Categories
Jesus

Voyage

Jesus walking on the waterToday’s story as told by Don Francisco in song is from Matthew 14:22-33, and is one of the most famous of the miracles of Jesus. Even those who don’t know about Jesus will have heard something about “walking on the water”. Again, the story is told from the point of view of one of its participants, this time by Peter. His boldness in the face of a frightening situation is another example of Peter’s willingness to do it all for Jesus, to demonstrate his trust. What makes this rendering of the story particularly meaningful is the message delivered in the final two lines. Wait for it – it’s well worth the journey through the song. 

From Don Francisco’s first album Brother Of The Son in 1976, here is Voyage To Gennesaret. As before, the audio Bible version used here is the 2002 dramatized NIV Audio Bible by Zondervan Publishing, read by Steven Johnston.

Eleven men besides myself
In a boat both small and light
Pushed off for Gennesaret
In the first watch of the night
But a storm blew up at midnight
Coming hard down on the prow
We started losing headway
Shipping water stern and bow

When someone shouted loud,
“Hey, look to starboard on the sea!”
The men screamed out in terror
At the form we all could see
A man was walking on the water,
And we trembled, cried and prayed
But He stopped and turned and spoke to us,
“It is I, don’t be afraid.”

I shouted out to Jesus,
“If it’s You, then call to me,
And tell me now to come to You
And walk across the sea.”
Without a second’s thought
He looked at me and answered, “Come!”
My insides turned to water
My mind went blank and numb.

I climbed across the gunwhale
Looking straight into His eyes
But long before I reached His side,
The wind began to rise
And I forgot Him in an instant
And I sank just like a stone
I cried out, “Jesus save me!”
And His hand was on my own.

“Oh man of little faith,” He said,
“What made you doubt My word.
Have you been this long with Me
Without knowing what you’ve heard?”

We climbed into the boat
And all at once the wind was gone
The sea turned calm and gentle
The day began to dawn.

We knelt amazed and worshipped Him
For the power He displayed
For all that we had seen
Had left us wondering and dismayed

It was not till after Pentecost
I could really understand
But even when I doubted Him,
He did not let go my hand.

Brother Of The Son, Don Francisco, 1976
Categories
Jesus

Tell It

Healing Jairus' daughterAny parent who has had a child who was gravely ill will tell you how very difficult it is to handle. There is a major feeling of helplessness to have a child that is sick, and who begs you to make him or her better. It is bad enough to have this happen if you live where there is modern medical care available; at least in those circumstances, you have a little assurance that a solution will be found. But imagine how difficult it would be with no healthcare available beyond folk remedies, and your child is sick with a fever, and continues to get more and more ill. What can you do? How do you handle it??

Today’s Bible story in song by Don Francisco is from Mark 5:22-24, and Mark 5:35-43. It involves this very problem, and the efforts made by the father to get the only help he could think of: The healer from Galilee, Jesus. From Don Francisco’s 1979 album of the same name, here is Got To Tell Somebody.  The audio Bible version used here is the 2002 dramatized NIV Audio Bible by Zondervan Publishing, read by Steven Johnston.

She kept on getting weaker as day dragged into day
The doctors gave no hope for her; she seemed to fade away
My hours were filled with constant dread; time became a knife
That slowly and relentlessly cut the cord of life

There was a teacher in the region then some of us had heard
That He’d healed a paralytic by the power of just His Word
So with hope again rekindled I went at once to see
If I could find a man named Jesus from a town in Galilee

I began to search the city and soon I saw the crowd
They were pressing in to touch Him and they called His Name out loud
But with the strength of desperation I pushed them all aside
I through myself before Him and from my knees I cried,

“Lord, come and heal my daughter! Even now she’s close to death!
Her fever’s uncontrollable, she fights for every breath.
But God’s given You the power; life is Yours to give;
If you’ll just lay Your hands on her I know that she will live.!
She will live, she will live.”

Well, He’d just begun to go with me when a face I saw with fear
Came towards me with the news I knew I didn’t want to hear
And although I tried to steel myself I trembled when he said
“Why bother the Teacher anymore? Your little girl is dead.”

