No More Mr. Nice Guy

A long, long time ago...in a galaxy far, far away...I was an Alice Cooper fan. School's Out. No More Mr. Nice Guy. OK, he was a little strange...but it was all part of an act. Rumor has it he might even be a follower of Christ these days...I don't know. But I loved his music...still have it on my iPhone. I even think "No More Mr. Nice Guy" might have a message for those who follow Messiah...well, at least the title has a message for me. I'm not even sure what the lyrics of the song are anymore. I was meeting with a friend yesterday and he reminded me about a passage in Acts 19. Paul comes to Ephesus and causes quite a stir. People are healed (even sounds scarily like some tv evangelist stunts! Why are some of those things recorded in the Bible??!!). Demons jumping on fakes and beating them to a bloody pulp. Witches and Warlocks turning their backs on their magic and burning their potion books that were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more! Then some workers of silver, vital to the idol worshiping industry in Ephesus, began to fear that if Paul led any more people to follow Jesus, their livlihood might be threatened. In Acts 19:27, Demetrius told the other idol manufacturers, "there is DANGER not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing and that she may eve be deposed from her magnificance." Ok, cool, but what does all this have to do with Alice Cooper?? Well, here's a clue...I can't stand it when I hear people refer to someone as a "nice Christian man" or a "nice Christian lady." Those are words that make me want to flee to the hills. Most of the time it means someone who is a right-wing Republican and thinks America is the new Israel and who doesn't smoke, drink, chew or go out with people who do and who thinks a "good" Christian is someone who wags an angry finger at all those sinners out there in the world! Guess what? Paul doesn't want "nice Christians!" Paul was a DANGEROUS follower of Christ. Paul afflicted the comfortable and comforted the afflicted. Jesus was DANGEROUS...still is! Why is it that in Jesus' day, sinners were comfortable around Him and religious people were not? And why is it today that sinners are uncomfortable around the church and religious people are VERY comfortable? In my humble opinion, we are WAY TOO NICE! How can you and I be DANGEROUS today? Who knows, maybe I've been a little dangeous writing this blog!! Maybe some good has come out of being an Alice Cooper fan after all...

Friend of Sinners, Gadsby Hymnal #1052

At Presbytery this morning, we sang a hymn from the Gadsby Hymnal: Friend of Sinners. One of the verses is:
"There, fastened to the rugged wood,
By Holy Love's resistless chain;
And life deriving from Thy blood,
Never to wander wide again."
That verse reminded me of a time 29 years ago when, as a relatively new follower of Christ, I entered into what believers of long ago called the "Dark Night of the Soul." I longed to know God, yet went through a long, long season when I experienced none of the Presence of God and very little sense of His love, favor and goodness. One night, while praying, I saw in my mind's eye, a scene at the cross (not a vision, it was simply a scene in my imagination!). In the scene, there was a lamb chained to the cross. It was a dark, cold, stormy night. Lightning was flashing, thunder clapping loudly. In the midst of the driving wind and rain, lightning and thunder, the lamb, filled with fear, jerked endlessly to try break free of the chain. Then another scene...this time, same lamb, same dark, cold, stormy night. Yet in the midst of it all, for some reason, the lamb was lying down, pressed in as close to the cross as it could get. Each time lightning cut holes in the darkness and thunder broke the silence, the lamb would shake, but remained pressed into the cross as it lay. The chain was still around its neck. Then, the last "frame" of the story. Same lamb, same cross, same dark, cold, stormy night. The lamb was still pressed into the cross, yet there was a peace, and it remained at ease even when the winds blew and rains fell and thunder clapped. And as I looked more closely, something was different....the chain was gone. The lamb was resting at the foot of the cross, not because it was chained there, but because it had no other place it would rather be in the midst of the storm. It took a lot of time for me to become that lamb, but the "resistless chain" of God's holy love never fails to accomplish its work. "And life deriving from Thy blood" enables and empowers us "never to wander wide again!"

Whew! Thanks Grammys!

I was on my way home from the church last night and received a call from my dauhter..."Dad, where are you? Are you on your way home? Mom and I are watching the Grammy's...we've taped it. We think you'll really like it." "Yes, sweetie, I'm on my way home...be there in a minute." "Ok, dad, we're waiting for you before we watch any more." Hmmm. That was interesting. She seemed REALLY excited, but I had no idea why. So I get home, take off my coat, change into my warm-ups, sit on the couch, and they crank up the DVR. First thing out of the shoot is U2 opening the Grammy's, with, you guessed it...Get On Your Boots. It was great...now I understood the phone call...and the excitement. My wife and my daughter just started laughing at me as I stopped bringing my spoon from my bowl of gumbo to my mouth...my hand was paralyzed, my mouth gaped open. The boys from Dublin did it again...made their faith and their music clear. Through the song there were crosses flashed up on the screen again and again...there was also a point where the crosses merged into stars on an American flag...what a relief! Not only did I enjoy the song, but I was excited to see that my interpretation of their song might actually be on target (see past Blog "U2's New Song). For most people in the Grammy's, the crosses likely didn't mean much, but as Bono often states, as they "draw their fish in the sand" the message is there for people to see.