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 And now, combining popular music and eternal perspectives, from Searcy, Arkansas......It's Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!!!!

(rapturous applause sound effects)

Can it really have been twenty years, since the Chicago Bulls ruled the courts?  With the legendary lineup, of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Luc Longley, Ron Harper, and Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls of the 90's remain the standard for professional basketball.  From 1991 - 1998, Da Bulls, were the dominating force for the NBA, winning 6 championships.  While the Lakers and Celtics have both won more championships, (16 and 17 wins respectively), neither has been able to dominate a decade like the Bulls did in the 1990s.  Much of the credit goes to the leader of the team, Michael Jordan.  His wizardry on the court made him a role model for young people around the world, and a marketing boon for Nike.  He even helped Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes win a basketball game.....

Space Jam trailer

NBA teams are made up of 13 players.  It is difficult for any player in the NBA to play every minute of every game.  Each of the 13 team members on the Championship Bulls added to the overall ability of the team to win games and each was awarded the championship ring after their ultimate victory.  Rarely did you hear any one of the starting lineups praise themselves for what they achieved together as a team.  While Michael Jordan was the star, it could be easily said of the 90's Bulls that "There is no "I" in team". 

One of the things that stood out for the Bulls of the 90s was their player introduction production.  Complete with smoke, lasers, and animation, the starting lineup introduction became almost as big a production as the games themselves.  (Go back to the top of the page for instant replay).  Riding beneath the announcement of the team players' names, positions, and colleges they attended is a "Sirius" song.  Pun is totally intended. 

"Sirus" has always been used to introduce.  It was a little-known instrumental in 1982 when it was released on the Alan Parsons Project album Eye In The Sky as the prelude to the title track.  "Eye In The Sky" peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart and gets its inspiration from George Orwell's novel 1984 and a fascination that co-creator Eric Woolfson had with the security camera systems at casinos and retail environments.

At 18, Alan Parsons served as an assistant engineer on The Beatle's Abbey Road album.  He continued at the Abbey Road studios and worked with some of the biggest names in Rock and Roll during the 60s and 70s.  His partnership with producer Eric Woolfson in 1975 would birth the Alan Parsons Project.  Both men had some modicum of success prior to their collaboration, but it would be their teamwork that would take them to the top of the music charts. 

From a live event in 1995,  Here's The Alan Parson's Project:

Sirius/Eye In The Sky

In our world there probably is at least one "Eye In The Sky" but, as stated before, there is no  "I" in team (Yes, it is a stretch, but hang in there....Siriusly.....couldn't resist).  Think about it for just a moment.  How many times a day do you use the noun "I" or one of its derivatives?  To you, my friend confession is made.  This word is a constant in my vocabulary.  I wish it were not so.  (3 times in the last 3 sentences...)  Do you think there is a 12-step program for people with PRIDE?  "Hello, my name is Randy......Hi Randy.......I have a problem with Pride".  Some days it would be nice if everything in the universe revolved around me.  Note, there is nothing said about how beneficial to me that focus would be.  Pride does not provide a healthy or God-honoring way to live life.  God provides people in our lives to serve as a check for the problem with pride....if we allow them to "take us down" a notch or to on occasion. 

Paul has some pretty powerful advice for us about how this selfishness is not the way that Jesus' people should live.  In his letter to the Philippian church, he says about pride:
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.      Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, and became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Philippians 2:2-5 The Message.

Jesus didn't claim special privileges, in fact, he told some of the people who were the beneficiaries of his miracles to tell no one what He had done. The Bible says that followers of Jesus are a part of his body.  So friend, what part of the body are you supposed to be?  How do you go about being the best body part you can be?  Do you seek recognition for functioning as you should?  How many times did you say "I" today?    Siriusly.

If you missed any of Tuesday's Musical Notes, you can find them online at www.tuesdaysmusicalnotes.blogspot.com or if you know someone who would like to receive the notes, send  an email to rawacr@gmail.com

'Til Tuesday

Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy