tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174728.post4336734883092316692..comments2007-08-15T11:22:31.050-05:00Greg Glatz (Rock 'n' Roll Preacher)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17783495356838517253revgregglatz@rocknrollpreacher.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174728.post-12458228861036636052007-08-15T11:22:00.000-05:002007-08-15T11:22:00.000-05:00Rock 'n' roll is one of those strange terms that evokes a lot of different images for different people. It should. The term is slang for both spiritual and sexual rapture.<BR/><BR/>I think it's the idea of <I>rapture</I> -- enthusiasm, excitement, enjoyment, etc. -- that makes religious people uncomfortable. They're looking for order, structure, "decency", predicability, etc. Such things have their place, obviously, but church gets stale real fast when that's all you've got.<BR/><BR/>Which is why it's good to bring opposing ideas together in terms like "rock 'n' roll preacher" or "cool baptist". You need the best of both worlds. In fact, it's probably true that you can't have one without the other.<BR/><BR/>The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, ... full of grace <I>and</I> truth (John 1.14). Grace <I>and</I> truth? What an interesting, powerful combination.The Rock 'n' Roll Preacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17783495356838517253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174728.post-47007687241984599572007-08-14T19:45:00.000-05:002007-08-14T19:45:00.000-05:00Ah, rock 'n roll. The music has played a minor roll in my life, but the words mean a lot. Those of you who know me will know that my life has been rocky, but it's just kept rolling along despite my wanting a breather once in a while. It was when God proved himself to be a rock for me that the rolling got easier. And I can earnestly sing, "Jesus is my rock and he rolls my blues away."<BR/><BR/>As for the music playing a minor roll: discovering Christian rock 'n roll actually helped me realize how the music genre can be quite un-evil. And while not usually as musically awe-inspiring as Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton, the music has succeeded in making worshiping God a much more spiritually rocking experience for me.<BR/><BR/>My life can actually rock 'n roll in an awesome way now. But there's still the boat-caught-in-a-storm kind of rock 'n roll that I get all too often. I've been reading a book lately that has reminded me that it's when you're stuck in the storm-tossed boat that you have the chance to get out of the boat and actually walk on the water (John Ortberg appropriately named his book "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat"). And the walking on the water while out on those rock 'n rolling waves can bring you to an unimaginably greater place with God than if you were to simply hold on for dear life and get sea sick.<BR/><BR/>In conclusion, my life has rock 'n rolled in a bunch of different ways thus far, but at least the phrase seems to be meaning something better and better. It definitely isn't just an cool type of music!G.I. Jazzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12807177606807801002noreply@blogger.com