Go big or go home, right? Well, Larry Norman did both when he ended the album In Another Land (and his present-past-future album trilogy) with the grand-sounding-though-less-than-two-minutes-long "Hymn to the Last Generation". The title and the first half of the lyric definitely put this in the same end-times/apocalyptic vein as some other songs on the album: Might as well face it, the world as we know it is coming to an end.
And then we get the evangelistic plea and the promise of a better life to come: There's no need to fear; Jesus Christ is here.
Truth is...Whether Jesus comes back tomorrow or a million years from now, our only hope for making our lives in this world (and the next) what they were meant to be is to walk hand-in-hand with Jesus.
We've made it to the penultimate song on Larry Norman's album, In Another Land, and we get a musical love letter that not only declares Norman's love for a short list of special friends, but also Jesus' love for everyone's friends.
Well my life is filled with songs
But I just could not get along without my friends
And I'm happy now, but when this good life ends
I know a better life begins
And love to you, Sir Stonehill
Armed with your axe full gallop on your amp
Ah, you're so crazy but you know it
And I love you as we both crawl toward the Lamp
With Clapton on guitar, and Charlie on the drums
McCartney on the Hofner bass with blisters on his thumbs
Dear Bobby, watch your fears all hide
And disappear while love inside starts growing
You're older but less colder
Than the jokes and folks you spent your childhood snowing
Truth is...I couldn't have a better hope for this blog. Maybe these words that get published every week don't make a lot of sense to you, but even so, I hope the Spirit of God slips through and makes His love for you real in your life.
Larry Norman has been credited (mostly, by himself) as the originator of the "One Way" symbol: pointing a single finger skyward as an indication of wanting Jesus to receive any and all honor and praise.
In the song "One Way", Norman uses the phrase to emphasize a truth spoken by Peter in Acts 4:12. "There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." And he does it while quoting/paraphrasing Robert Frost.
One way, one way to Heaven
Hold up high your hands
One way, free and forgiven
Children of the Lamb
Two roads diverged in the middle of my life
I heard a wise man say
And I took the one less traveled by
And that's made the difference, every night and every day
Why are diamonds so valuable? Because people say they are. Sure, sure...you can discuss the difficulty of acquiring diamonds compared to copper or quartz, but the only reason anyone goes to the trouble (beyond industrial uses like drill bits) is because someone somewhere decided that this particular mineral was more beautiful-desirable-valuable than another. What we deem valuable makes a difference.
Larry Norman's song Diamonds touches on the difference between intrinsic value and conferred value. It's all of 98 seconds long (and really, is more of an introduction to the next song on the album than an actual song of its own), but still packs a wallop.
You can take your diamonds and lock them in your room
and you will lose everything you save
You can take your flowers and lay them on His tomb
Truth is...What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:36-37 NIV)
If you're in the mood for a banjo-tinged lament full of end-times imagery, then you're ready for the third song on the second side of Larry Norman's In Another Land.
In the midst of the war he offered us peace
He came like a lover from out of the east
With the face of an angel and the heart of a beast
His intentions were six sixty six
He walked up to the temple with gold in his hand
And he bought off the priests and propositioned the land
And the world was his harlot and laid in the sand
While the band played six sixty six
We served at his table and slept on the floor
But he starved us and beat us and nailed us to the door
Well I'm ready to die, I can't take any more
And I'm sick of his lies and his tricks
He told us he loved us, but that was a lie
There was blood in his pockets and death in his eyes
Truth is...for me, this song doesn't express any real meaning as much as it evokes a feeling. I listen to it and, like the apostle John, start longing for that place Jesus went to prepare for us (John 14:1-3). "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20)
I don't know how you respond to nasty rumors, but I do know how Larry Norman did. He wrote and recorded the song, "Shot Down", and made it the second song on the second side of his album, In Another Land. It's got a good beat, is easy to dance to, and points out that it's wrong to cut people down instead of building them up. I give it a 95.
I've been shot down, talked about
Some people scandalize my name
But here I am, talkin' 'bout Jesus just the same
I've been knocked down, kicked around
But like a moth drawn to the flame
Here I am, talkin' 'bout Jesus just the same
I've been rebuked for the things I've said
For the songs I've written and the life I've led
They say they don't understand me, well I'm not surprised
Because you can't see nothing when you close your eyes
They say I'm sinful, backslidden
That I have left to follow fame
But here I am, talkin' 'bout Jesus just the same
You wanna talk about my life, hey listen to me
You got your facts all backwards, one two three
And spreading rumors and gossip is a real bad game
Truth is...none of us is perfect. All of us are flawed. It is only the love and forgiveness of Jesus that makes anything any of us say worthy of being listened to.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, before we get to some real thought-provoking content, let's start the second side of Larry Norman's In Another Land with a fun little ditty full of apocalyptic imagery and vaudeville toe-tappingness.
