Welcome
to the first Tuesday of June 2016!!! 3 months until school starts
again, 4 months until Razorback Football begins, 6 months until the
presidential election, 7 months until Christmas, and 8 months until the
year 2017 begins! But there is absolutely no sense in rushing towards
the future...na, na, na, na, na, na live for today...right? Anyway,
welcome to the best day of the week! Since it
is the first Tuesday of the month, we get the opportunity to play the
flashback music and que up an email Note from the earliest days of
Tuesday's Musical Notes. Today's ponderings on the positives comes from
August 2, 2011 and in the form of the world's greatest band...EVER.
Que the fog machine and harps...
Memories can be some of the most treasured and powerful things
we have in our lives. My earliest recollections come from the early
70's. I just don't remember much from before my school age time. Mom
has pictures that reinforce some of the stories that she has told me
about the time before 1st grade. Her memories invigorate mine. Perhaps
you have a similar story. Consistent memories don't really kick in for
me until early school age years. That is the time many begin to develop
relationships and start coming into their own so to speak. In
retrospect, those memories strengthen a theme and begin the voyage that
is the search for the meaning of life.
Most of my life, I've
been searchin'... perhaps you have as well, here's Chicago with their
ideas about searching for life's meaning...
"(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" from the 1974 double album Chicago VII
In 2002, my all time favorite band, Chicago, released "The Very Best Of
Chicago - Only The Beginning". The album debuted in the top 50 on the
charts. That's astounding!!! They are one of just a few bands ever to
have albums chart in 5 decades! You read that right 5 DECADES! That is
an amazing statistic and one that I think very few in the current music
industry will ever be able to achieve again. Chicago
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past year and
continues to tour each year with sell out crowds. It just goes to show
you that good music is appreciated generation after generation.
As
rare as having records chart in 5 decades, it is equally rare the way
Chicago built their musical iconic status. It was difficult for new
musical acts in the 60s to have enough material or the money to support
the studio recording time to put together a single album of good tunes.
Enter Chicago, who, as a band, released their first 3 albums as 2 disc
sets and released their 4th was a whopping 4 disc boxed set from their
concert at Carnegie Hall. After single disc releases Chicago V and VI,
Chicago returned to the double album release format with Chicago VII.
It went straight to the top of the Billboard Pop chart and had 3 singles
break the top 20.
I
actually got to see Chicago with a few friends at Barnhill Arena at the
Fayetteville campus of the University of Arkansas (Woo Pig) in 1982.
It was the very first time I had gone to a rock-n-roll concert. What an
incredible show! They had 3 encore's one of which was The Beatles "Got
To Get You Into My Life!! (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Got To Get You Into My Life")
Chicago owned the song that night and made it sound like one of their
original compositions. I suspect McCartney and friends still got paid
royalties, but I digress. One of my friends actually stalked the band
back to their hotel and got to meet some of them. That was a time when
stalking meant a whole different thing than it does now. She didn't
tell us the story until much later and we jokingly question many of the
details still to this day.
What
we see throughout Biblical history is the instruction to seek God. He
is the Creator of our lives. He is also the one who loves you since you
were created in the womb. Your search for the meaning in life should
include responding to the drawing of Holy Spirit into a reestablished
relationship with God. We all respond to this drawing. Some deny it
even exists, others embrace it wholeheartedly. There is coming a time
very soon, when this distinction will be very important. In fact, it
will determine where your eternal being will exist. The truth of the
matter is that we will live a lot longer somewhere other than the 70 or
so years we may have on earth. I can't imagine what a separated
relationship with the One who created me would be like, nor do I want
to. I also want to encourage you to investigate further the seemingly
unexplainable gnawing that continues to draw you towards a decision.
Sex, drugs, Rock-N-Roll, money, power, and fame are all second level
substitutes for the completion that you desire. You are not complete,
nor will you ever be without restoring your personal relationship with
God, by following the drawing of Holy Spirit, accepting that Jesus died
as a substitution for you and that He was physically risen from death,
that He sits in heaven awaiting God's instruction to return and bring
those who believe to heaven, and embracing the restored relationship
with God. At this point, the searchin' will have it's answer.
One
passionate search early in my life, led me to an altar at New Bethel
General Baptist church just north of Bald Knob, Arkansas. I found a
friend unlike any other that I had ever met. A friend who had a gift
for me. All I had to do was accept it and believe what He told me He
had done for me and what He would be doing for me if I surrendered to
Him daily. I was 10. I
continue to search for many things in my life, but since that time, I
have no desire to search for something to fill the most intrinsic need
of my life. I found the Savior!!! His promises are true every day.
The things I search for now are founded in the relationship I have with
Jesus. Ways to make His message known. Ways to make my character more
like His character. Ways to encourage and edify those who have also
found His love. My search is not over. I really think, to borrow from
another Chicago song.....it's "Only The Beginning".......
"Lead Me To The Cross" - from the 2007 album All Of The Above by Hillsong United
'Til Tuesday
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
