Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Make Me Smile" (Chicago)


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Dateline...Tuesday, April 25th.  It has been reported that there is a blog circulating the internet that combines the best popular music from all decades with a spiritually infused commentary.  Those that read this blog have been known to be exposed to tempting tunes as well as a timeless theology.     There is no cause for alarm as our reporters have only turned up benefits to those who consistently read the blog, known only as Tuesday's Musical Notes.   It is advised that you read as many of the archived blogs as possible to check for the positive reaction that overwhelmingly has been displayed by avid readers.  Those who have read it report going back each Tuesday to see what song might be this week's feature and how it is going to be applied in a spiritual construct.   We will keep you updated as future details become available.  For now, we turn you back to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress...


or flash forward about 37 years


By reading the archives at Tuesday's Musical Notes, it becomes quickly apparent that one of my favorite bands is the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Chicago.  


With the release of Now, or if you like the Roman numeral system, Chicago XXXVI, Chicago has returned with an entry that most die hard fans will enjoy.   Utilizing "The Rig" a recording studio on wheels, they have the opportunity to record tracks separately as they tour around the world continually and find it difficult to get to a studio all at the same time.  

Formed 50 years ago as The Big Thing, then morphing into Chicago Transit Authority, and finally into Chicago, this rock-n-roll band with horns has outperformed and outlived most of its contemporaries.  The band has had 4 gold and 18 platinum records.  That means that over half of their album catalogue have sold in excess of 500,000 units.  This includes their first 12 albums being certified platinum (in excess of 1,000,000 units, Chicago 17 is the most sold at over 6,000,000).    

Chicago has had hit singles in 5 decades and they continue to tour on the strength of those hits. Chicago - tour schedule   Those hits have also afforded the accolades of induction to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame for Robert Lamm (keyboards, vocals) and James Pankow (trombone) in February of this year.   
As you can see, founding members Lamm, Pankow, Lee Loughnane (trumpet, vocals), and Walter Parazaider (woodwinds, vocals), longevity and great music have combined to establish an iconic legacy in the music industry and amongst fans who sell out their shows.  Maybe these are the motivations that put a genuineness to lyric of "Make Me Smile"...

What causes you to smile?  Lately, in our lives, it has been the growth and development of our twin grandsons, and the maturation of our daughters into the adults we had always prayed they would become.  Some of our biggest smiles have come from some of the smallest actions by family and friends around us.  These smiles are birthed from the happiness that tender moments and kind acts bring about. 

Unfortunately, the emotions that evoke the "grins of a grandpa" are temporary.  Happiness is not always a close companion to many.  In fact, sometimes it can be very fleeting.  Moments pass and so does the motive for that particular toothy beam.  I think you would agree that there are in times when a smile or happiness is inappropriate.  

In the Bible, the importance of a word can be found by how often it is used.  A quick search of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible at biblegateway.com provides a listing of 20 Biblical references for the word "happy" and only 3 for the word :smile".  Compare these searches with the search for the word "joy".  242 times the word "joy" is used in differing contexts.  This would suggest, by Biblical standards,  that "joy" might be a subject of some import.

Dictionary.com has the following as a definition of the word "joy":

the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something 
exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure;elation:

The Bible also supplies a definition of the word "joy" and its interpretation suggests something more than emotion.  It endorses something of more permanence than that of which the dictionary contends. 


According to the Bible, for us to have a permanent joy, we must simply love.  Such love is demonstrated by Jesus.  He is our example of how to have a lasting joy, that far surpasses the happiness we may experience. 
Maybe dear friend, the Bible is not the place where you find the definitions for your life.  If this is true, I hope you will consider something.  

Christian folks are not better than anyone else.  The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to folks in Rome.  In this letter, he told the Christian folks that all have sinned, that included them. The Letter to Roman Christians by the Apostle Paul 3:22-24 NIV/The Message    The word sin describes a condition in life that is common to every person who has been born.  It conveys the fact that we are separated from God by the bad things we do.  Paul was telling those Christians, that because of this sin, nobody is good enough to go to heaven, where God is.  The Apostle John writes in his narrative about Jesus, that He loved us enough to suffer the most horrendous form of capital punishment ever invented, so that our relationship with God could be restored.  The Gospel of Jesus according to the Apostle John 3:16-21 NIV/The Message  Paul provides reason for great joy when he tells the Roman Christians about the hope that is provided in Jesus.  The Letter to Roman Christians by the Apostle Paul 10:9-13 NIV/The Message  

So you see friend, there is a joy that will do much more than make you smile.  This faith provides a joy that is birthed from the facts that Holy Spirit reveals this truth to us and draws us to accept it,   Jesus died for us and prepares a place for us as believers, and God awaits those that believe in heaven.  This my friend is a joy that will sustain us, even when we aren't happy.  This my friend is a joy that will guide us to love others, more than we love ourselves.  This my friend is a joy that will make us smile...


