I know of a man who lives on the other side
On the other side of this mountain
They say he’s calling the weary home
I’ve been told of a man who walks on the other side
On the other side of this mountain
With a heart full of stories of hope

So run like a vagabond
Carry the flame
Run for the children and run for the slaves
Hold it up high with the message of faith
Don’t ever stop moving on
Just run like a vagabond

His book is a gun that he reads for the people
The words that he speaks have been colored illegal
But the law that he’s under is bigger than paper and gowns
He stays in the streets where the beggars are broken
Risking his life, a bull’s-eye in the open
But he won’t stop to rest until he’s reached every town



Behind the Song:
'I played Brad a verse idea the same night I played him “Imagination” – I was calling it “The Missionary Song.” It was just a few lines at the time. For the longest time, I had such a heart to write about the saints that serve overseas and risk everything for the Gospel daily. There’s an organization called Gospel for Asia that my family and I support… they train and send out young men and women to the most unreached area in the world, the 10/40 window. They send out a newsletter a few times a month that’s full of stories that are so hard for my Western-mind to fathom. Men being kidnapped and dragged deep into the jungle, and then miraculously escaping in the middle of the night. Families being freed from spiritual darkness and oppression… horrible sickness leaving the hopeless… the poorest, most persecuted group of people in India (the Dalits) turning to Jesus by the thousands. I can’t help but feel like I’m reading the modern-day book of Acts. I sensed a burden to tell their story… to share with people the heroic faith of our brothers and sisters that live on the other side of the world. There was just one problem… I had the first verse, and that was it. For six months I was as stuck as stuck could be. I found out in the process that I’m very good at letting my dreams grow and grow, until it becomes this glorious thing that I know I can never follow through with. So, I brought it to Ed. We prayed over it, and I gave him GFA’s web address and told him there were hundreds of stories there for him to be inspired by. I also shared with him this picture in my mind of a man climbing mountains, traveling through deserts, walking through the streets and sharing with the broken the hope of Jesus. My sister and I arrived at the studio the next morning and Ed sang for us the lyrics he had written late that night…

“His book is a gun that he reads for the people/The words that he speaks have been colored illegal/But the law that he’s under is bigger than paper and gowns…”

I can’t tell you how amazing that moment was… I thought (in the words of Beth Moore), “God’s just showing off now.”' - Bethany Dillon