It’s Friday night, and it’s time to kick-off the weekend here on the totally groovy blog. I can’t think of any other way but to kick it old school like we used to do all of those years ago back in the day. So put on your favourite plaid leisure suit, grab your 8-track tapes, don’t forget the fondue, and I’ll meet you at the roller disco.
But anyway – are ya ready for this ? Let us flashback here to a much simpler time of my life – and maybe yours too. It’s the hot Summer of 1974 in Bowie Maryland (near Washington D.C.), and I’m just an innocent 7-year-old kid hangin’ out with my lovable miniature sheep dog in the backyard of my Peach Walker Drive house. I’m listening to WWDC AM-1260 on my transistor radio, and this smash is playing as afternoon deejay Lou Katz rollz the hitz.
Here’s South Floridian George McCrae with a televised 1975 performance of his Summer of 1974 # 1 Disco smash !
– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s be unpredictable and outrageous.
– It’s October all across the land, and the holiday season is upon us !
– First up – Columbus Day – the Monday after next.
– I’m planning a two-day weekend getaway that weekend over in Naples.
– I’ve got visitor centers, museums, and other tourist traps to check out.
– I’ve also got a rock concert to attend over there.
– I’ll be rockin’ out to Manic Drive just like I did on the 20TH of January of 2007.
– I’ll be tuning in to The Call‘s fresh new 107.7 FM frequency over there.
– I’ll be attending a church service over there on that Sunday morning.
– Halloween is at the end of this month, and I suppose that’s a holiday too.
– The next morning we flip back an hour to Standard Time.
– I’m looking forward to that.
– I’d rather have the daylight at 7 AM rather than 7 PM.
– Veterans Day is on a Wednesday this year on the 11TH of November.
– I take that Federal Holiday very personal.
– It’s a total shame that more Americans don’t take it seriously.
– Only 50 more days until I proceed with my 2,800+ mile road trip.
– It’ll be the longest road trip of my entire Life.
– I’m driving halfway across the free nation and then back again.
– On December 01ST I begin my 23RD year here in Homestead.
– I’ll be here for awhile.
– This afternoon at work I heard an old song in the background on the radio.
– It nearly brought tears to me.
– I got goosebumps and the chills.
– I had to stop everything that I was doing until it was over.
– I don’t think that I’ve heard that song in over 37 years !
– It may produce the same effects on you.
– That’s because I’m sharing the experience on the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.
– You’re not gonna wanna miss that.
– Tomorrow night on the Disco party it’s another moldie-oldie.
– It’s the only hit song from the smooth as silk George McCrae.
– He’s gonna “Rock Your Baby” like nobody else can.
– Well those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for now.
– If I think of any others then I’ll just tweet them.
– Until next time my friends – REMEMBER THIS !
This week on ‘My Fantastic Journey’ it’s the New Orleans area rock band 12 Stones with their Summer of 2007 Christian and Secular rock radio smash “Lie To Me”. It’s from their gold-certified album “Anthem For The Underdog” with songs that were inspired by the devastating effects of and slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina on their hometown. The weather destroyed God’s great creations – just as people of the world can do – but that doesn’t mean that after a period of anger and resentment there can’t be daylight and victory in the end. Sometimes there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, but if you’re not searching for the hope of the daylight then you may never find it in the end. It is worth it in the end. Oh sweet redemption !
It’s in the lyrics:
Psalm 49 1 Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, everyone in the world! 2 High and low, rich and poor—listen! 3 For my words are wise, and my thoughts are filled with insight. 4 I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp. 5 Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? 6 They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. 7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. 8 Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough 9 to live forever and never see the grave. 10 Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind. 11 The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves, 12 but their fame will not last. They will die, just like animals. 13 This is the fate of fools, though they are remembered as being wise. 14 Like sheep, they are led to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates. 15 But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave. 16 So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. 17 For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave. 18 In this life they consider themselves fortunate and are applauded for their success. 19 But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day. 20 People who boast of their wealth don’t understand; they will die, just like animals.
Prior to 37 months ago when I was rescued and saved from the world by God I really thought that I wasn’t good enough to be saved by Him. I thought that only longtime Christians (since birth or childhood) were worthy of being guided and directed by Him. The occasional inspirational messages that I heard on The Call (radio station) at the time advised me otherwise, and they suggested that I check with the ultimate Truth – The Bible – for confirmation. I did so, and I learned more and more about Him than I ever imagined. Everything that I was reading within the Truth was contrary to what the world had told me over the previous 39 years of life.
The journey intentionally started slow and careful with baby steps, as it took me about 5 months to even acknowledge my newfound faith in God in public by attending a church-sponsored event (rock concert) at night and then attending a formal church service for the first time in over 30 years the very next morning. My church turned out to be totally unlike any semblance of what I always thought a church was supposed to be.
So I’m not the lifelong follower of Jesus Christ that a lot of my close friends on this fantastic journey are. I’ve only been following God for about 37 months, and I’ve only been doing so in public for about 32 months. I lived over 39 years on His Great Earth before I even knew who He was.
It’s been a constant learning process over the past 37 months – a growing process – as I strengthen and intensify my personal relationship with God by learning more and more about Him so that I can be more and more like Him. This is certainly not an easy journey, and it’s very easy to be sideswiped and blindsided by the random surprises of the world. I’ve been pushed, pulled, and shoved over to the sides and the edges of the retaining wall of this journey. I’ve learned that bad things actually do happen to followers of God, and some of those bad things are actually done by followers of God. None of us is perfect in any way.
Luckily God keeps extending His arms out, rescuing me, and pulling me back in before I fall back into the culverts of evil and darkness. You know something. I only have one “Hero” on this journey and in this new Life of mine.
CountUp 