A few more musician followers this week. I hope my sharing your music will get word out about your music. Please take time to listen/share/purchase the song I wrote with the wonderful Lily Messer and Ceylon Wise at the bottom of this page. Thank for the follows.
I’m Alive by Neely –
You Were Wrong by Ben Landis (feat Jessica Ryan) –
Freedom Cried by Madison Stuart –
Adrift by Bill Boulden –
My Story by Rebel Band –
She’s With Me by High Valley (Dave Myers) –
and some new music from non-followers I have been listening to this week.
The Early Days by Old Man Luedecke –
Don’t Let Go by Josh Wilson –
Day One by Pat Green –
Anyday Woman by Ben Bridwell/ Iron & Wine –
Angel by the Weeknd –
Burn Me Out by Honeyhoney –
Faithful From The Start by Aaron Watkins –
Footsteps by Pop Evil –
Gold to Glass by the Revitalist –
Girl of Summer by Kip Moore –
Scars by Logan Brills –
and our song:
I Question You by Lily Messer –
Now on i tunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-question-you-single/id1018588943
Can you believe it has been 14 years since 9/11? The babies are now in high school. I remember where I was and what I was doing. Actually. I am in the exact same seat at the same company I worked for then. I remember someone saying a plane just crashed into one of the World Trade Centers. We were all in disbelief. How could an airplane crash into it? Did the pilot have a heart attack? Where was the co-pilot? Then we heard the news of the second plane crashing into the other World Trade Center building and that it could be a terrorists attack. Then the plane that crashed into the Pentagon and the plane the passengers took down in a field near Shanksville, PA.
Do you remember where you where?
9/11/01 is a day that forever changed our nation. Airport security. Wars- that we are still involved in. The loss of thousands of lives in these wars. The tens of thousands of injured soldiers, soldiers with PTSD, depression and traumatic brain injuries returning back to our country. The billions of dollars financed to fund these wars and the impact on the world economy. Suspicious of certain ethnicities. Government surveillance in all our lives.
Many rescue and recovery workers that helped at the site have lung diseases and other health problems from the toxic chemicals that were in the air. They also suffer from PTSD. depression and injuries.
Not to mention their families and how they have been impacted. Children growing up without parents that either died in the attacks or in the wars after. Psychological, physical and emotional trauma from the attack, loss of loved ones, loss of health, loss of income.
Some may ask where was God in these attacks? He was there. The flights could have had 684 passengers but only had 266 aboard. Of the 50,000 employees that could have been in the towers, only 10-14,000 were said to be at work at 8:46. The stories are numerous of people running late because of “mysterious” events like alarm clocks not going off, missing buses, late taxis, sick kids, they woke up sick, couldn’t find their keys, unexpected subway, traffic, and commuter delays. The towers fell inward instead of toppling over, saving unknown amount of lives. He was there in the cross that was left in the rubble. He was there.
I know my God was right there with us, holding us in his hands, weeping with us, comforting us. He was there then and He is here with us now and He will be with us always.
We must never forget. We will never forget.
10 Years I Miss You Daddy by DJ Sammy – this brings tears to my eyes every time, guess it’s a daddy thing –
Beauty Will Rise by Steven Curtis Chapman –
Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning by Alan Jackson –
Have You Forgotten by Darryl Worley –
Didn’t They by Taylor Swift –
Never Forget by Harmony Roads (fka Beyond the Veil) –
Last Fallen Hero by Charlie Daniels –
Hands by Jewel –
Little Did She Know (She’d Kissed A Hero) by Kristy Jackson –
As I was contemplating yesterdays blog and thinking about what to write I took a bike ride and listened to Air1. On one of their segments “3 things you need to know” they talked about their is a movement to change high shool start times to 10:00, even 11:30 for juniors and seniors. All because some kids are hard to wake up to go to school at 7-8:00. Seriously? That led me to think, what kind of children are we leaving our world?
