My old punk band, Lust Control, had the privilege of playing Emo’s on Sunday night. Our drummer, Bob, said I should “say something here” in between “Mad at the Girls” (our 6th song) and “Real Men Cry.” I used to say a little something at each show, but we’ve been kind of letting our music do most of the talking lately with our reunion shows. On the spot at rehearsal last week I shared a little story about lying to a homeless woman who asked me for money to get her car fixed so that she could visit her daughter in the burn hospital in San Antonio (apparently she was hit by a drunk driver). I shared how, if this woman was an angel in disguise and that was a test … then I failed the test. Butch, our bass player, said, “Oooh! Say that!” So, that was the plan.
Then Sunday morning something else came to mind. I had been talking to my dad later in the week and he told me about this awesome guy that played bass on the worship team at their church. They attend a United Methodist Church in Niceville, FL that is just on fire. It’s a thriving, growing church. This guy played bass on the worship team for the “contemporary service.” His wife ran an IT business and they had a large family, like five children, I think. They were flying a small plane from St. Louis back home and it went down. Everyone on board was killed. My dad shared that a lot of people were expected for the memorial service on the weekend. He said that they’d received word that some people from Westboro Baptist Church were going to come to protest. I guess the guy had a military connection.
I shared this background information at the show. And then I shared this:
Westboro Baptist.
Pastor Fred Phelps.
It’s debatable whether or not he’s a real Christian. It certainly is.
The dude is wrong.
Worst-case scenario, though, he is a believer.
Worst-case scenario, he’s my brother in Christ.He’s a JACKASS, but he’s my brother.
He’s wrong, but he’s my brother.
I’m ashamed of him, but he’s my brother.
I’d like to slap him in the face, but he’s my brother.
I would probably be right in slapping him in the face, but he’s my brother.You know what? You’ve probably seen the signs. You guys know what this guy’s about, but you know what, he’s wrong.
God LOVES fags.
God loves male prostitutes.
God loves murderers.
He loves greedy swindlers.
He loves liars.You know, there’s a verse in the Bible that actually talks about the things God hates.
There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.*I could have this translation wrong, but it seems like, according to that last verse, that God HATES what Pastor Fred Phelps is doing.
* [Proverbs 6:16-19, New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)]
Thanks to a friend that was at the Emo’s show, here is a video:
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