Please be sure to read my second blog from today as well - this post is referenced in it.
Today we took a little day trip to Memphis. We met my mother in law, who drove in to meet us from their home in Arkansas. We exchanged the 2 younger boys for a little quietness for a week.
While there we made the required Memphis stop at Graceland. Now, that is a step into the past. The jungle room is worth the price of admission . It is a step back into the 70s as the furnishings and decorations have been preserved as a shrine to the life of Elvis Presley.
Now, here is a man that had all this world could offer. Money, jewelry, cars, nice houses and anything else he ever had want for…. in this life. Also, if you ask almost anyone if Elvis was a Christian you will get an overwhelming YES! as an answer. But why? Why does everyone think that Elvis Presley was a follower of Jesus Christ? The main answer is probably that he sang gospel songs, had a very public love for the songs of his youth that his mama sang with him. Then there will be the philanthropic answer, he gave so much to his friends and family. The Cadillacs and jewelry that Elvis loved so much was given as gifts to those that he loved.
But, do those things make this man a Christian? Are these things fruit of a man that truly knew the Lord personally? That could be a yes, if he showed the other fruits of being a child of God. But it could also be a man lost in the world, trying to do the best he could, to work his way to Gods good graces. Sadly I think that is the case. Elvis knew a whole lot about God, but did he actually know Him? There are many other things in the history of Elvis that point to a lost man, many sinful fruits that many seem to overlook. Women, drugs, cursing, worldliness and so on, were the norm for Elvis. He got what he wanted, when he wanted it.
Did Elvis truly know God? I can’t say for any certainty he did, but I also can’t say with any certainty that he did not. I can only judge by his fruits. I know that through all of the videos I’ve seen of him, all the TV interviews I saw as a child, all the “unseen” footage released in recent years has not produced a single clip that Elvis tells his testimony, how he was converted. This is one thing that someone with the world’s ear would be spewing at every chance if he truly loved the Lord as much as everyone thinks he did. Maybe I have just not seen thatparticular clip of Presley telling his testimony. If you have seen it, please send me a link.
But, Graceland is just one more reminder of the mortality we all have. We can have all the worlds offerings, but if we do not have Christ we are nothing. No possessions will fill the void that a person has without the Lord there. No matter how many people we surround ourselves with, we can still go to hell if we trust in ourselves to keep us out. There is but One Way to glory and that is to believe and trust in the gospel, Jesus Christ.
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