A short note on the above. If high schools start that late, doesn’t that mean they would have to go until 6-7 pm to meet the required hours? How does that affect after school activities? How does that affect family time, family dinners? How does that affect them when they get in the real world and have a job that starts at 8 or 9? What happens when they have a college class they can only take at 8? Quit catering to our kids. If they need more sleep, go to bed earlier. Parents, put a lights out policy and take their cell phones and laptops at 10-10:30. Children are exhausted in the morning because they aren’t getting enough sleep. They are constantly getting beeped by text messages and email alerts by their friends that is interrupting their sleep. The issue IS NOT because school starts too early.
Support, love, teach your children, quit enabling them. It is okay to fall down. Let them learn to get up by themselves. Yes, I know it can break your heart because I have been there but it is what is best for your children to grow. Our oldest daughter made a mess of her life. Moved out of our house, into her uncles, out of there to her boyfriends, got pregnant, had her baby, broke up with the father, moved back to our house but made our house so chaotic that it was hurting our marriage and our other children. We made the painful decision to send her to a shelter, YWCA. It was painful but today she thanks us for doing that.
Who thought of participation trophies? What does it show our kids? That they are entitled to something just for showing up. What happened to kids working together as a team, pushing each other to get better, trying to win games so that you can be first and WIN the trophy. When my teams didn’t finish first, I understood we just weren’t as good a team as the team that won. I understood as an individual that my team didn’t deserve the trophy. There is only one Super Bowl Champion. There is only one World Series Champion. That’s the world I grew up in. A world where we worked hard, did our best and sometimes it just didn’t work out and that was okay. The most important things we learned were working hard, doing our best, teamwork, supporting a teammate that had a bad game, and having some fun along the way.
What are we actually teaching our kids? As I did some research I found many educators think we are dumbing down America. we switch from one standarized test to another to another all while our kids are thinking the last math book didn’t teach me to do math this way. Why do we do this to our kids? Because companies buy our politicians, our politicians get paid to switch and then more books are made to support the new curriculum, or in some cases the books don’t even match the new standards. See the video below from Charlette Iserbyt about the deliberate dumbing down of America. The former US Department of Education Senior Policy Advisor suggests that the our educational system is not based upon children learning. She isn’t the only one that thinks this.
Schools won’t teach creation but they will teach transgender identity, gay marriage, etc. (for more details see Dr. James Dobson – September Newsletter 2015 EM. The Real Fallout of the Same-Sex Ruling.) Target now has unisex toy department. Why? Many states, and in the end probably all of them, have to change legal documents for marriage from husband and wife to spouse and spouse. Parents are no longer mother and father, they are parent 1 and parent 2. We need to quit playing politically correct and get back to the things this country was founded upon. Because I am a heterosexual I can’t be a father on my child’s birth certificate because the minority demand parent 1. What have we become? The minority is ruling the majority.
Our children now are following God less than ever. Many are living for pleasure, instant-gratification, and entitlement. Credit cards are being maxed out by them or by the parents that are buying for them, leaving no money to help the poor or give to charity or to have for the future. They are hooking up instead of having relationships because they have seen their parents have affairs and go through divorces. They are not being taught the values of saving, living for others, giving, volunteering, working for a relationship- it isn’t easy but it is worth it.
This generation is the first in history that is not supposed to outlive their parents. This generation is also the most physically inactive in history. Our health, self-esteem, happiness, productivity, quality and longevity of life all depend on being physically active. Physical inactivity is also now the leading cause of death, outranking cigarette smoking. The leading non-communicable diseases- heart disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, cancer and mental illness are all linked to physical inactivity.
Be active. Create active environments for your children. They will do what you do. I never thought of running long distances when I was ten years old but my daughter Kylie has grown up watching her mom and me run and has completed 16 5k’s, one quarter marathon and just this past Monday a 4 mile run. If they see you reading the Bible, they will read the Bible. If they see you drinking water, they will drink water. If they see you exercising, they will exercise. If they see you doing good, chances are they will do good. If they see you doing bad, chances are they will do bad.
