GOD'S GONNA CUT YOU DOWN

This was the title of one of Johnny Cash's last recorded songs... It is CLASSIC CASH... It showed up on American V: A Hundred Highways. It's a song about judgment and eternity... Subjects we don't hear about too often anymore...

The video for the song is somewhat odd. It features cameo appearances by celebrities like Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Flea, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee, the Dixie Chicks, Sharon Stone, Bono, Anthony Kiedis, Lisa Marie Presley, Kid Rock, Jay-Z, Keith Richards, Johnny Depp, Brian Wilson, Rick Rubin, Owen Wilson and others often lip syncing the lyrics of this song. Lyrics I'm not certain they fully understand...

As I read the text for this coming Sunday, the lyrics of this song came to mind. Here's the text.

Acts 5:1-10 (NLT), But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”
9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

This passage causes the series title "DANGEROUS CHURCH" to take on a new meaning all together.

It's one of the most difficult passages in the entire New Testament... It is a passage that has provoked tons of questions, and a passage that has me scratching my head as I consider what God wants to say to us this Sunday.

While I'm not certain that the celebrities who made guest appearances to honor the late Johnny Cash understood the depth of the lyrics of "God's Gonna Cut You Down," Ananias and Sapphira lived it.

When you read this passage what does God say to you?

Any ideas about how you would communicate this passage?

Finally, how about partnering with me in prayer that God will anoint this weekend's message and use us to communicate a truth that most people don't really want to think about?

In a way this passage reminds me of why what we're doing is so important. Why this weekend is so important. CASH was right! "Sooner or later God'll cut you down..."

If we really believe what God's word says about eternity and judgment, that's all the motivation we should need to get out there and SHARE.

See you this weekend...