Shake, rattle and repent: Spin gets religion

By Steve Beard

Good News

November/December 1997

British clergyman Gerald Coates was fond of saying: “God is doing more behind our backs than he is doing in front of our eyes.” In other words, God pops up in the most unexpected places.

The USA Today sports section recently ran a lengthy lead story on the Christian conversion of Cincinnati Reds/Dallas Cowboys star Deion Sanders. Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly reported that the three brothers in teen rock sensation Hanson are very serious about their faith.

The October issue of Vibe, the ultra-hip urban music magazine, has an amazingly complimentary cover-story article on Kirk Franklin. His latest collaboration with God’s Property sold more than a million copies and will most likely become the biggest gospel album ever.

With all this media attention, Christianity is making news outside of church for things other than fund-raising scams, adulterous affairs, or political plots.

The cover of the September issue of Spin, the Gen X alternative music magazine, proclaimed “103,000 Saved: A Second Coming in Pensacola.” It devoted 13 pages of photos and text to historic revival at the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida. This is, after all,  a magazine edited and published by the son of Penthouse’s Bob Guiccione.

The article, titled “An Awesome God,” is a fascinating analysis from someone who is an observant novice to a Pentecostal-flavored revival. “You have never in your life experienced religion so  fulfilling, total, and joyful. White church, in particular, is never this ecstatic,” reports Mark Schone. He concludes: “Now I know why souls are drawn here from all around the world.”

Schone faithfully retells evangelist Steve Hill’s story of being set free from drugs and turning his life over to Jesus. Remarkably, the sinner’s prayer: ‘Dear Jesus, I thank you for not leaving me alone. I pray right now for your forgiveness …” is found right in the center of the article.

I was recently back in Pensacola with my friends at the Pine Forest United Methodist Church. As we visited Brownsville one night, I was reminded of Schone’s observations: “The pilgrims know they’ve glimpsed the infinite, and it only makes them hungrier.” Spot on.

“The crowd loves the fear and trembling, and to my shock it affects me too,” Schohne refreshingly admits.  ‘‘Certainly the joy of the flock is appealing, as is the music … but so is the core message. Behind the prudish Southern obsession stands the suffering Christ, and a reminder of the sins of pride and selfishness and hate. Every time I feel superior to the Brownsville masses. with their medieval fear of demons and witches, I feel ashamed. They got part of it right –  if any of Christianity right – and it nags me.

“I have the reflexes of a religious  man and wish I didn’t. Though my  cortex would bet not a soft, needy word is true. I can’t help but feel the emotional tug of Christ, patron of the poor and oppressed.” Schone continues. “In recent years, my spiritual life’s been no more than tears in the popcorn during Dead Man Walking. But as I drive away from the revival just before midnight, past numberless Circle K’s and Subways, Hill’s repetitive message clangs in my head. Its certainty takes me back to my childhood, when the supernatural seemed possible. In my hotel bed, I drift into a half-dream, glad I’ve got only two more nights of revival to survive. From the ether, a voice awakens me. “With me,” purrs someone, “it gets better than this.”

As they say, the Lord moves in mysterious ways. I’m grateful Schone heard that it gets better than this. Blessed hope is the Christian trump card.

When asked, at the revival, if he desired prayer, Schone writes: “You can’t have the real experience unless you want the experience. I’m not ready to make that commitment. That’s not what I’m here for.”

About 3/4 of the way through the article, the colorful analysis and soul searching ends. Ultimately, Schone  parts ways with the revival because of Brownsville’s view on homosexuality. “After a week of trying to reconcile the Shepherd’s sweetness with the sheep’s poison.” Schone writes. “I stop trying.’’

Schone may have stopped trying to look for God in Pensacola, but I’ve learned God’s not a quitter. Despite the sour conclusion to Schone’s honest and powerful essay, it’s refreshing to see that thoughts like sin, repentance, and the awesomeness of God were so widely published in a magazine like Spin, being read by a group of people the church either can’t or won’t pursue.

It also reminds me to pray for people like Mark Schone, a seeker after the truth. I love the phrase that Jesus used to describe one man, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” I hope that description fits Schone, because when the soul searches in earnest, God’s grace is so very near.

Art: Spin Magazine.