EXCEPTS FROM “BOOTLEG” ALBUM – LARRY NORMAN

T.V. Interview

“One young man, Larry Norman, gave up a successful recording career to devote his time and talents to religion. Larry Norman still records, and he still performs, but all for Jesus

“The reason I changed from Rock ‘n Roll music to Jesus music? Rock ‘n Roll music didn’t make me happy. It didn’t validate any of my friends happiness, didn’t make them happy. We were all looking for something to make us real, to bring something into focus. Music, and art, and drugs, and all of these things, just ended up, being escapes – They didn’t bring any truth that we could hold on to. So I found Jesus, with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, that’s what changed me concretely. The day that happened, that’s when I left the group. We had a hit record on its way to being a million seller, and the day the album came out, that’s when I left the group, ‘cause I had what I wanted, Jesus.”

“Question WERE YOU RELIGIOUS BEFORE?”

“I was religious, but I don’t think Jesus is religion. People make up a religion about him. He’s more than a religion.”

“HOW DO YOU MEAN ‘MORE’?”

“He’s real. Religion’s not real. To me, religion is more based on superstition, and guilt, and ritual. Jesus isn’t.”

“EXPLAIN THAT”

“Well I don’t have to go to a church every day. I go to church in my heart. I don’t have to kneel or bow. My spirit has been humbled and bowed. I’m not afraid of approval from the preachers, or the members of the church. I have to be right before God, and I have to read my Bible, and to stay informed on who man is, and who God is.”

“YOU SAY JESUS IS REAL? YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHY WE KNOW, FROM THE BIBLE. THAT’S REAL TO YOU?

“The philosophy? The whole Bible is real to me. To me it’s all accurate. I didn’t used to think that way. I was too intellectual. Now I find my mind is cleared up even more than when I thought it was intellectual, and it all makes sense.”

LET THE LIONS COME (Speech to Russia for Christ)

“We take a lot of things lightly in America, like the Bible, and baptism. Did you know, that people in communist countries, treasure their Bibles. The Bibles are so rare. They rip out pages, and memorize them and exchange them with other believers, memorize as much as they can. They put in their hearts, God’s words, because they can’t always go to the shelf and pick up God’s word. And baptism really means something to them. Even in countries that aren’t communist, like in India, to be baptized really means something. Over here, we may accept Jesus, and take 2 or 3 years to get baptized, but over there, when a person believes, he wants to be baptized. It means something to him, and it costs him too.

Once a person is baptized, in India, his family denounces him, and will have nothing to do with him. The family considers him dead. It’s going to happen in the U.S.A. The same thing that’s happened in oppressed countries. A lot of our churches are going to be closed down, and a lot of us are going to be arrested and killed. I know you can’t believe it, but it’s true.

There’s a man named Watchman Nee, in China, you’ve read his books some of you, haven’t you? Well, they put him in prison, because his work was converting too many people, and his books continued to come out, even though he was under lock and key, and they didn’t know how he was still writing books, but it turned out, that he had converted the guards, and they were smuggling out his books. So they killed the guards, and his books continued to come. Well, not wishing to oppress Christianity, because that would make it grow up stronger – I mean, you take a seed and you lay it on top of the ground. With no oppression, it just lays there – dormant, but you plant it in the ground, cover it up with dirt, you try to bury it, and it’ll grow, and the Holy Spirit’s sure to water it- well, not wishing to oppress Christianity, but not wishing to encourage it either, they didn’t kill Watchman Nee, but they cut off his arms, and his books STILL continued to come. You can’t oppress God’s Spirit. You can’t lock him up. He will not stay locked up. And I’m not particularly afraid of what’s going to happen in the United States. I’m glad in a way, because it’s going to free a lot of people to make a choice, and not be so casual.

When you don’t have the Church to go to, you’re gonna wish you had fellowship and those of you who are Christians, are gonna treasure your Christianity more, and it’s gonna mean something to you, and it’s gonna work more for you, ‘cos you’re gonna commit yourself to it more. And you’ll start tearing pages from your Bible. It’s already happening here, in very polite forms. Our money may say “In God we trust,” but it’s already against the law to pray in school. And that’s happening already- right here! Maybe some of you have been persecuted in very polite ways. I have, and my sister has, and her husband has. And my friends have had their Bible studies busted, and in some neighborhoods, the neighbors have got together, and signed a paper to say they don’t want these meetings in their neighborhood. I’m really glad there are Bible studies in houses. I’m really glad, that every day is Sunday to a lot of kids now. I’m not afraid of the Russians coming or the Chinese, (or the World Council of Churches – if that’s gonna be our enemy too.) Let them come – I’m not afraid of the lions. Let them eat me. They can’t swallow my soul. They can’t touch us. They can’t get us. We’ve been bought with a price and nobody’s got enough money or enough force to buy us back. They can’t touch you. And when they come for you, you just pray for them. And when they lead you away, you just sing “Glory to God.” And when they shoot you, you just smile.”

JESUS AND THE MOVIES

“The bother is, in the movies, they never show Jesus the right way. Every movie I’ve seen He always walks around like He’s just has His nails done or something. He never just looks at anybody. He’s always looking at Heaven, you know. I guess He’s reading His script card or something. I saw one movie. It was like, you know, a super star cast. All the good actors were in it. I doubt is they’d read the Bible, but they all had their scripts memorized.”

- Have you read the Bible?
- No, But I have seen the movie!