Why a Donkey?

We adopted the donkey image as a visual representation of Music for the Christian Warrior for an earlier album. Why a donkey? In the book of Numbers, chapter 22, God reprimands Balaam by allowing a donkey to speak to him prophetically because he ignored the warning of the prophet that God sent. We simply wanted to remind ourselves that, while God prefers to use His people, He can use any method He desires to get His message across. This was our semi-humorous way of remembering that it is God who gives us voice.

God saved Jim’s life even before Jim knew Him. When Jim was in his sophomore year of college (before I had met him), he evidently overdosed on drugs. As he was sitting upon a stool in his apartment playing his guitar, he looked down into the open guitar case, which was lined with vivid purple crushed velvet, and saw his own face. As he watched, the flesh melted away until only his skull was left.

Then he felt himself falling. He fell through the floor, through the earth, down and down, until he was in a dark place. He could hear the screams and pleas of tormented people and ahead of him he saw two large creatures on either side of a portal. He felt that when he entered this gate, there would be no escape, but he had no control over his descent. As they reached out their claws for him, he suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and a voice saying “I have something better for you,” and He immediately began to rise.