You know him better as a tenor, but, earlier in life Luciano Pavarotti did sell insurance. While I enjoy pop/rock music far more than opera, a couple of Pavarotti CDs have been in my collection for quite some time. Why? Because he has, without question, the best tenor voice I have ever heard. Those of us who are cursed with high voices don’t usually fit in, but Pavarotti showed how to turn that high voice into being a superstar. People who have never been in an opera house, and who simply do not like opera music knew who Pavarotti was, and had to admit he was the rarest of talents.…

1. Psalm 81 was used as a celebration of one of the appointed feasts. Most scholars think it was written for the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths). It is a call, written from God’s perspective (verses 6-16), asking the people to worship and obey. 2. The first section of the psalm (verses 1-5) is a reminder of the feast the people are involved in. Verses 1-3 ask the people to sing and play their instruments in honor of God through this feast. 3. Verse 4 and the beginning of verse 5 simply remind the people that God gave the command for this feast to be observed. While the people were…

God blessed me with the greatest wife I could have ever prayed for. Leah is a great Christian lady, and is my love. She is so good for Mary Carol and Turner, and they both adore her (as do I). Her favorite song is one of the oldest in this series. It was voted as the #9 greatest love song on VH1 a couple of years ago. Jazz superstar Etta James sings this classic, which, in my mind, has the best opening two words in the history of recorded music. This version of the song is set over scenes from the movie Funny Face.

1. The poet of this great psalm is begging God to act for His people and to restore His blessings which only come through the covenant. It is quite possible that this psalm was written from the city of Jerusalem after the 10 northern tribes had been taken into captivity. If that is the case, the psalmist is pleading in behalf of two groups of people: one that has already been taken away, and another that is in great danger of the same. 2. The psalmist brings up the covenant idea in a subtle way in verse 1. He addresses God as “You Who are enthroned above the cherubim.” God’s…

1. What do I do when it seems that God just does not care? Psalm 79 is written from this perspective. Most agree that the psalm was written as a lament upon the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. The psalmist seems to think that God was aloof during that time, but that God will soon act. He calls the nation to come back to a relationship with God and to repent of what caused this destruction in the first place. 2. Verse 1 contains the words that lead one to believe that Asaph has the destruction of temple in mind. He specifically mentions the temple, but his wording is…

Our precious “seven-week special,” Mary Carol, is at that age. She is talking all the time and really soaking things in. She loves singing and hearing music. She also likes Sesame Street, and is learning a lot from it. Her second birthday is coming up on October 7. In honor of those two things, and to give you one of her favorite songs, I found this clip that I remember watching as a child. Don Music rocks!

Our wonderful boy, Turner Eric, was born in late March of 2007. While it’s hard to pick out a song for a baby, we do know two things he really likes. He loves (1) ANYTHING his mom sings to him, and (2) congregational singing. He can be sleeping during worship, and as soon as we sing, he wakes up and smiles. So, for Turner’s favorite song, I’m posting a video of a congregational singing. The first 2:30 of this video are from an end-of-the-year singing. They are singing a song I’ve never heard before (yes, Dylan, there are some songs I don’t know), but it’s really pretty. I don’t know…

1. Although it is 72 verses in length, this psalm is very simple to present in this “devotional” format. The reason is simple: a vast majority of the verses is simply a poetic recitation of Israel’s history. While we could find devotional thoughts in these stories, that’s not the point of this long poem of Asaph. Because that is the case, there are very few entries in this post. This is not a cop-out; it is, rather, meant to focus your attention on the history. 2. However, there is a lesson to be learned in the listing of all this history. Verses 1-11 are a call to the Israelites to…

My mom, Donna Faughn, lives in Paducah, Kentucky. She works as one of the secretaries for the Central church of Christ. She is also a popular ladies’ day speaker…and lives out those lessons! I’m blessed with the two best parents any person could ever have. I didn’t have to ask what my mom’s favorite song is. As long as I’ve been “into” music, she has talked about this Mel Carter classic from 1965 as her favorite. Enjoy!

My Yankees have made a tremendous comeback. After sweeping the Red Sox this week–including a two-hitter yesterday–they now lead the American League Wild Card by one full game. They trail the Red Sox by 5, and play Tampa Bay this weekend. It would be nice to have the lead down to 3 or even 2 by the time we play Boston again. Even if they don’t win, this has been a tremendous come-back. It’s good to see younger guys (Robinson Cano, Melkey Cabrera, Phil Hughes, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chambelain) leading the way for this team. Anyway, here are some posts you’ll enjoy from this past week around the ‘net: 1.…