FRIDAYS WITH ALICE TURNED 4!

​Yesterday marked the 5th anniversary of “Fridays With Alice (FWA).” It’s incredible to look back at that journey.

• There have been 6 Alice LPs (studio, live, and Hollywood Vampires) released during that time.
• Alice played King Herod and multiple characters on children’s TV shows.
• We’ve experienced a global pandemic – forcing musicians to collaborate through ZOOM and other methods (streams, podcasts, etc.)
• Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock opened another location in Mesa and recently announced a third one is coming to Goodyear.

…The list goes on – Alice never stops!

Many beautiful things have also happened during this time – events, meetings, and conversations – it’s been remarkable to see how one man, Alice Cooper, can bring so many different people together.

While we LOVE everything about Alice Cooper, Jesus Christ remains our primary focus. While Alice inspires, entertains, and captures our imaginations, Jesus Christ offers us Grace, Mercy, and Love.

We see Alice as a reformed man and Jesus as the One who rehabilitated him. Alice is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). With that transformation, a new life emerges.

Faith Brings Joy

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Adam and Christ Contrasted

12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:1-21

The above-listed verses offer the perfect explanation of a life transformed by Christ. To paraphrase, the NIV Life Application Bible offers a brilliant summary for them:

“These verses introduce a section that contains some difficult concepts. To understand the next four chapters (Romans 6-9), it helps to keep in mind the two-sided reality of the Christian Life. On the one hand, we are complete in Christ (our acceptance with Him is secure). On the other hand, we are growing in Christ (we are becoming more and more like Him.)

At one and the same time we have the status of kings and the duties of slaves. We feel both the presence of Christ and the pressure of sin. We enjoy the peace that comes from being made right with God, but we still face daily problems that often help us grow. If we remember these two sides of the Christian life, we will not grow discouraged as we face temptations and problems. Instead, we will learn to depend on the power available to us from Christ, who lives in us by the Holy Spirit.”

Like Alice, anyone who accepts and calls Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior begins life anew. The old has gone and the new has come. As described above, that new life looks much different than the old. It requires endurance and commitment.

In conclusion, we are honored that you have joined us on this journey. God’s Word is fascinating, and He has so much to say to us and show us, using Alice as a vessel helps many of us better see and understand what change looks like.

We are grateful that Alice so willingly puts his faith on display so that we might see the transformation his life took as he began his life anew through Christ (Galatians 2:20).

Please know that we believe the Holy Spirit is speaking to all of us. We are reminded weekly that His Love, Mercy, and Grace are everlasting!

As Alice would say, “Christ is EVERYTHING!” We urge you to heed Alice’s words and discover a new way of living, thinking, and being. All it requires is desire – the desire to see things from a new perspective.

May we come to know that Christ is the Living Word of God and He is EVERYTHING!

That’s it for this week; Be well and catch you next Friday.

Until then, Keep Walkin’ in Faith and Rockin’ with Alice.