'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy 


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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Good Thing" (The Fine Young Cannibals)


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Welcome to Tuesday and Tuesday's Musical Notes, your weekly blend of pop music and prophetic musings.  This is the place where we remember top tens and lion's dens, chart busters and grape clusters, one hit wonders and the One in charge of thunders.  It really is a safe place filled with things to learn about music and maybe, just maybe, a few things about yourself.   So let's dive on in and visit on this splendid day of days, as we get ready to ponder His good things and ways.  Cue the fog machine and lower the lights, it's time for a flashback...think back a few years... c'mon... that's right...


Three years and two #1 hits define the band Fine Young Cannibals.  1987-1989 saw the band from Birmingham, England with enormous exposure.  They supplied 3 songs for the soundtrack and played the house band in the Richard Dreyfus, Danny DeVito 1987 movie, Tin Men.   They added 7 more songs to the hits from Tin Men and in 1988 released their 2nd and last studio album, The Raw and the Cooked.   It soared up the chart garnering Grammy nods and instant success.  The album, on the strength of "She Drives Me Crazy" and today's feature song, (both going to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100) hit the top spot on the Billboard 200 Album chart and help to solidify, at least for the following year, Fine Young Cannibals status as the "IT" band of the late '80s.  As with many one or two hit wonders, the flame quickly burned out as lead singer,  Roland Gift, became disillusioned about making any more good music due to the pressure of the success of The Raw and the Cooked.  Fine Young Cannibals would record only 1 other song after 1989 to fulfill contractual obligations and make for a fuller compilation album.  It seemed that the "good thing" they experienced, rapidly declined and had gone the path of so many other bands.  The original trio would disband in 1992.

We pose to you the very introspective question of, "what do I consider the good things in my life?"  Family, prosperity, notoriety, and great friends can all be good things in one's life, but what would be the results if these good things were not part of the fabric of who you are?  Would you feel the pain of missing something?  Would there be struggles because these good things weren't there?

Ponder what you would do if the good things in your life were gone. Perhaps this has happened to you as children have left home in search of education, careers, or love.  Perhaps you have been separated by a good thing through the death of a loved one. Chances are, the good things in your life have transitioned as you have matured.  The good thing of a mom or dad transition to the good thing of a spouse.  The good thing of children, one day transitions to the GREAT thing of grandchildren.  (sorry, girls...)  It seems that good things seem to be fleeting, or at best always in transition.  How do we grasp this?  Do we never get the opportunity to embrace something and keep it forever?

Let's start with the definition of "good".  Our handy, dandy, reference point of dictionary.com posits the word "good" as the following:



adjective, better, best.

1.
morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious:
a good man.
2.
satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree:
a good teacher; good health.
3.
of high quality; excellent.



Realize that even that definition of "good" is oftentimes left up to interpretation and utilization out of context.  It seems that there has been a subversion of many things in our society to make what was absolute seem fluid.  People's definition of "good" goes all the way from the legalistic, dictatorially defined, to the "if it feels good to you, then just do it" crowds.  This happens to be one case where the truth does not reside somewhere in the middle.  In fact, the middle of this debate is the definition of mushy.  

Let's break this down according to the final authority of all definitions...The Bible:

The Gospel of Jesus according to Mark 10:17-22 New King James Version of the Bible/The Message Paraphrase of the Bible parallel

The Gospel of Jesus according to Dr. Luke 18:18-23 NKJV/The Message parallel

The Gospel of the disciple Matthew 19:16-26 NKJV/The Message parallel

Each of these instances retell an encounter that Jesus had with a wealthy young man.  While each perspective is slightly different, the core of what is taught is exactly the same.  They are harmonious in what that explain.  It seemed that he had many good things in his life and when he asked the good rabbi, Jesus, for what could possibly be the best thing, Jesus asked him a question..."Why do you call me good?"  Jesus follows this up with the ultimate definition of the word..."only God is good...if you want to be good, do what God would do..."  (Randy paraphrase and harmony of the Gospel accounts)  WOW!!!  It seems the ultimate and most authoritative resource we have explains to us that there is no way that we can possibly be good.  This bodes another thought provoking question...why bother to try?

As created beings, (yes each of us have been created...remember the Bible is authoritative on this subject matter...read Genesis 1:26-31 NKJV/The Message parallel.) we were made by God in His image.  Go back to the end of the passage.  "Then God saw everything He had made, and indeed it was very good."  This means that in the beginning, when mankind was created, the Creator Himself saw man as very good.  So, what happened?   

