A World Turned Upside Down

On Friday, The Geller Report reported:

The West Bank city of Bethlehem, famous for being the birthplace of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, has declared that they will be removing all decorations celebrating the annual holiday of Christmas.

“Bethlehem Municipality crews announced the dismantling of Christmas decorations installed several years ago in the city’s neighborhoods and removing all festive appearances in honor of the martyrs and in solidarity with our people in Gaza,” the municipality wrote on Facebook.
Why are the festivities being canceled?

A spokesperson for the city also told the Telegraph “The reason is the general situation in Palestine; people are not really into any celebration, they are sad, angry and upset; our people in Gaza are being massacred and killed in cold blood.”

“Therefore, it is not appropriate at all to have such festivities while there is a massacre happening in Gaza and attacks in the West Bank.

The massacre happened on October 7th. That was an attack on civilians. What is happening in Gaza right now is an attack on military targets. I am sorry that the people in Bethlehem are upset, were they this upset after October 7th?

Every Saint Has A Past And Every Sinner Has A Future

Alice Cooper, American rock singer. Taken at t...

Alice Cooper, American rock singer. Taken at the 2007 Scream Awards (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All of us have some tendency to judge a person based on what we think we know about them and predict their future based on that judgement. However, every now and then something comes along that shows us how limited and incorrect our judgement can be.

Yesterday an article was posted at The Daily Wire that convinces me that sometimes God laughs at all of our conclusions about other people.

The article reports:

In an interview with the New York Daily NewsConfidential published Sunday, legendary rocker Alice Cooper said his personal relationship with Jesus Christ saved him from going the way of Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix.

Cooper gave the interview a week ahead of the debut of NBC’s live version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” starring John Legend and featuring Cooper as King Herod, the role he played back in 1996 when he recorded what writer Andrew Lloyd Webber called the “definitive” version of “Herod’s Song.”

 While Cooper did talk some with Confidential about the new production, what earned the headline was his account of his journey out of a self-destructive rock and roll lifestyle 37 years ago, for which the now 70-year-old rocker credits Christianity.

“Everything that could go wrong was shutting down inside of me,” he said. “I was drinking with Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix and trying to keep up with Keith Moon and they all died at 27.”

Thirty-seven years ago, one of his binges landed him in a hospital, where a doctor diagnosed him as a “classic alcoholic.” Cooper told Confidential his desire to drink ended that day as he faced the reality that he must put the bottle down or die. His return to his Christian roots is what prevented him from falling back into his unsustainable lifestyle.

“My father was a pastor, my grandfather was an evangelist. I grew up in the church, went as far away as I could from it — almost died — and then came back to the church,” he said.

“There’s nothing in Christianity that says I can’t be a rock star,” he said. “People have a very warped view of Christianity. They think it’s all very precise and we never do wrong and we’re praying all day and we’re right-wing. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with a one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ.”

 Part of the reason he was able to keep himself on the straight and narrow was his wife, whom he married in 1976 and who is also a Christian, and the couple’s commitment to reading the Bible and staying connected in their church. Cooper told the outlet that he has never been unfaithful to his wife, performs a daily Bible study, and regularly attends church on Sunday.

Wow. Just wow.

 

A Guest Post From A Local Pastor

 
“No greater love has no one than this, that one lay down His life for His friends.” 
                                                                                                            Jesus Christ (John 15:13)
 
            Since our revolution many American men and women have sacrificed their lives for the sake of the freedom of this country.  As Thomas Paine wrote in The Crisis, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; and he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”  Memorial day is a great opportunity to reflect upon those who have given their lives for the sake of our country and give thanks to God for their sacrifice that has maintained our freedoms.  May their death that they died for you not be in vain. 
            But perhaps a greater Memorial Day ought to be celebrated every day in recognizing the death of Jesus Christ who died on behalf of those whom He loved.  This death He died in order to purchase freedom from sin for all who would place their trust in Him.  He didn’t die for country; He didn’t die for friends.  He died for those who were actively His enemies.  He prayed for those who nailed Him to the cross.  He willingly gave Himself up.  He said that no one took His life away but He willingly gave it so that He might bear your sin and liberate you from its bondage.  If you have never celebrated Memorial Day in this way, take a moment to call upon the name of the Lord and ask God to give you the gift of eternal life through the death of His Son Jesus Christ and then praise God for the new found liberty and freedom that is yours through the gift He paid for by His death.  May the death He died for you not be in vain. 
 
Dave Meunier, Pastor, Plainville Baptist Church, Plainville, MA
(John 4:34)
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