It is Sunday morning December 10th, 2023…& I
have a bit of an apology to make. I am
not sorry for anything I said or did, except for one statement & two
misspoken words, which I will clarify.
This past Friday I went to the Outlaws concert in
Clearwater. The Artimus Pyle Band was the
opening set; the concert was over four hours and was an awesome evening. I will
share more on the concert in a different message. But this episode took place before the
concert, there were many witnesses & videos…thus the reason for this
message & clarification.
I purchased my ticket online and had to pick it up by 6PM at will call…doors opening at 6:30 for a 7:30 show. I was there at around 5:15 and the box office
was closed until 6, so I had a bit of time to enjoy the downtown area of
Clearwater which has gone through some wonderful upgrades. The major addition is the Sound outdoor
amphitheater which opened this year and has had some great concerts.
But this annual Yule Tide Jam with Tampa’s own Guitar Army…the Outlaws…was at
the Capital Theater, a small theater for a homecoming of Classic Southern Rock,
that has been with us for 50 years.
I have written about how you naturally seek & feel
better when you are with those that see & feel similar to you in life. For me, the classic rock enthusiast I am,
concerts of bands I grew up with are a natural.
But this night, there was an interruption…a disturbance…an unwanted
entity…that no one appreciated.
This is where my clarification starts…at 6 PM I went
to the box office and got my ticket.
While talking with the agent I hear a guy yelling at the top of his
lungs how we all must repent or go to hell.
Now although that is true, it is what he kept saying that was most
untrue, distracting, disruptive & unwanted.
He was screaming how rock & roll was the devil’s music, how we were
all sinners for listening to it, he was chastising men with longer hair, he was
calling Catholics heathens for worshipping Mother Mary, he was going on &
on & on screaming & yelling, fifty feet from the only door into the
theater, with one of his minions holding a repent or die sign.
The street in front of the theater is permanently
blocked off for a couple of blocks for pedestrian traffic and there are
numerous shops, restaurants, clubs & condo/apartments in the area. There was a club a half a block away with a
solo singer guitarist outside. The
repent or die guy was so loud, he was drowning out this guy’s acoustic
set. People were annoyed & some said
things to this nut job. I had to use the
bathroom so I just walked in and went to the third-floor balcony, where you
could still hear him.
I had several conversations with folks on the
balconies…including Artimus Pyle and the head sound tech for the Outlaws. Artimus was yelling at the guy to “brush his
teeth” …classic. Well after 10 minutes,
at around 7PM I had had enough. I
politely dismissed myself from Artimus and his sister and went downstairs for a
smoke, which put me at the front door, forty feet from repent or die guy.
Well, he starts in on me about being a sinner…and I
asked him what he was…I said you know we are all sinners…I told him if he had
real guts, he’d go to New York City and have his little tirade with the those
supporting Hamas…I said repeatedly to this guy…HAVE YOU EVER LISTENED TO THE
OUTLAWS LYRICS!!! He obviously
hadn’t…just another misinformed delusional misfit, like those protesting in our
cities. You cannot listen to “Green
Grass & High Tides Forever” a classic rock & roll southern rock anthem and
not hear the spiritually faithful message it contains…if you don’t hear it, you
are not listening.
At this point, in this two days ago story, I must tell
you there was a police officer between me and this guy, as well as two big guys
at the doors to the theater. There were
numerous folks videoing this guy before I got involved and the officer came up
to me and said…” you can say anything you want, just don’t threaten him.” Cool I thought…so I did…I yelled “JUDGE NOT
& YE SHALL NOT BE JUDGED!!!!” I
yelled this numerous times, and his only response was….” what’s after that” to
which at one point I said in jest…” go forth and enjoy a good concert”!!! Which is where one of my apologies resides
as we all know it says in Matthew 7:1-6…. Jesus own words as recorded by
Matthew… (verse 2)”” For you will be treated as you treat others.”” Those are
Jesus’s words right after, (verse 1) “” Do not judge others, and you will not
be judged.”” (New Living Translation.) But here is what really jumps out at
me…read verses three thru six and you will find one of Jesus’s simplest, yet
greatest lessons for us to learn & live by. AMEN.
My apologies for being ill prepared at that moment,
but I was not expecting my Faith to be challenged by a delusional demon
possessed individual who thought he stood on higher ground than I did. He is wrong in the worst kind of way. Here’s why, to borrow a line form Paul
Harvey…& here’s the rest of the story.
After the Artimus Pyle Band had their set there was
about a ½ hour break. I went out the
front doors to have a smoke and noticed repent or die guy was gone…but the
police officer was still there. There
were many folks milling around & the atmosphere was much less stressful
without us all being berated for our choices in music. I struck up a conversation with the officer
at the door…you must understand this.
I asked the officer when the repent or die guy left
and he said that when the show started, he left, no one left to yell at. He continued and said…” you know they had
body cameras on”. I said what??? Yep, he said, “that is their hustle, they
want someone to attack them in some physical way so they can sue them.” I was flabbergasted. He said, “that’s why we just stand there and don’t say or do nothing because they’d love to sue a city or county agency…which
they’ve done before”. If this is true,
which I have no reason to think it isn’t, I ask you…. Who needs to repent or
die now? Yeah, we all know that answer.
I have so many thoughts on what I could’ve and should
have said to this guy knowing this information now. You see not only do I take issue with fire
and brimstone speech that does more harm than good and actually drives people
away from the real teachings of Christ, but to know now that he was running a
money-grubbing scam the whole time just infuriates me even more.
We all live in a country where if you are an American
citizen, you have rights to free speech.
But that speech has been twisted and abused to a point where it is being
used to inspire hate and evil and diminish compromise & understanding. Not only has the devil wormed into the minds
of those weak in faith, but he has also found ways to use our faith against
us…trotting out clowns like repent or die guy to make money for some unholy and
greed infested entity.
If you are on the fence with your faith…do not let
some heathen on a street corner trying to instigate a fight influence your
decisions. Read the true words of God,
they are the ones in red in the New Testament.
A Testament of how to live our lives today and I learned long ago you
win friends in conversation, and you lose friends in shouting matches.
I said I misspoke twice during the evening. During my
conversations with good folks on the balconies of the theater, twice I said
Pakistanis when I meant to say Palestinians, those that heard it understood the
context, but I wanted to clarify that…as God only knows who else might have had
a body camera on.
I regret having to spend my early Sunday morning defending
my words & actions, but as I said I know several folks recorded these
events and there were certainly 100’s of witnesses. I would much rather write about the concert,
my conversation with Artimus and the other fine folks I met at the venue…which
I promise I will do…but I had to clear my head of the events before the
concert. 🐝
Go in Peace &
Love will Follow. 🪶😎🇺🇸✝️
Matthew 7: 1-6 AMEN
