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My mom loved Nat King Cole, Dinah Shore, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, and Bing Crosby. My dad preferred Ella Fitzgerald and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
I spent the summer with a sister and she had a "plug-and-play" 45-record player. You would pop a record into the box and it would play the record, one-side at-a-time. You would have to eject the record and turn it around to play the second, less popular song on the other side. I would walk across the field by her house and "crank" the music up, while the train would literally scream by to my right. She lived on the edge of town and there was little to do and even less money to do it with, in this small town in Nebraska. She lived in a neighborhood that didn't even have curbs. The dirt road began when your grass yard ended. She had records from Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, Sugar Shack, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, Simon and Garfunkel, the Monkeys and the classic by Roger Miller, I'm a Nut. I listened to that song over and over.
I remember one brother loved the Beatles, Three Dog Night, Otis Redding, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. You could hear his music coming from the driveway because he was usually under the hood of a car, working on an engine.
Another brother was really into James Taylor and played the album, In the Pocket, over and over. I think I knew all the lyrics to every song. I could hear it through the thin, plaster dividers of our old home because our bedrooms shared a common wall.
The last of my brothers, closest to my age, loved the Commodores. I can still here Brick House and the beat thumping on the floor... just sayin', I grew up in a secular home, with many broken places and we loved ALL types of music, unfortunately, some were not very edifying.
Many times, after dinner, we would sing oldies a cappella around the table. Music was part of our DNA. I knew this was in me more than I understood when a few years back I traveled to Ireland. The land was full of people singing. People on the street were singing, people in the pubs, people. Singing. Everywhere. Everyone. Not just those on the "stage" or paid to sing, but people from the pub would come up and sing too. Everyone would sing. My heart leapt! So last night, when I fell into my bed, I wondered why I heard these old lyrics. I began to inquire of the Lord and to pray against the death that seems to crouching at the door, to destroy my beloved America. No, to destroy the land that God established as a sibling to Israel. America was founded by Godly men; not perfect men, but Godly men. Men who prayed and sought God's face. Men who risked everything to establish a nation where every was valued, equal, under God. With liberty and justice for all. Not just the rich. Not just the elite. Not just the noble. Not just the white. For all. Liberty and justice for all.
Has EVER AMERICAN been about this? NO! But that was what the founders wanted; and we are still working toward that end — that is those that are called by God and who are yielded to HIS ways; not their own ways.
America. She is being taken from within. This election has been stolen; right under
So now, this morning, I listened to Dutch Sheets; his Give Him 15. At the beginning of his teaching today on January 26, 2021 — A Great Youth Revival is Imminent. He talked about the song from Don McLean from the 1970's where the line is written, "the day the music died." I totally felt the Lord on this as that was the very song I heard last night. God was speaking to Dutch last night and he spoke to me from the same song.
Dutch went on to talk about the statistics hitting our America. Here is what he shared:
"While not blind to America’s condition, I am not discouraged. And in pointing out America’s desperate need, I do not want to discourage you; I want to awaken and motivate you. Like Caleb, I am indignant and ready to take out some spiritual giants. America is in trouble and very sick, but NOT terminal. Let’s take an honest look at our true condition, then hear some hope.
God, who was pushed from our hearts by the giants of pride, materialism, humanism, and pleasure, was inevitably also expelled from our schools. Our youth have experienced great devastation from this.
Consider these facts:
- Suicide is now the second leading cause of death in young people. Over 5000 commit suicide every year – more than 13 each day.
- Child protective services is able to substantiate the claim of sexual assault on a teenager every 8 minutes. That is 180 confirmed assaults every day. And conservative estimates say 2 out of 3 assaults are never reported, making 540/day a more accurate figure.
- 719 teenage girls undergo abortions every day – roughly 262,500 each year.
- Roughly 10 million new sexually transmitted diseases and infections occur in teens every year in this country. These diseases, many of them causing sterility and some even death, have become another ploy of satan to wipe out a generation.
- According to Fox News, the United States is again ranked as one of the worst countries in the world for human trafficking. “The United States is the No.1 consumer of sex worldwide. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, over 300,000 of America’s young population is considered at risk for sexual exploitation.
Life has been cheapened. Greed and selfishness rule; sacrifice is out. Authority is mocked while rebellion and violence are extolled by our so-called role models and heroes. “If it feels good, do it” is now more than an overused cliché – it is a terrifying reality. When suggested that allowing God back into our schools might help, smugness and defiant arrogance are often the responses of those who so desperately want Him banned. "
Jesus, forgive us. Shift our hearts from being self-preserving to people who are willing to lay down our lives for YOUR Kingdom to come, YOUR will to be done. Maranatha. Jesus come!
