The Ryman Auditorium is the former home of the Grand Ole Opry and it’s still right in the middle of town. If you stick your head in the door you’re bound to hear a Howdy from Minnie Pearl. It doesn’t house the Opry any more but they still have concerts and shows out there.
My good friend John Ledbetter and I decided to take the road less traveled and see if we could get into the back door. To our dismay they had put up an iron fence to keep out bad people like us. Just looking up the staircase gave us a thrill. Legend has it that before Hank Williams got kicked out for hiding whiskey in his boot; he would sneak out that same back door and head across that same alley to a honky-tonk called Tootsies.
It was originally called Mom's but a lady named Tootsie Bess bought the bar in 1960. Many of her first customers were Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline, Roger Miller and Kris Kristopherson. In fact, (or at least I think its fact) Willie Nelson got his first songwriting job after singing at Tootsies.
According to a biography called Patsy Cline, Willie met Cline's husband, Charlie Dick, at that same bar one evening and pitched the song to him. Charlie took the track home and played it for his wife, who absolutely hated it at first because of how Willie sang. Patsy Cline's producer loved the song and arranged it as the ballad as she would record it. Still recovering from a recent car wreck that nearly took her life, Patsy had problems reaching the high notes of the song because of broken ribs, so she came back the next day to record, which she did in one take. The rest fades into history.
So there we were, in the alley between the Ryman and Tootsies on a Saturday night. Isn’t that what every preacher does? I love to be where things have happened.
Music and skid row
Last week I was in Nashville, Tennessee to visit a ministry called Provision International. Like my own ministry they champion the cause of hurting and hungry people. Their food outreach makes a tremendous difference and their church is situated in one of the worst parts of the entire city. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it if you visited because of the amazing transformation that has happened there.
Since 1991 Scott and Sarah McLeod have been working in the projects near Watkins Park and what has happened is nothing short of miraculous. They have been feeding people, helping people and praying for transformation in that area all this time. Clinton Street is known for a stronghold of prostitution drugs and violence. That is of course where they built their church and they call it The Fortress.
After what must have seemed like a lifetime they began to see God move in an awesome way. One day the building that everyone sold drugs out of just collapsed for no reason. On another day all the gang members that sat on the wall outside the park were arrested and herded off by federal agents. Then the city decided to just completely demolish the old projects there and build beautiful, colorful, landscaped neighborhoods. They planted trees everywhere and built community centers.
The transformation, they believe is a direct result of God’s people getting involved and crying out upon their behalf.
I have seen the same thing happen. Ten years ago we started doing outreaches in downtown Cleburne at the old Piggly Wiggly parking lot. The hotel next to us was a filthy nest of witchcraft, prostitution and drug abuse. We even had some guy come out and put a hex or something on us. We had local Pastors come out and tell us it was too dangerous. We called that terrible place holy ground and prosperous when there was nothing to show for it but a bunch of Jesus freaks out there feeding people.
Today it’s the nicest and one of the most prosperous parts of down town Cleburne. Situated exactly where we made our stand is the Caddo Street Steakhouse. It wasn’t very long ago that it was a mess. Now it’s just beautiful.
That’s what God wants to do with everything and that’s what happens when His people get off of their blessed assurance and do something within the community. He is a master at transformation. If He can do that with a neighborhood, imagine what He can do with you.
So the Lord will comfort Jerusalem; He will show mercy to those who live in her ruins.
He will change her deserts into a garden like Eden; He will make her empty lands like the garden of the Lord. People there will be very happy; they will give thanks and sing songs. Isaiah 51:3 (NCV)
Contact the Brewer @ www.FreshFromTheBrewer.com
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