Larry Norman Message Board

I received a phone call late yesterday evening that early Sunday morning, my friend Larry Norman, had gone home to be with the Lord. Larry had been very sick for quite sometime; and though he will be sorely missed, what comfort there is in knowing that he is free from the suffering and pains of this earthly body and now is in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have known Larry since October 1972. We met the night he performed a concert at my home church; it was the same night I was baptized. It was through him and his encouragement that the Lord called me into music ministry. Larry was, in those early years, my mentor. We spent many days together penning songs, doing concerts, and enjoying each others fellowship, recording and ministering for the Lord and telling others about Jesus. Larry had me live with he and his wife Pam for a few months to disciple me and teach me the craft of songwriting. Though we hadn't spent much personal time together, except for the occasional phone call these past several years, I will always treasure those beginning years in ministry with him.

The album pictured here is my favorite of his. Larry had a unique way of capturing a thought in words. Time magazine also recognized this by calling him "the poet-laureate of rock music." He was a voice of faith for an entire generation and whom many consider the Lord used to bring about the last great revival in our nation called, "the Jesus movement."

One of my favorite stories about Larry happened years ago when Randy Stonehill and Larry were touring in the Wheaton/Chicago land area. In between concerts, they ended up staying with my family and I for a few days. As musicians are known for, they would stay up until 4am and sleep past noon. This didn't go over well with Mom at all. So one morning she woke them up at 7am and told them, "if you guys are going to eat my food, then you are going to do some work around here." She made them get up, rake leaves and cut her lawn. Larry wrote a song for her later that day called "After the Lawn." Classic Norman. He sang it that night at a concert they did - really fun! Through it all he and Mom became friends.



But my most vivid remembrance of the heart of this brother I witnessed was at Explo '72 in Dallas. Larry had just done an outdoor concert at SMU. He was heading downtown and several of us followed to see what "the troubadour" would do next. We saw him talking to some policemen. A few minutes later they were kneeling at that street corner with Larry, praying to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. I will never forget that powerful image as along as I live. Larry had an unmistakable evangelists heart and a burden for those that the established church either rejected or alienated. That revealed his compassion for the lost and really demonstrated the passion that drove the musician.

I will greatly miss Larry; but what wonderful hope there is beloved for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ when "death by thee He calls." Amen?

This song below is the first song Larry and I ever wrote together back in 1974. I humbly dedicate this to his memory and his family today and pray it will be an encouragement to each of you as well.

I close with the words of the Apostle Paul:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Homesick for Heaven,
Steve
2 Cor. 5:1-10