Truth Springs Free (Glory Days) (song)

Note: This is an entry from the archives that I thought was appropriate with the new Mister Rogers movie out now, who is one of my modern Christian heroes! :-) This song pays tribute to a few of the saints who have gone before me that I can't wait to meet in glory days in Heaven!
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This one is my probably my third or fourth favorite from the boss of ‘80s rock. And it’s all about a number of my Christian heroes that have inspired me (although there are many others I could list than the song lists- like Rich Mullins, Keith Green, St. Francis of Assisi, Larry Norman, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Jim Elliot, my parents and family and friends and tons others. :-))
       But since I mentioned Mister Rogers earlier many times on this blog and I’ve espoused on something that was close on his heart (which you can read more about in “The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers” by Amy Hollingsworth- seriously, get it. I cry on certain passages in that book- so good!)- I definitely wanted to present this song of Christian heroes of the faith. I would have liked to known them, oh, but I was just distant- their candles burned out only for millions to begin. :-)) But we’ll meet in Heaven- and what a day- a glorious day- that will be!

“Truth Springs Free (Glory Days)”
by Nathan Ludwick copyright 6/25/2011
(parody of “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen)
(Hebrews 11, John 13:35, Hebrews 12:1-4,1 Corinthians 15:51-58, John 3:16-17)

I had a friend-Was a good next door neighbor
Back in pre-school
He would show that Jesus loves you
Make you look to your true worth
Saw him embody Christ- Mister Fred Rogers
I was watching him; he was walking out
13:35 in John- Francis (of) Assisi
Gospel he kept preaching without words

Chorus:
Glory Days- (in) the sweet by and by
Glory days- well, we’ll meet on a golden shoreline
Glory days, glory days

Well, there’s a girl that stood up for God
Cassie, you did good- gun took ya (to) Heaven
Columbine- I cry- Rachel Scott- sigh!
God has those two kids and their steadfast witness lives on
There was a woman- Corrie Ten Boom- yup yup
She hid the Jews from Germans- wow!
Jesus got her out Nazi camps of genocide
She went- Chinese people smiling
She was a tramp for The Lord now

(Repeat Chorus)

(Now, I) think ‘bout going up to go dwell with Christ
And I’m going to meet Paul and Eric Liddell
And I hope ‘till I get Home I won’t just sit ‘round thinking about it
But do God’s clear will
Yeah, just sitting back waiting for The Rapture
Belittles all The Savior’s love while lives slip away
In Hebrews 11, list of
Godly warriors in

Hall of Faith
Yeah, (in) the sweet by and by
Glory days- well, we’ll meet on a golden shoreline
Glory days, glory days
I’ll be there praising Christ
Glory days- in the twinkling of an eye
Glory days, glory days!

(Background vocals)
(How ‘bout this? It’s alright! Ooh yeah!
For all time! With Christ! Come on up! Oh yeah!
Get real life in Christ! Ooh yeah! Oh yeah!
All right! All right! Come on up! Ohh!
Woohoo! Uh huh! Woohoo! Oh yeah! Woohoo! Ooh! Woohoo! Oh!
All right- Joy! Keeps up rocking now!
Keep on going! ‘Cause we’ll be Home now!
Bring us Home! Yeah! Bring us Home! Oohh! Hold on! All right!
Yeah!
[We’re in Christ! (Woo!) x5]
-With Christ! Let’s Go!)
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Of Heroes and Legends, (There Can Be Only One) (poem)

[Note: Another poem from the archives and yes, this is another one I wanted to post because of my recent conversation with friends about science fiction and fantasy stories (and most anything really) being used to convey spiritual truth. I've heard it said before, "Everything is theology"- and I think it's true. And in the end, all of the heroic stories point us back to, as Tolkien called Him, "The One True Myth"- Jesus Christ, the Hero who gave His life to save His enemies and rose again to prove He's God. He is the One all of my writings hopefully point to all the time.]

This seems to be appropriate to follow the parody song about Narnia that I posted last. This a little poem I wrote just recently- this one just came to me one day and all of a sudden I had to hurry and write it down. This one was fun for me given my love of sci-fi and fantasy and superheroes and comic books and so forth, of course. :-) It talks about the heroes and legends of old- the ones in myths and stories of yore- and how through all these characters and adventures- we are ultimately drawn to the longing and desire inside all of us to be part of something bigger than ourselves- to join in the great adventure that God is ultimately calling us to- the one that He laid out for us before time and made possible through the death and Resurrection of Jesus. This is also definitely inspired from my love of Hebrews 11 – the hall of faith. I really love Hebrews 11:38 when it describes the faithful to God- “they were too good for this world.” Or in other translations- “the world was not worthy of them.” (I think of the great heroes of the faith in The Bible of course- and a few of my modern Christian heroes as well like St. Francis of Assisi, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Eric Liddle, Mother Teresa, Mister Rogers, Jim Elliot, C.T. Studd, Hudson Taylor, Martin Luther, Rachel Scott Joy, Cassie Bernall, Larry Norman, Keith Green and Rich Mullins- among others) And as J.R.R. Tolkien once explained to C.S. Lewis- though it sounds like one of the myths of the dying and rising gods of old- Jesus and Christianity is different in this regard- because it actually happened. Jesus is the one true myth!


Of Heroes and Legends,
 (There Can Be Only One)

(by Nathan Ludwick; copyright 3/9/2011)
(Psalms 44:4-8, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Philippians 3:8, Hebrews 11, Jeremiah 20:9, Hebrews 12:1-4, Ephesians 6:10-20, Proverbs 28:1, 1 John 5:4, John 16:33, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Acts 17:22-31, Matthew 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 9:22)

Once upon a time, as all good stories start
A bright new world of hope, then things fall apart
As years of wreck and ruin rage, a line of heroes begins to raise
The stuff of myths and legends here to save the day

In the days of darkness and dangers
There are the adventurers, wanderers and strangers
The giants of old, the men of reknown
The ones that the songs and tales are written about

Powerful in battle, armored for the quest
The good fight to conquer kingdoms and restore justice
A strong faith gives a supernatural advantage
As brave as a lion, the righteous one stands

With every chance to turn back, they continue on
Struggling to save the good that’s left in the world
Where the smallest ones can be the boldest ones
A fire burning in the heart drives them on to greatness

An epic scale like Middle Earth, for Narnia and for Aslan
Though tortured, flogged, jeered and facing the sword
Destitute, persecuted and mistreated- they were too good for this unworthy world
This great cloud of witnesses calls us to endure and join them on the golden shore

And the Man on the moon is the One who made it and holds it in His hands
Santa Claus- ol’ Saint Nicholas shows us The Father’s kind and giving heart
And Superman is the picture of the God-Man who brings salvation for all
The One True Myth- Realer than Real, Truer than True is The Hero we need to believe

If we can trust the foolishness of God, the pilgrim’s progress leads us to the Grey Havens
Where we realize all the stories of lore really pointed us to Christ at the core
And then with Him, as all good stories end, we live happily ever after.

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