“It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read.” – Oswald Chambers
Category: Uncategorized
How one album can change your world
Think about your favorite album of all-time.
From lyrics and liner notes to catchy choruses and amazing guitar solos.
Got it?
Now, think about the memories attached to each track on the album.
That road trip you wish never ended. The youth group church van. That one time you were grilling out with friends.
Kumbaya.
A lifetime of firsts took place with that revolution of ten to twelve tracks.
If you’re older, maybe it was vinyl (or eight-track). Slightly less old, a cassette tape deck with worn rewind buttons from playing the favorites again and again. Even newer folks, a compact disc with scratches all over the disc not because you weren’t careful with your favorite but loaning it to that one careless joker caused the disc harm and now it skips every time. Millenials & beyond, maybe the mp3s and iTunes and streaming gadgets have profiled your favorites as a result of playing the same album tracks so many freakin’ times. Regardless, we all have the album in mind and we know the track progression like we know our own souls.
For me, it was a small, Nashville-based band and a self-titled album with a couch on the front of it. My peers in school were immersed in this disc non-stop. I still remember picking it up from a Christian bookstore and sitting in a blue van on my birthday. Mom asking if it was the right one. Me telling her it was the only one.
That album got played to death. (I’ve replaced is more than twice.)
Fast forward to 2008, my wife walks down the aisle to the final track from that album, What Will Your Anthem Be?, done up in a beautiful piano rendition by a best friend.
Move on to present day, my church grants me access to create music playlists and of course the couch album is featured more than a couple of times on the intro and outro set list.
Two decades later and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to my obsession with it. What about your playlist? What still provides goosebumps every time it’s cycled through and you’d never imagine hitting the ‘next’ button? Why is it so important to you?
Here are the lyrics to What Will Your Anthem Be?:
When the glitter fades, It fades so fast
What really lasts, what will the anthem be?
Did we sing of rock and roll?
Did we sing if sacred souls?
Has the heart and the harmony met pleasingly?
When the flicker fades, it fades so fast
Nothing is left. What will be legacies?
Cause guitars burn you see
Recollect no memories
Of the lights and the cheers and the human vanity
Should I give?
Should I sing some rust?
Pity me for my golden lust
This one’s for the lily
And this one’s for the rose
Here it is, let the truth be told
Here it is, we would like to know
Here it is, what will the anthem be
What will your anthem be?
What will our anthem be?
What will the anthem be?
Meeting Kevin Costner: Renaissance Man
Well, standing 500 feet away from him, I should say.
But who cares? We were in the SAME auditorium for a concert. His concert.
Did you know Kevin Costner even played music?
I didn’t either, but Leah said we had 2 tickets (to paradise) & a Kevin Costner concert – compliments of her workplace.
So, I did what any red-blooded, Tin Cup/Bull Durham/Waterworld/Dances with Wolves/Field of Dreams/The Untouchables/Robin Hood-watching guy would do: turned to Spotify for help.
I found Costner and his band Modern West. Of course, I dug the moniker. Kevin Costner was a living, breathing Western to me. Always had been. His name (like Eastwood’s) is synonymous with awesome. He’s Joe Cool. Pre-Camel cigarettes cool.
We got gussied up. My wife, me, and two friends. Saturday came, and we went to see Costner perform.
It was a black tie event. Naturally I wore a blue one. Kevin Costner wore boots, I think.
While I didn’t recognize his music, (none of the songs were household tunes) they weren’t half bad. Costner requested the reverb be cut waaaay down and the spotlight to be cut completely off him. And, he sang like a bird and eventually closed the set down with Dylan’s Tambourine Man.
All in all it was a delightful time. Even though Costner never came over to our table and signed anything, I’d like to think he would’ve if asked. There were baseballs stationed on each table, and I wanted mine signed by Billy Chapel pretty bad. Similarly, none of us on the back row received a Costner wink, but we still felt included in Modern West’s concert.
If you have the time, check out Costner when he’s not on the big screen. He’s Joe Cool, people. Here are some upcoming dates:
Tour
| Date | City | Venue | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08/24/16 | Kevin Costner & Modern West in Alexandria, VA | The Birchmere | United States |
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Time: 7:30pm. Address: 3701 Mount Vernon Avenue. Buy tickets | ||
| 08/26/16 | Kevin Costner & Modern West in Poplarville, MS | Brownstone Center | United States |
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Time: 7:00pm. Address: 101 Hwy 11 N. Buy tickets | ||
| 08/27/16 | Kevin Costner & Modern West in Ocala, FL | Circle Square Cultural Center | United States |
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Time: 7:00pm. Address: 8395 SW 80th Street. Buy tickets | ||
@ Star Line Books this Saturday…
WHEELMAN signing ~ 3/5 (Saturday) 2-4pm ~
Bring a young adult reader with you. It’ll be fun. There should be donuts and coffee available, too.
1 Thing I learned from The Revenant
I watched the Revenant recently.
Revenant – someone who returns after a long absence (believed to be dead).
Fitting title for the film, but there is so much beyond this single description in its 2hr 36min. run time.
It’s a brutal, harrowing tale of a man trying to survive. It’s a chain of events. His fortune seems to go from bad-to worse-to despair, and I was reminded of all kinds of biblical heroes who encountered just such odds in Old Testament events – especially Job.
