Pastor Rob Patterson    653 A Street    Galt, California   209-745-4665    
return to: pastorob
at  www.pastorob.com/rob’sblog.htm
listen to: pastorob's music at  www.pastorob.com/audiodwnload.htm


Proverbs 26:4-5

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
                                          or you will be like him yourself.

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

This particular verse reminds me of Alice Cooper's thoughts on Marilyn Manson.
                                                                               
PressTimeExtra: I put guitar chords above today's devotional verses;
                           I decided to put the work-in-progress online (I hope I'll remember the melodic line):
Click Here

I think Alice Cooper is an interesting study from the world of pop-culture personalities
              who have discovered the blessing of a relationship with Jesus. He is still an entertainer.

In pursuit of personal integrity, I am curious about what God has been doing in the lives of entertainers who had entertained me in my early years. I remember when Randy Nolin first shared the mysterious story of a guy named Alice. I was in the tenth grade at Coldwater High School.
                                                                        A couple years later, I saw his live show.
awat.

                                                                                                      We will read more about Alice Cooper later.
 

Invest a few minutes for future blessings: read Proverbs 26 . . .

 
1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.   

2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

3 A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools! 


4-5
  Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
        Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

6
Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

7
Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
      8
Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. 
          9
Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
             10
Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by.

11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13
The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!"
14
As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.
15
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16
The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

17
Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

18-19
Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows
            is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!"

20
Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.
23
Like a coating of glaze
1 over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.

24-26
A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit.
        Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.
        His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

27
If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. 

28
A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

                                                                                Footnotes: 1verse 23: With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text of silver dross
 



The Gospel according to Alice . . . Cooper

  As fathers of two teenagers and long-time residents of Arizona,
Alice Cooper and Chuck Savale understand firsthand how desperately communities must address the needs of teenagers.

 

           The two friends envisioned a Christian non-profit organization
                       solely dedicated to helping teenagers & children.

   
In November 1995, through prayer and planning,
    Solid Rock Foundation began with the help of several other men and women in the community.

 

Solid Rock Foundation publishes their primary goal: to honor Christ by helping to meet
the Spiritual, Economical,  Physical and Social Needs of teenagers and children within their community and ultimately throughout the country.


The Executive and Advisory Boards
are made up of Christian men and women dedicated to providing help to teenagers & children.

Alice Cooper is the President.
 

On the Foundation's website, they have photographs of their annual Christmas time fundraiser called Christmas Pudding.

It's a night of Comedy and Music. A really interesting mix of folks have shown up over the years.

Well, how would you like to have Alice Cooper show up for your Sunday School class? Deacon Tom told me that he's looking forward to that day. Hey, it'd be great if Weird Al and Billy Bob showed up on the same day (again) at the Epicenter (hey, like Bob Duvall says something like this:
If you thought of it, it could have happened somewhere). 

                   Hey,
check it out for yourself www.srfrock.org (make sure to push the 'back' button to travel back to this VirtualMoment.

Look up Alice Cooper's official website and you'll see that he looks basically like the Alice Cooper of the 70's.

However, Deacon Tom located the following interview with Alice (at a site called JesusJournal.com):


Cooper said divine intervention is what broke his drinking habit in the mid-1980s. "I honestly think I was simply and completely healed," he said.
"I guess you can call it a miracle. It's the only way I can explain it. It was absolutely eliminated from my life." 

Cooper has often been called the model for today's shock-rockers, including Marilyn Manson. While he doesn't criticize Manson for his on-stage theatrics, Cooper takes issue with Manson's anti-Christian stance.

"He's very vocal about it," Cooper told KNAC.COM. "I believe [the Manson album] AntiChrist Superstar was pointed right directly at me. I didn't volley the first shots in this whole thing. His whole anti-Christian thing, and I'm like 'Hey, I'm Christian, and I'm not going to denounce what I believe.' I can be a rock 'n' roll star, a Christian and Alice Cooper."

Cooper continued, "I think Marilyn had a really bad Christian experience when he was younger. My guess is he got involved with some less-than-Christian-Christians and that really, forgive the expression, nailed him. You know, he's one of the greatest button pushers I've ever met. And I know that game because I invented that game...Manson clicked because he found a whole new set of buttons to push, he even pushed my buttons, which is pretty impressive since I was pushing buttons before he was born."

