around the world with Jesus

Happy 78th birthday, Johnny Cash. Is there cake in Heaven?

The other day someone asked when I became a Johnny Cash fan. I guess it was in ‘94, around the time his first American Recordings  project was released. It was given a 5-star rating in Rolling Stone, and my friend Jorin played it for me. Wow.

A few months later, I took Dad (who’d been a fan since forever) to see the Man in Black. It was a very cool show. Here’s one of my favorite photos, and some reasons why I’m a die hard Johnny Cash fan…

Sinners make the best saints  

In the God’s Gonna Cut You Down Video, Bono paints a phrase on the wall, “Sinners make the best saints.” That’s Johnny Cash. He loved being the rebel, but singing the hymn.  He loved pointing the underdog to the light, but abused alcohol and pain medication while getting in trouble with the law. He’d sing at Billy Graham crusades and (in other places) flip off “the man” for the cameras. He loved Jesus through it all.

In Charles Conn’s book, The New Johnny Cash, the author says, “…even in the worst days of his wanderings, he was more of a miserable prodigal than a crusader for the evil life.”

The Wanderer finds Jesus

I love Johnny’s journey of faith. Dave Urbanski wrote The Man Comes Around: the Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash. There, he recounts a story from Cash’s words (from his autobiography, Cash) and other interviews…the story of Nickajack Cave.  In ‘67 an enormously famous but broken Johnny crawled to the back of a Tennessee cave, figuring he’d get lost and die where no one could find him. While deep in the dark, he said, “I became conscious of a very clear, simple idea; I was not in charge of my destiny. I was not in charge of my own death. I was going to die at God’s time, not mine.” More on that later…

A few years ago, I interviewed his sister Joan, for On Course Magazine.  Joanne Cash invited her famous brother Johnny to church where her “messed up” life had just changed for the better.   Looking out from the choir loft a few weeks later, she joined the stares of the congregation, “It was John and June.”  That Sunday morning in 1971, Joanne Cash watched her brother and sister-in-law walk to the altar where they were then joined by the family.  Johnny said, “I think it’s about time I led my family back to Jesus.” 

He life was now not his own, he even said, “I don’t have a career anymore. What I have now is a ministry. everything I have and everything I do is given completely to Jesus. ” (Conn’s book)

Death

Just before emerging from Nickaback Cave to find his wife and mother (who’d flown in knowing something was wrong), Johnny realized, “I was going to die at God’s time, not mine.” Johnny made music until God took him. I know of no other musician and very few artists who’ve stared down death in the midst of doing some of their life’s best work.

Within earshot of a respectful Rick Rubin, Johnny sat in a cabin at his Hendersonville, TN, property and recorded music. For years he and his guitar (in the end, others had to play for him as autonomic neuropathy kept his hands from being steady), made absolutely beautiful music. He recorded songs while leafing through his mother’s hymn book, he also recorded songs released this week on his project, Ain’t No Grave. 

He was tough, thoughtful, determined, and lived in reality until the end. I’ll share my thoughts on the project at another time, but the short version is…I love it.

I could write a book, but alas…

I could write about the various Cash eras, the great story of his career launch in Memphis, extended thoughts on his faith, and many other topics. I wrote here once about his boyhood home of Dyess, AR. I could write much more, but this is getting long…

So I’m a Johnny Cash fan. I’m not into country music at all, but Johnny was so much bigger than country…or gospel…or rock and roll.  I’m a fan of his music, his faith, his journey, and the fact that he’s one of the coolest guys to ever live.

About his friend, Bob Dylan says, “Johnny didn’t have a piercing yell, but ten thousand years of culture fell from him. He could have been a cave dweller. He sounds like he’s at the edge of the fire, or in the deep snow, or in a ghostly forest, the coolness of conscious obvious strength, full tilt and vibrant with danger.”

Happy birthday Johnny Cash. Thanks for making great music and living a life worthy of respect from people from all walks. Tell Jesus hello today and know your music lives on…

The following is a very cool story…like they could  make a movie about it.  I’ve reprinted it with permission from Chad Isenhart, who was a Convoy of Hope intern when we went to Armenia in the fall of 2008. He lives there now on assignment, helping with various Convoy of Hope projects. Quite moving…here goes!

