Double Standards

On January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, music2 Comments

Why do we constantly judge people? I like this person because…but I don’t like this person because… Does it all come down to we are only human? Maybe we are but that isn’t how God wants us to treat everyone. Here are some examples of what I am talking about.

Miley Cyrus vs Selena Gomez –

Both have had hit shows watched by millions of kids, and adults alike. After starring in Hannah Montana, Miley released Can’t Be Tamed. A cd showing a more mature Miley you could say. Many parents were outraged that they bought the cd for their kids only to find out some of the songs were more mature than they liked. Note to parents: is that Miley’s fault? She didn’t release the cd under Hannah Montana. She was in several movies over the next few years then in 2013 released Bangerz, with the controversial video Wrecking Ball.

Selena, starred in Wizards of Waverly Place, and in several movies and releases several cd’s with Selena Gomez & The Scene. She also starred in a movie, Spring Breakers, with very mature content. In 2013, Selena went solo and released Come and Get It, with the hit single of the same name. No controversy about the mature content. Maybe I read more into the lyrics than I should but to me, come and get it sounds mature.

You ain’t gotta worry, it’s an open invitation
I’ll be sittin’ right here, real patient
All day, all night, I’ll be waitin’ standby
Can’t stop because I love it, hate the way I love you
All day, all night, maybe I’m addicted for life, no lie.

I’m not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets.
I love you much, too much to hide you, this love ain’t finished yet.
This love ain’t finished yet…
So baby whenever you’re ready…

When you’re ready come and get it

Maybe it’s because Miley went through several years of partying and explicit behavior while Selena has kept a more clean image, and for the most part has stayed out of the media headlines. I will say I totally get the video of Wrecking Ball though. I get the song. You give someone everything you have, you are totally vulnerable, and the relationship ends. Maybe it could have been made a different way,but I get it. But let’s take a look at Selena’s video for Good For You. I don’t know about you but it is a little more racy than Wrecking Ball. Yes, Miley is naked, in a vulnerable way, but Selena is practically naked in a sexy way. I don’t recall ever hearing anything negative about the Good For You video like the uproar that happened with Wrecking Ball. Just to prove my point, when I went to Youtube to add these videos, I had to sign in for age verification for Wrecking Ball, but not for Good For You. Hmmm

Ryan Shazier’s hit on Giovanni Bernard vs Vontaze Burfict hit on Antonio Brown-

I am neither a Pittsburgh or Cincinnati fan. Watching these two hits though makes me wonder what is happening in the NFL? We all know the refereering this year has been terrible, but why the difference in these calls? Ryan’s hit his head is clearly down and hits Giovanni’s helmet, who’s head was up, head to head. Vontaze’s head was down but hit Antonio’s helmet with his shoulder after Antonio leaned forward with his head, if he would’ve stayed up it never would’ve happened. Is it because Vontaze is known to play more “dirty” for a lack of a better word? You can even hear the announcer say it was because Giovanni was not defenseless, by the rule it was still head down, helmet to helmet and should have been penalized. No penalty for Ryan, three games suspension for next season for Vontaze. Double standard?

Ray Lewis vs Pete Rose –

Two different sports but why is Ray Lewis a sure thing to be in the Hall Of Fame but Pete Rose can not get in? Ray Lewis plead guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the stabbing deaths of two men in 2000. Ray tore his bicep in 2013 and recovered in half the time that is normal. The steroids he took to heal reportedly had in them a banned substance. A banned substance that is only detectable in blood tests, something the NFL does not do. Ray denies it but…Ray is expected to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2018.

We all know the Pete Rose story. The greatest hitter of all time who bet on games. A lifetime ban from the Hall of Fame.

Maybe comparing the NFL to MBL is like apples to oranges with each having their own rules but..

Jesus verse, well, all of us –

This is the one case where there is not a double standard, never has been, never will be. He died on the cross for all of us. He has forgiven all our sins. Yet, many of us, including myself, keep sinning and doing what we want in this world. Jesus forgave his enemies on the cross for they know not what they do. Many of us know what we do and know it is wrong but do it anyway. He forgives us the same. He gives all of us the same choice to follow Him, or not to follow Him. He didn’t say well, Mother Teresa lived a life of service so she gets into Heaven but Rob, man, look at you, time after time I give you chances and you keep messing up. I want nothing to do with you. There is no double standard.

Unlike Miley, Vontaze, and Pete who have been condemned by humans for their past, Jesus does not condemn us for our past mistakes, for our history of repeated bad actions. He forgives us so we can live today, and tomorrow free of the guilt of yesterday. All of us, no double standards.

Have a great night. God bless.

New, Forgotten, Unknown 1/8/16 New Music Friday

On January 8, 2016March 4, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, music, new music, new music FridayLeave a comment

Back to normal Fridays now that the holidays are over.

