Till Cinderella Man Collapses Part 1

I'll start this one off with a confession. I was going to write about the following:  if you look extremely closely at a few of Eminem's song lyrics, you could stretch some to mirror a few pieces of who Jesus was. I must confess, I was wrong. Very wrong indeed.

There is really no stretching needed. There are numerous pieces of Jesus' personality in the lyrics of Eminem that call out to you. Pieces of your Best Friends personality that are being spit through the mouth of Marshall Mathers. 

You love listening to Eminem's music because its gives you permission to be like the real Jesus. I love it for the same reason. Eminem's lyrics overflow with fiery emotion. They hum through my  super neat Toyota's speakers with the intensity and boldness that Jesus Christ lived with.  Listening to his raw emotion gives me more of a Holy experience than any church service I have been to. Eminem raps with raw passion. He rants, he raves, he yells, he calls people out. His style and creativity bring a notably strong presence to the radio.  He does not disclose his emotions, instead he wears them on his sleeve. One minute he raps about his immense personal grief and suffering, the next he is proclaiming an inner strength that cannot be denied. There's a reason you love his songs. They awaken a desire within you to walk through the tunnels of pain and struggle in your own life, and to come out on the other side better for it.
Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.  

My favorite Eminem song is Cinderella Man. I absolutely love it. There are so many parallels between this song and who Jesus is, it increases my heart race each time I listen. 

Simply start with the title of this freakin song. Cinderella Man. It immediately brings to mind an underdog. Marshall Mathers was an underdog. A poor white kid from Detroit who grew up in a trailer park. I mean, the odds are already stacked against this dude. Then this idiot's got the nerve, the balls, to pursue a career in HIP HOP?! Who does this guy think he is?? Can you imagine the wayward looks he received when he would tell people his dream? He was the butt of endless punchlines. Yet his lyrics reveal a certain freedom, an attitude that goes something like, 'I don't give a rip what people think about me.'  To most people, Mr. Mathers was just another dude. Many dismissed him as an arrogant psychopath who didn't have much going for him. But then this guy turns out being one of the best lyricists of all time? Incredible. A true Cinderella story.

Jesus too, was laughed at for where He came from. People roll their eyes and grin when they hear this poor carpenter from Nazareth is actually God Himself. I mean what kind of nuts does it take to tell a bunch of skeptic people you are the Son of God? They dismiss Jesus with the same declaration of arrogance and stupidity people did with Eminem.Yet Jesus is very free, living above what others have to say or think about him. This ordinary carpenter from small town middle-eastville is the Savior of the world. Unreal. A truer Cinderella story.

Who can catch lightning in a bottle? Set fire to water?
Comin' out the nozzle on the fire hose, flier than swatters?
Smash an hourglass, grab the sand, take his hands and cup 'em,
Spit a rhyme to freeze the clock, take the hands of time and cuff 'em.

We hear these opening lines and our hearts leap in our chests. They portray an image of someone who is powerful, and mighty. Someone who defies the rules of science. Its safe to say Eminem can't pull any of that stuff off, but my Friend Jesus does these sort of things for fun. He is completely in control of all things in creation. The dude walked on water, I think he can catch lightning. 

The next verse is not only unbelievably creative, but unbelievably true to how Jesus lived his life. Where do I even begin??  I am afraid I wont be able to capture the fullness of this verse, but I pray I somehow can. This is Fire. This is aggression. This is Christ. All of it.

There's a storm comin' that the weather man couldn't predict,

An unpredictable storm? These words jack me up. I want my life to be the storm the weather man couldn't predict. Scripture is filled with instances of Jesus saying and doing unpredictable things. How about the unpredictability of his rage at the temple? This man walks right up to the 'house of holiness' and flips tables and money jars over until the scene is complete chaos. Of all the places for God Himself to get super pissed with people, he picks the ancient version of a church?!? You mean.... Jesus was confrontational with the moral and religious leaders, yet he was inviting and warm to the so called 'bad apples' of his day? Yep. Unpredictable. 