I may not leave my children much money but I pray that I leave them a legacy of a good work ethic, values, ethics and morals to live by. Things that can take you a lot farther in this world than money ever could.
Something To Believe In by Poison – 2003 alternate acoustic version with alternate lyrics
We Can Change The World by Hawk Nelson –
We Can Change The World by Bridgit Mendler –
Together We Can Change The World by Rilee O’Neil –
One Girl Can Change The World by Shuree –
We Can Change The World by Colby Jeffers and Awu Donson –
As I look at our world today I can’t help but wonder what are leaving behind for our children. Will there be any polar ice caps? Will there be any animals left that aren’t in our local zoo? Will the beach be thirty yards more inland? Will the United States be a desert and Africa be lush farmlands? Will they have any trees left? Will the sci-fi worlds we see in movies about the future really be all there is left of this world?
Corporate greed. A recent Stanford study estimates the world could convert to 100% renewable energy by 2030. Do you think corporate America will let that happen? I don’t. So many people fight for what keeps them making money instead of what is best for the world and the people in it. Take cigarette companies for example. As late as the 1940’s there was proof that smoking caused cancer. As of 1994, all seven of the top cigarette making companies denied that smoking causes cancer. Smoking is said to cause 1 out of every 5 deaths in America. The tobacco industry destroys more than 500,000 acres of forest per year. If tobacco farmers grew food instead, they could feed more than 78% of the worlds 28 million malnourished people. In 2012, cigarette companies spent $27 million lobbying government agencies and members of Congress. Now I am not picking on the cigarette industry because you can look up just about any industry, including the health industry, and find where money is being spent to get their products to sell instead of doing the right thing and selling the right products.
Just think about that for a minute? What if tobacco farmers grew food and fed the world instead of tobacco? They would help the world but make less money. What if they spent $27 million on healthier options – growing food, planting trees, charity, getting water to third world countries? What if Anheuser -Busch or Doritos spent the $ 4.5 millon for a 30 second ad for the Super Bowl on something that benefitted the people in the world? I mean we all know who Anheuser-Busch is right? Does that $4.5 million really make someone want to drink there brand over someone elses? I don’t think so. That money could be spent more wisely.
We destroy one area and take out all the non-renewable resources only to move to another area and destroy it. We cut off mountain tops and leave sludge in its place. We deforest large areas of land and do not plant trees to replace them. We are releasing high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous into our water systems and oceans from fertilizer use. We water, even on rainy days, our grass areas by our exit ramps but yet many in this world do not have water to drink.
We take away farmland to put up more and more strip malls. Many of them are abandoned in ten years for new strip malls. We introduce new animals to new lands that wipe out the old animals, therefore changing the food chain.
We over fish, so we make fish farms. We take away our farm lands then we produce GMO’s to make the food grow faster, be resistant to weeds, insects etc because we have less land to farm. This then causes super bugs which are resistant to the weed killer and antibiotics. We give animals steroids to grow faster. We grow chickens that never see the light of day in overcrowded enclosed shelters. How will this all affect not only ourselves but our children as well? Only time will tell but from what I can see, it isn’t good.
There is hope. Companies like Chipolte – who quit selling pork at hundreds of locations because they found a supplier wasn’t meeting their animal welfare standards. They will not be using GMO foods. Chipolte’s core mission is food with integrity. By the way, Chipolte is still making nice profits. Other companies like Toms, who give away one pair of shoes to children in need for each pair of shoes bought, is making money. Chick-fil-A who many people said wouldn’t be succesful being closed on Sundays is very succesful. Sevenly donates a portion of each sale to charity. Their core statement is people matter. Sevenly is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading “social good” companies, mashable.com just named Sevenly “America’s most social business” and “one of the Top 10 Stories in the First 10 Years of Facebook.”
You can do things the right way and still make a profit, keep the business healthy and help the world.
Stay tuned for tomorrow on what kind of children are we leaving this world. Can’t wait to see you then.
