A Day To Remember

This past week my dad has re-watched Ken Burns' "The War" on his computer. Throughout the week I sat and watched a few segments with him. I was reminded that my dad was a part of this great war, albeit on the younger side of the spectrum: he was just out of high school when he joined the Navy in 1944.

Tom Harvill, WWII

His time in the Navy took him everywhere but overseas. Because of his lousy eyesight, he stayed back stateside as a hospital corpsman, working hand-in-hand with the Marines in a hospital at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 

I'm glad because I have my dad to this day, and he's reliving the music, the culture and seeing the young faces of people close to his age, frozen in time,  throughout the Ken Burns documentary. He's almost 86-years-old, and many of the young people in the photos from the PBS special are mostly gone by now, even if they lived to a ripe old age. My dad is one of the last of a dying breed referred to as the "Greatest Generation."

Today we celebrate the bravery, selflessness and determination of tens of thousands of soldiers--men and women, both young and old--who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, at home and abroad. My dad was one who served in two wars: WWII and the Korean War. Without the bravery of people like my dad, we might today be speaking Japanese, German or even Russian as our first language in America. 

We remember the fallen today, as well as those who survived and were fortunate enough to return home to tell about their harrowing experiences. God bless you all!

Thinking About My Purpose In Life

Once again I am inspired by my friend Dr. John Stanko and his thoughts on the subject of finding one's purpose in life. My life was changed when I sat in one of John's "purpose" seminars nearly twenty years ago. I was leading my own classes on worship at the same seminar, but when I had a break in the conference schedule, I was a student in his class. I am still a student as I receive his weekly "Monday Memo," where he continues to ruminate on the pursuit of purpose.

In this week's "Monday Memo," John continues with the third installment in a trio of related articles--the first being "Purpose Prayer," the second, "Purpose Food," and this final installment in the series, "Purpose Thoughts."

I  was particularly intrigued by thought #3, as it relates to pursuing one's purpose as a profession.  Which points speak to you?

THE THOUGHTS

1. Purpose is more relevant than when I began teaching it 20 years ago. Why?  Because there are more opportunities available today than back then. When there are so many things you can do, you must ask the question what it is that you should do more than ever.
2. The number one reason why more people don't know their purpose is because they don't ask and keep on asking until they get an answer.
3. The number two reason why more people don't know their purpose is because they try to figure out too quickly how they can make money from it. Thoughts about career, salary and benefits hinder or destroy emerging purpose thoughts.
4. The number three reason why more people don't know their purpose is because they are afraid, not of failure, but of success!  Meditate on that for a moment.
5. The younger generation is not as interested in purpose as I would have thought.  They are interested in service and meaning, which emanate from purpose.  But because they have seen purpose kidnapped by salary and career interests, they react to the concept of purpose for the wrong reasons.
6. Women continue to be the main consumers of my purpose message, probably because purpose was denied them for so long.
7. I still maintain that motherhood is a role and not a purpose - seldom is anyone's purpose defined in terms of serving or helping another person exclusively, unless that person has special needs due to a physical or mental challenge.
8. It is never too early or too late in life to pursue purpose.
9. When I reached my 50s, I thought my development was pretty much over, that I would do what I had been doing, hopefully a little better or for more money.  To my surprise, my 50s were my greatest growth years.
10. I get more questions and sometimes opposition when I teach about doing what you love and what gives you joy than anything else I teach.  That always surprises me.
11. When I started teaching purpose, I thought every church in the world (well, at least in the U.S.) would want their people to hear that message.  They have not and pastors continue to misunderstand and even oppose the purpose message.
12. If I could help churches get more volunteers to usher, work in the nursery or sing in the choir, I would be a busy and probably wealthy man.

