Skip to main content

There I was looking for 1000 brown M&Ms or Ozzie wouldn’t go on stage



  In the music industry, it is not uncommon for acts to require a rider for any venue that is hosting one of their concerts. A rider is a set of requests or demands that a performer sets as criteria for performance. They can be anything from technical requirement for the audio to what kinds of drinks are served backstage.  Over the years some on the wilder request have surfaced that show how eccentric and vainglorious some acts can be. One that has been often referenced is the rock group Van Halen request for a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown candies removed from the rest. If any brown M&Ms were found with the food backstage, the band reserved the right to refuse to play, and still be fully compensated. Most people looked at it as the ultimate example of spoiled musicians, but really it was something else entirely.

  Van Halen was the biggest shows of their day, but they still would play in smaller markets that the bigger names usually didn’t visit. Their tour came with a massive amount of equipment and electrical requirements that many smaller venues would not be ready for. The technical needs of the show were spelled out in great detail in the concert rider. When Van Halen showed up, their crew didn’t have time to double-check if the prep work that had been done. If the wiring wasn't adequate, they could blow a fuse and the show would come to an abrupt halt. If the stage couldn't support the weight of the equipment, it could collapse, putting lives in danger. So buried in the middle of lengthy technical requirements they included the famous M&M clause. With a quick glance, they could tell how well the promoter has done their job. If there was no bowl of M&Ms, they hadn't read the whole contract. If there were brown M&Ms in the bowl, they had been sloppy in their preparations and they needed to check the setup. Every time, they found something wrong. If they found something they could fix, they might delay the show. If it was something serious that couldn't be corrected, the show was cancelled. The bowl of M&Ms served as a canary in the coal mine, warning them of pending danger.

  I wonder if God doesn't do the same thing with his people. Give us something simple enough to do but requires us to do it faithfully. It may make little sense to us but serves as a proof point to our faith. If we believe him we will do it, if we don’t we won’t. So when we try to bypass his commands, explain away the need to obey, dismiss the requirement as “legalism” and say God will be fine with not doing it, all we are doing is showing that we won’t be faithful. As Jesus said, “"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. (Luke 16:10)

  So when Jesus says, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned”, it sets up for us a choice. Listen, obey and show our faithfulness or ignore, do something else and prove to be unfaithful. Is baptism all there is to salvation? No, God's grace, Jesus sacrifice, the Gospel message, our faith and repentance, confession of Jesus, faithfulness all are important parts of salvation.  But baptism is also a part. And if we ignore it, or explain it away, or dismiss it as superfluous, than it is a great indicator that things are very wrong!
  God wants to have a relationship with us. He has given us written documentation to what he need for that to happen. Any change no matter how small is significant and is an indicator of a major problem. Are we going to follow his covenant or risk losing everything!

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Until Midnight

    In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back.       I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Name Written On It

  There was a rancher in Oregon named Bill Brown. He was known for often writing checks on any paper available. This included things like envelopes, soup can labels, and newspaper margins. Now, most banks wouldn’t accept his kind of check, but Bill Brown was a very rich, therefore very important customer, so the banks in his area would cash the checks without question.   It wasn’t the surface the name was written on that mattered, but the name written on the surface.  In 2 nd Corinthians 4, Paul speaks about the privilege we have because of our involvement in the ministry of Christ. Yet he warns us that we, “ do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake . In fact, he tells us “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves ”  It is not about the person the message is written on but the person that has written the message....
Post a Comment
Read more

The Gift You Give Yourself

    I always hated buying gifts for my Mom. If I got her something like a new set of pans, it was like saying “Here’s something you can use to go make me something to eat”. A gift for her was seemingly a gift for me.   There are however gifts you give that benefit you more than the receiver. For example, forgiveness. When you give it, you are giving it to yourself as much as you are giving it to them. Jesus said that when we forgive others it means God is forgiving us our wrongs (Matthew 6:14-15).  I once read: “ Heaven is where everyone's forgiven. Hell is where nobody's forgiven.  So, when we forgive we pull heaven down into our lives.  When we withhold forgiveness, we pull hell up into our lives ” Give yourself something nice today, Forgive.
Post a Comment
Read more