...shirt once.
They made me turn it inside out!
Posted on 05/30/2019 4:04:35 PM PDT by Gamecock
This is another item that belongs in the Johnny Carson “I DID not know THAT!” category.
What do heavy metal rock music and Reformed theology have in common? It turns out that there is an affinity of two of the biggest metal bands of all time to R.C. Sproul.
I don’t remember how I first came across this, but the Van Halen III album has in its liner notes a “special thanks to” section. Among the mostly unknown names is R.C. Sproul.
It turns out that in the fall of 1996, after a falling out with vocalist Sammy Hagar and a failed reconciliation with founding vocalist David Lee Roth, arena rock superstars Van Halen found themselves without a singer. They called on Gary Cherone, veteran of the Boston rock scene, for an audition.
Guitarist Eddie Van Halen liked Cherone’s work ethic and soon named Cherone as the band’s third (and as Van Halen would often comment, “final”) vocalist. Van Halen III is their eleventh studio album. It is the only Van Halen album to feature Gary Cherone on lead vocals, and is Van Halen’s most unpopular album.
Apparently, Cherone is an R.C. Sproul aficionado as well. He is also an avid pro-life advocate who once wrote an Open Letter to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam challenging his pro-choice stance.
(No, I am not making any of this up.)
But guess who is R.C. Sproul’s most famous convert?
Shock rocker Alice Cooper.
Although he isn’t the most vocal Christian, Alice has confirmed in interviews that he is in fact born-again. How did his conversion come about? As though being a Christian isn’t oxymoronic enough, it turns out that Alice Cooper is also an avid golf fan. Both he and his wife are preacher’s kids too. Alice Cooper’s father is a Reformed missionary to the Navajo Indians. Sheryl Cooper’s father is a Baptist preacher in California and an avid R.C. Sproul fan.
The following is the story found on several message boards:
As it turns out, R.C. Sproul is also an avid golfer. R.C. did a small promo spot on a Golf My Way video on how to improve your game. Sheryl’s father had been sending them R.C. Sproul books on a regular basis. However, Alice and Sheryl chucked them in a box, never thinking of them again. Then one day, Alice is watching this Golf My Way video with R.C. doing a promo spot. At that very point, Sheryl walks into the room and says “Hey! That’s the guy on those books that Daddy keeps sending us!” Alice’s reply was something to the effect “Yeah, sure…” Anyway, they go to the box, and pull out the books and sure enough it’s the same guy. They hop on the phone to Sheryl’s father to see what this guy is all about. Sheryl’s father says to them to register for the upcoming convention in San Diego, and see for themselves what he’s all about.
So they did.
At the convention, Alice Cooper comes to the registration desk and registers as Vince Cooper, but pays with his VISA card, which says Alice Cooper. The guy on registration recognizes him right away, and lets the rest of the staff know he’s there. So, after the day is done, people are starting to realize who this guy is. They’re asking question after question and Alice says, “Yeah, I’m trying to see what the Lord wants me to do in life.”
The following is from Wikipedia.com
Alice has avoided “celebrity Christianity” because, as he states: “It’s really easy to focus on Alice Cooper and not on Christ. I’m a rock singer. I’m nothing more than that. I’m not a philosopher. I consider myself low on the totem pole of knowledgeable Christians. So, don’t look for answers from me.”
When asked by the British Sunday Times Magazine in 2001 how a rebellious shock-rocker could be a Christian, Alice is credited with providing this response “Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s real rebellion!”
After conquering his alcoholism, Cooper became a noted golf enthusiast beginning in Winnipeg MB and has since participated in several Pro-Am competitions (This was detailed in his book, Alice Cooper: Golf Monster). He has appeared in commercials for Callaway Golf equipment. He reportedly has a 5 handicap and plays 6 days a week. Since 1997, he has hosted an annual golf competition, the Alice Cooper Celebrity AM Golf Tournament. All proceeds from the event go to Cooper’s charity, the Solid Rock Foundation. In August 2006, he participated in the Northern Rock All Stars Cup event – a celebrity version of the Ryder Cup, for charity.
Cooper even penned a brief foreword to the Gary McCord book, Golf for Dummies.
:-)
The poll workers always ~want~ to say something about the shirt but can’t, because it’s not technically electioneering.
So much cognitive dissonance.
Good times.
A friend and I were in Alice’s restaurant in Cooperstown about 10 years ago having dinner when Alice strolled through the room. It was funny because my friend’s wife had just bought a pair a tickets for a concert in two weeks and as Cooper came closer to our table, my friend asked his wife to quick email the purchase confirmation. She did and so my friend was able to show Alice that he and wife were going to see him in a few weeks at a concert (at a location on the other side of the continent). Alice was quite impressed and sat and chatted with us for about 10 minutes.
Great campaign slogan!
Isn’t it just?
However, the D poll workers never seem terribly amused.
/dressing for spite
:D
From Wikipedia:
"Cooper presumed that, because the chicken had wings, it would be able to fly. He picked it up and threw it out over the crowd, expecting it to fly away. The chicken instead plummeted into the first few rows occupied by wheelchair users, who reportedly proceeded to tear the bird to pieces."
"The next day the incident made the front page of national newspapers, and Zappa phoned Cooper and asked if the story, which reported that he had bitten off the chicken's head and drunk its blood on stage, was true. Cooper denied the rumor, whereupon Zappa told him, "Well, whatever you do, don't tell anyone you didn't do it."
Going on 72 years he still kicks butt on stages, golf courses and speaking venues and has always been Christian. Troubles, alcoholism, some drugs but eventually clean, still creative, positive and giving.
Almost forgot - never throw live birds to wheelchair users.
I was watching “The Calvinist” recently about young people becoming part of the Reformed movie, until it went on about how God can use rap music, and included some samples. That is when I quit watching it.
I think Alice isn’t Christian (Christ-like) enough, nor myself, and which is contrary to being a Pharisee. Believing the gospel of salvation by grace thru faith is to result in walking according to the Truth of the gospel, which means that what we say and express is to reflect that. I can always be better in that, while as for while Copper. he seems to personally be a humble caring person but I cannot reconcile being a heavy metal entertainer whose stage show features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, deadly snakes, etc. with preaching the gospel.
I would note that Alice's father was a Christian Pastor and he grew up in the church. He came back to his faith after a long battle with alcoholism. He is quite open about his faith and has been for decades. There are multiple youtube videos where Alice gives his testimony and proudly proclaims his faith - he is not shy about it.
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Yeah, well, for some folks, that’s not good enough.
Amazing Grace?
Jesus wept.
For some folks nothing is ever good enough. Shake their dust off your feet and move on with the Gospel.
Amen.
Are you seriously attempting to equate miracles such as Paul not dying as a result of being bitten by a poisonous snake with Vincent Furnier, using the name of a women, Alice Cooper, use of guillotines, electric chairs, chickens, fake blood, deadly snakes as part of a hard rock-shock show (and advising performers to be obnoxious with a snarl on their face, yet also giving sound advice on marriage)?
Those lazy Boa snakes are not “deadly”.
Good grief.
Calm down.
It is impossible to know how God works in the life of a believer. I think David is a good example. After he lost everything at Ziglag, his men openly talked of killing him. Absalom his son wanted to kill him and a great many people in Israel were willing to side with him. Yet David was a man after God’s own heart.
David is an example to us that we are not to judge a book by it’s cover. God even said as much to Samuel.
Thank you for your testimony.
We are saved by grace and it is a gift from God, which we do not deserve and can never earn.
Even the worst of us.
...shirt once.
They made me turn it inside out!
"As GOD as my witness...
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