From Chad…

This last weekend we attended one of our new church plant services in the village of Spitak. Here in December 7, 1988 at 11:41am a massive earthquake that struck Armenia on was epicentered in Spitak, taking at least 25,000 lives. 500,000 people whose homes, built in apparent violation of seismic safety standards, were destroyed by two powerful tremors that rocked much of Armenia’s territory 20 years ago.

Measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale, many poorly constructed Soviet buildings across the region sustained heavy damage or collapsed.

The small city of Spitak was destroyed, while the nearby cities of Leninakan (later renamed to Gyumri) and Kirovakan (later renamed to Vanadzor) sustained a lot of damage as well. The tremor also caused damage to many surrounding villages.

Since most of the hospitals in the area were destroyed, and due to freezing winter temperatures, officials at all levels were not ready for a disaster of this scale and the relief effort was insufficient. The Soviet Union allowed foreign aid workers to help with the recovery in the earthquake’s aftermath.  This was one of the first cases when rescue and relief workers from other countries were allowed to take part in relief works in the Soviet Union.

We attended this service, and unknown to us, they had planned on taking an offering for response to the earthquake in Haiti. This small, year old church, meeting in a living room of a members home with about 50 in the congregation prayed for the people of Haiti, and gave their widows mite. Many in the village living on less than 3 dollars a day. They gave sacrificially with an offering of $180.00. They have asked us to get it to COH.

…end quote

Thanks for sharing Chad. Great story.

By the way, here’s some of the earthquake housing (think FEMA trailers) that’s still being used after these 25 years…

I really love Jesus, and I love Lost…The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay is a fun book.  I just read it on my flight from Bangladesh and am glad we didn’t crash on a mysterious island on the way… 

April and I hesitantly joined the Lost bandwagon about 1 ½ years ago (here’s a blog entry from that era). Great choice. We’ve watched each episode, and smile as time deepens our confusion. In the midst of our wonder, we love the show and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Seay describes the purpose of the book as “not to erase the mystery, but to allow each of us to seek a posture that celebrates the things we do know and to embrace the mystery of things that have yet to unfold.” He does this well.

To show the connection of Lost and the Gospel, Seay points out references to faith, philosophy, history, literature, and relationships from the plot thick program. He also shares lessons from our faith that perhaps the writers never intended.   

Most chapters serve as a character study, highlighting the ways faith, doubt, fear, pain, guilt, insecurity, and history are seen in a certain Lost character.   

I enjoy the over coffee (or sushi) conversational style of the book. He writes things I can hear him say, such as, “If you didn’t cry in season four’s episode ‘The Constant,’ something is wrong with you; you were either distracted or, worse; it is possible you have no soul.”

Seay uses humor, insights, a love for Jesus, a respect for elements of pop culture and obvious passion for the program to craft the book.                                                                              

If you’re a Lost fan, I recommend the book as a fun read. Also, The Gospel According to Lost could be a great eye opening gift to Lost fans who may not be on your faith journey.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

During intern training, our team watched the movie, Born Into Brothels. In the Oscar winning documentary, kids from Calcutta’s Red Light District are given cameras and taught to use them. Out of the project, an organization called Kids with Cameras was born. We liked the idea.

Here’s how we used it: after school, 12 girls from Bangladsh go to Uttam’s Place, an oasis they can see from their home in the slums. There, they study, learn, play, laugh, eat, shower, wash their clothing and smile a lot.  Now, they’re kids with cameras who love to take pictures.

A key lesson they’re learning? There’s no one on earth like them…they’re unique, special, and there’s a pretty fantastic plan in the works for their lives. They’re learning some other key things too…

Our interns spent last week with them. We played, did crafts, shared songs and stories, ate and got to know them.

Getting to know the girls was insightful. One told me how her father is crippled. Another talked about her uncle recently dying. They’re all have their stories. They’re unique and they’re beautiful. They’re learning and having a blast at this special place.

Last week, they learned about photography and how like photos, each of them is unique and special. Smiles, laughter, interest, concentration, and joy infected each of these special girls. They took many, many photos and look forward to learning more.

The most frustrating part of the week? The stomach flu all 10 of us got. We’re better now, but not done with Uttam’s Place! The team goes back the next week…and even next month. I’ll post some of their photos when I get them.

We’ve taught the basics of taking pictures…and just started with a few details before getting sick.  Anything you think we should include in our future lessons?

Note: Many thanks Fred & friends at Lawrence Photo in Springfield, Mo.  They donated/gave great deals on cameras we took to the center that helps the girls.