I know. It’s not even remotely accurate to compare DiCaprio’s role in a film to a man of God, but this one stuck with me as I read today’ devotional about blessings.
Would you agree that for a follower of God one of the hardest principles is being blessed and not straying from God after the blessing has occurred?
Like being in the woods with a compass and suddenly throwing the compass away once we see something familiar. It’s a similar self-reliance in our spiritual walk.
While God says, “Look to me and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22), our inclination is to turn tail and run for what we believe to be higher ground.
Much like DiCaprio’s character in Revenant, we travel through life’s seasons getting beat down on more than one occasion, and these scars can wound us beyond repair if we allow them to. But, opposite to the physical fight of man’s battle with nature, the spiritual requires us to simply stop tugging on our own.
To admit, God is more than capable of handling your, mine, and our issues, if we let him.
WHEELMAN (excerpt#1)
Share Your BEST “Life” Story – Win a Book.
Share your BEST life story on the ‘Contact‘ form of this site and be entered to WIN a copy of Brian’s story collection “Baptisms & Dogs.”
Official announcement on Halloween!
2 copies will be mailed out to the 2 BEST stories we receive by that date. (Criteria: ANYTHING! It’s a subjective selection process. Can be a funny story about the embarrassing things Grandpa did on vacation once, or, a time when you didn’t think you’d make it out of Disneyland alive. We want your BEST life story thus far!) Also, we’d like to share those winning stories on the site – proudly displayed in the ‘Blog’ section of BrianLTucker.com . So, it’s SUPER important to send your story soon! (Don’t worry. There aren’t any grammar police around to judge.) The 2 winners selected will be asked to supply their mailing addresses following the announcement and the books will be shipped ASAP.
Tell YOUR BEST story today.
Vegas does exist.
If one word emerged from my recent work trip to Vegas, it was this: spectacle.
My co-workers took in the sights, sounds, and yes, smells of Vegas.
We were stationed in Caesar’s Palace, and it was where we attended conference sessions throughout the week.
There were all kinds of magnificent statues and displays throughout the hotel.
But, not a one of them were the real thing.
Vegas boasted higher prices than pretty much any place in the continental US. And I wondered, why?
The spectacle didn’t offer originality.
Was it fun to roam around in ‘Italy’ and ‘France’ almost simultaneously? Of course. But, it wasn’t it at all. The facades were a welcome distraction from the day-to-day sights and sounds, I guess.
I still found myself happy to be home last night. Home: where a bottle of water is not $7. Word to the wise, if you pick up the items in the Vegas hotel mini-fridges for more than 5 seconds it will bill you for the snack.
But, it’s still a place I’m happy to have seen. Now I can safely say it’s a place like any other. It comes with its own set of blemishes, and the spectacle is somehow just a magnification of said blemishes.
Oh and by the way, the fake Elvis’ expect a tip if you take your picture with them. Just a heads up. 🙂
Hope is More than Wishy-Washy
Hope can be built on a lot of things, and we can have hope in a LOT of things. Hope in the car to get us home. Hope in the Wildcats to not lose another football game. Hope in a bridge we cross everyday to not collapse. Hope in this month’s income to satisfy our bills. Hope in a family, friend, or neighbor to not give up on us in our darkest moment.
Hope is built on what you believe to be true.
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As a result, belief is an integral part of our day-to-day lives. It’s the WHAT. Faith in the car, the Wildcats, the microwave, this month’s income, and those closest to you.
What you believe matters.
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What you believe will directly shape your life (and ultimately your future):
- your claims
- how you treat others
- how you respond to various life circumstances
**(Please remember I’m placing myself in these statements as well.)
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It’s up to you to inform your beliefs.
Demosthenes once said, “Nothing is easier than self-deceit, for what each man wishes that he also believes to be true.”
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And it goes without saying, but I’ll write it anyway that you cannot inform your beliefs without taking time to study.
Opening a book, reading a favorite novel, studying the Bible, analyzing Proverbs, or, all of the above. These can be tactics to help solidify those beliefs. (You know what you know, because you know. You know?)
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When you don’t inform your beliefs, you become stuck.
Have you felt this? It’s that almost tangible feeling like there’s a lid on the box of your life. You not only wonder where your place is in the world-at-large, but also wrestle with the question of who you are as a person.
- you miss the promotion at work
- the truck stops working
- your favorite pet dies
- God doesn’t seem to be answering a specific prayer of yours
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The Bible says to rejoice even in the difficulties.
I know this might not be the answer you’re looking for, but it’s meant to signify the larger scope from day-to-day meanderings. Our instinctual hope, if fixed on an eternal God, will be to rejoice as a result of the overflow of our hearts. I know this might not be where you are today, and admittedly I’m not there 24/7 either, but, it’s something to strive for.
Bottom Line.
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Set your beliefs on solid truths that will have eternal rewards.
Editing: The Faces of Revision.
If writing a book makes one look like this:
(Fig. 1)
Then, editing a book can best be summed up as:
(Fig. 2)
Editing: Is the Worst.
It takes the frustration and painstaking lifeblood of a first draft, bundles it tightly into a little ball, and hurls it at hoop…in the Atlantic Ocean, miles from shore, miles from a life preserver. Side note: Paper isn’t waterproof.
Ok, I’m over-exaggerating…but just slightly.
I appreciate your prayers this week, and next, and the next.
No one should have to wear a face like this–for long anyways.