Two new musician followers this week. I hope by me sharing your music that you will get more fans. Please feel free to share/purchase the song I wrote with Lily Messer and Ceylon Wise. I have many more songs I would like to get out there but can not financially afford to record them. If interested in teaming up together, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for all the follows.

The Perfect Storm by Cross The Divide –

Never Lose My Heart by Eliseo –

Some other music from followers and non-followers I have listened to this week. Hope you enjoy.

Love Thy Will Be Done by Delta Goodrem –

Magnetic by Martel –

Matthew, Mark, and Luke by Tony Ramey –

Meet You Halfway by Passport –

Memories Don’t by Emily Shackelton –

Mine by Hollyn –

More Alive by Pillar –

Most Days by Everything In Slow Motion –

Stand By Waiting Hill –

Masterpiece by Deitrick Haddon –

My World Needs You by Kirk Franklin –

Million Years Ago by Adele –

Record Year by Eric Church –

Padded Cell by Seal –

Nothing Where Something Used To Be by Vanessa Carlton-

Past Lives by Borns –

Relentless by New Years Day –

Perfect Love by Cindy Cruse Ratliff –

Rescue Me by Amy Helm –

Robin Williams by CeeLo Green –

and our song:

I Question You by Lily Messer –

On Itunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-question-you-single/id1018588943

Record Companies, The Voice, & American Idol

On January 7, 2016January 28, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, music10 Comments

I am currently reading Mitch Albom’s The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. I like all his books, hard to put them down when I start one. I can honestly say when I was a baby I did not grab any musical talent. God did not bless with me any musical talent. I can not read or write music or play an instrument or sing. Or dance, just ask my wife and kids. I do think I can write some pretty good lyrics. I also think I have a pretty good ear for talent.

I will say I might miss here and there but for the most part, when I hear someone I think is talented they usually make it (at least on the singing shows.) Now there are a lot of musicians that I think are good, and I hear more and more from twitter followers I get that I put on my new music Friday posts, that don’t get “popular” but I guess there is only so much room at the top. I think most of that is marketing though. You can’t get heard if you aren’t promoted. Like the song I wrote the lyrics for and Lily Messer sings on.

There are a lot of musicians that get record deals and are promoted that I do not think are very good. I won’t say the name but there was one last year that sticks out for me. She is touted as the next big thing, nominated for awards, etc. etc. and I liked one or two songs on the cd. There are others that have one or two good songs on cd but the rest of songs I don’t care for. There are also many I like every song on the cd that don’t get promoted.

As I mentioned on my first post, I have a knack for picking the top 3 on both The Voice and American Idol. Two seasons ago on The Voice I picked the top 5, in order, of how they finished. This past season I picked the top 5 again, but the order was wrong. Emily messed up my order by finishing 2nd but I still had the winner in Jordan. (The x’s are ones I liked but didn’t think they would make it to top 5)

voice

Last season I picked top 3 for American Idol, except I had Jax winning and Nick finishing 3rd. In years past I have always had the person I thought would win in the top 3, even though I have not always picked the winner. We will see how I do on this farewell season.

So with all that being said, any record exec’s want to give me a shot at finding the next big thing?

Here are the ones I have picked to win over the years.

Piece by Piece by Kelly Clarkson –

Smoke Break by Carrie Underwood –

Do I Make You Proud by Taylor Hicks –

Wait For Me by David Cook –

Southern Belle by Scotty McCreery –

Unpack Your Heart by Phillip Phillips –

Fighting Gravity by Caleb Johnson –

Ok, Here’s The Truth by Javier Colon –

I Am Invincible by Cassadee Pope –

Friend Zone by Danielle Bradbery –

Take It All by Sawyer Fredericks –

Climb Every Mountain by Jordan Smith –

The Clock

On January 6, 2016January 6, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, music, timeLeave a comment

For something that only has one thing to do, I get blamed for a lot of things. You would think that I would mind, but I don’t. It really isn’t my fault for the problems in people’s lives. I mean all I do is go around in circles, twice a day. You know today what you wasted yesterday. You know today that you have the same amount of time as tomorrow to do what you need to do. How is it my fault you didn’t get it done ?

I come in many forms. Sometimes I have hands. Other times I have a digital read out. Sometimes I have numbers, sometimes I don’t. No matter what I have or don’t have, my job is the same each day. Many of you say I am only right twice a day. Good one. I have to laugh when I hear that.

Often times, no pun intended, people look at me and can’t believe how much time has went by. Other times they can’t believe how slow I am going. I am here to tell you I do neither. I am constant. Always the same. 86,400 seconds then I reset to zero. Well, there was this one time when God stopped me but that’s the only time. Unless He asks again because I will never say no to God. Would you?

