THE BUSINESS OF CHANGE

the business of change

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I stood behind him in line at the hardware store… There he was, one of my adolescent hero’s… The voice that got me through two-a-day football practices in high school one year.

One of his songs has become the anthem for all kids to officially ring in the summer. Do you remember the song? Here’s the chorus to refresh your memory.

“Well we can’t salute ya, can’t find the flag.”

“If that don’t suit ya, that’s a drag.”

“Schools out for summer – Schools out for summer.”

Ahh, now you remember. Alice Cooper, of course! He’s old now… The music is timeless, but he’s not. He actually looks good, but it’s been over thirty years since he dominated shock rock.

None of us have a choice, with time we change. While we don’t have complete control of how we change physically, we do have a choice as to if we change spiritually. I’m not trying to get into a Calvinistic debate, I’m simply referring to our free will. Yes God calls us, but we have to be willing and obedient to His call then and now.

I think Vincent Furnier, or who we call Alice Cooper is a great example of God’s call and the ensuing change. I haven’t seen too many rock stars acknowledge God and strive to live a Godly life.

About four years ago our friends who’s oldest daughter was getting Baptized invited us to their church for the Baptism. As I sat glancing around at the beautiful church a guy up in the balcony caught my eye. He had sunglasses on, I thought to myself, “What kind of guy wears sunglasses to church”? I looked closer and then realized, “Why Alice Cooper, of course.”

I’m not vouching for his walk with God, but I know enough about him to know this; There’s a guy trying, maybe even succeeding, who knows for sure but God?

I consider the changes that God has orchestrated in my life that started with His forgiveness. My life is now as far east as it was from west, at least in God’s economy anyway. I’ve forgotten some of the details of my past, which I think in some cases is a blessing from God. I remember enough to realize the change has been miraculous.

The sure sign that God is in someone’s life is change. How can the miraculous change in Jesus Christ’s disciples be explained otherwise? A group of regular people who ran in fear for their lives and hid from the world like cowards.

After they saw a resurrected Jesus Christ they understood the temporariness of this soul cage and the eternity of the souls themselves. This change in the disciples changed the world. That change God used in those people continue to change the world today, one heart at a time.

Their change from coward to men of courage ultimately cost them their physical lives. They knew the risks of speaking the truth to a lost world and they understood the implications of teaching about the true King of Kings in a censored society. Yet they chose to live a life of change even in the face of death.

These people’s changed lives are recorded and God used their lives to change the course of humanity. This country wouldn’t exist the way it does if not for that supernatural change.

I think back to some changes in my life and the impact it had on others in my small world. Change is difficult, but it is good if done for the right reasons. I’ve come to realize the best way to measure if it’s done for the right reason, is to ask ourselves if it is about us or others. All of us know the answer to the questions of the heart.

Change isn’t for the faint of heart, it is difficult and will require a bit of courage relative to the significance of the business of change. Changing the world is our heritage passed down from those that knew fear yet lived above it looking up and out from themselves with wisdom.

I’m sure Alice Cooper is honored to have been selected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m even more certain he’s relieved to know that his name has been selected to God’s Book of life.

Alice Cooper is living proof that God is in the business of changing people’s lives. As I look back over my life I guess I am too…

What would you say to a famous childhood musical influence you had a chance encounter with in the hardware store? Would you ask about the music, the songs, the inspiration?

We talked about light bulbs…