God created man for relationship, yet God did not His relationship with man to be that of a slave or robot to its master.  He desired the relationship of son to Father.  This means, that while man was indeed very good at creation, he was also made with the ability to chose obedience or disobedience, something a slave or robot would have never been given.  And man chose disobedience.  God knew that man would do this from the foundation of the world, hence Jesus was the Lamb that was slain at that time to redeem man's goodness and favor with the Father and restore the creation relationship for those who believe in Him/Jesus.  Through Jesus' sacrifice, man is restored to that very good status that he had in the garden.

This past Sunday, folks around the world, some even in situations of extreme fear of persecution, gathered to celebrate the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.  Some of these folks were there out of obligation to a parent or loved one.  Others were there to satisfy a curiosity about what the "church thing" was all about.  And there were a few who were there to worship a very good thing.  They celebrated a tomb that was not able to keep captive its resident.  For close to two thousand years, that empty sepulcher has remained a reminder to those who discovered it empty for those who through faith see it empty today, that men can someday be considered once again...good things.

 "Good, Good Father" by Housefires with Chris Tomlin from the 2014 album Housefires II

'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy

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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen)

You've just tripped into the place of musical meanderings and prophetic ponderings!  Welcome to Tuesday and this week's edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes.  As we enter into this land of hit single exploration and His story extrapolation, we confess that today is gonna be a little different!

But it's Tuesday and as you know in Tuesday's Musical Notes land, ANYTHING can and usually does happen!!!  Thanks again for stopping by, we hope you enjoy today's adventure...it could be considered a bit...bohemian in nature...




Told ya it was gonna be different!!!

42 years, 2 Grammys, countless listings on "Top Rock and Roll songs" polls, 2 Movie Soundtracks, a Billboard Hot 100 peak at #9 (1976) AND at #2 (1992 re-release with Wayne's World soundtrack), and topping it all off, this song is closing in on having sold 7 million units.  That,  ladies and gentlemen is how Queen's 1975 smash hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" has become a legacy in musical history.  

From its opening acapella strains, "Bohemian Rhapsody" has become the song that every artist wishes they could have.  It was recorded over a three-week period of time, at 5 different recording studios, utilizing 10 to 12 hour days. It came at the trailing end of the Progressive Rock era.  Following in the epic song footprint of songs like Chicago's "Ballet  For A Girl In Buchannon" from 1970's eponymous album,  and Genesis "The Battle of Epping Forest" from 1973's Selling England By The Pound, the nuances and "Movements" within the overall Suite of "Bohemian Rhapsody" seem to be the swan song of ProgRock's unfriendly to radio, "long song" mantra.

The video for the song was made as a promotional tool by the record label shortly after the single was released.  This was the standard procedure that allowed bands to make television appearances without being at the actual event.  Queen had in fact made several promotional videos for previous singles in their staple of hits.  The most notable music show at the time was the BBC show Top of the Pops.  As one would imagine, Queen found it difficult to perform "Bohemian Rhapsody" live, so the video was sent to help promote the song to the television-watching public.  With the popularity of the video, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is hailed by artists and labels alike in ushering in the age of MTV, which debuted on August 1, 1981.  ( "Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll...") (ahh...the good old days when MTV played MUSIC VIDEOS!)  

Lyrically confusing at times, "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been one of the most over-interpreted songs ever written.  Freddie Mercury, who wrote the song, never revealed its inspiration to anyone other than Queen bandmates, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon, who kept and continue to keep it their own secret to this day, thus fueling the curiosity behind what the song means.  Some of the success of the song can be laid at the feet of the controversy over the lyric each time the single goes up the chart.  Specifically, there is much concern over the "Beelzebub" reference (more on this a little later).   Regardless of the song's meaning or the rationale behind its success, it has made its way into Rock and Roll history and continues a heavy rotation on radio.

In philosophy, nihilism is the belief in an extreme form of skepticism or a belief in nothingness.  With the "Nothing really matters" idea coursing through the veins of  "Bohemian Rhapsody" it is easy to see how the adjective "nihilistic" would apply.  For an interesting article about those who believe in nothing, "nones" and the interaction believers should be having with them, click here: 


We've mentioned the use of today's feature song as the soundtrack to a couple of movies.  But have you ever given the thought that "Bohemian Rhapsody" would serve as an interesting underscore to a book of the Bible?  