A thief fell out of heaven with some loaded dice
But the lamb rolled a seven back to paradise
The bread was finally leavened so I had a slice
And the sun began to rain
Water swelled from fountains and then turned to wine
Rocks fell from the mountains in a chorus line
He came in tails and top hat and He looked so fine
Yes, the Son began to reign
A fox snuck in to steal away the grapes
But the man who ran the vineyard shut the gate
So he could not escape
And now we'll live forever in another land
Everything is ending like it first was planned
Did you get your invitation to come play in the band
Truth is..."The Sun Began to Rain" seems like a cute throw-away tune, but it still elicits a feeling of hopefulness and implies a desire for the listener to accept God's invitation. Life here on this planet will not continue the way it is forever. God is going to bring all things to their correct conclusion. Do you want to spend the rest of forever with Him...or without Him?
How do you declare a firm commitment to serve the Creator of the Universe and at the same time admit you don't have what it takes to be able to do it? If you're Larry Norman, you write a song/prayer like "I Am a Servant" and close out the first side of your album In Another Land with it.
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 your 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
Truth is...I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. -Romans 7:21-25 (NLT)
Apparently in order to keep the song count for the first side of In Another Land at seven, Larry Norman cross-faded two songs, "If God Is My Father" and "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus", and gave the result the single title of "Deja Vu". And it kind of makes sense, because this appearance of "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" is not its first (It was on the 1972 album, Only Visiting This Planet). It also makes sense to arrange them like this because the content of the first song really does directly lead to the second.
If God is my Father and you are my brother
Then why can't we bother to really reach out and love one another?
Why do we keep on acting the way we do?
The way we treat each other, it just breaks my heart in two
Truth is...most of our world's advancements have been technological. What has been the same throughout all history, and should make us feel like "I've been here before", is our need for redemption, restoration, and resurrection. We are worthless, ruined, and dead until we accept the answer God provides in His son, Jesus of Nazareth.
Larry Norman recorded several different versions of "Righteous Rocker" throughout his career, but since this blog has taken it upon itself to educate the masses about the album In Another Land, you get to listen to the shortest (48 seconds) and least rocky rendition available.
Truth is...no matter how fast, slow, long, short, rocking, or contemplative the arrangement, this particular song is an able restating of Paul's words in First Corinthians 13:1-3.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.(NLT)
Truth is...plenty of people like to hold on to the designation of being a "seeker". That way, you never have to commit to anything. But the words of Jeremiah 29:13 still ring true: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (NIV) Or, as the Amplified Bible puts it: "Then, with a deep longing you will seek Me and require Me as a vital necessity, and you will find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."
The return of Jesus to Planet Earth was a common theme in the Jesus Music (Jesus Rock/Contemporary Christian Music) of the Seventies, and Side One/Song Three of Larry Norman's In Another Land had an interesting take on the subject.
He's an unidentified flying object
You will see Him in the air
He's an unidentified flying object
You will drop your hands and stare
You will be afraid to tell your neighbors
They might think that it's not true
But when you open up the morning papers
You will know they've seen it, too
He will come back like he promised with the price already paid
He will gather up His followers and take them all away
Truth is...the pervasive idea in the Seventies of what the end of time and the return of Jesus was going to be like is something that I don't really buy into. I lean more toward "and Christ's great kingdom shall come to Earth" than "I'll fly away, oh glory" (but because intelligent, sincere lovers of God have differing opinions on it all, I won't belabor the point in a blog titled Truth is...). The bottom line is that life as we know it will one day be interrupted by the return of Jesus, and the time to let that truth affect how I live that life is now.
Having just written the above title for this post, I wonder how many folks immediately thought of an actor named Will and a movie named Elf?
Sorry to disappoint, but that's not what this is about. I've written about Larry Norman before (for proof, click here), and I'm not sure if this is going to turn into a series highlighting the songs from one of the most influential albums from one of the most influential Christian artists that a whole lot of people have never heard of (of course, now that I've said it, it sounds like a pretty good idea), but for today at least...consider this song, "I Love You."
Truth is...it's not till the very end that a person can tell for sure that this is a worship song and not a romantic love ditty, but either way, it's a good thing to say.
