Ring Them Bells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckkHB3Y2DcI&feature=player_embedded

Here is a song where Bob Dylan clearly expresses his Calvinistic understanding of the Scriptures and demonstrates a sophistcated understanding of "the choosen few, who will judge the many, when the game is through."

"Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" I Cor. 6:2

"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth"
2 Thessalonians 2:13

"There are several things here which deserve special attention. First, the fact that we are expressly told that God's elect are "chosen to salvation": Language could not be more explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries and equivocations of all who would make election refer to nothing but external privileges or rank in service! It is to "salvation" itself that God has chosen us. ...Instead of shrinking back in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer Himself."
AW PINK


We have further confirmation that Dylan has personally embraced this Biblical view of God's Sovereignty in the great Bob Dylan Song "Every Grain of Sand" from 1981. In this autobiographical song we hear

“Onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.”

So this is something that he came to understand, only “onward in his journey.” And what a journey it has been! The song talks about

“I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand”

In other words, down to the minutest detail of our lives and in all creation, there is not the slightest thing that is not in the hand -- or under the ultimate control -- of the Master. Another way to say this is with the concluding verse:

“I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand”

Bob Dylan protests in China, in his own way

This is a good article on the great concert Dylan gave in Beijing on April 6, 2011:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/religion-faith041311/religion-faith041311/

I have found a very clear recording of this exceptional concert and I noted carefully as the very last modified line in the openning number puts it: "He is gonna put his best FRIEND forward.... and Stop...Being...Influenced....By.........Fools."

1) October 18, 1981 Dane County Coliseum Madison, WI With my wife
2) July 4, 1991 Tanglewood Music Shed Lenox, MA With family and Mother-in-law
3) July 24, 1991 Thames River Pavilion Groton, CT With family and Sister-in-law
4) October 24, 1992 Gamble Pavilion Storrs, CT With Pastor Brad
5) April 19th, 1997 University of Hartford SportsCenter Hartford, CT With Pastor Brad
6) August 3, 2002 Fort Stage Newport, RI With wife and family
7) November 17, 2002 Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT With my wife Sharon
8) June 21, 2005 Thomas Dodd Stadium Norwich, CT With family

Sean Wilentz says Bob Dylan is still a Christian

Sean Wilentz appeared last night on the Colbert Repor talking about his new book Bob Dylan in America. You can view the interesting interview here:

The Colbert Report
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Wilentz will quickly tell you that he himself is an atheist, as both he and Christopher Ricks are anxious to point out their atheism in the following discussion: Move the slider quickly in the following link to: 22:45-24:35. Here they both say they are "almost persuaded to become a Christian" by some of Dylan's songs, but they remain atheists....they do have to keep their day jobs in academia after all.

http://philoctetes.org/Past_Programs/The_Inventions_of_Bob_Dylan (22:45-24:35)

So that is what makes Wilentz's testimony to Colbert -- that Dylan was converted to Christianity, and remains, a Christian -- so valuable. He tells Colbert to listen to the songs.....as Dylan himself says...."it is all in the songs."

So here we have a Princeton historian, a very knowledgable expert on the subject of Bob Dylan because he just completed a full length book on the subject, answering once and for all the question... "Is Bob Dylan still a Christian?"

With with testimony of these expert witnesses....I rest my case.

Great Cover by Chrisse Hynde: Property of Jesus

Dylan the mysterious ‘true believer’

A good article discussing the mysterious ‘true believer’.




http://www.getreligion.org/?p=23513

Slow Sleigh Comin'

Slow Sleigh Comin'

The following interesting and thoughtful reflections comes from County Cork, Ireland where they were written by Markus Prieur, who host a website called Not Dark Yet. Markus explains the purpose of his website as follows:

It is my contention, that Bob Dylan believes what he sings in those songs, and that the biblical viewpoints conveyed on stage are his own. I assume, that Bob has experienced, like countless other believers, his Lord and Saviour as the Good Shepherd, who cares for his sheep, and who is looking out for them, even when they go astray in their own ways.

Bob did not initiate his relationship with Jesus. God did that decades ago and the results were obvious. It was not Bob, but his Lord, who began the good work in him. And it is not Bob, but his Lord, who will be the one fulfilling his promise to be faithful to complete this good work. Bob keeps on "hanging in the balance of a perfect finished plan", as he keeps on "hanging on to a solid rock".

Markus is more than a casual fan, he has attended 57 performances of what he contends is “the greatest living artist, and whose voice still is the finest instrument in music history.”

http://www.notdarkyet.org/slowsleighcoming.html