America Wins!

So tonight two country music singers face off against each other in a major competition. Someone wins and someone loses and the season will be over...end of story!

Well, maybe it is the end of that part of the story but there is more to the story and it may well turn out that tonight's competition may just be the beginning of a new story.

I know not everyone watches American Idol and I also know some people struggle with the title itself and I understand that. We shouldn't have idols even though we all ... oops, that's a different subject for some other blog.

However, this show is about undiscovered young talent having an opportunity to compete and to show their abilities to the world. Some very successful entertainers today are a result of this show.

Now to the more of the story part of this article. This is the first time that the final two contestants have been specifically country music artists. They are both from the south, one from North Carolina and the other from Georgia. They are the youngest two contestants to be in the final. They have outlasted older and more experienced performers to be where they are tonight.
Also, they are both being referred to as Christians and very conservative in their lifestyles.
They were favored at the audition stage and have endured to the last show together as young, family oriented, Jesus loving teenagers who are setting an amazing example.

Now that in itself is worth talking about, but lets look at the rest of the dynamic of this story.

Week after week after week, American Idol has brought on some of the edgiest , sexually explicit and might I say raunchiest performers to try and sway the voting audiences to elevate that garbage as what America wants to hear. Scantly dressed, girating and grinding and just plain vulgar is how I felt many of those acts came across. I was watching the show to celebrate the young talent and the producers are making sure to soil the whole thing with stuff I find offensive.

And, at least for this year, it hasn't worked! America has screamed out loud "Give us Scotty and Lauren". They have done so by casting record high votes to insure these two young, clean and highly talented perfomers have a chance to show their gifts and bring glory to God in doing so. In fact that is what Scotty is quoted as saying "I just pray that God will use me on stage. I do everything for His glory, because He is the reason I am here."

Well said Scotty and well done to you both! No matter the outcome tomorrow night... America wins!

Passion

What word can be applied to all of the following scenarios?

Commitment to one's occupation
To the point of pushing all else aside.

A desire for sexual sensation
Until fully complied.


An hatred for an opposing posture
to the point of violence and disrespect.

A love for all of nature,
to enjoy, record and protect.


A delight in certain food,
which makes waiting almost painful.

A determination to be rude,
arrogant, haughty and disdainful.


A burning to right a wrong,
and to be there at all cost.

A desire to live out a song,
and in love allow self to be lost.


Power to control all things,
and have others to you to bow.

Humility and all that it brings,
and respect for others to vow.


Curse the conviction of others,
and desire a great physical loss.

To die to make men brothers,
as Christ did on the Cross!


There is one word that can be used,
to answer the original question.

That word can not be confused,
all of the above fall under "Passion".


We are all passionate about something and it is not always a positive and lovely thing. Check your heart and your passions and the effort you make in living your passion out. Jesus was passionate enough to die for us. May we be passionate enough to live for him.

Challenging Times

So, it's been an interesting week.
Our president decides that laws on the books that were established by senate & house votes and signed into law by a Democratic President only apply if he says so. So he instructs his Attorney General to ignore a law on Family Values. King Barack Hussain Obama... unbelievable.

Out of nowhere, at least I didn't see it coming, is this obsene increase in gas prices. Check out the gas companies profits for the last couple of years and see how you feel about those increases.

Are we the people just crazy or what?

There is an amazing amount of unrest happening around the world today. Eygpt & Lybia have been the most news worthy adding to all the current hotspots in the world.

Some dude moves to the U.S. and plans to kill a bunch of folks in Texas, including a former president.

Have you noticed the weather lately. Some of the most active weather patterns and events this winter then we have had in years. Included in that is the fact that one day you can wear flops and shorts and the next you are doning a scarf and leather coat.

States across our country are taking hard stands on difficult issues and are faced with problems we never dreamed of. Many are simply facing what would put a family economy in bankruptcy.

Road rage is unbelievable and very very frightening.

TV commercials today would have been listed as "soft porn" just a few years ago.

On and on I could go but you may start to feel that I am practicing for a position in the National Pessimist Organization of America, but really all I'm trying to say is... "Redeem the time for the days are evil..."
Be ready ... be watching ... be praying ... be sharing ... and be close to God through His Son... for the time surely draweth nigh!

Blessings