Then Jesus touched my shoulder and He told me not to grieve
The trembling stopped when He looked at me and said, “Only believe!”
Then He sent the crowds away except His closest men
And they followed right behind us, as we started off again

But we were still a long ways down the road when I heard the sounds and cries
Of the mourners and musicians as they strove to dramatize
My grief they had no business with beneath their loud disguise
My wife just sat there silently, and stared through empty eyes

Then Jesus asked the mourners, “Why is it that you weep?
She isn’t dead as you suppose, the child is just asleep.”
It only took a moment for their wails to turn to jeers
“Who does this man think he is? Get him out of here!”

And with authority I’ve never heard in the lips of any man
He spoke and every sound rolled out with the thunder of command
And in the sudden silence they all hurried for the door
Wondering what the reasons were they’d ever come there for

Then He called his three disciples that were with Him on the way
He led them and my wife and me to where our daughter lay
He took her by the hand; He told her “Child, arise!”
And the words were barely spoken when she opened up her eyes!

She rose and walked across the room and stood there at our side
My wife knelt down and held her close and at last she really cried
And then Jesus told us both to see that our daughter had some food
But as to how her life was saved, not to speak a word…
Not to speak a word…

I got to tell somebody!

I got to tell somebody!

I got to tell somebody
I got to tell somebody
I got to tell somebody, got to tell somebody, what Jesus did for me
I got to tell somebody, got to tell somebody, what Jesus did for me
I got to tell somebody, got to tell somebody, what Jesus did for me
I got to tell somebody, got to tell somebody, what Jesus did for me!

Got To Tell Somebody, Don Francisco, 1979 You can purchase this music       

from the artist’s web site here.

Categories
Life

Made Up

RunnerThere are some who look upon Christians as those who have given up their rational minds in order to believe something that is a legend, unproven, entirely based on emotions. Clearly, they would state, science has told us all we need to know about the life, the universe and everything else, and anything that science cannot fully explain today is simply waiting to be discovered and explained tomorrow. To cling to an old religion is to turn one’s back on those obvious truths and decide to follow fairy tales. 

And yet, regardless of how much science ultimately learns about how things work, it will never be able to fully understand that part of people that makes them act the way they do. The reason I make that statement is that science looks for a biochemical abnormality that might explain why one man hates or kills another, or a behavioral model that gives statistical prediction about it. But raw, “unbiased” science (if such a thing actually exists) cannot explain why one person kills, and why another will give his own life to save another. 

Belief can come out of something that is seen and experienced. I step off the roof, and I will fall. A fact, provable and reproducible. But belief (or “faith”, if you will) can also rise from the degree of trust one places in those sources that teach about that truth. This is especially needed when the truth is something that cannot be observed or reproduced. If the evidence presented about that truth is valid, or those who were first-hand witnesses are trustworthy, then even a truth that cannot be seen with my own eyes can be believed. 

I had to take that stand years ago, when I took my child-like belief in Jesus, and made it an adult decision to live that faith. I found the evidence presented was trustworthy, and the experiences of life since that time have only strengthened that belief. I cannot build a time machine to see and observe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, any more than I can use that machine to know that Alexander the Great existed and conquered half the world, many years ago. The evidence is solid, the eye witnesses are believable. In short, I have made up my mind to believe in a truth I cannot touch with my five senses, but which I know nonetheless to be true.

This song by Morgan Cryar is called Made Up Mind, from his 1984 album Keep No Secrets. As I listen to it, I wish I had the ability to create a video to accompany it. The consistent beat is that of a runner, training for his race to win his prize. He runs with the sound of a coming storm in the background, lightening at times illuminating his path. As he runs, he has the certainty that he has made the right choice, that he has no regrets or doubts. Listen, and run that race yourself!

