Who Says Christian Don't Have Fun!?!

Smoke seeped into the room. Heat pressed in from all sides as did the crowd. The noise level grew as the people came together in the dark chanting, “R3D, R3D, R3D, R3D.”


It was after 10pm and the first two bands had whipped the crowd into a frenzy and left the stage empty while the final band set up. People were eager for the music to start again.

Then they were there… Michael, Anthony, Randy and Joe and they were on fire! The music reverberated through the room as people danced with hands raised in the air. The hard driving beat of the drum intermixed with the lead singer’s words. The energy was incredible.

Copyright July 2011 by Wendy Zieres

Eventually a mosh pit formed in the midst of the crowd. The mass of humanity moved back to give room to those who felt the need to throw themselves at each other. I have to admit, I don’t understand the mosh pit. We were on the edge and I watched but never could figure out the appeal, but a group of people seemed to be having fun there.

Copyright July 2011 by Wendy Zieres

Yes, it was much like any other rock concert with one exception – R3D is a Christian band. Their music was intense and rivaled any rock band out there but they openly praised Christ on stage and their lyrics spoke of the hope and love that can overcome sadness and despair.

Copyright July 2011 by Wendy Zieres

My friends and I were a somewhat unlikely trio in the midst of these rockers – two forty-something women and a sixteen year old. My friend and her son have been fans of the band for a while now and they have shared with me how the music has ministered to them. When we heard they were going to be in the area it was a no-brainer to try to see them in person.

Copyright July 2011 by Wendy Zieres

I’m not a musician, but I love music and I loved the concert. In fact, I found myself dancing along with the music, clapping, and pumping my fist in the air right along with everyone else!

Copyright July 2011 by Wendy Zieres

Some people think that Christians lead boring lives. They believe that we don’t know how to have fun. Some non-Christians even think that we’re prohibited from having fun. But Wednesday night was living proof that we do know how to have fun and we do indeed have fun. It is possible to honor God while enjoying this life and rock n roll!

We were thrilled to be there at the generosity of Provident Music who is the agency that represents R3D. Many thanks go out to them for the opportunity to enjoy the show.

R3D is made up of four amazing Christian men: Michael Barnes, Anthony Armstrong, Randy Armstrong and Joe Rickard.

For more info about the band please visit the R3D web site.

Rock On!

House on Fire

I recently found the Your Story contest on the Writer's Digest site. It runs every other month with a prompt for a short piece of writing. This month the editor gave the beginning of the first sentence and the last sentence. The writer was to create a story of less than 750 words using the given sentence prompts. I missed the deadline for entering the contest but thought it sounded like fun. So, here is my story with the given prompts highlighted....

House on Fire!

I never would have purchased this house if I’d known that a family of squirrels lived in the attic. They hid themselves well during the showing and inspections; crafty little devils. I first realized there was something wrong with the house right after I moved in.


The first night in the house I left my half eaten dinner on the counter. In the morning the food was gone and the salad dressing had been smeared all over the counter. No more subterfuge from the squirrels though I didn’t yet know that’s who was sharing my house. They made a bold move to let me know who they thought was boss and I wasn’t going to stand for that. I called the pest control guy.

Rodney arrived in a cloud of cologne surrounding him like a Mumu dress. He poked around the kitchen, the back yard and even the attic. “Ma’am, ain’t nothing here that I can see. Maybe you left the window open and something wandered in.”

Four hundred dollars and that’s the conclusion. So the second night I prowled around the house before bed and made sure everything was shut up tight. I loved my new house and wasn’t going to be scared away by some little critters. Dreams of home improvement projects danced through my head like sugar plums on Christmas Eve. However my bliss was short lived. A slithering feeling on my face brought me full awake in the wee hours. Rolling over to check the time I came face to face with a squirrel. Who knew that I could screech so loud!

The squirrel jumped onto the floor between me and the door. He chattered away and shook his tiny paw at me. Then he turned and scampered away. I ran after him, but when I rounded the corner into the living room he was gone; just vanished.

The next day Rodney and his cologne cloud returned. “There is a squirrel in my house and I want you to find him and get rid of him. Today.”

I followed Rodney around as he did his inspection, not taking any chances he would goof up again today. After hours of poking through all my belongings and tapping on walls he declared. “There ain’t no squirrel in this here house. I think you might have been dreaming it, but I did plug some holes around the garage and set some traps in the attic.” He took me up to the attic and showed me what looked like mouse traps.

I was disgusted with his attempts. “I am not paying you one more dime for your services until you catch a squirrel in one of these pathetic traps.”

“Fair ‘nuff.” Scratching his head he left. Little did I know I would never see him again.

I slept peacefully that night and in the morning had renewed hope. I wandered through the house and saw nothing amiss. In the kitchen I put coffee on and went to get the paper off the porch. There on the door mat was one of those dang mouse trap contraptions, but no squirrel. I suspected Rodney was playing a trick on me, but when I called his supervisor I was told that he no longer worked there. Over the next week I found traps strategically placed on the toilet seat, the coffee table, the dressing table. I sat up all night waiting for the squirrels. They never appeared, but later I would find nuts and things hidden around the house. I called another pest control company to no avail. It appeared the squirrels were going to outsmart the whole human race.

A month passed. I spent my remaining savings on pest control but the pests remained. They became bolder, no longer waiting until nighttime to play their tricks. They brazenly took over my house. I began to see two, then three and then more of them at a time. Once I came into the living room to find rodents with bushy tails everywhere. They sat three deep on the couch. The recliner was covered with them. A huge one on the coffee table had his paw on the TV remote and was channel surfing. The chattering was horrendous.

That was when I knew they had won. The rodents would never let me live in this house alone. That’s why tomorrow I’m setting it on fire.