Jesus, in the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25, said, 'I was in prison and you visited me.' One of the first celebrities to follow that teaching of the Savior was Johnny Cash. This is from April 23, 2011.
I was in charge of middle school chapel on Thursday. As part of our discussion, I showed a clip from Gospel Road, Johnny Cash's movie about the life of Jesus, filmed on location in Israel. Cash took some liberties with the filming but in a scene that makes Gospel Road worth watching, he sets the crucifixion on a busy urban street in modern America, which was the clip I showed. We spoke of how Johhny was trying to make the sacrifice of the cross both eternal and universal. It caught some of the kids off guard but is sparked some thought.
If you are a country music fan or watched the biographic movie about Johnny Cash, Walk The Line, you know his life was often a struggle. One thing I really appreciate is that as far as I can tell, Cash was the first, or one of the first, celebrities to reach out to the incarcerated. Back in the fall semester, Larry Frank, who is my congregation's prison minister, brought a former prisoner to my class.This man's life had turned from star athlete to drug user to drug dealer to a man who killed another. The story he told of life in prison, and the power of the gospel, was an eye opener to my class of senior boys. But without those like Larry Frank who do what Jesus taught by visiting those in prison, it's doubtful our speaker would have ever been able to make any positive contribution to society.
In honor of Johnny Cash and indulging myself a little, I am including one of the greatest songs ever, Love Has No Pride, by the stunningly beautiful Linda Ronstadt. It is from a show at the Tennessee State Prison arranged by, you guessed it, Johnny Cash. Hope you enjoy it and remember a time when talent was what sold records. HAPPY EASTER!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hoX4rXJGWg#t=23
Applicable quote of the day:
“How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.”
Johnny Cash
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
2 comments:
Chapel was awesome!
I love songs, e4specially love songs. This is the first time I've heard of that song in the video but it's nice.
God bless :)
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