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2008年02月29日
A Tribute To Larry Norman 4/8/47-2/24/08
On February 24th, 2008, Larry Norman went to be with His Lord. After a long fight with heart trouble the cause of his death was heart failure.
Larry Norman was a great challenge to me in the early 70s when I was still a student. His music and his articles in the Hollywood Free Paper (put out by Duane Pederson in L.A.) always encouraged my faith and challenged me to be a better Christian and to reach my generation for Christ.
Larry Norman is known as the Father of Christian Rock and also the Father of Christian Contemporary Music. In 2001 he was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Hall of Fame and in 2007 was inducted into the San Jose Rock Hall of Fame. One of his first records was produced by the same person who produced the Beatles' albums.
In the early 70s I attended the Campus Church which met at the West Bank of the U of M. Larry Norman's wife was a member of the church so often it was Larry who would be the special music during the time that the offering plate was passed. Pastor O'Neill would never introduce Larry and so it was always a pleasant surprise to hear such songs as "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" being sung while the offfering was being taken.
However, many Christians did not like Larry or his music and I am glad that I was able to catch him at least once at a concert in St. Paul. I believe it may have been the best Christian concert I have ever attended. His music was just great-both beating on his old classical guitar and also his piano playing. The mix between his sharing and his singing and his playing was just perfect. Also, he was not someone to disappear after the concert-he simply came down from the stage and had coffee and cookies like everyone else and talked with anyone and everyone. As a result I also was able to at least spend some time talking with him and this made me an even stronger believer in what he was doing.
After those years, Larry tended to be out of the Christian spotlight in a major way but he never lost his initial vision for reaching out to people. Some years ago I know he was in Tokyo singing Christian rock and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I would like to add my voice at this time to the many who are writing tributes to him. I want to say, "Thank you, Larry, for being such a help and challenge to my Christian faith." I trust that even though he is gone, his message will continue to get out to the world through his CDs.
投稿者 bethany : 2008年02月29日 08:43
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