Here is Tim Hughes’ Be my Everything. First heard it a few weeks ago when it was played at Vineyard Church in North Phoenix. I hope to get that recorded as the worship group there does this song really well.

This is Casting Crown’s Voice of Truth. A friend told me this song reminded them of me. I’d say it is does represent where I tend to have been.

If you lived here in America, you probably had listened and enjoyed Paul Harvey’s news or The Rest of the Story on the radio.

His appeal truly extended generations. When I was teaching 8th grade, I would read his Rest of the Stories (which happen to be written by his son, Paul Jr.) on Fridays. The kids loved them. Shortly after reading a couple of them, it never failed that one would blurt, “Hey, my Dad listens to him on the radio!”

Interestingly, the books I had that contained his stories were always being taken to be read by the students. When Friday would approach, one of the students who had read the book would say, “Read the one about … ” If you know anything about an 8th grade classroom, seldom would you see 25 or 30 14 year olds so intently listening as you would when I read these to them. Even more so, these kids would look forward each afternoon to hearing Harvey on the radio, in the cars with their parents, tell the stories in his wonderful voice and unique style.

I was watching an interview with him on Larry King tonight. It first aired in 2003. He shared a great number of insights and stories from his life. At the time of the interview, he was 84. He expressed his disdain for technology. When asked what his favorite rest of the story was, he answered the one on the birth of his son. He shared about his belief in God and his decision to be baptized after hearing a preacher in a small church in Cave Creek, Arizona. He lived in Phoenix during the winter months and Chicago the rest of the year. He called these two cities the most beautiful places in the world.

Harvey noted that this world had become an uglier place in his life time. I am afraid his perspective, gained over the last 90 years, is closer to the truth. And with his passing, we lose a most inspiring man who truly made the world a better one while here.

What do you think?

The Alter and the Door

Keep seeking …. Jesus

A friend of mine mentioned the day of the sold out Mercy Me concert about checking for tickets. I thought, right. But, it was her birthday. So I first called to verify if any tickets by chance were for sale. No luck. They confirmed that not only were the tickets gone, but for the past month you could not have gotten two seats together either. Checked ebay for a late auction. Not a chance. She mentioned Craig’s List. I had never used it before but knew many people that had. And what do you know! There was a guy selling TWO tickets for face value, in the second row from the stage! I called him and made a deal to meet half way. This was just four hours before the concert was set to begin.

Here’s a pic of our seats:

Built in 1963, Celebrity has a capacity of 2,665 seats and none are more than 75 feet from the stage. The revolving stage! This is very cool. While the group plays, the stage turns, at a top speed of a half rotation per minute. Every so often it will stop and change direction.

Mercy Me put on a great show at Celebrity. They played their numerous top hits, shared many of the stories behind them, and sang a new one I really liked called Finally Home. One of the best moments of the concert was the band stepping out of character so to speak (in a good way) and playing a Tom Petty tune. Being a Petty fan and having seen him live twice, they were as good as the Heartbreakers!

Go to the next page to check out a Mercy Me video –

This Mercy Me video, So long Self, is a good combination of the music and personality of the group.

I am looking forward to enjoying other concerts at Celebrity. I’ll plan to buy the tickets early next time as I don’t think deals like that are very common at this popular Phoenix venue.

I think these online mini-concerts are going to catch on. It was promoted that the online audience would pick the songs and the band would play them. It was obvious to me that the band had a set ready to go and the audience suggestions were just used to play the songs pre-picked. In other words, it wasn’t really that interactive. And that was ok with me. I’m really not into whether we, the audience pick the songs. The uniqueness of a live, online concert caught my interest. The sound and video was awesome. Again, the upload really changes its quality. The Flip videos on my hard drive look and sound fantastic.

Anyway, you might want to check out this website that has other concerts scheduled. I will be able to look back on this and say I remember that old technology!

And how about Mindi Abair — she is awesome.