The King Of Pop....

I've just heard the sad news that Michael Jackson has died.

Despite his legal and financial troubles and alleged inappropriate activities with children, there is no denying that he truly was the King Of Pop.

I can't deny that I loved some of his music. C'mon, who didn't love Thriller, Beat it, Get On The Floor, Billie Jean, Bad, Smooth Criminal, and ABC?? Who hasn't tried to moonwalk? I sucked at it. Michael was truly a musical legend.

'Do You Remember The Time', when you first saw the Thriller video? Ok, it's cheesy now, but back in 1984 it was cool. Very cool.

Thriller won 8 Grammys and remains the top selling album of all time. I can't begin to name the artists that were influenced by Michael. Pretty much everyone that has done anything musically since 1975 would probably mention him.

I haven't told many people this story, but I guess I have to now. Back in 1984 the Jackson's did their Victory Tour. It just so happens that the same night they were at Mile High Stadium in Denver, I was at a Sandi Patty concert at McNichol's Arena, which used to be across the street from Mile High. (No, I don't really care for Sandi's music, but a group of friends asked me to go, and since it was free, I did.) Anyway, after the concert my friends and I were in the parking lot listening to the Jackson's across the street. Well, at the time, Michael was 'famous' for wearing that single white glove. (I can't believe I'm actually admitting this on the internet) I found a single black glove laying in the parking lot, so I put it on and was dancing and moonwalking to the music. (*thoroughly embarrassed now*) It was a fune time.

RIP, Michael, you will be missed. I hope you found the Lord.

Charlie

Well, I got into a Charlie Peacock mood yesterday, so I've been listening to his stuff on-my-ipod since. The third song that came on today was Personal Revolution. I think this song really speaks to where I've been for a long time. I'm workin' on it. But it's hard.

Personal Revolution - Charlie Peacock
Freedom from the past didn't last through time,
Things don't change, because I pretend they're fine,
Do I flip a switch to give myself a happy life; to be a happy man, in a happy home with a happy wife?

Jesus, if you came to give life abundantly, then how do you respond to all the pretense that you see?
Do I break your heart by all the faking that I do?
There are so many places I haven't let you into.

I'm so tired of all these easy solutions,
I can't stand it; they're nothing but denial,
I think I need a personal revolution,
How can I expect the heart to sing when I don't let the soul ever feel anything?

Some have known the cruel touch from a trusted man,
It's like pain and pleasure walking hand in hand, like a clown in makeup laughing,
You might never read their face, but buried in their soul is a dark and painful place.

The mind must know what the soul can endure, so it locks up tight in the face of what's impure,
The wounded heart must be gently understood if it's ever to reveal the incidents of childhood.

I'm so tired of all these easy solutions,
I can't stand it; they're nothing but denial,
I think I need a personal revolution,
How can I expect the heart to sing when I don't let the soul ever feel anything?

Whatever the pain, today it's just as real,
We don't talk about it, we don't trust, and we don't feel,
Are we so afraid, if our soul was ever known, nobody would love us, we'd be rejected and all alone?

If we continue to pretend, the pain will never end,
To pretend that we are fine is a trick of the mind,
Do I turn my back on God when I speak honestly?
Though I'm quick admit the problem is me - that's right.

I'm so tired of all these easy solutions,
I can't stand it; they're nothing but denial,
I think I need a personal revolution,
How can I expect the heart to sing when I don't let the soul ever feel anything?
When I push the pain down and I hide it away, I'm storing up trouble for another day.

Personal...personal revolution,
I don't want to...do we want to?...don't want to live this way anymore.
Personal...personal revolution,
There's a change... there's a change a-coming... a-coming down the road,
Personal...personal revolution

Coldplay LIVE!

Thanks to a good friend, I was able to go to the Coldplay concert tonight for free. :) Many thanks to that person, you know who you are!!
Can't get much better than this:

• Free admission
• Parking spot right at the gate
• Moved up to 4th row seats in the second tier
• Coldplay did an intimate set right in front of me-4 rows away (about 20 feet or so)
• Left just a bit early and had NO traffic getting out of Verizon Ampitheatre.

Made for a great evening!! Pics from my lame camera phone at http://twitgoo.com/u/Michaeldx Got some videos too. If any are worth posting, I'll put them on YouTube or something.