When The Children Cry by White Lion –
Something Worth Leaving Behind by Lee Ann Womack –
Heal The World by Michael Jackson –
We Could Change The World by Matt Redman –
Leave The World a Little Better –
Imagine by John Lennon –
Salvation Song by Avett Brothers –
Mad World by Gary Jules/ Tears For Fears –
Ghosts of Days Gone By by Alter Bridge –
Change The World by Los Lonely Boys –
Difference Maker by NeedtoBreathe –
Show Me A Sign by Michael Franti –
Same As It Ever Was by Michael Franti –
So Much Trouble In The World by Bob Marley –
Gonna Change My Way Of Thinkin by Bob Dylan –
We Can Change The World by Live Hart –
Together We Can Change The World by Nick Vujicic/ Elliot Band –
Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It was also intended to give workers a day off because in the late 1800’s, many workers worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week.
I recently read a book by Dale Partridge called People Over Profit. I like his blog, the Daily Positive, so I thought this would be a good read. It was. It is short, concise and, at least to me, very much common sense. I think it not only can be read as a business book but also a relationship book.
Mr. Partridge studied many organizations and says almost all companies go through four phases. The honest phase, the efficient phase, the deceptive phase, and the apologetic phase. I will give a short description of each.
The honest phase is all about getting established. Existing almost entirely for the benefit of others. The core of the company is mission, quality, and integrity. They are winning the hearts of their customers and employees.
The efficient phase is where the company shifts from honesty and quality to efficiency and quantity. More for less. They start substituting quality parts for cheaper parts. For example, GMO’s for our food. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with trying to be more efficient and make more profit, but when you compromise your core values and missions it becomes a problem.
The deceptive phase is where the company starts making the bottom line the number one issue for existing. They are in denial and start lying. Employees get burnt out, customers get dissatisfied with poor quality and higher prices, and a level of distrust starts.
The apologetic phase is where the company realizes they went the wrong way and start to try to make amends. They have to recommit to their core values and missions. They have to restore confidence, trust, health, faith, hope, mission, quality, and accountability. Not only for their customers, but also for their employees.
However, Mr. Partridge discovered many companies that start in the honest phase and move to the efficient phase while maintaining honesty and never moving into the deceptive phase. Some of these are Chick-fil-A, Whole Foods, REI and Patagonia. Companies that do this all have seven core beliefs. They are people matter, truth wins, transparency frees, authenticity attracts, quality speaks, generosity returns and courage sustains.
Don’t be afraid of fear. Fear of change, fear of failure, fear of admitting fault, and fear of the unknown. If you change nothing, nothing will change.
We, the people, are the most powerful people in the marketplace. The way we spend our money determines who stays in business and who does not. If you keep buying products from a company that values profits over people, poor quality, poor working conditions and wages, slave labor, etc. then you are keeping that company in business. The decisions we make will help determine prices, expected levels of quality and which products are in demand. If you don’t like spending $8 for beer at the ballgame, stop buying it. If enough people quit buying it, prices will go down.
The last part of the book I interpret is based on Christian beliefs. If we buy “good” it can change the world. Invest in our core values and beliefs. If something doesn’t seem right, don’t do it. Be a leader. Be ready to lose friends, encounter resistance and even lose your job. Be ready to have a heavy amount of emotional maturity. Know when to hold your tongue and when to stop pushing. Learn to empathize with others positions instead of being judgmental. To be a positive, great leader you have to have a rare mix of strength and meekness.
Pick your partners, and friends wisely. Be you.Own your mistakes. Learn to let go. Let yourself grieve. Put the torch down – learn to forgive instead of retaliating. Don’t let anger destroy you.
For all of you that have to work today I appreciate you. For those of you that don’t, I appreciate when you do work. For those of you looking for work, I pray that you find one.
A few more musician followers this week. Thanks for the follows. I hope my sharing your music will get word out about your music. Please take time to listen/share/purchase the song I wrote with the wonderful Lily Messer and Ceylon Wise at the bottom of this page. Thanks.