You may remember that the book of Ecclesiastes has been used as source material for Rock and Roll icons of the past. (Ecclesiastes 3 was the source material for the hit "Turn, Turn, Turn" by the Byrds, the title track from the 1965 album).  If you've never read this incredible book of poetry, that serves as a commentary on life, take a few minutes and read it.  Go ahead...it's only 12 chapters long.  Even if you've never made a practice of reading the Bible, you might be amazed by the ebb and flow of the narrative...We'll make it easy for you, here's the link:  The Book of Ecclesiastes - New King James Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible parallel   Did ya read it?  

"Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?  Caught in a landslide, with no escape from reality..."  “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;  “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?"  Are you catching the theme?  As we wander down the pathway of lyrics to these tomes, we soon find that the narrator of both seems defeated and is questioning everything there is about life.  While "Bohemian Rhapsody" seems to detail the struggle of someone who has just perpetrated a heinous crime and finds himself in the midst of a struggle between those who wish to battle for his soul. ("Beelzebub, has the devil put aside for me?"  Think about it.  The enemy of your soul has put aside for everyone that God has created in his likeness.  That has been his goal since he decided to be God, (something he was not ever will be) to put aside for me and you and then leave us in destitution and misery.  This is probably the only true line in the whole song...)   The book of Ecclesiastes seems to say, at least initially that there is no purpose to anything we do.  

Keep in mind that the Book of Ecclesiastes is thought to have been penned by King Solomon.  Solomon was the son of the most venerated King in Jewish history.  He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. (women who cohabited with Solomon who were not his wives,  but were sexually subservient or his mistresses (dictionary.com)) (Perhaps that could explain his attitude...but I digress.)  He is considered to be the author of 3 books of the Bible.  Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes are considered by scholars, secular and sacred alike, to be some of the most beautiful wisdom-filled literature ever written.  But yet, we see in Ecclesiastes a seemingly wise king realizing, in a similar fashion to the narrator of "Bohemian Rhapsody", that worldly pursuits are not the end all be all of this life.   It is no wonder that Solomon would have had such thoughts as:

That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.

and,

I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It’s smoke—and spitting into the wind.



This is where the similarity between the Book of Ecclesiastes and "Bohemian Rhapsody" ends.  While the overarching theme of Ecclesiastes seems to be fatalistic, there are points that are made, while cynically, that provides hope...

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.

In the end, Freddie Mercury and Queen contend that we are subject to anyway the wind blows.  Solomon has another thought as he ends his soliloquy of cynicism.  It is a strong command, softened by the undercurrent of hope... 

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.

For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.

Friend, there is so much more to this life.  It is not "easy come, easy go" or "vanity of vanities, all is vanity".  There is incredible hope because of who you are!!  You are made in the likeness of the Creator of everything we see, AND everything we cannot see!  Did we say EVERYTHING?   With that idea it seems to be reasonable to think that You have worth!  

The season we are about to enter is the centrality of that hope.  People around the world will celebrate this Sunday.   Some will celebrate with family, food, and fun hunting eggs placed by a beneficent bunny.  For some, this celebration will be enhanced by the enjoyment of meeting together with folks who love you and want to see you.  They desire to see you for the purpose of celebrating a tomb that is empty!  They desire to see you to join voices with you in praising a God who made a way for you to spend eternity future with Him in heaven!! 

 He desires to meet with you!!  He desires to love you like the Father that He is!!  This Sunday, celebrate with believers all over the world as we gather to venerate our true Savior!!!  Experience Him like never before!!!  He has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us!!!  This Easter, follow Him...I promise that you will not be left to...any way the wind blows...

"Heaven In The Real World" title track from the 1994 album by Stephen Curtis Chapman

'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy

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Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Accentuate The Positive" (Johnny Mercer and The Pied Pipers)

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Welcome to the first Tuesday of April!!! That means that 1/4 of 2017 has passed us by.  Have you read all of Tuesday's Musical Notes so far?  You don't have to wait until Tuesday to catch up on any of the archived blogs.  All of the blogs from 2011 to present are included in the archive, so check them out and see what you might have missed.  Don't skip over all the yummy goodness that has been 2017's blogs!!! 

It certainly has been an interesting year so far.  Many things have happened in our world and our culture to make us wonder what might be around the next corner or in the next month.  Some of those things could be good and others could leave us quite disenchanted.  The good thing is we choose what our attitude regardless and sometimes in spite of our circumstances.  Today's blog, originally from October of 2011, will hopefully be an encouragement and provide some insights for those times that aren't as good as others.

Without at doubt the world has changed significantly since 1944.  Sometimes it seems easy for even Christians to get caught up in a sense of dismay.  There seems to be such discouragement everywhere you look today.  It could be very easy to become cynical and pessimistic, but wait....hope lies on the horizon in a wonderful song from 73 years ago, and it reminds us of a couple of great stories from the Bible, "Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark"...brethren and sistern be seated...I feel a sermon comin' on me...cue flashback music and harps!!!