Why can't I just get up?

Will you count me in?
We're gonna play you a song, a little bit of rock-n-roll
I went to the doctor, all nervous and crazy
Lookin' for to save my, save my soul

It's a brand new day and the sun is shining bright
Calling, calling the sun is burning black
They came from miles and miles around just to hear you
City lights are flashing, they call you to the streets

Sometimes we make it harder than it is
You talk about your circumstances
Innocent, and in a sense I am
Like the flowers love the sun that shines

Theres a tenderness that I feel
In time, when I see your face
I saw the holy city
I know a girl

I waited for the Lord on high
I used to rule the world
Getting tired from all this circling
We have a chance to turn the pages over

Instructions:
Put your iPod on shuffle, and then write down the first line of each of the first twenty songs. Post the "poem" that results. The first line of the twenty-first song is the title.

Cool New Tune

Mat Kearney has a great new song out called Closer To Love. Check out the video(sorry for the add):

Closer To Love - Mat Kearney
She got the call today
One out of the gray
And when the smoke cleared
It took her breath away
She said she didn't believe
It could happen to me
I guess we're all one phone call
from our knees
We're gonna get there soon

If every building falls
And all the stars fade
We'll still be singing this song
The one they can't take away
I'm gonna get there soon
She's gonna be there too
Cryin' in her room
Prayin' Lord come through
We're gonna get there soon

Oh it's your light
Oh it's your way
Pull me out of the dark
Just to show me the way
Cryin out now
From so far away
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love

Meet me once again
Down off Lake Michigan
Where we could feel the storm blowin
Down with the wind
And don't apologize
For all the tears you've cried
You've been way too strong now for all your life

I'm gonna get there soon
You're gonna be there too
Cryin' in your room
Prayin' Lord come through
We're gonna get there soon

Oh it's your light
Oh it's your way
Pull me out of the dark
Just to show me the way
Cryin out now
From so far away
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love

Cause you are all that I've waited for
All of my life
(We're gonna get there)
You are all that I've waited for
All of my life

You pull me closer to love
Closer to love
Pull me closer to love
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love oh no
Closer to love
Closer to love

Pull me closer to love

The Oracle

Ok, so The Matrix Reloaded isn't specifically music (although there is a lot of cool music in it), but the movie is on my iPod, so talking about it counts in this blog.

There's an interesting scene where Neo is talking to the Oracle in the park. They bring up an interesting spiritual concept. The Oracle offers Neo a piece of candy, and the following ensues:

Oracle: "Candy?"
Neo: "Do you already know if I'm going to take it?"
Oracle: "Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't."
Neo: "But if you already know, how can I make a choice?"
Oracle: "Because you didn't come here to make the choice. You've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it.... I thought you'd have figured that out by now."

This same discussion can be heard when people talk about God. If God already knows what's going to happen, then how is it we have free will and choice? Isn't everything already pre-destined?

The problem with this discussion is that people argue it from a human standpoint, totally mis-understanding God. I'm not saying I totally understand God, but I think I kind of get this weird space-time continuum thing.

You see, God is not constrained by space and time, like we are. He is outside of space, time and the laws of physics. One way it was explained to me that helped me to understand it is, imagine that history is drawn on a timeline, from the beginning to the end on a whiteboard. Sorta like this image, imagine the line in the middle represents all of history, from beginning to end: Now, imagine that instead of the borders that you see around that line, there are no borders, and the surface the line is drawn on goes for eternity in all directions. Since you are not bound by the line or the surface it is on, you are able to look at that entire line at once. You can even look only at specific sections of that line if you want. If this was a 3-dimentional example, you could even rotate the line and look at it from other angles and see the back side.

That, in simple terms, is how God is compared to what we call space and time. He is outside of it, therefore He can see all of it at once. He knows what's going to happen. His foreknowledge of events does not eliminate the fact that we still make choices. He simply is able to see the whole thing at the same time.

No Line On The Horizon, No CD At Wal-Mart

Well, today's the big day.

Wal-Mart sucks.

I stopped by there on my way in to work this morning to get the new U2 CD, No Line On The Horizon. They didn't have it out yet. :(

I'll be going to Best Buy at lunch. Maybe they'll have it.

Once I've listened to it a bit, I will post something here!