It's a rap, I was down, when I was down I was kicked.
I got up I'm back to punch ya to the ground, ya trick,

Pause. When I was down I was kicked, I got up. LETS. GO. I'm starting to grin as I accelerate in my super neat Toyota.  Once again, just two short lines tell us the story of Christ's struggle and victory over death. It's an understatement to say that Jesus was 'kicked while down.' He was brutally tortured, experiencing the deepest loneliness in human history. I mean, they KILLED HIM. If Jesus sat down with Em before the release of this song, I think he would suggest that Marshall instead say something to the effect of 'When I was kicked I was dead, I got up.'
It's a trap, fuck my last CD that shits in my trash,
I be G****mned if another rapper gets in my ass,

The uncanny courage of Christ. Yea they killed him. Yea it was awful. But your one sorry sir if you think that will happen again. He looked death in the eye, stomped on its throat. He is King. He is absolutely unconcerned with the threat of Death; He completely did away with it, punched it to the ground. His memory of temporary defeat is in his trash.

I'm destroying your livelihood. I ain't just hurtin' your rep',
I catch a flow and get goin',
No remorse I'm showin', ain't slowin' for no one,
Knowin' there is nothin' you can do about it
Zeroin' on the target like a marksman,
The target is you.
I shut ya lane down,
Took ya spot, parked in it too,
Arsenic flow, lighter fluid, saliva what can ya do?
Go get ya crew to hype you up stand behind you like whoooo!

By now I am dancing in my car, head bobbing, my inner Marshall Mathers being unleashed as I rap in perfect sync with the lyrics. Jesus came to this earth for one reason: To bring people back into a true and real friendship with God. The religious institution at the time of his arrival actually had the opposite effect. People were burdened with 613(ish) rules to live by. If you couldn't obey them all, well quite frankly you couldn't experience God in a real way, or so they thought.

But we see quite the contrary in the stories of Jesus. The people that experience Jesus in a life changing way were the ones who had screwed up their lives quite extensively. Jesus heals the outcasts of society, has deep and real conversations with a prostitute, and frees men from the horrendous acts they have committed in the past. 

The religious leaders and ancient bible thumpers of the day knew the Good Book inside out. Kept it's rules to a tee. Yet the scripture says their hearts were far away from God, that they replaced knowing God with a bunch of phony moral living. These religious leaders were the targets Jesus 'zeroed in on'. He openly and rather loudly, defied their teachings of 'squeaky clean appearance.' He turned the table on their idea of holiness. Its safe to say Jesus shut down the religious leaders 'lane' , taking their spots and parking in them too. The extravagant freedom of Jesus drew more followers; the religious leaders lost followers. Christ didn't just hurt these guys reputation, he destroyed their livelihood. Jesus tookerrr JIRBSSSS!!! It's why they eventually murder him. What could they do, but get their crew to hype 'em up, stand behind 'em like whoooo? 

That boy's hot enough to melt Hell, burn Satan too:
Fry his ass, and put his ashes back together with glue,

Hot enough, indeed. These lines portray a mighty power over the most evil creature to ever exist. The line makes a complete joke out of death and Satan; so did my Best Friend. 
See you can hate 'em, he don't blame you frankly he would too,

One of my favorite things about my Best Friend is he expects to be hated. He knows the outrageous way he lives his life, will result in many people despising him.  He doesn't blame them. He confronts his haters with a stern gaze and fiery presence, much like the lyric. 

This game could ill-afford to lose him, how bout you?

After seeing the boldness and strength of this man, I know in my heart I can't afford to lose him, can't afford to miss out on his friendship. 

How bout you?

Gone, Gone, Gone

I love music. Good music without fail can lift my mood in an instant. There is one song in particular of late that I have really been jamming to. ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’ by Philip Phillips. Now at first I loved this song simply because I am getting married in 100 some odd days, and the lyrics reflect the kind of relentless strength and love that I wish to give to Samantha all the days of my life. But then, in His ever humorous and quirky personality, Jesus whispered very plainly, ‘I wrote that one’.  Right. Good one Jesus.  It only takes me .36 seconds to successfully Google and find out the songwriters of ‘Gone, Gone, Gone.’ Jesus Christ didn’t show up on my results page.

