Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Mr. Roboto" (Styx)

Rules of Civility #3 - Show nothing to your friend that may affright him.

Tuesday's here!!! Only 3 days left in January....what?!!!  29 days of 2013 already gone...how did you spend them?  Well, at least we hope you spent part of 5 of them with Tuesday's Musical Notes!  Let's get started!  By the way.....Domo Arigato!!!

Styx Mr.Roboto from the 1983 album KilroyWasHere

    Welcome to the world of rock opera!  The album concept that consists of each song on the record telling a portion of an overall story.  A 1967 British band called Nirvana, not the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" one, is credited with having the first full album "rock opera" with their "The Story of Simon Simopath" record.  The most well known purveyor of the rock opera is The Who, as they can be credited with 2 of the more commercially successful concept albums, Tommy  and Quadraphenia.  Both of these albums were the impetus for movies and other formats of musical exploration.  Pink Floyd's, The Wall was most successful of this type of recording and set the bar for all of the concept albums of the future.  The Wall would provide the inspiration for a movie as well as a massive concert production for 6 of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters concert tours and is currently in production for the stage. 
    
     As one would imagine, a concept album that becomes an elaborate concert production can be difficult to manage.  The band Styx discovered this in 1983 with the release of the record and consequential concert tour Kilroy Was Here.  This rock opera would follow the exploits of imprisoned Rock star Kilroy (lead singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung) as he attempted to battle against Dr. Righteous (vocalist and guitarist James "J.Y." Young) and The Majority for Music Morality (a sideways reference to Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority).  Kilroy is inspired to escape from his robot guarded prison as he hears of the travails of Johnathan Chance (guitarist and vocalist Tommy Shaw)a young musician who is trying to bring back Rock-n-Roll.  Rock historians have noted that Kilroy Was Here would be the beginning of the end for Styx and Dennis DeYoung.  The album would be certified platinum and have 2 hit singles, but the response from the band was tepid.  DeYoung and the remainder of Styx parted ways in 1999. The touring Styx of today refuses to play any of the songs from Kilroy.  Dennis DeYoung does keep the 2 hit singles as a part of his solo touring.  

     What would cause a group of people who had been together as a unit since the 1960s, record 13 albums together,(4 consecutive multiplatinum releases, the first band to do so) and make tons of money and music together to disband thirty years later?  "Creative differences" is usually the catchphrase that rises to the top of the excuse list.  In the opinion of the Notes, this is a code word for, "we did not want to work on our personal relationships".

     For the record, Tuesday's Musical Notes is not an antitech blog and email.  The Notes relies heavily on technology that didn't exist 30 years ago to be a delivery system.  That being said, we wonder if the technology that we have today and technology that is being developed is adversarial to the development of relationships. Like the robot prison guards of Kilroy, we wonder if we aren't imprisoned to our tech. We admit to sometimes longing for the days when our cell phones were not attached to us.  We pine for the days when we would wait by the mailbox for that eagerly anticipated letter (email on paper delivered by a postal worker, for those born after 1993)from a friend or loved one.  We miss the challenge of being able to express ourselves on paper in a return letter.  We wonder what would happen in our lives, our schools, and our churches, if as much emphasis were placed on developing our relationships with one another outside of the technical realm as is placed on the development of the mind and body in our schools within the context of a computer screen.  Have you ever received a text from someone who is in the same building?....perhaps the same home....maybe in the next room?  The ease of communication that we currently have could well be the demise of relationship.


Exodus 34:14 You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

Luke 12:21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
Romans 5:18

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

2 John 1:8-9

⁸ Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. ⁹ Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

 

     We were created to be relational people.  Who doesn't want a better relationship with the people in which they interact.  Relationships, however, take a great deal of effort.  Experts for centuries have tried to explain how to make better relationships.  The Bible in the above passages from the New Living Translation tells us that the foundational aspect of any relationship is God. Would you like a better relationship with your friends?  Get a better relationship with God.  Would you like a better relationship with your spouse?  Get a better relationship with God.  You get the picture.  We love a God who is jealous about His relationship with us, that's why we cannot allow for anything to come between our relationship with him.  Anything that does is an idol.  A recent sermon from Student Pastor Greg Thrasher plainly and bluntly put idolatry into perspective.  He enquired, "What do we have going on in our lives that is more important than attending church?"  When did we as a country lose the priority of Church?  One of the best venues for encouragement and growth towards Christ likeness is the Church.  Even Sunday nights and Wednesday nights.....  If you are a "regular attender" is your church a place of love and encouragement or condemnation and judgement.....


     We can work for all of the "tangible" things this world has to offer, but if we don't exist in a relationship with God, the Bible calls us fools.  Jesus' love on the cross was the ultimate display of His desire to be in relationship with you.  The effort that we expend on our relationships is an ongoing process.  We must be diligent to cultivate that relationship with Jesus until the day when we become like Him.  There is no "work" we can do to achieve salvation, it is a free gift, however, once we accept so great a salvation, we do have to work to keep the relationship growing. Reading scripture, prayer, congregational Bible study and worship, are all ways to propagate our relationship with God. God desires that relationship with you.  If that is something you have never experienced, but desire to, please let us know...today. 