Let me ask you, what is your problem with me? Never mind, let me guess. I don’t have enough time. Or is it I have too much time on my hands. Isn’t it funny that when you have too much time it seems like you don’t have enough time? How many times have you sat doing nothing when you could’ve been doing something? You think Tom Brady ever said I don’t have enough time to read the playbook this week? You think Michael Jordan ever said I don’t have enough time to practice my jump shot? They had to sacrifice other things that took up their time to make time to do what they needed to do. I bet they don’t always sleep eight hours a day. I bet they don’t watch three hours of television a night. Do you think they ever said I am too busy to do what I need to do to be successful?

Mother Teresa said “yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” You think she ever said I don’t have enough time? If she was alive today how much time do you think she would spend on Facebook? How many selfies would she take?

Anyway, back to my story. I am like God in a lot of ways. I am the same today as I was yesterday as I will be tomorrow. I will never change. I am not God. Many of you look at me like I am. Many of you curse me because you didn’t do what you had to do in the time you had to do it. Are you more mad at me or yourself? I didn’t force you to waste your time today. I didn’t force you to spend your time that way. I didn’t tell you to spend ten minutes flirting with that woman instead of spending ten minutes calling your wife. Yet you blame me for not having enough of me to give to your wife. I didn’t ask you to spend thirty minutes looking at pornography instead of reading the bible. Yet you blame me for not having enough of me to get to read God’s word.

You know what you have to do in the time you have been allotted. On your death bed you can’t say you didn’t have enough time. I have seen it happen too many times. I regret I didn’t spend enough time with my family. I regret I spent so many hours working. I wish I would’ve spent more time talking to God. I wish I would’ve donated more time to help others. I I I ……I wish, I should have, I could have. Let me tell you you can. What will you do TODAY to take care of your TOMORROWS and not live in your YESTERDAYS? What will you sacrifice? I am not to blame. 1440 minutes. Each and every day. I give it to all of you. The same amount.

Don’t be one of those people. I know I might be out of a job by telling you this but throw me away. Live your life with purpose. Do what God wants you to do! Does it matter what time it is or how much time is left in the day? If God says move, does it matter what time I tell you it is?

Now take a minute and look at me. You looked? Seriously? What will you do with the time you have left today? Tick-tock.

Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On by Jimmy Buffett –

Stop The Clock by Elle Varner –

Clock Don’t Stop by Carrie Underwood –

Before Out Time by Jon Foreman –

Time For That by Clint Black –

Ain’t Wasting Time No More by The Allman Brothers –

Time by Hootie & The Blowfish –

On The Clock by Sena Ehrhardt –

Time By Ozzy Osbourne –

My List by Toby Keith –

Time Is Passing by Dayla –

Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce –

Best Of Times by Styx –

Fly Like An Eagle by Steve Miller Band –

Right Now by Van Halen –

Life Won’t Wait by Ozzy Osbourne –

When Words Fail

On January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, music, When Words Fail6 Comments

When words fail

As they often do

When my life derails

And the skies aren’t blue

When the rains come

As they often will

When I’m too tired to run

And in front of me is a hill

When happiness is fleeting

As despair sets in

What is it I am seeking?

And why do I continue to sin?

When life gets complicated

As it often does

When I went but should’ve waited

And I forget You are love

When I have failed

As I often do

His body on the cross, nailed

Reminds me He died for me and you

When there is too much noise

As often there is

When all I need is to hear Your voice

Let me find the quietness

When words fail

As more times than not they do

I take a deep breathe, I exhale

I give thanks to God, even when my words are few

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27:

Word Of God Speak bty MercyMe –

Give Me Words To Speak by Aaron Shust –

3:42 a.m (Writer’s Block) by MercyMe –

Words Fail You by Kris Delmhorst –

Read All About It by Emeli Sande –

Let The Words Escape by Chris Rice –

Words Fail by Reece Jacob –

When Words Fail by Vapor –

What Love Looks Like by Dara MacLean –

When Words Fail by Paul Martinez –

My Alleluia ( When Words Fail) by Jaci Velasquez –

More Than Just Words by Carl Cartee –

Let My Words Be Few by Phillips, Craig, and Dean –

Words I Couldn’t Say by Leighton Meester –

What Are Words by Chris Medina –

More Than Words by The Museum –

New, Forgotten, Unknown 1/2/16 New Music Friday

On January 2, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, new music Friday4 Comments

Happy New Year. I am glad the days will be back to normal next week. I almost forgot to do this one this week since Friday was New Year’s Day. It looks like God was speaking to me this week. Most of the songs that hit me are Christian.

A couple new musician followers this week. I hope by me sharing your music that you will get more fans. Please feel free to share/purchase the song I wrote with Lily Messer and Ceylon Wise. I have many more songs I would like to get out there but can not financially afford to record them. If interested in teaming up together, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for all the follows.

Always Wandering by Nate Maingard –