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The Beat Producer  |
. : Author : .  From:: Northern Indiana, United States I'm a 40-something Drummer for Jesus in Northern Indiana--quite fond of Terl Bryant, Iona, The Choir, and praising Jesus, not necessarily in that order! I also enjoy great American steaks with good friends. I love kicking out a beat for Jesus. View my complete profile . : My Music : .
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008Larry Norman is with the Lord Jesus Christ NowFebruary 25, 2008 Welcome home, Larry "This world is not my home. I'm just passin' through..." Larry Norman is one special person. I trust the information I get from solidrock.com, and last night the following message came my way via email: Hello everybody. Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in bed with him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past week laughing, singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had us taking notes on new song ideas and instructions on how to continue his ministry and art. Several of you friends here got to come and visit with him in the last couple of weeks and were a great source of help and friendship to Larry. Ray Sievers, Derek Robertson, Mike Makinster, Matt Simmons, and a few more. Thank you guys. Larry appreciated your visits very much. And he greatly appreciated the thoughts, wishes, support and prayers that came from all of you Army members on a daily basis. Thank you for being part of his small circle of friends over the years. Yesterday afternoon he knew he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the following message to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these words into Larry's computer: ________________________________ I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home. My brother Charles is right, I wont be here much longer. I cant do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help. My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you. I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again. Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again Somewhere beyond the sky. I pray that you will stay with God Goodbye, my friends, goodbye. -Larry ________________________________ I had the priviledge of knowing Larry. I only have two regrets regarding the man: one, when Leviticus plus John (Linn?) on guitar were rehearsing tunes for the following day's concert near Omaha, Nebraska. He had to take a phone call or something and left the rehearsal room. I should've jumped up and grabbed the microphone and tore through the song "Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?" I knew the words and my unskilled punk rock attack of the song surely would've put a smile on his face. I chickened out. Two, I just wish I would have called him more often. I so enjoyed the conversations I'd had with him. It was great to get "off-subject" and chat about Catholicism, the JFK assasination, or any number of things. I was thrilled to know that he liked my old punk band's songs, like "Mad At The Girls," etc. Now Larry is face to face with the one he has loved for so long. Regardless of anything you hear about the guy (he's actually made some enemies within Christian circles, believe it or not), he was resolute and rock solid consistent on one thing: his love for Jesus. His call for the church to remember the poor never seemed to waver, either. If you wanted to send flowers to his family or something, might I suggest something else: 1. go and spend 2 hours sitting next to a homeless person and just chatting (about the weather, his/her health, music, God, whatever ... just visiting) 2. donate some time or money to a homeless shelter near where you live 3. buy some groceries for a needy family and drop them off (maybe start by knocking on their door, saying, "Hi, I'm heading to the store. Is there anything you need? I'm glad to buy it for you...") 4. sponsor a child in a poor country. 5. then maybe send a note to his family via the solid rock records address, telling them what you did in lieu of flowers. I'm sure it would brighten their day. I can imagine that, at some point, Larry will shift from love and adoration and worship to curiousity. That might take a few thousand years, but at some point he'll ask the Lord some of the questions that he vocalized in his lyrics, his liner notes and in his talks. Posted by Doug Van Pelt at 09:17 AM | Comments (2) February 24, 2008 The soundtrack to the changing of the world I want to change the world. I want to be part of that. I am inspired with hope, but am also struck with fear, when I think about the call and the daunting task. But if U2 can be the soundtrack, count me in. If their rising crescendo of hope-filled anthems will accompany me on this journey, hot-dog, let's go! By the way, there's a series of four interviews between Bill Hybels & Bono on youtube that are fascinating. Posted by Doug Van Pelt at 08:44 PM | Comments (0) Thanks Doug Van Pelt for this blog from The Beat Producer I am passing it on to my readers Larry Norman's music touched me as a young Christian man back in the 70's when I was still a teenager, probably about circa:1978 was the first time I heard his music I know this man is with our Lord Jesus right now worshiping at our King's feet In 1993 and 1994 I was a member of the Michigan based hard rock music ministry that ministered at a juvenile jail and churches in the Grand Rapids area, the name of the band "Unschooled Ruffians" was actually taken from a Larry Norman lyric from one of his songs "Why don't you look into Jesus" from Larry's 1976 album "In Another Land" God Bless The Beat Producer for Jesus Jack L Gildea South Bend, IN USA 
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