Domo arigato.....

'Til Tuesday,


Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy 

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (Bob Dylan)

Rules of Civility #2 - "When in company, put not your hands to any part of the body not usually discovered."

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam, and read with desire this interesting tome.  The Musical Notes will certainly hit home. It's Tuesday, your time is worth spendin', so get ready, your life it won't be like before , 'cause the times they are a changin'......

     In case you haven't guessed, this is not a lost verse of the Dylan classic....it is however the opening line for this week's Tuesday Musical Notes..so let's get started!!

    It all started with 1962's Bob Dylan.  It continues in the form of Tempest, released in 2012.  That is 50 years of recording music, poetry, social activism, and spirituality.  When one hears the name Bob Dylan, immediate thoughts of a indescribable voice, unmanageable hair, and inescapable cool come to mind.  He was born Robert Allen Zimmerman.  This however, is not the only name he has used in his 50 year musical adventure.  Bob Dylan has appeared in one name or another on a number of other people's projects and contributed mightily to the careers of '60s favorites The Byrds and The Band.  His body of work is immense.  35 studio albums, 13 live albums, 9 albums in the bootleg series (recordings not originally released by the artist or their record label.  Usually studio outtakes or live performances) and 14 compilation records.  No other modern artist carries the fan base from across the spectrum of musical genre than Bob Dylan.  He is the oldest recipient of a Grammy Award (he has 11 to date) and was one of thirteen people to receive the  Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. 
    
     In May of this year Bob Dylan will turn 72.  He was 21 when he released his first album, which assisted in defining protest music for the 1960s.  He also is attributed with bringing the American Folk Music Revival to popular status.   He saw sluggish record sales in the 1970s and in 1979 became a Christian.  After his conversion he recorded two strictly religious albums, Slow Train Coming (1979) and Saved (1980).  Both of which featured Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler.  While he received a Grammy for Best Male Vocalist for the song "You Gotta Serve Somebody", from Slow Train Coming, Dylan did not see skyrocketing album  sales during the 80's.  However, He was a part of USA for Africa's "We Are The World" and was a founding member of the super group The Traveling Wilburys (George Harrison (Beatles), Jeff Lynne (ELO), Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty were the other "Wilburys")  Both of these projects  saw commercial sales and critical acclaim for the charity work (USA for Africa), and music contribution (The Traveling Wilburys).  The 90's saw his iconic stature continue as he released 2 MTV Unplugged albums and 4 other studio project. 

     Bob Dylan started the new millenium by receiving an Oscar for "Things Have Changed" from the movie Wonder Boys.  Since the turn of the century he has also recorded 5 more studio albums, including a Christmas album, 2009s Christmas In The Heart.  Through each decade, he has continued to record his music, his way.  With this measure of success, it is easy to see that Bob Dylan certainly understands the philosphy he penned from the title track to his third album.  As the times have changed, so has he.  With each successive release, Bob Dylan reminds us in a myriad of ways....."The Times They Are A Changin'"

     In Genesis, we read about the family of Noah and the great flood of the earth that Noah's family survived.  Much of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (http://creationmuseum.org/) is dedicated to the story and science of this cataclysmic event.  (If you get an opportunity, make this fantastic museum a part of your summer vacation plans)  When reading the first line of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" one wonders if a similar warning was given by the prophet Noah as he delivered his admonition of the approaching earth changing event. 

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

     A recent conversation with our Student Pastor regarding Noah is applicable at this point.  He observed that in our telling of the story of Noah and his deliverance we leave out, or at least minimize, the part of the story that tells the complete and utter destruction of the remainder of civilization.  While we think of Noah and his family safe inside the ark, we tend to forget that EVERY other living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed.  It is comforting however to think that while God was pouring out His wrath due to man's disobedience, that God also poured out His love in delivering the righteous Noah.  We see a similar picture at Calvary where the abundance of God's love is the main emphasis of the story and Jesus bearing the brunt of God's wrath is seemingly minimized.  Finally, we have the tendency to fill end times stories with the glories of heaven without balancing that with the hell that will be earth at that time.  The difficulty with those who were lost in Noah's time, those who were lost at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and those who will be lost at the end times is that they did not heed the warnings nor embrace God's love as the times changed all around them. 
John 3:16-18

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)¹⁶ “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

Revelation 6:15-17

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”


     As we look around our world in 2013, there is a feeling among many that hard times are ahead.    But equalling this emotion is the intense anticipation that revival is also coming.  We may very well be some who experience both of these diametrically opposed times.  Can we honestly say that we are righteous enough we would have been on the ark?  If not, please seek out a friend who can tell you how to obtain that kind of right living and redemption and avoid the promises of wrath. " There's a battle outside ragin'..... It'll soon shake your windows... And rattle your walls... For the times they are a-changin'."