Cooper's embrace of Christianity was more a return to faith than a coming to faith. "I was pretty much convinced all my life that there was just one God and there was Jesus Christ and there was the Devil," he said.

"You couldn't believe in God without believing in the Devil. I always tell bands that the most dangerous thing you can do is to believe in the concept of the Devil or the concept of God, because you're not giving them full credit. When you believe in God, you've got to believe in the all-powerful God. He's not just God, He's the all-powerful God and He has total control over everyone's life. The Devil, on the other hand, is a real character that's trying his hardest to tear your life apart. If you believe that this is just mythology, you're a prime target because you know that's exactly what Satan wants: To be a myth. But he's not a myth, of this I'm totally convinced. More than anything in the world, I'm convinced of that."

Cooper continued, "We have to make a choice. And everybody, at some point in their lives, has to make that choice. When people say, 'How do you believe this? Why do you believe this?' I just say nothing else speaks to my heart. This doesn't speak to my intellect, it doesn't speak to my logic - it speaks right to my heart and right to my soul, deeper than anything I've ever thought of. And I totally believe it. That being said, I'm not a very good Christian. I mean, none of us are ever 'good' Christians. That's not the point. When you're a Christian, it doesn't mean you're gonna be good, it means you've got a harder road to pull."

Though some have questioned combining his faith in God with his rock-and-roll background, Cooper doesn't see a conflict. "I'm the first one to rock as loud as I can, but when it comes to what I believe, I'm the first one to defend it too," he said. "It has also gotten me in trouble with the staunch Christians who believe that in order to be a Christian you have to be on your knees 24 hours a day in a closet somewhere. Hey, maybe some people can live like that, but I don't think that's the way God expected us to live. When Christ came back, He hung out with the whores, the drunks and miscreants because they were people that needed Him. Christ never spent His time with the Pharisees."

But while Cooper may still speak to some of his old themes, he has a new message today.

"I used to celebrate moral decay, the decadence of it," he admitted. "I can look back on what I did then and what I'm doing now and they're two different things. But at the time I was the poster boy for moral decay, you know. So yeah, I've got a lot to be forgiven for...out of ignorance, I thought I was doing the right thing. I was totally in agreement that every guy should sleep with every girl and drink as much as they can. I don't believe that now. I don't believe in it, because I see how destructive it is."

Spiritual awakening is happening around the world, Cooper believes. "It's obvious humanity is craving for answers directly born of awareness," he said. "That's the healthiest thing I've seen in a long time because there is something better and everybody's gotta find it in their own way. People aren't feeling fulfilled by how many cars they own or the size of their stock portfolio.

Even the addicts are saying, 'It doesn't matter how many drugs I take, I'm not fulfilled. This isn't satisfying.' There's a spiritual hunger going on. Everybody feels it. If you don't feel it now, you will. Trust me. You will."

                                                                         -Alice Cooper (interview at JesusJournal.com)

Comments?  Write me: pastorob@gmail.com


 



                                                                                                                                                                                     Weird Al and Billy Bob Thornton  Look at the photo over there from Christmas Pudding. It looks like these two guys are within Alice Cooper's sphere-of-influence. I have a personal connection with both of them as well. You see, I took my whole family to see Weird Al in concert at the State Fair a few years back. How do I know Billy Bob? Well, I've watched his performance in Robert Duvall's film: The Apostle several times. He was the guy who was gonna bulldoze the church and gets saved on the air.
Bob speaks highly of Billy Bob's performance in that pivotal scene. How do I know what Bob Duvall thinks?  Ask me.


(C,  D) G            D         Em

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
            C                 D                  G (Em) 
        or you will be like him yourself.

G              D       Em                                C             D       

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise

C               D        Am              Bm           Em

in his own eyes.  Answer the fool in the mirror . . .

This particular verse reminds me of Alice Cooper's thoughts on Marilyn Manson.


listen to: pastorob's music at  www.pastorob.com/audiodwnload.htm
return to: pastorob
at  www.pastorob.com/rob’sblog.htm

Pastor Rob Patterson    653 A Street    Galt, California   209-745-4665