My Love For the Stratocaster

Ever since I heard the opening riff to "Sweet Home Alabama", I was mesmerized by the pure, plucky tone of the Fender Stratocaster. Of course I saw the one Hendrix played in the Woodstock movie my mom took me to for my birthday. But I never connected with the Strat until I heard Ed King's iconic Skynyrd lick sometime in '73-'74. The epiphany made me "aware" and I heard the Strat popping-up all over the place with the Outlaws and "Hurry Sundown",  to the group Orleans and their string of hits while I was in high school. Jackson Browne always had a great Strat tone on his records.

As I have mentioned several times in the past, I was raised in the same city in which the Stratocaster was born: Fullerton, California. All the tones of the Strat that caught my attention originated in a factory not far from my home. I really didn't put two and two together until I moved out on my own, away from Southern California. I'm sad that there is only a small monument to Leo Fender and his factory, on a street corner, in front of a parking garage that sits in the place of one of the most important sites in rock and roll history; it's truly a shame--but that's progress.

When I was a teen, I wanted a Strat so bad. So my dad took me to a local music store in Anaheim where a young salesman convinced me to buy a Telecaster Deluxe model instead. I went home elated yet disappointed at the same time; this Tele Deluxe was a Fender, for sure, but it didn't have that single-coil sound at all. In fact, it had humbucker pickups--ones with tone common to the Gibson Les Paul. I played that Tele throughout high school, in dance bands and a few other gigs. But I still had that love and longing for the Strat sound.

Me & my first Strat, somewhere in Kentucky, circa 1982

I finally saved my money while on the road in 1980 to buy my first 70s-era Strat. It was hanging on the wall of a pawn shop in Columbus, Nebraska. I loved it, bought it and carried it with me to gigs all over the US and the world. I later sold it to acquire a Yamaha electric--similar to a Gibson 335, because the tones I was needing to copy for the gig at the time were from a humbucker-style guitar. I was an idiot--and clueless at the time. Oh, how I wish I had that old 70s Strat today.

I purchased an Eric Clapton signature Fender Strat in the 90s. It was a great guitar. I had to sell it years later to pay some bills. IDIOT again! I wish I still had it. I then put together a "Franken Strat" with castaway pieces from the Island of Lost Guitars. It was nowhere near the quality of my earlier Strats, but it sounded pretty cool. I have done hundreds of recordings and gigs since with that "Franken Strat." That's until I met John Scott.

My new Bluesman Vintage "'54 Sedan" Strat

John's guitar company, Bluesman Vintage, is located here in my current hometown of Spring Hill, Tennessee. His guitars are built to strict vintage standards, with date-appropriate designs of the particular era in which the Fender models originated--down to screw types, plastics and hardware. I love his early 50s Strat model and purchased a '54 Strat relic with minor wear and amazing D. Allen pickups (that's a whole other post!). John's guitars are newly built in his shop but are made to look as old as an original. The build of Bluesman Vintage guitars surpass those of the originals, due to modern techniques in stabilizing intonation, pickup innovation and just "plain ol'" love and care.

I'm loving my new Bluesman Vintage "54 Sedan" Strat. It's funny that I've come full circle and now have a great guitar manufacturer in my backyard again. I may have lost the opportunity to connect with the Fender of my youth, but John Scott and the Bluesman Vintage crew have remedied that!

Gray Hair

Brenda has been reading articles about injecting newness into our home decor. After 11 years in the same place, our builder-grade carpets are starting to look like the hairline is receding; after multiple carpet shampoo sessions there's not much left to clean anymore. It's time for the wood floors that Brenda's been eying in the Traditional Home magazine.

When life sprouts gray hair (the carpet being one example), it's good to "head" it off at the pass and make some changes. There are several areas I can think of where staleness was creeping in and change was necessary. Even though Brenda and I are moving ahead, knowing that the cost of life-overhauls are expensive, it'll be worth it. For example, the air conditioner decided to give up two weeks ago and the alternator in Brenda's car left us stranded on a busy highway this week, leaving us with no choice but to call a tow truck ($75) to the rescue. So, there are a few more gray hairs that popped up out of nowhere, needing our immediate attention.

