Ode to Billie Joe?

Bobbie Gentry recorded a song back in 1967 called, "Ode to Billy Joe" which was a ballad about a young man who threw himself off the Tallahatchie Bridge.  While there seems to be some mystery behind the song, there's no mystery behind the meltdown of Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.  Recently, he threw himself off into a rant mode at the iHeart Radio festival in Las Vegas.  After being told he had only one minute of performance time,  a frustrated Billie Joe went into a long, profanity-filled diatribe about the music industry.  The end result?  Rehab two days later.

Oh dear!  What a mess!  Well, it seems that Billie Joe is no stranger to controversy, and he will always have that certain smugness that goes along with the pop-punk attitude that showed through in early songs like "Longview," and "Basket Case" from the Dookie album.  As he got older, the songs became more introspective, though negative, which is quite plain in the song, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."  He has a mocking fascination with Catholic symbolism, as stated in songs like, "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Church on Sunday."

Whether he checked into rehab on his own or whether his management insisted he'd better "clean up," it's very clear that this attitude of absurdism coupled with nihilism has basically burned him inside out.  Maybe this stint in rehab will make him realize just how fallible he really is, and maybe give him a look into his own life.

The Rock of Intercession group spent an evening praying for Green Day, but mainly, Billie Joe.  I've never been a huge fan of his music, but somehow, the Lord impressed on me that we should be praying for him.  Well, we had a bit of prodding from my best friend after reading on Twitter about this episode in Las Vegas. It was necessary to do just that, and I hope more people get on board.  Part of what Rock of Intercession does is helping the Body of Christ understand that our entertainers, though they have a lot of money and fame, are like the rest of us, broken and frustrated.  I believe Jesus said it best when it comes to the whole issue of who is master:

Matthew 6:24 (KJV)
"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will hold to the one and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Those of us who are believers are going to continue to pray for Billie Joe.  Hopefully, he'll find healing inside AND out.