Tell Somebody by Unspoken – Love their last cd and the new cd Unplugged out now.
Thorns by Amanda Lopiccolo –
Life After Me by Hear Hear –
I Will Go by Irek Czech –
The Creation by Ambush –
Some other new music I am listening to this week. Check them out. Let me know what you think.
Crazy Faith by John Waller (feat in War Room) –
Bend by Corey Smith –
Lost My Way by NEEDMORE –
All The Glory by Alexis Spight –
Alright by Walk Off The Earth –
I Wanna Change The World by Club Nouveau –
You’re Not Alone by Owl City –
Cheap Shots & Setbacks by As It Is –
In My Head by Galantis –
and our song:
I Question You by Lily Messer –
Now on i tunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-question-you-single/id1018588943
I don’t even know why we are playing this season. Everyone knows God wants the Buckeyes to repeat. I mean, He was with them last year and He helped them win so I believe He will help them again this year. It’s not like He has anything else to do. Since God is for us, then He must be against every other team.
I am joking of course. I am sure God doesn’t really care about who wins or loses a game. Maybe about how you played the game, with teamwork, honesty, integrity, 100% effort, but not who wins. Using the ability He gives you to glorify Him in all you do.
Since I know God doesn’t care if the Buckeyes win, I will be sure to do all I can to guarantee that they will. I just bought my new scarlet and gray toothbrushes one week before the start of the season, like I always do. I will listen to Ohio State Pregame (listed below in songs) four times, once for each quarter, before the game. I will listen to The Buckeye Battle Cry four times, once for each quarter, exactly 30 minutes before kick-off. I will wear my lucky Ohio State shirt every game day. I will eat the exact same meals before and during the game. The only time I didn’t wear my lucky shirt last year, they lost to Virginia Tech. What I do determines whether they win or not. It is tough having the entire Buckeye Nation on my shoulders but I have to do what I have to do.
Uh-oh, I have made Ohio State football an idol. I can’t say I have ever said every Monday I have to get up and read John, Mark, Matthew or Luke. I have to thank God for today while I brush my teeth with my scarlet and gray toothbrushes. I haven’t said that exactly 30 minutes before I do anything that I have to pray about it first. I can’t say I have ever said I better not eat that because it isn’t good for me and could lead me to have problems later in life that only God could cure. I can say though that I have said I will wear a Run for God shirt or another God/Faith shirt when I run races.
Football is a game. It is not life and death. Don’t find happiness or sadness in how your team does. Don’t let a loss ruin your day or weekend. Don’t let a win give you too much excitement. Spend time with your family. In a few seasons your kids will be out of the house and you will wish you had these four months back. I’m not saying not to watch football because I will be watching. I’m saying incorporate family time into your weekends as well.
Go Bucks!
History by Lauren Alaina – new College Gameday song –
Ohio State Pregame – I don’t know who made this or what the actual name is but I have had it for a long time
Have you ever had someone come into your life that helped you but left you scratching your head wondering who they really were? Maybe they actually spent some time in your life, days or months or years. Maybe it was just for a second. After they left you wondered, could that be Jesus?
What about the people you see on the street that you don’t help? The one who is crying in a corner. The one who you see needs new shoes. The child that tells you he doesn’t get to eat at home. The last person on the bus who has no seats left, do you give up your seat? The one in front of you at the grocery store who is $10 short so has to put something back, do you pay the $10? The one who is asking people to volunteer this week because they are short help. Do you volunteer your time? What if all these people were Jesus?
On February 24th, 2015 in Colorado Springs Colorado, Shelby Hudgens, a homeless man, helped push people up that were stuck in snow. For over three hours he helped push people up and over a hill.
In Australia a new mom was in and out of the hospital with her newborn. One night she came out and saw a parking ticket on her car. She was already stressed from being in the hospital with her newborn. She then saw a note from a random stranger who paid the ticket for her.