I find that life's gray hairs are always going to pop up, usually when we are at a low point financially. I do trust that God is ever-present in those challenging times. My best move is to take it all with a good attitude and start looking for wisdom in how to best deal with the situation. God promises that if I ask, He will give the needed wisdom. He's never failed me.

Being a giver is a quality I've tried to cultivate in my life. I find that others are quick to respond to my need, especially if I have been there for other people. I saw this video, an outtake from the Wrecking Crew film, to be inspiring. When one least expects, blessings can pop up in life to let us know God is watching.

Arcadius: Giving It All You've Got

This Sunday's Tennessean sports section had a sad photo on it's front page. It was of a horse that had made it first to the finish line, taking Saturday's Iroquois Steeplechase top honor. But winning jockey Brian Crowley soon realized the triumph in Nashville would take a tragic turn.

 Arcadius, the champion horse of the 71st running of the Iroquois, made it to the winner's circle, then suffered a pulmonary aneurysm and collapsed and died, to the horror of his rider and the fans looking on from the stands. The equine medical staff valiantly attempted to resuscitate Arcadius, but it was too late. The surprise and grief on the jockey's face, as officials shuffled to get answers and make sense of the sudden turn of events, said everything to all who see the photo. It was a huge shock, to say the least.

Seeing tragedies like this, either in person or from afar, cause me to reflect about the fragility of life. Many times there are no answers to why bad stuff happens because some things come upon us in such random fashion. Even though Arcadius ran it's last race Saturday, the horse obviously gave everything it had. Race chairman Dwight Hall said that a pulmonary aneurysm was unavoidable.

 Like Arcadius, I want to go out of this world having given all of my energy, heart and strength toward the purpose for which God called me in this life. Arcadius is a hero in my book; a true show of virtue in a world where character seems to be diminishing. Our hats are off to both rider and champion today. Well done!

Margaret Cho: Keys From the Past

I have really enjoyed watching two genealogy shows on TV this year. The stories of famous people come to life as they search out their ancestry--many times finding surprises, disappointment and sometimes outright cool information.

Comedienne Margaret Cho was a recent subject on the PBS genealogy production "Finding Your Roots," hosted by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. She was surprised to learn of her family's political involvement with the Japanese who occupied their native Korea. Because of this traitorous action, the family were forced to migrate away from their village to avoid persecution. One of the family members--as they locked up the house before fleeing--grasped the keys and tucked them away as if they would soon return to find the place untouched and ready to move back in. 

I thought about this for a split-second and realized that I myself have a whole ring of keys on a proverbial key chain, stored deep in my conscience, hoping someday I might return to a place in the past that I've never been able to completely relinquish. Unfortunately--and possibly for my journey as well--Margaret Cho's family would never return to that village again. A member of Cho's family still has that very house key today.

Our lives sometimes resemble the attic in our homes: filled with hopes, dreams and intentions from the past, waiting there silently collecting dust. Maybe it's time to crawl up the stairs,  scan our hearts and make a plan to discard those things to which we may never return.

Maybe it's an old relationship, a grudge or an unrealized goal. Whatever it may be, most of us have a set of keys that connect us to the past. Some are to doorways of unfinished business that we are wise to complete. But some keys are to doors that we will never see again. 

Maybe it's time to say goodbye to some parts of our past. Thank God for new doors and opportunities yet to be discovered.   

Leading Worship: What I Love To Do Best!

Last weekend I had the privilege of leading worship at The People's Church in Franklin. Normally I am the music director at The People's Church, Spring Hill campus, but they let me out for a weekend to do what I love best: lead worship!


I am so blessed to be in the People's Church family and look forward to a rich future here. I wanted to share the video of the worship service last week along with Pastor Rick White's sermon entitled "Modern Lessons From an Ancient King," a 9-week series on King David. Have a blessed weekend, friends!