Now to be perfectly honest, a majority of the time, if the beat or instrumentals to a song are good I will crank it. I like good lyrics but don’t religiously listen for each and every line like some people do. It wasn’t until I checked out the first few lines of ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’ that I actually figured out what Jesus was trying to tell me.

                When life leaves you high and dry

                I’ll be at your door tonight

                If you need help, if you need help.

                I’ll shut down the city lights, I’ll lie, cheat, I’ll beg and bribe to

                Make you well, to make you well. 

                Your hope dangling by a string, I'll share in your suffering,

                To make you well, to make you well. 

DUH.  It’s no wonder why so many of you reading this absolutely love this song. In just a few short verses you have the personal promise of Christ’s fierce devotion to rescuing you. He will do anything to make you well.  The lyrics stir up something deep and real in your soul. Something you absolutely crave. Something your heart longs to know is true. That there is Someone willing to love you no matter what, share in your suffering, and love you forever.  That there is such a scandalous love not only to believe in, but also to partake in.

… I’m not moving on, I’ll love you long after you’re gone

For you, For you

You would never sleep alone, I love you long after you’re gone.

....Like a drum, my heart never stops beating for you, for you. 

This is the kind of love in Christ. Christ’s love is downright scandalous.  You will never be alone, you will always be loved. No matter what.

Jesus finished our exchange that day with a thought provoking question that has transformed the way I love Him. I hope it would do the same for you.   ‘What if I am the writer of every love song ever written?’

What if His heart really never stops beating for you? 

What if....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8D4v0xsux8  <<< Check it out for yourself!

What if you did not recognize your best friend?

That’s one hell of a question. What if I told you, that you interact with your best friend on a daily basis, yet did not know him? Is that even possible? What if I told you that each day you laugh with and enjoy a certain part of this best friend’s personality, yet still could not recognize him?

You would have to be legally insane, just plain dumb, or an odd combination of both to pull this scenario off.  Unfortunately we somehow trudge through our lives not recognizing our best friend.

The truth is, every good thing you have ever loved—every memory, every movie, every song, every book, every sight, every sound, every taste, and most importantly every person--- has been sent quite personally to your heart from God Himself. He longs for you to know and understand this. These things you love so dearly, are words to the language in which He speaks to us most often. Both the understanding, and experiencing of this language is our deepest need. Period. 

“People see God everyday; They just don’t recognize Him” – Pearl Bailey

In other words, you hang out with Jesus all the time, you just don’t know it.

That time you laughed till you cried with a friend. That person who you can call at 2 am when your world is falling apart. The breathtaking sunset on summer vacation you won’t ever forget. Your favorite songs.  The unforgettable experience of being a part of that special team. Your favorite person to drink a Budweiser with.  The movies that move you to tears; the ones that stir your heart. That time you won the state championship, or the first time you dunked a basketball.  Your favorite teachers and coaches. The inside jokes with your siblings. The time Donald Harvey pitched the ball to Andy Mundwiller to take the lead late against Pitt State (a personal fave). Your significant other. All the greatest times with your favorite pals. These great things reflect a piece of your Best Friends personality. Every great moment in your lifetime has been time spent with your Best Friend. You just haven’t recognized him….yet.

Due to heartless religion we have accepted the idea that God only speaks to his people either at church or when they read the bible. People will tell you this concept is an essential key for the Christian faith. Jesus will tell you it’s a load of religious bullshit (he would at the very least say bullcrap, bullpoop, or maybe even bull feces).  Man made concepts enforced by self appointed posers. To insist that this is the only way He would choose to pursue His friends is arrogant. “For heaven’s sake—there are 168 hrs in your week. Are you really going to say that the one or two you spend in church are more important to God than the other 166?” (Beautiful Outlaw)

Let me introduce you to this Jesus dude. The real one. Not some religious weirdo who parts his hair in the middle, but the most extravagant man to ever live. Not the guy who walked around telling stories with an innocently weak glow to his face, but the owner of the largest personality in human history.  In my following posts I will share with you the good things in my life that I absolutely love. Movies, songs, books, memories, and most importantly, people. Hopefully they help you interpret the numerous messages sent to you directly from this Fiercely Devoted Friend I like to call Jesus. Hopefully, you start recognizing your Best Friend.