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With his gray ponytail, vest, faded jeans and mellow personality, it’s not difficult to believe that Greg Beumer was a hippy in San Francisco during the sixties. Forty years ago, God got ahold of his life through a woman who brought food without judgment to Greg and his starving musician buddies, and for over 30 years, he’s been performing a similar service at the Union Gospel Mission. Only Greg brings music instead of food. With his low, Johnny Cash-like voice, he presents a clear gospel message through song, and when he speaks, his compassion resonates. After singing, Greg often takes the microphone out into the crowd to hear what God is doing in people’s lives and prays with them. Asked why he keeps coming, Greg replied, “I just can’t not do it…It’s a blessing.”
Greg wrote a song especially for the men at the Mission, “The East Door.”
The East Door
Words & Music by Greg Beumer
Comin’ in thru the east door
Just off the road
The backpack on his back was packed
With a heavy load
An old friend had told him
Hey, when you get to town
Take the road, go across the river
And that’s where the east door’s found
And you go in through the east door
Go in through the east door
He found his way to the east door
And had to open it real wide
That oversize pack of life on his back
Was hittin’ the jambs on both sides
He sat down in the room
And was startin’ to feel warm
He’d left the bitin’ cold of life outside
He’d found a port in the storm
And he figured he could sit a spell
And get a bite to eat
And then his plan was movin’ on
Back down the street
But he’d come in through the east door
He’d come in through the east door
Life had thrown some twisted tricks
On the travelin’ man
The cards that he’d been dealt
Look like a real bad hand
But he had himself a tattoo
Said he was born to lose
And he was doin’ his best to live up to it
Tryin’ to walk in those shoes
And there were parts of him that were missin’
And parts that were left out
And some things from early in life
He didn’t want to talk about
But he’d come in through the east door
He’d come in through the east door
He started takin’ off his backpack
He tried to set it down
That’s when he heard the bell ring
For the start of another round
All that weight he’d carried round
And the pain he held inside
Stuffin’ himself as full as he could
With what he called life
The wrestlin’ match was on the floor
They’s rollin’ round and round
They’re strugglin’ to get control
Of what’s lost and what’s found
But he’d come in through the east door
Come in through the east door
And the travelin’ man was losin’
He was goin’ down real hard
He didn’t have an ace up his sleeve
In his deck of back pack cards
He was goin’ down for the last time
He was about to take the count
When from the other side of the east door
A hand reached out
Oh, yes, the Spirit was a movin’
It tapped him on the back
And whispered, hey, I brought you here
And I know you’re under attack
And I’ve been tryin’ to get your attention
And I’ve been trying to get you to see
I’ve got a better plan for your life
Won’t you come follow me?
He come in through the east door
He come in through the east door
©Greg Beumer
Interested in providing chapel or getting your church involved in some other way? Click on the link below for more information.
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