Johnny was religious, and as Christmas Day dawned in 1994, we discussed our beliefs in greater detail than ever before. It wasn’t the first time we had this conversation, but never in this much detail. We began around midnight and were still going strong when the sun came up; the marathon soon came to a close.
Johnny explained that when he first moved to Nashville, a mutual friend of ours from our Garner State Park days asked him if he would accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And he did, but he added I didn’t mean it. I just did it to get him off my a______.
Johnny poured out his heart with a discussion of Bill Boling. Bill was in his band, and they co-wrote Down on the Rio Grande and Fools for Each Other. And numerous other songs. Johnny and Bill were roommates and were very close friends.
Bill was my friend too. When Down on the Rio Grande was released in 1979 and became a hit, I asked Bill, on the way to Chilympiad in San Marcos from The Woodcreek Lodge, near Wimberley, what he was going to do with his first royalty check.
“Buy a bass boat,” he said. So many vivid memories of him. Everyone loved Bill.
In 1979, a local San Marcos country singer, George Strait, opened for Johnny at the annual Chili Olympiad chili cookoff in San Marcos. Strait graduated from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos that year.
It was that night I first met George Strait, although his wife, Norma, had mentioned to me a few times that he was a singer. Norma was the receptionist in San Marcos for my CPA, Stuart Wright, with Rick C. Reed & Company.
At a later show in San Antonio, in which George was opening for Johnny and Reba McEntire, I introduced Johnny and George. By then George had a couple of songs on the radio, and I was a fan. Today, he is my favorite singer and the gold standard in country music.
In 1979 Bill and I were having lunch at The Whitehall Hotel in Houston. The rest of the band was asleep, I assume. The waitress noticed Bill had a Johnny Rodriguez t-shirt on and said, “I really like that song of his, ‘Down on the Rio Grande.”
“I wrote it,” Bill said.
She smiled as she walked away and said, “Sure you did.”
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My mother died in October of 1994. I explained to Johnny that I would awake weeping over her death. One night when I awoke, I saw a vision of her at the foot of my bed. All she said was, “Don’t cry, I’m with Jesus.” She was then gone. That never occurred again.
Johnny said he had a similar experience when Bill Boling died in 1980.
Johnny said that after Bill’s death, he was so upset that he saw a vision of him while weeping and looking out the window. Johnny said that all Bill said was, “I’m okay, I’m with Jesus.”
On this Christmas Day, in 1994, Johnny wanted to discuss Bill’s death in a tragic automobile accident near their home in Nashville, Tennessee. Late at night, at Harding Place and North I-65, in Nashville, Bill’s Ford Bronco rolled, killing him.
It was then that Johnny said he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He wanted to go where Bill and his mother were.
“Many today have just enough religion to inoculate them from knowing Christ, John,” I said.
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About Jesus.
He attends the funeral of every sparrow that falls to the ground (Matthew 10: 29-31).
He hears the cry of every baby pricked by a pin (Psalm 34: 17-18).
Does He see my pain? Does He even care? So much so that He takes my tears and places them in a bottle (Psalm 56:8).
What does it take to stop Him in His tracks on his way to be nailed to a tree?
Surely a powerful ruler. Perhaps an educated religious scholar. No.
The cry of a blind beggar, the least, I suppose, named Bartimaeus (Mark 10: 46-52).
What are the qualifications to be the first person to go to Heaven with Jesus Christ? Surely the perfect. Perhaps a popular politician or even a noted athlete. No.
A lowly thief on a cross who puts his trust in Jesus: “Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom ‘” (Luke 23:42).
Jesus loves the last, the least, and the lost. Oh my, that’s me. So much so that He died for me on that tree.
Jesus took my place on the cross. He took your place on the cross too.
The Just for the unjust.
The Righteous for the unrighteous.
The Godly for the ungodly.
The sinless Lamb of God for the sinner.
Yes, that’s me. Is it you, too?
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” —John 15:13
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Can you be good enough to earn salvation?
Self-improvement will not qualify you for salvation, for God’s Word says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” —Romans 3:10
Comparing yourself to others will not work either: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” —Romans 3:23
God says our good works are like filthy rags in His sight. “And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” —Isaiah 64:6
Then how are we saved?
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” —Ephesians 2:8-9
Reach out and touch Him today!
For she said to herself, If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well. —Matthew 9:21
For God so loved the world. He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16
If these words are how you feel in your heart, then pray:
Heavenly Father,
I pray to You, asking for the forgiveness of my sins.
I confess with my mouth. I believe with my heart that Jesus is Your Son. He died on the cross at Calvary so that I might be forgiven.
Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. I ask Jesus to come into my life as my personal Lord and Savior.
I turn from my sins and will surrender to your will throughout my life.
Your word is truth. I confess with my mouth that I am born again. I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus!
In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen!
“Many today have just enough religion to inoculate them from knowing Christ.” —Randy Willis
