From Rock 'n Roll to the Rock of Christ Rock 'n Roll music. Sex, drugs and alcohol come to mind but evangelism? Believe it or not some rock 'n rollers have placed their feet on firmer ground. by Terry Hughes & Rob McKinney    When Christians think about secular rock music, evangelism isn't exactly the first word that comes to mind. but that's not to say it doesn't happen.    Even though it's usually fertile ground for sex, drugs and alcohol, there are a few souls who have been "harvested", and there may be more on the way, especially if new converts like Van Halen's Sammy Hagar and foreigner's Lou Gramm reach out to others in the secular music industry.    Hagar who had been Van Halen's frontman for over ten years recently left the band. According to his cousin, Christian Rocker Ken Tamplin, Hagar's leaving the group was only partially due to his coming Christ .    Gramm, the powerhouse lead singer of Foreigner, a group who spawned a number of hits in the late 70's and 80's gave his life to Christ about a year and a half ago. Since then he had been keeping a fairly low profile, that is until he shared his faith in the latest issue of a Christian rock magazine, HM.    In the article Gramm said that he's planning to continue performing with Foreigner, citing the platform the group currently provides to share the gospel as the reason. He does say however, he'll go in whatever direction God leads him.    For former Black Sabbath lead singer, Jeff Fenholt God's led him into full-time ministry since his conversion in 1985. He left the group shortly after becoming a Christian and today travels the world performing and sharing the gospel. He and his wife, Reeni, whose player brought him to the lord, also host a weekly television program on Christian T.V. in the U.S.    Grand Funk Railroad's Mark Farner is another who's left main stream music behind him. So has John Elefante, former lead vocalist for the group Kansas ("Dust in the Wind").    Today he and his brother Dino are established veterans of Christian music.    Unfortunately not all have been so committed. Alice Cooper for example still performs the same ungodly music that made him famous. He's also kept pretty quiet about his faith in Christ. Recently in Edmonton for a concert, Cooper received glowing reports from the media on what a 'nice guy' he was and how he no longer drinks, smokes, or does drugs. While that's all well and good, not once did he say that Christ was the reason for the turnaround his life has taken.    Cooper at least is seemingly still ' walking the walk ' for the most part. In the eighties Bob Dylan came to Christ and experienced such powerful change in his life that he recorded "Slow Train Coming", a rock CD laced with praise to the Lord Sadly, Dylan is no longer riding the same train, having apparently converted back to Judaism.    While most Christians artists work out of Nashville, Tennessee, Ken Tamplin has chosen the L.A music Scene to record and witness to others. Guitarist, vocalist and writer, Tamplin has been recording Christian music since 1982. He's also played in the studio alongside a number of secular artists including heavy rocking glamour band Kiss, whom he's previously written songs for.    His relationship with the group has resulted in him witnessing his faith to Gene Simmons, the most notorious member of the group. Since becoming friends in 1991, Tamplin says their frinedship has been tested a number of times.    "Originally, he thought I was a phony," recalls Ken, "(but) there were some compromises where he saw I wouldn't do it . . . it actually took him aback a bit."    "From then on there's always been a respect of what I do and why."    Indeed, an example of standing firm.    But what about musicians like Hager who get saved while still immersed in the 'other end of the pool'?    "He could definately use prayer," says cousin Ken. "He's surrounded by a lot of metaphysical people. It's a very scary place to be for a believer."    If Hager needs some encouragement in his walk, he should read Gramm's comments in HM magazine. That, despite performing in front of 300,000 people, winning numerous awards and receiving all that "multi-platinum" stuff, it all "pales" in comparison to knowing Christ.    "They just don't mean anything," says Gramm in the HM article.    Pray that Sammy Hagar comes to the same conclusion.     Rockin' With the worst of them WELLINGTON, New Zealand (EP) He's an international rock artist, but don' t be surprised if you've never heard of David Pierce and his band No Longer Music. The stages graced by this evangelistic band tend to be a little off the beaten track.    "We played in a place run by drug dealers and biker gangs in Copenhagen," Pierce recalled during a telephone interview from his home base in New Zealand. "When the promoter went out to talk with the motorcycle gang, he didn't tell them we were Christians, and wound up being promoted as 'No Longer Music and Tequila Party.' When I found out what the promoter had done, I told them the truth, but they still wanted us to play. We played on top of his bar with a band called Body Bags."    No Longer Music has also played a brothel run by the Hong Kong mafia and terrorists clubs run by the Basque separatist, where the walls had drawings of terrorist executing policeman. "We played with a band called ' Lethal Gospel.' It was a heavy scene," says Pierce. "But the Holy Spirit came in such a powerful way that they ask us to come back. It was amazing. In Budapest while we were performing a guy jumped on stage and a knife fell out of his pocket. A fight nearly broke out, but people were still coming up to received Christ. "    Pierce, who grew up in the United States, founded No Longer Music in 1985 while working with Youth With A Mission ( YWAM ) in Amsterdan. In the early days, the band was so bad that a friend said, "When you play, it's no longer music." The name struck. Experience and personnel changes have made No Longer Music into a group that can rock with the best of them, but Pierce is determined to continue rocking for the worst of them, playing venues that have at least two things in common: plenty of people who need the gospel, and no body else who's sharing it with them.    "Why is that so many kids never get to hear the truth? If you go to any urban center anywhere in the world today they're listening to the same music today, hearing the same kind of lies, but very few ever get an opportunity to hear the truth," notes Pierce, who was nicknamed " Rock Priest " by a Russian journalist. "We need to communicate in the language of the people we're trying to reach. We need to be cross-cultural. And when you do that in a relevant way, the gospel is a powerful message."    "Powerful" is a good word for No Longer Music's no-holds-barred presentation of the claims of Christ. The lyrics , which are sung and displayed on a screen, are aggressively evangelistic, says Pierce. " The world is no subtle, so why should Christians be? When we don't bring the gospel into it, we take the teeth out of it . We can't party like the world, so if we don't bring the gospel they may as well listen to somebody else - we have nothing to say."    Pierce has plenty to say, and he's said it to audiences in far corners of the world. No Longer Music was the first western band - Christians or secular - to play in Siberia, and there ministry resulted in the establishment of eight new churches there. In Singapore, where religious proselytism is forbidden, the band will establish a perfectly legal fan club. " Our fans study the Bible ," notes Pierce.

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