(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)
Series: Characteristics of the Jesus Movement for Today
- The Jesus Movement unified believers. (It was all about Jesus.)
We are one in the Spirit we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love
Father Peter Scholtes
When it’s all about Jesus, division falls away. No one cares if you’re a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or none of the above when we are all following Jesus. The Jesus Movement unified believers in a way we could certainly all use again. When it’s all about Jesus, it’s simply all about Jesus. It’s not Jesus and Baptism a certain way. It’s not Jesus and premillennialism. It’s not Jesus and a set of rules. It’s not Jesus and no Catholics. It’s just Jesus.
In fact, in my experience, the Jesus Movement started in the Catholic Church in the form of Folk Masses for youth. The Church had just legitimized English liturgy, which meant songs could be sung by everybody, and those priests who could play guitar started holding Folk Masses (like “Sister Act” only it was the real thing). My first two albums were recorded for a Catholic recording company because they were hungry for new material for the hordes of kids who were coming to Folk Mass. They were singing “Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?” before evangelicals had even heard about it. Why? Because it was all about Jesus. “We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord” was written by a Catholic priest.
In these last days it’s only Jesus that we want to know about. It’s come full circle. Do you know Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Did Jesus die on the cross for you? What else is there? In the Book of Acts there is one Spirit, one Jesus and One Lord. In the first century, you were martyred for being a follower of Jesus, not for being a Catholic or a Lutheran, or a Baptist. That kind of stuff came later.
It was just Jesus, and just Jesus translates into a unity of believers. With so much division and polarization in our current culture, socially and politically, we need a unifying factor, and that factor is Jesus.
This is Holy Week and all thoughts turn to Christ on the cross and Jesus Christ risen. Only one person in human history did that. If we all could come together, we could overcome our differences by focusing on Jesus. That’s what the Jesus Movement did, and that’s what we can do today.
John Fischer The Catch 
Pastor John loved today’s Catch and this truth: “This is Holy Week and all thoughts turn to Christ on the cross and Jesus Christ risen. Only one person in human history did that. If we all could come together, we could overcome our differences by focusing on Jesus.” Amen!
It’s nice to hear from someone not raised Catholic how the church embraced the music of the day. Though I’m not one anymore, I was raised Catholic and there was one Sunday service at 10:30am which was the folk mass. Sometimes we didn’t go to that one, many times we did. in addition to the song you mentioned, I remember many songs written by Catholics such as Sebastion Temple and Ray Repp. There were also cross-over hits like “Jesus is Just alright” Songs that made the mainstream Top 40 but I was unaware of that as I did not follow mainstream music at a young age. There were also many mainstream songs they sang, songs that don’t mention God but have a spiritual feel to them. All these I heard, Sunday morning at church. Looking back I long for those days when there was no big division between Christain and mainstream music.
Chistian Folk:
Lord we Pray for Golden Peace. Sons of God. The Living God. How Many Times. Sing a New song unto the Lord. It’s a Brand New Day. To Be Alive, and many, many others.
Crossovers: Oh Happy Day. Get Together (sung in a medley with Give Peace a Chance) Put your Hand in the Hand. Why Me Lord. The Lord’s Prayer(Sister Janet Mead version.) I Don’t Know How to Love Him (and several others from Jesus Christ Superstar) Day By Day. By your Side. and Prepare ye the way of the Lord, all from Godspell.
Mainstream: Bridge Over Troubled Water. He Aint Heavy, He’s My Brother. Let It Be. Blowin’ in the Wind. Very Last Day. Day is Done. Teach Your Children. Tell it All Brother. Everything is Beautiful. You’ve Got a Friend. I’ll Be There. Listen to the Music and Jesus is Just Alright. I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing. Place in the Sun(Little Stevie Wonder) One Tin Soldier. United We Stand and even the Carpenter’s “Sing” and I Won’t Last a Day Without You.
As for the One You mentioned I always knew it as “They’ll Know we are Christians by our Love”
And that’s the message in all of it.
Beautiful. Love the music mix. Like I wrote yesterday, we hardly needed Christian music there was so much truth already in the music.
So true about its all about Jesus. I cannot imagine any of our lives without him. His life and resurrection is the most incredible story ever done just like the title of the movie made long ago. Millions knowing him and so many more wanting to know him and well, we all need a refresher of Jesus now and forever.