Johnny Mercer, someone who is known well to the WWII generation, wrote the lyrics and recorded today's song with the Pied Pipers in the early part of 1944.  Mercer and music writer Harold Arlen would take this upbeat song as high #2 with it's debut release. 

You may remember this song better as a hit by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.   Bing took the song to #2 on the charts as well.  This was a time in musical history where a hit song from a movie could be recorded as its own single by completely differing artists.   It was part of the soundtrack to the movie Here Comes The Waves. (Here Come The Waves - Theatrical Trailer)   In the movie, Bing performs the song with Sonny Tuffs.  The song was nominated for Best Original Song by the 18th annual Academy Awards committee.  

While Crosby's cover is the most popular, "Accentuate The Positive" has been recorded by many artists, the most recent recording coming from Barry Manilow's 2014 album, Night Songs.  Some version of the song has also been featured in 17 movie or television projects outside of its original Here Come The Waves incarnation. 

Sometimes I think the problem we have as Americans is that we don't take the time to truly appreciate others.  It is so easy to say something sarcastic and negative.  It takes much more work and is harder to find the positive in situations and people.  Christians are not absolved from this.  Christians are accused many times of being the first ones to shoot their wounded or to engage in a battle.  (seen any "juicy" Facebook threads lately?).  

"Accentuate The Positive" emotes just the opposite of this attitude.  It encourages us to seek out the good things regardless of how or where we may find ourselves.  It advances the thinking that we should find the good things in others as well.  It mentions 2 Bible characters who found themselves in uncertain circumstances who depended on a certain God.  There is another Bible character who characterizes the very essence of what accentuating the positive is all about.  We read about him in Acts 9. 

 Acts 9:26-27 - The Message (MSG)
 26-27Back in Jerusalem he (Saul) tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn't trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus' name.

Notice how Barnabas looked for the positive aspects about Saul.  He did not focus on the persecution that Saul had been leading.  He did focus on the transformation through which Saul had gone by coming face to face with Jesus.  That poses the question, how is our transformation since we met Jesus?  Have you had an encounter with Him?  The Message paraphrase says that Barnabas "stood up" for Saul and told the disciples the incredibly cool things about him.  Notice that Barnabas wasn't mealy mouthed or indecisive in his defense of Saul. He didn't mess with Mr. In Between. Do you have friends like that?  Are you a friend like that? The Bible has something to say about being indecisive...Revelation 3:16 New International Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible parallel

So many times Christians get the moniker of being against everything that the world considers good, especially when it comes to music or entertainment choices.  Some of this is deserved as we occasionally drift off into issues that in the scope of God's kingdom really don't matter.  Don't get me wrong, we should stand against sin.  We should do everything in our power to defeat the enemy.  However the methods and matter by which we do this is the problem.  An example of this is the recent Disney release Beauty And The Beast (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Beauty And The Beast")  Getting into a fight over a movie made by a secular (worldly) company with those of which we have disagreement, rarely gets anyone, including us, closer to God.  What if we were known for our promotion of movies made by companies that share our world view?  If we really want to change our world, we should be promoting those good things that occur, not maligning folks that disagree with us.  We should be known for what we are for, not what we are against!!!  We should be known more for our proclamation of the Gospel, than our condemnation of sin.

What would happen if a movie that releases this week, The Case For Christ (The Case For Christ - Theatrical Trailer) had a better box office opening weekend than Beauty And The Beast?  How would that change Hollywood's mentality regarding the kind of product that they put out?  Even better, what would happen if every Christian in the US were promoting this to their friends, buying tickets for their friends, and taking their friends to see the film?  Certainly this is  something that would make movie producers say Hmmmm....  Even more importantly, that lost friend might get saved!!!

My mom gave me a piece of advice one time that I think was very wise.  She said, "Before you react or say anything in any given situation, it is best to count to 10 and carefully consider what is about to come out of your mouth.  If you can say something positive, then speak.  Otherwise, just stay quiet."  I don't think mom was the original source on that quote, but she was the one who made it real for me.  I admit to you that I fail at this all too often.  Like I said earlier, it is far to easy to be sarcastic.  Without realizing it the casual "put down" is out there and a relationship can be damaged.  Sarcasm has become so much a part of our vernacular in 2017.  We need to "eliminate the negative".   Let me encourage you today to see the "Barnabas" side of things and build  relationships around us.   It is so much more rewarding to do the hard thing and "Accentuate The Positive".  

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'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
     
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