How about a PB and Jams owner, Ashley Jiron, in Oklahoma who saw that her trash outside the shop was being rummaged through each night. She left the following note:
How about the couple, who grew up without dads, were so impressed with a dad taking his daughter out for Valentine’s Day they left a note and paid for their meal.
How about Officer Lawrence DePrimo who, on a cold night in Times Sqare saw a homeless man without shoes. He disappeared for a few minutes then came back with a new pair of boots and knelt down to help the man put them on.
We see so much bad news in the news and in our papers and on the internet but there is so much good that goes on in the world. Anonymous people who lend a helping hand. Every day heroes who don’t want recognition. All of them just doing what Jesus would do.
Maybe they are just good people. Maybe they are guardian angels. Maybe they are showing the world that Jesus is inside of them. Maybe, just maybe, they are Jesus in disguise.
One of Us by Joan Osborne –
What If Jesus Comes Back Like That by Collin Raye –
Some of you may be saying what? I say why not? Why wait until December 25th to celebrate the birth of our savior. Why wait until we are so busy with everything else that goes with the season that before we know it it is here and gone. Why wait until Christmas Eve to go to church?
Summer is winding down, fall is coming on and then winter will be here. This year has gone by so quick. Seems like winter just ended. I know, we still have 3 months and 22 days until winter officially begins and I will appreciate every minute of fall but.. Back to school shopping is done, Halloween is on the shelves and in probably about 30-40 days there will be Christmas items on the shelves. Wal-Mart has already started their lay-away program for Christmas. Two weeks earlier than last year. Keeping the c in commercial, not Christmas.
This is the first year that Kylie has kept the Christmas countdown up all year. We had to make some paper numbers to have all the days we needed but it is up. She actually kept up on it for a good part of the year but she has been slacking here lately. In case you were wondering, there are 115 days left. Now when you read that, how many of you are saying don’t remind me. Or something else that is negative. I know I have told people at work and here and there and it is always the same reaction, don’t remind me or I don’t even want to think about it.
When did the coming of Christmas become so negative. Is it because our society equates Christmas with shopping and busyness and parties and get-together and everything else except what the coming of Christmas is really about. The birth of Jesus. The forgiver of our sins. The only way for us to get to Heaven is through Him. Yet, He seems to be a by-product of Christmas instead of the only reason for Christmas.
Why don’t we play Christmas songs throughout the year? Obviously not the winter ones like Frosty or Rudolph or It’s The Most Wonderful Time of theYear but why not Mary, Did You Know or O Come All Ye Faithful or Joy tothe World. Songs that remind of Jesus birth all year round. I’m not saying play them a lot but maybe once a month or something, just as a year long reminder. By the way new Christmas cd’s are made and coming out in the next few months. Looking forward to new Christmas recordings from MercyMe, Kenny Rogers, Chris Tomlin and many others as they are released.
Anyway, take a little time now before we all get to busy to thank God for sending His son Jesus to us in a manger, with no crib for a bed. Be thankful for the only reason we should be celebrating Christmas, the birth of our savior Jesus.
Merry Christmas, 115 days early.
Charlie Brown, the meaning of Christmas –
Here are a few songs that have really touched me over the years.
Little Drummer Boy – I think this song always hits me because of the lines I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give a king. Shall I play for you? On My drum. We all can’t bring expensive gifts and that is the beauty of Jesus but all He asks is that we bring what we have, come as we are.
Where’s the Line To See Jesus by Becky Kelley – I wish they would play this song more at Christmas time. The true reason for the season.
His Favorite Christmas Story by Capital Lights – Jesus can make miracles happen.
The Christmas Shoes by Newsong – Giving is better than receiving
The Heart of Christmas by Matthew West –
While You Were Sleeping by Casting Crowns –
Mary Did You Know – I chose Jeremy Camp version –
The Night Before Christmas by Brandon Heath –
I Pray on Christmas by Harry Connick Jr. –
Give This Christmas Away by Matthew West –
And for those of us who may not make it to Christmas or who are already in Heaven celebrating every day with Jesus, I love these two songs.
My God, My Music, My Life 