Ted Nugent and Issues, Etc.

(from Pr. Rossow) This post could be titled “A Not So Typical Day in the Life of a Pastor.” This is a good light-hearted story for the 4th of July holiday.

 

The day started fairly normally yesterday. I spent the first hour or so of the day doing maintenance on the website and then went up to the pastor’s study up at church (let’s stop calling it an “office”) to catch up on phone calls, emails and to start Bible class for Sunday. I also got to spend an hour on the phone doing pastoral care (let’s stop calling it “pastoral counseling”) with a woman who is dear to me. I have been pointing her to the cross of Christ for 15 years now, once or twice a month to help her with her emotional problems. After lunch, (a couple of protein bars – I pretend like I am still on Atkins) I went up to the hospital to make calls. Then things went beyond typical.

 

I spent the remainder of the afternoon at home listening to the show while stuffing new member packets for our newest BJS brothers. The Pastor Wilken and Jeff Scwharz kibitzing hour was once again very enjoyable and the “wardog,” Dr. John Warwick Montgomery was comprehensive as always. He is sometimes referred to as the “wardog” because of his take-no-prisoners approach to Christian apologetics. (His colleague at the apologetics institute in Strasbourg, Craig Parton, is a BJS advisory board member.)

 

For diner we had ribs and rock ‘n roll. Tom, my favorite Roman Catholic and spouse of BJS editor/writer Elaine Gavin, is an audiophile and every once in while invites us to a concert. The home of BJS, Naperville, Illinois has a 4th of July festival every year called Ribfest where they attract about 50,000 people a day. Each night of the festival they have top name entertainment and on this particular night it was the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent. We accepted the invitation and boy what a day that made for. How about this for an odd combination, Ted Nugent, Pastor Wilken and John “Wardog” Montgomery all within a few hours?

 

Actually, maybe it wasn’t such an odd combination, The Motor City Madman and the Wardog. I am not sure which could outlast the other in an energy burn. It would probably be a draw. Ted Nugent, as many of you know is an ardent supporter of the NRA and a flag-waver. He opened the show with a guitar rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and it brought the house down. He spent much of the time between songs editorializing about vegetarians, Barack Obama, freedom, and the importance of speaking one’s mind. His support for outspokenness reminds me of our favorite radio host.

 

The concert was outstanding. I certainly do not endorse Ted Nugent’s occasional foul choice of words, but apart from that it was an enjoyable evening filled with an energetic and appropriate use of the electric guitar, i.e. at a secular concert rather than in the Lord’s sanctuary. It was a full two hour concert which was not bad for the $10 admission price. In addition to his typical head-banging rock, he included a three song blues set which was appropriate for this crowd gathered in a suburb of Chicago, the so-called House of Blues. The concert ended with an encore in which “Uncle Ted,” an avid hunter, shot a flaming arrow across the stage in honor of the American Indian and in memory of the millions of buffalo slaughtered on the American frontier. I’m not looking for Pastor Wilken or the Wardog to do the same on any future shows, but I am confident that their energy levels will continue to rival the Motor City Madman.

 

(Since no one has posted a favorite adventure or other pleasure of life on the “No Pietists Allowed” page, I’ll be posting this account there in hope that others of you will share with us your non-typical days, adventures, vacations

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