'Til Tuesday,


Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Life's Been Good" (Joe Walsh)

Rules Of Civility #1:  "Every action done in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to those that are present."


It's  Tuesday, and time for another Tuesday's Musical Notes where Rock-n-Roll meets reflection,  lyrics meet life change, and people get to walk to the beat of their own time signature......

     He was the son of a classically trained pianist and a Fidler.  He was adopted by his step father at age 5 and moved to New York City at the age of 12.  While living in the Big Apple, he began a lifelong obsession with amateur "ham" radio. (He currently holds an "Amateur Extra Class" license).  He has played 15 different guitars over the course of his career including a 1959 Gibson Les Paul that he gave/sold to Led Zepplin guitarist Jimmy Page in April 1969.  He is credited with playing 20 other instruments, most of which are keyboard oriented, and has played on some of the biggest album's in Rock history.  Rolling Stone has him listed at #54 on their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".  He put forth unsuccessful bids for President AND Vice President and is brother-in-law to Ringo Starr by marriage.  In short, you could say that "life's been good" to him so far.....

"Life's Been Good" Joe Walsh at Darryl's Place

     Joe Fidler Walsh, ("Fidler" is his birth father's last name) has led what appears to be a charmed life.  His newest solo project, Analog Man, has received positive critical review and is selling well.  As a member of notable bands, The James Gang and The Eagles, he has made lots of money and become famous.  However, his life has not been bereft of struggles.  He didn't have a relationship with his birth father.  Walsh and his wife lost their first child at the age of 3 in an automobile accident.  His excesses with alcohol and drugs were common knowledge in rock circles.  (He has been in recovery since 1995).  His personal relationships with his band mates The Eagles during the 70's were notably strained.   Did we mention he gave away or sold a '59 Les Paul? 

   There is a deceptive allure that comes with fame and fortune.  It can easily be perceived that our favorite movie stars and musicians lead lives of enchantment and continual happiness.  With the advent of the 24 hour news cycle and internet video, this deception is not so easily maintained.  We see some famous people in video of compromised positions and mug shots and we pause to wonder if they really have it as good as they think they do.  Yet, they are addicted to how "good" they have it, and without significant change, can meander down a very destructive path.

     Christians are not so different.  Fortune and fame are not prerequisites to having a happy life.  It is very easy to get addicted to the "good life" and realize that ultimately this "life" is not our ultimate destiny.  Many times we have heard that we are to be "in the world, but not of the world".  What does that mean?  

     First of all, it is not found in the Bible verbatim, yet is a conglomerate of teachings that Jesus relayed to the disciples.  The closest composite to this saying would be John 15:19

"If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you." (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

      Secondly, while "in the world and not of it" is an easy churchism to roll off the tongue, practical application is significantly more challenging.  The temptations of this life are abundant.  Let's face it, Adam and Eve couldn't resist the temptation of this world, and they were living in a place where one would think there would be very little by which to be tempted. 

     Finally, there is an arrogance in this phrase that can be misunderstood by preChristians.  In fact, many Christians would be challenged to explain exactly the meaning behind "be in the world, but not of it."

     The Notes would have to concur with Joe Walsh.  Life HAS been good to us so far.  The majority of people that we are associated with can say the same.  Perhaps that is the real temptation of this world.  The enemy does not put us through a "Job moment" and we have things pretty good.  So good in fact, that we may hesitate when it comes to growing as a disciple of Christ.  Certainly, the "good life"  is a strategy the evil one will use with those who are not redeemed, but what about those of us who are longing for heaven?  Is it conceivable that we can be left alone to the trappings of this world so much that it is difficult to imagine our lives ever being better?  Our imaginations of heaven can never be as good as the reality of heaven will be, so we become satisfied with the "good life" we have now.    For many, this is the hardest temptation to resist.  We really do believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that He died on a cross as a substitute for us, that He physically rose from being dead, and that He is coming to earth again to redeem His church. Sometimes the next faith steps are the hardest to walk as we grow in Christ.  

     As with many endeavors, discipleship is something that requires work for us to ever maximize the potential we have as a Christ follower.  We are not saved by this work, we are saved to get to work.  A dedicated quiet time, serving others in our church and community, sacrificing our resources and time, prayer, fasting, and using our gifts to assist the Holy Spirit in the growth of discipleship in others are just some of the work that aids in the process of spiritual growth.  All of this work is made easier by the encouragement that we get when we go to the services that the local church provides.  Regardless of the tradition for when those services occur, we grow every time we are able to encounter like minded Christ followers.  Why would we shun that?  Perhaps "life's been good to me so far"?

Please consider making the attendance at the church of your choice "every time the doors are open" a priority for you and your family this week.  You may find that life can be even better.

'Til Tuesday,

Loving HIM by loving you,

Randy