 |
Following in the footsteps of the Acts of the
Apostles, written by St. Luke, Shepherd's Cross Christian Helps Ministry
exists by the grace of God to further the first century Apostolic tradition
serving in the Great Commission. |
 |
|
Did You Know These Facts:
John Lennon
I was not informed of “these facts” until I read the contents found within this email. It is written … The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into) the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. Acts 17:10-12 “… examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so!” There is much disinformation out in W.W.W. therefore I have researched the data found within this email text to discover that the question “Did You Know These Facts,” would properly be answered “No!, since the much of the information is historical fiction and manipulated to appear true. A key-note example was the late Beatle John Lennon (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980). The following comes from the email covering this formal Beatle and music legend , John Lennon. “John Lennon (Singer): Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said: 'Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that…. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him' (1966). Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.” Following is the research I found re this historical fiction… "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that. I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity." John Lennon apologized for the remark stating… “It was wrong and was taken wrong…” later in a radio interview that I personally heard at the time. The recording is still available to be listened to. Mark D. Chapman's Oct.-Dec. 1980 personal story description of John Lennon's murder preparation and execution may find this located at … http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Keys/6624/shot.html On Oct. 20, 1980 Chapman read in the Honolulu Star Bulletin about Lennon’s return to recording after a five-year hiatus. Lennon and his wife, the artist Yoko Ono, had cut an album called “Double Fantasy.” On Oct. 23 he quit his security job and signed out for the last time. Instead of the usual “Chappy,” he wrote “John Lennon.” Then he crossed it out. On Oct. 27 Chapman went to a Honolulu gun store and, for $169, bought a five-shot, short-barrel .38-caliber Charter Arms Special. Ironically, the salesman was named Ono. On Oct. 30 , wearing a new suit and topcoat, the revolver in his suitcase, he boarded a plane for New York. He had several thousand dollars with him, what was left of a $5,000 loan from his father-in-law. As with his first visit to Hawaii, Chapman had decided to live it up a little before carrying out his plan. He checked in at the Waldorf and treated himself to a dinner of filet mignon and Heineken beer at its restaurant. He knew that John Lennon lived in the Dakota, a celebrity-filled apartment hotel across from Central Park at East 72nd St. He spent that day walking around it and studying it, looking for the Lennons’ sixth-floor windows. He struck up a conversation with the doorman, getting the standard statement that he didn’t know if the Lennons were in town. He also tried to buy the .38 bullets he hadn’t bothered to buy in Honolulu. He found to his chagrin that New York’s Sullivan Law forbade their sale. He called Dana Reeves, now a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia, and said he wanted to visit his old friends; Reeves invited him to stay at Reeves’ apartment. Chapman flew to Atlanta. While there, he told Reeves he had bought a gun for personal protection while he was in New York but he needed some bullets “with real stopping power.” Reeves supplied him with five hollow-point cartridges – the kinds that expand as they pass through their target. On Nov. 10 he was back in New York. The next night he decided to take in a movie -- “Ordinary People,” in which Timothy Hutton plays a suicidal youth trying to come to terms with his dysfunctional family. When the movie ended, he immediately made a phone call. In a Jack Jones recording played on the “Mugshots” show, he describes that call: The experience in that theater, somehow – when I called my wife, I had defeated, I had capped that volcano. And I called Hawaii and I said, “I’m coming home, I won a great victory. Your love has saved me.” It was like a snapback to reality. I realized that I had a wife and she loves me. I told her I was going to kill someone and I whispered -- I remember whispering it in the phone – “John Lennon. I was going to kill John Lennon.” She said, “Come back,” and that’s when I came back.” Chapman’s demons were gone, but only briefly. Back home, they were soon tormenting him again. He started making threatening phone calls and bomb threats. He spent his days harassing a group of Hare Krishnas who daily appeared in downtown Honolulu. He told an alarmed Gloria he was going back to New York – but only for a few weeks, to try to find a new career. He arrived on Saturday, Dec. 6. He told a credulous cab driver who took him into the city that he was a recording engineer who had just come from a secret session of Lennon and Paul McCartney: They were recording together for the first time since the Beatles split up. He checked into a $16.50-a-night room at the YMCA on 63rd Street just off Central Park West; this time there was no splurge at the Waldorf. He walked the nine blocks to the Dakota. While waiting on the sidewalk there he struck up a conversation with two women, Jude Stein and Jerry Moll. They told him Lennon knew them by sight and sometimes stopped to chat with them. When they left, Chapman offered to buy them dinner if they came back later. Meanwhile he waited, a brand new copy of “Double Fantasy” under his arm. At 5 p.m., he gave up the vigil and returned to his hotel. Ironically, the women arrived 15 minutes later, in time to see Lennon and talk with him. Back at the Y, Chapman was disturbed by the sound of the men in the next room, who obviously were having gay sex. Outraged, he thought of barging in on them with his revolver. He decided to save his ammunition. However, he checked out of the Y in the morning and moved to the Sheraton Centre at Seventh Avenue and 52nd Street. It was Sunday, Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day. He spent three hours waiting outside the Dakota, then, growing hungry, took a taxi back to the Sheraton. On the way, it occurred to him that he hadn’t brought a copy of The Catcher in the Rye to New York. In a nearby bookstore, a poster of Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion caught his eye. He bought it. And on the newsstand he spotted the face of John Lennon! The December Playboy Magazine carried an interview with John and Yoko, their first in five years. Forgetting The Catcher in the Rye for the moment, he bought the magazine and read the interview over his dinner. The Playboy centerfold reminded him of something that Holden Caulfield had done on his odyssey in New York. Chapman called an “escort service,” but when the call girl arrived he told her he merely wanted to talk – just as Holden had done. He paid her $190 when she left at 3 a.m. ****** On about 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 8 , Chapman awakened in his room at the Sheraton. Something told him this was the day. He dressed. Then, on his dresser, he constructed a tableau. He carefully laid out a Todd Rundgren audiotape. He took out the hotel Bible, opened it to the beginning of “The Gospel of John” and wrote in the word “Lennon” after “John.” He placed on the dresser a letter praising his efforts at the refugee camp, along with photos of him with Vietnamese children. Behind them was the poster of Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion. He picked up the “Double Fantasy” album and one more item: the pistol, with cardboard over it to conceal the outline in his pocket. On his way to the Dakota, he made a stop to buy the copy of The Catcher in the Rye he had forgotten the previous night. He also bought a ballpoint pen, and on the inside cover he wrote “This is my statement.” He signed it “Holden Caulfield.” Outside the Dakota, he chatted with the doorman, Patrick O’Loughlin. Then, leaning against a railing, he started to read The Catcher. Engrossed, he missed seeing Lennon get out of a taxi and walk into the building. Chagrined, he resumed his vigil. Paul Goresh, an amateur photographer who often staked out the Lennons and whom Chapman had seen there on Saturday, joined him. Then Jude Stein appeared again. She told him that she and her friend Jerry had held a conversation with Lennon on Saturday after Chapman left. Chapman offered to buy her lunch. Afterwards, they returned to the Dakota. Five-year-old Sean Lennon came out with his nanny. Jude introduced Chapman to him and Chapman shook hands with the boy. Chapman would tell Gaines: “He was the cutest little boy I ever saw. It didn’t enter my mind that I was going to kill this poor young boy’s father and he won’t have a father for the rest of his life. I mean, I love children. I’m the Catcher in the Rye.” ****** Chapman recalled seeing Gilda Radner, Lauren Bacall, Paul Simon and Mia Farrow coming or going. But not Lennon. He chatted with Goresh and with doorman Jose Perdomo, whom he remembered from his visit in November. He showed him the album he had brought for Lennon to autograph. While they were talking, Chapman heard a familiar voice. He turned. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were emerging from the building with a gaggle of staff members. He was dumbstruck. Goresh had to push him to approach Lennon. Speechless, he held out the album and the pen. Lennon smiled, took them and wrote “John Lennon 1980.” On the “Mugshots” show, Chapman’s recorded voice tells the story. He is describing an event that happened 10 years before, but there is still awe in his voice. He said “Sure” and wrote his name, and when he handed it back to me he looked at me and kind of nodded his head, “Is that all you want?” Like – just like that, like an inquiry into a different matter, and I said, “Yeah.” I said, “Thanks, John.” And he again said, “Is that all you want?” and there was Yoko, she was already in the car, the limo, the door was open and it was running, it was out in the middle of the street and he asked me twice, and I said, “Yeah, thanks, that’s all,” or something like that. He got into the car and drove away. Chapman stood amazed, the album in his hands, the gun still in his pocket. He told Goresh, “They’re never going to believe this back in Hawaii.” He offered the photographer $50 if he had gotten a picture of him with Lennon and could bring it back the next day. Later, he would tell Gaines: “I was just overwhelmed by his sincerity. I had expected a brushoff, but it was just the opposite. … I was on Cloud Nine. And there was a little bit of me going, ‘Why didn’t you shoot him?’ And I said, `I can’t shoot him like this.’ … I wanted to get the autograph.” And for the first time in a while, he prayed – to God, for the grace to just take his record and go home. Mark Chapman was torn, he would later say, between the adult and the child inside him. The child won. He stayed at the Dakota. At 8 p.m., Goresh announced he was going back to his home in New Jersey: It was obvious the Lennons had gone back to the Record Plant, their recording studio, and might not be back until after midnight. Chapman pleaded for him to stay. “I’d wait,” he said. “You never know if you’ll see him again.” Goresh didn’t catch the hint. Chapman was left with doorman Jose Perdomo to talk to. And two others. He told Gaines: “I remember I was praying to God [to keep me from killing Lennon] and I was also praying to the devil to give me the opportunity. … ‘Cause I knew I would not have the strength on my own.’’ ****** At 10:50 p.m. a white limousine pulled around the corner and stopped at the curb. Yoko Ono got out first. Lennon started to follow her into the building. In a statement recorded by police hours later, Chapman declared, “He walked past me, and then a voice in my head said, ‘Do it, do it, do it,’ over and over again, saying `Do it, do it, do it, do it,’ like that.” He called out, “Mr. Lennon!” Lennon turned to see Chapman, crouching combat style with both hands on the pistol. Chapman’s statement continues: “I pulled the gun out of my pocket, I handed over to my left hand, I don’t remember aiming, I must have done it, but I don’t remember drawing the bead or whatever you call it. And I just pulled the trigger steady five times.” Lennon turned to escape, but four of the five bullets tore into him. To Chapman’s amazement, he did not fall but managed to run up six steps into the concierge’s station. He said “I’m shot,” then fell face down. There was a subway entrance across the street, but Chapman made no effort to flee. Perdomo turned to him: “Do you know what you done? Do you know what you done!” He knocked the gun from Chapman’s hand and kicked it away. Chapman took off his hat and coat and threw them on the sidewalk. He knew the police were coming and wanted them to see he wasn’t hiding a gun. He took The Catcher in the Rye out of his pocket and tried to read it as he paced the sidewalk and waited. A police car roared up to the Dakota and two uniformed police jumped out. One ran inside. Perdomo pointed out Chapman to the other. Chapman put his hands in the air. “Don’t hurt me,” he pleaded. “I’m unarmed.” “I acted alone,” he said as the officer spread-eagled him against the wall and searched him. The police cuffed him and put him in the back seat of their car. “I’m sorry I gave you guys all this trouble,” he kept telling them. END I would think that if one was to use John Lennon as an example for the Lord bringing His wrath down upon him for the sayings he spoke against God one may rather use the songs that was written by Lennon… Imagine and God that without a doubt has influenced through the mass media and now the W.W.W. internet hundreds of thousands of listening fans. Imagine By John Lennon Imagine there's no Heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one God by John Lennon God is a concept, By which we can measure, Our pain, I'll say it again, God is a concept, By which we can measure, Our pain, I don't believe in magic, I don't believe in I-ching, I don't believe in bible, I don't believe in tarot, I don't believe in Hitler, I don't believe in Jesus, I don't believe in Kennedy, I don't believe in Buddha, I don't believe in mantra, I don't believe in Gita, I don't believe in yoga, I don't believe in kings, I don't believe in Elvis, I don't believe in Zimmerman, I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me, Yoko and me, And that's reality. The dream is over, What can I say? The dream is over, Yesterday, I was dreamweaver, But now I'm reborn, I was the walrus, But now I'm John, And so dear friends, You just have to carry on, The dream is over. For John Lennon his dream life may be over however his nightmare has only just begun. For those of you that are living believing in reincarnation it is written … And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Hebrews 9:27 Death is certain but the Bible speaks about death! Make a personal reflection about this...... 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap... Galatians 6:7 Here are some men and women who mocked God: King Herod “On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied. Acts 12:21-24 Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive. 'Jesus' And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16-18 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. Romans 3:10 Wherefore, as by man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5: 12 The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now, that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Romans 5:8-10 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:3-5 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10 For he says, "at the acceptable time i listened to you, and on The Day Of Salvation i helped you." behold, now is "The Acceptable Time," behold, now is "The Day Of Salvation "-- 2 Corinthians 6:2 Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:8-13 Repent and be baptized. And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you (in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts of the Apostles 2:38 |
Shepherd's Cross Christian Helps Ministry