The Value of a Fender Stratocaster? It Depends.

I read about someone who just paid one million dollars for a Fender Stratocaster. Why so much? It was the guitar Bob Dylan played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

The festival was a defining moment for Dylan, who went from playing acoustic to electric. The folk purists saw this as an act of treachery.

That purchase may make a little more sense than the person who paid $380,000 for a burned guitar. That was also a Fender Strat, but it was played by Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival. He played the song "Wild Thing" and then set his guitar on fire!

The value in both of these guitars was in who played them. If I were to play a Strat, it would go down in value. But, get Hendrix or Dylan or Eric Clapton to play it and the value goes up.

The disciples’ greatness was not because of who they were as individuals. It was because of who called and used them.

"This priceless treasure we hold, so to speak, in a common earthenware jar to show that the splendid power of it belongs to God and not to us. We are handicapped on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone: We may be knocked down but we are never knocked out!" (2 Corinthians 4:7–9 PHI).