There is a choice we have to make
It’s like a leap we all must take
We must decide for heaven’s sake
While we still have time

I’m choosing Jesus here and now
And see, my hand is on the plow
No looking back is needed now
I have a made up mind

You take a made up mind
You take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

You take a made up mind
You take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

So gird your mind with all that’s true
Take a stand and see it through
Why not burn a bridge or two
And leave the old behind

So this is faith, the great divide
The final fence we cannot ride
And so I choose the righteous side
I have a made up mind

You take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

Take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

We make up our beds
We make up our face
When we’re late we make up for lost time
We make up a story
While we’re making our case
So i know I can make up my mind

You take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

You take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

It takes a made up mind
I have a made up mind
I have a steady hand
I have a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

It takes a made up mind
It takes a made up mind
It takes a made up mind
I have a made up mind!

Keep No Secrets, Morgan Cryar, 1984  
Categories
Jesus

Closer

Woman HealedIf you wanted to learn as much as possible about what a brilliant scientist knew, you would read what he had written. If you wanted to know how he did his work, you might visit him in his lab and watch him. But if you wanted to know him on a very personal level, you would try to spend time with him regularly, seeing how he acted, made his decisions, and lived his life. Doing this would make it possible to even predict what that scientist might do or say under certain circumstances. Being close to him on a regular basis is what would make this possible. 

Coming to know Jesus better involves something like this. Spend time getting to know Him: Learn what the Bible teaches about what He did, the words He said, and the actions he took during His life on earth. Spend time with Him in prayer, to hear His heart for you and for those in the world that you care about. As you do this on a regular basis, you find that your actions begin to more closely conform to His example. As with the example of the scientist, it is your closeness to your subject that makes you a better imitator of him. And you will also find as you become close to Him that He meets your needs ever more consistently. 

The next in the series of Don Francisco songs dealing with stories from the life of Jesus is taken from two passages of scripture, Mark 9:14-27 and Mark 5:25-34. The focus of these passages both deal with a miraculous healing that Jesus does for two people, and in both situations, these people have to get closer to Him in order to make it happen. From Don Francisco’s 1976 album Brother Of The Sun, here is Closer To Jesus. As before, the audio Bible version used here is the 2002 dramatized NIV Audio Bible by Zondervan Publishing, read by Steven Johnston.

Well, a woman with a burden of sickness twelve years
Heard that Jesus was coming her way
She didn’t stop to worry ’bout her doubts and her fears
She had to fight for every step of the way

Through the crowds that were pressing around Him
Through the heat and the dust of the road
And when she touched his cloak, God healed her body
He lifted her heavy load

If I can get a little closer to Jesus
Just a little bit closer to Jesus
Just a little bit closer to Jesus
Everything’s gonna be all right

Now a man asked Jesus’ disciples
If they could deliver his only son
From a spirit that threw him into water and fire
But with them it just could not be done

So he called out to Jesus saying “Lord I believe;
Help me in my unbelief !”
Jesus had mercy, He healed his son
He took away all of his grief

If I can get a little closer to Jesus
Just a little bit closer to Jesus
Just a little bit closer to Jesus
Everything’s gonna be all right

Now the story ’bout touching the hem of His garment
Nearly everybody knows
But that woman was healed by her faith in God
And not by Jesus’s clothes

And the boy with the unclean spirit was delivered
When everybody’s faith was gone
When his father cried out, saying “Lord I’m weak!”
And Jesus made his weakness strong!

If I can get a little closer to Jesus
Just a little bit closer to Jesus
Just a little bit closer to Jesus
Everything’s gonna be all right

Now if you want to get a little closer to Jesus
There’s nobody to stand in your way
You don’t have to wait for another disciple
To find the right words to say

‘Cause He is the same, today and forever
No matter what the Devil may do
And if you need a little faith or some more of God’s Spirit
Just ask Him and He’ll give it to you

And you can get a little closer to Jesus
Just as close as you want to to Jesus
Get a whole lot closer to Jesus
Everything’s gonna be all right

And you can get a little closer to Jesus
Just as close as you want to to Jesus
Get a whole lot closer to Jesus
Everything’s gonna be all right

Brother Of The Son, Don Francisco, 1976 You can purchase this music     

from the artist’s web site here.