Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush
I enjoyed watching Revolver’s Golden Gods Award show on VH-1 recently. It warmed my heart when Zakk Wylde accepted his guitarist award and thanked the other guitarists that inspired him. Besides Randy Rhoads, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page and the ones you’d expect to hear, he dropped a name that I’ve grown to love – Frank Marino. This guy was a guitar legend in the ’70s. Like Stevie Ray Vaughan, he had the respect of his peers and scored some major gigs when he was recognized, but he never quite tipped the scales to worldwide massive acclaim. Frank Marino and his band, Mahogany Rush, came up in the mid-’70s and a crazy story for how he picked up the guitar. He got the coveted festival closing slot at the massive California Jam II and Texxas Jam in 1978, which was televised into edited parts for all us rock and roll youth back then. He had long brown hair and sometimes wore long, silky shirts like a gypsy. He had early songs, like “The Answer,” which asked important spiritual questions. He also asked the question, “Got a joint?” before he and the band proceeded to play an encore of “Purple Haze” on the Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush Live album. His greatest studio album (IMO), What’s Next, also featured some wise lyrics. The song ‘You Got Livin'” he instills a sense of gratitude for life and not wasting your life with brain-numbing substances. In “Something’s Comin’ Our Way” (which features a massive drumming intro that As I Lay Dying fans would appreciate) he addresses the audience as “brothers and sisters” and points to something hopeful up ahead. You can hear a ton of these songs on his webpage. Anyway, in 2000 he came back with Eye of the Storm, where lyrics (in songs like “He Is Calling”) revealed he was now a follower of Christ. When your childhood guitar hero gets saved, it doesn’t get much better than that! I later interviewed him and he told me that he was an Orthodox Christian and, by his theological worldview, he was chosen beforehand and his behavior in the past was not so much a “pre-conversion” or “BC days” (like us “evangelicals” would describe), but were more a part of his sanctification process. I’m butchering some theology here for the sake of convenience and most likely not paraphrasing the man well, but you can read the HM Magazine interview from January of 2002 here. In fact, if you’re ever bored, there’s a whole slew of archived interviews at our old site’s archive section. I hope that a lot of curious people discover his music or check him out again. The dude controls his guitar tone like only a few can. His photo should be in the dictionary after the hyphenated combo-word “playing-with-feeling” and “controlled-feedback .”
Dried cereal
Now I’m gonna be like Erma Bombeck for a minute and address something that (not just) parents will relate to: We could all save some money by using less concrete to build our driveways, roads and bridges by using leftover, dried-up cereal left in a partially-eaten bowl instead of concrete. That stuff dries as stiff and hard as steel!
The Holy Spirit
Sometimes I appreciate the grounding power that I attribute to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in my life. And, like any immature person, I sometimes get my eyes on other people and wonder… I wonder if their walk with Christ would have survived this or that ordeal if they had the Holy Spirit. This is a theological debate waiting to happen (and one that’s been going on a long time), but it’s my belief that being baptized into the Holy Spirit is a different event or experience than being baptized into the body of Christ. Paul the apostle sure seemed to think so. In Acts 19 he runs into some disciples in Ephesus. He’s not picking theological hairs with them, either. He’s not asking if they speak in tongues or eat meat sacrificed to idols. He asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They replied, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” Paul takes care of that on the spot, it appears.
I see three different types of baptism in the Scriptures: the preacher baptizes the believer in water; Jesus baptizes the believer in the Holy Spirit and fire; and the Holy Spirit baptizes a believer into the body of Christ. Whether or not this discussion raises curiosity or a fight inside the reader is not the point I care to bring up. I mean, I’m not looking for a fight. Disagree? That’s fine.
A point I like to bring up if and when this topic comes up in discussion is that Jesus promised (and this is a serious, take-it-to-the-bank kind of deal) that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him. If you got “the whole package” when you believed (baptized into the body of Christ and received the Holy Spirit), then that’s awesome. If you are not sure, is it out of the question to “cover that base” and simply ask God the Father to give you His Holy Spirit? I can’t guarantee that you’ll speak in other tongues or have the gift of healing (cuz Scripture flat-out states that not everyone has those gifts), but I am confident that God will say “Yes” to your request and give you the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes bringing up “controversial” and “doctrinal” stuff like this can divide people. That’s a drag. Knowing this makes me want to keep my beliefs to myself. Conflict sucks. People get hurt. It doesn’t have to be that way. If one reader has this “issue” worked out in their head and can’t agree with what I’ve posted, that’s not the end of the world. They can be thankful that I “showed my cards,” but I would like to point out that by saying this that I’m lining myself up with all the error exhibited by x-number of charismatic and Pentecostal churches. I didn’t say that. Without going into a long list of what I “didn’t say,” I figured I’d just say what I say and leave it at that. As Jack White of The White Stripes sings, “Oh well…”
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