One morning during second grade summer school, when my family lived in Northern California, I stood in front of a school assembly and sang Johnny Horton's Sink The Bismarck. Everyone clapped. It was great. Since that moment, I’ve wanted to be a rock star.
Thank God for unanswered prayers.
My one brush with rock stardom came when I got on stage with a New Jersey punk-rock band, touring through Europe, named Mucky Pup. We met in a overlit bar before one of their concerts. We shared a few beers … then a few more … and then we did shots of Jaegermeister … and then we drank a few more beers ....
Before you could shout Sex Pistols! three times fast, I was on stage with Mucky Pup, in front of 800 screaming Germans, singing covers from The Who. The base player for Mucky Pup stopped playing long enough to take my picture. It was cool.
Near the end of the set, I climbed on top of stage speakers. About eight feet above the audience, I executed a stage dive - a very stylish one, I might add - directly on top of the mosh pit. A dense cluster of unsteady arms held me up for a few seconds before we collapsed on the floor. About half the people were cursing, the rest were laughing, and all of us were scrambling to stand up before our heads got stomped on. The music continued.
One is never too hedonistic for prayer. – Kari Cobham
Outside the concert hall, I shared a cigarette with a German girl, while Mucky Pup continued to play. After, I had to run to catch the last regional train back to Bamberg and the Army base. Morning formation was just three hours away.
The train was empty. I slid a window down, shut my eyes, and let the cool German country air hit my face.
At moments like this I felt lonely and a little lost, and would wonder about God. -- How far away He seemed, how wrong I was to think so.
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It took a long time for me to realize that attention seeking behavior, like trying to impress people who do not know me, hard partying, stage diving, performing for the crowd, are empty promises.
All human stories, your story, my story, are stories about grace, either accepted or rejected.
You can reject God’s love, but you cannot outrun God’s love. He loves you dearly, no matter what you have done.
Even when I was wide open and running from God as fast as I could … He was there, pursuing me, loving me, waiting for me. He loves you that much, too. Do yourself a favor and stop running.
... Father, You are our God and we thank You for your mercy and grace. Walk with us and turn our hearts to follow You. Help us to see Your truth. In Jesus name we cry out to You ...
