Many of the songs from the Jesus movement had themes that came out of stories from the Bible. But there are few writers who did this as well as Don Francisco. He had a way of taking a passage from the Bible, putting the story in lyric form, and singing it with such passion that you were there, right in the story. On his first four albums, released between 1976 and 1981, he had nine songs that dealt with the life of Jesus, and then on his seventh album added one more.
I enjoyed these songs so much that I created my own “album” of them that I called The Gospel According To Don Francisco, just for personal use. I located the Bible verse from which the song was taken, took that audio from a Bible-on-tape, and then played that song, putting them all in chronological order. Since we are starting the season of Lent, I decided to share these tracks. So, between now and Easter, it will be a Don Francisco marathon!
Back in this post and this post I discussed the call of Jesus to his disciples, and how they chose to drop everything they were doing to obey and follow Him. Inspired by the text in Luke 5:1-11, Don Francisco also dealt with these themes in his song Come And Follow from his first album, the 1976 release Brother Of The Son. The audio Bible version used here is the 2002 dramatized NIV Audio Bible by Zondervan Publishing, read by Steven Johnston.
Me and Andrew, we’d been fishin’
The best part of last night
We’d caught nothin’ for all our tryin’
Come the mornin’, and the light
Then I saw Him, and He asked me
To take Him out a little ways from the land
He was teachin’ all the people
They listened there in silence on the sand.Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.
Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.When He’d ended all His teaching
He turned around and spoke again to me
He said, “Simon, row out farther,
Drop your nets once again into the sea”
And I said, “Master, we’ve been workin’
Since the sundown yesterday!
But one more time, I’ll throw them over
Just because it’s You who say…”Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.
Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.
Follow Me, Follow MeJames and John, they’re both my witnesses
To the truth in what I’ve told
How our nets were filled to bursting
More than both our boats could ever hold
And I fell down there before Him
Crying, “Leave me, Lord — I’m full of sin!”
He said, “Simon, don’t be frightened,
Follow Me, you will learn to fish for men.”Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.
Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.
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You can purchase this music
from the artist’s web site here. |
Tags: Don Francisco, following, Jesus
The life of a follower of Jesus is many things. It is a turning away from darkness toward the light. It is submission to the will of God, and giving up on my will. It is obedience to a way of life that might make no sense to me; to love my enemies, to do good to those who would try to use and abuse me. It is to stand up for what is right, and to stand against what is wrong.
It is all of these things, and more.
And yet, the most important thing is to put myself under the lordship of God, to do as He commands. And what does He command? In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the Law. He responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.” So Jesus put the essence of the law as love. And an importance part of love is service, to God and to my neighbor.
Yet the soul does not willingly give up its demand to be the boss, to be the center of the universe, to say “mine!” and “me first!”. It is a change from the mind set of a toddler to the mind set of an adult, to be able to set my rights aside, and to put the rights and needs of others above mine. And this is the essence of being a servant.
Larry Norman often ended his live concerts by singing the song, I Am A Servant. It tells of a person who has recognized the difficulty in being a servant, and what he has learned that he lacks in his life by avoiding service. Here is the song from Norman’s 1976 album, In Another Land.
I am a servant
I am listening for my name,
I sit here waiting
I’ve been looking at the game
That I’ve been playing
And I’ve been staying much the same
When you are lonely
You’re the only one to blame.I am a servant
I am waiting for the call,
I’ve been unfaithful
So I sit here in the hall.
How can you use me
When I’ve never given all,
How can you choose me
When you know I’d quickly fall.So you feed my soul
And you make me grow,
And you let me know you love me
And I’m worthless now
But I’ve made a vow,
I will humbly bow before thee.
O please use me
I am lonely.I am a servant
Getting ready for my part
There’s been a change
A rearrangement in my heart
At last I’m learning
There’s no returning once I start.
To live’s a priviledge
To love is such an art
But I need your help to start,
O please purify my heart
I am your servant.
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Tags: Larry Norman, service
The latest episode of Full Circle, the radio show done by Jesus Solid Rock veteran Jerry Bryant, is available to listen to. You search the iTunes Store for “Full Circle”, and subscribe to it. This latest episode includes more great Jesus music from the past, as well as an interview with Annie Herring of the 2nd Chapter of Acts about how her music started, and how she came to find the Lord.
The show is well worth a listen, and if you want to see Jerry continue to do this show, please consider donating to the show at the PayPal link on his web site (see the link to the right).
I waited many years for God to bring me to the point where I was ready to meet the woman that He had selected for me to marry. When that right moment came, He blessed our friendship and grew it into the love of our lives. I am so grateful to Him for all the joys she has brought to me, the things I have learned from our marriage, and the way in which our love each year becomes sweeter and deeper. I cannot imagine spending my life with anyone else.
Proverbs 31:10-31 describes that amazing perfect woman that probably many women yearn to be. I am not saying that my lovely wife fits all of the characteristics described here (are there any women out there who do?), but I feel that I can truthfully say what the writer says in verses 28-30:
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
In 1986, Buddy Greene recorded the song Virtuous Woman for his album Praise You, Lord. I think of my Kim whenver I hear it.
(written by Ashley Cleveland and Buddy Greene)
A virtuous woman came into my life
The crown of her husband, an excellent wife
She gives me more than I’ll ever need
This virtuous woman, a blessing indeedSo skillfully busy with the work of her hands
Tending her household and all it demands
Clothed in her strength and her dignity
My virtuous woman, a wonder to meAnd Jesus wants me to love her
The way that He loves me
Sacrificing my own desires
Attending to her needs
As He does for meBeauty is empty and charm a deceit
But her steadfast love is a treasure to me
No words of contention, no thorn in my side
Just a virtuous woman, my beautiful brideAnd Jesus wants me to love her
The way that He loves me
Sacrificing my own desires
Attending to her needs
As He does for meA virtuous woman came into my life
The crown of her husband, an excellent wife
She gives me more than I’ll ever need
This virtuous woman, a blessing indeedMy virtuous woman, what a treasure to me
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You can purchase this album on cassette
from the artist’s web site here. |
Tags: Buddy Greene, love, marriage
