Comments on: Joy FM pulls “Jesus and John Wayne”

By: Bill Coleman

Bill Coleman — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:44:06 +0000

I liked the song , and understand very i only heard it one time , and i wanted my wife to hear it , then i ran across this ,kickback and i have not got got it to come up ,. I play southern and bluegrass gospel . May God Bless ,.

By: hawkeye

hawkeye — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:43:38 +0000

come on guys – its just a song – if it makes you stumble, we won’t bring it up – if it blesses you – super fantastic – if you don’t like the music, DON’T LISTEN TO IT – its clear to me Daniel – I LIKE IT MYSELF – OF COURSE – I GO TO A COWBOY CHURCH – from the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches -yeh I live in the south

By: Benjamin Diden

Benjamin Diden — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:42:02 +0000

I’m a huge fan of the GVB, but not a big fan of this song, not because of the theology, but because I just don’t think it’s a very good song. Like Mark Lowry, I consider myself a “Recovering Fundamentalist” and there is a time when a song like this would have gotten my goat, but I really don’t care about that kind of junk anymore. I’m not perfect, there is only one that is or ever was, and I do the best that I can every minute of every day. Unlike many, I don’t believe it’s an unforgiveable sin to mention Jesus and John Wayne in the same sentence, but I do wish that the brethren would spend more time worrying about living a good life, setting a good example, and helping others, rather than focusing on stuff that really doesn’t matter. As another Gaither song says, “When the house is burning to the ground, there’s just no time to stand around, arranging all the pictures on the wall.”

By: Martha

Martha — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:14:10 +0000

Hmmm. I’m not sure what to say about this…so all I’ll say is I love the song!

By: Yolanda

Yolanda — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:12:03 +0000

The problem I have is yes I know we will never be perfect like Christ; but we should strive to be as close as possible and not be content with where you currently are. Everyone has some area in their lives they can improve on….. IF they want to.

By: Paul the Concert Guy

Paul the Concert Guy — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:22:17 +0000

I heard the song yesterday for the first time…I don’t dislike it, but it certainly is not on of my favorites. Certainly a very “country” sounding song.

By: Seaton

Seaton — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:14:56 +0000

I listen to JoyFM and the only problem I had with the song when it was on the air was they played it way too much. It seemed as though everytime you turned on the radio that song was on. I don’t dislike the song but I got tired of hearing it after the multi 100th time it was played.

JoyFM, I enjoy your broadcasts but this song was in overkill mode before you pulled it.

By: Barbara Huffman

Barbara Huffman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:39:31 +0000

As a writer, I know first hand how hard it can be to accurately convey what you want to say about a particular subject in 3-4 minutes that should be able to stand alone without introduction. A lot of groups weed out songs based on whether or not they think the song will require a long explanation before they sing it. And believe me, I have constant struggles when I write, making sure I do my best to try to say exactly what it is I want to say.

I think “Jesus and John Wayne is a clever concept. I get that we are all trying to be as much like Jesus as we can, but we will never be perfect here on earth, so to do our best and be somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne is, to the writer, the best he can do here.

And if we were all honest with ourselves, I think most of us could agree the song is pretty accurate in describing us all. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.

By: Brady

Brady — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:11:31 +0000

This song is right in line with some of the Gaithers’ other songs that have used poetic license but still manage to cause me to raise my eyebrows.

“When I Cry” basically restarts the old debate of whether there are tears in heaven or not. Does God cry? I don’t know. The Bible says God will wipe away our tears, but could God allow any thing or thought in heaven to bring himself tears of sorrow? I know what they mean, but it still is theologically questionable to me to say God cries.

Then there is “The Really Good News.” It never mentions God or Jesus or the gospel. How can you sing a song as a gospel group talking about good news, yet not include the gospel? This one I understand, too, but still am not fond of because the gospel is good news and this song trying to be passed off as a gospel song just feels wrong to me.

So “Jesus and John Wayne” is in this vein. It is one of those songs that I understand but still am not struck on. I totally get it, but I’m not sure I wanted it. LOL! I will say it has grown on me but I still find myself hitting the skip button or changing the station when it is on the radio.

By: Amy Rogers

Amy Rogers — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:29:11 +0000

You have a point, don’t you? I didn’t even think about that.