passionate, and powerful. Very few people are willing to risk being vulnerable or transparent to the degree their soul is laid open for any and all to see. In this sense, Eric Perry is a raw author, poet, songwriter, and preacher.

In Without Love, Pastor Eric invites us to enter into a lifetime of stories filled with joy, sorrow, humor, tragedy, grace, friendship, loss, faith, hope, and love. These stories are woven intricately and carefully with the use of lyrics from a plethora of musical genres, quotes from the sages of time, verses from the Bible, and, of course, Eric’s own personal experiences.

In this unique devotional, I found my heart challenged by Eric’s many stirring examples of how he humbly fulfilled Jesus’s command to love one another. As Eric shares from his vast vault of adventures, his ability to faithfully love others is so clearly evident. This ability to love both the lovely and the unlovable is an attribute I desire to possess more consistently. It is an attribute our world desperately needs more of.

For the past twenty years, I have walked alongside Eric as a close friend and co-laborer for Christ in ministry. We have hiked together through some of the highest peaks of joy, laughter, and triumphs. We also have meandered across some of the deepest valleys a human heart can enter.

In