FROM HAIR METAL TO HOLY ORDERS

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 145

Take yourself back to your high school days. How long ago was that? For me and my mates, we’re rapidly staring down a 40-year reunion. Class of 1987, baby! We’re getting so old now that I suspect some of us are eyeing walkers or canes with genuine curiosity. I’m being facetious, of course, but golly, my knees certainly aren't what they were when Reagan was in office.

Back in our day, we didn't just "wear" clothes; we committed crimes against fashion. We rocked the paisley shirts and pinned jeans; we sacrificed the ozone layer with cans of Aqua Net to keep our teased hair defying the laws of physics. We wore mullets without irony and spun around in parachute pants, moonwalking backward while humming "Raspberry Beret."

I was deep into the British New Wave and the punk revolution bleeding over from London’s streets. Meanwhile, my band buddies were cranking the radio way past eleven, worshiping at the altar of Hair Metal bands who obnoxiously draped themselves in animal print spandex and leather. Gosh, do I miss those days? (Don't answer that.)

The "Spazoid" Chronicles — Admittedly, I was a nerd. I wasn't the "Revenge of the Nerds" archetype—no taped glasses or pocket protectors—but I was a total spazoid geek nevertheless. As a typical "band geek," I was once threatened by a jock with a "wedgie-by-fire-extinguisher." THANK GOD that never manifested.

But the band room was a melting pot. We had:

• The Classically Classic: The serious types.

• The Preppies: Future CEOs and Young Republicans.

• The Delusional Rockers: Heavy-metal guys who believed with every fiber of their being that they were one phone call away from opening for Def Leppard on the Pyromania tour.

Enter my buddies, Gene and Rob.

Along with Chris, they formed Irondale’s most "bodacious" hair metal band, Vendetta. To be fair, they were actually good—though perhaps not Hüsker Dü or The Suburbs good. Still, they had actual "roadies" and played venues that weren't just their parents' garages.

Eventually, the 80s ended, and so did high school. Most of us graduated; some headed to college, others to the military. Rob and Gene? They gave the international stage their best shot. God bless them... but at some point, the curtain inevitably closed on Vendetta’s rockstar dreams.

Rob, Gene, and I lost track of each other until Facebook arrived to haunt/bless us all. Since 2009, we’ve watched each other’s families grow and careers flourish. We’ve mourned those who passed and celebrated the hallmark moments.

But today delivered a plot twist I didn't see coming.

This morning, while I was banging out my Sunday sermon, my old rocker friend Rob

posted:

“This morning I defended my PhD Dissertation at Liberty University and I passed. God is good! This marks the end of an 8-year higher education journey, which is pretty surreal for a knucklehead rock guitar player who never went to college after high school...”

Dr. Rob. I knew he’d authored a couple books and was becoming a YouTube influencer in the Christian sphere, but a PhD in Bible Exposition? That took me by total surprise. I couldn’t be happier for him.

Rob and I chatted briefly today, reminiscing about the "good old days." Neither of us could have envisioned what God had planned while we were busy worrying about hairspray and guitar riffs.

Rob is a billion percent correct: GOD IS GOOD. He took two knuckleheads who never spared a thought for serving Him back then and turned our lives upside down for Christ. It’s a humbling reminder: if God can take a "spazoid" band geek and a hair-metal guitarist and turn them into vessels for His Word, there is hope for absolutely anyone.

Today, I thank God for my friend, Robert Solberg, PhD. I’m thankful God has chosen him to expand His Kingdom, bring souls to Christ, and make the Bible come to life. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for working in my friend Rob. Use him mightily to reveal Christ to millions. Amen.