YOU Deserve

Greatest Love Of All

Setting: Downtown Crossing T station. A sister is on the bench with a keyboard and mic. She sings this song while I am waiting for the train. I am telling you, God used this woman and this song to pierce my heart! Each lyric spoke to the burdens that I’ve kept buried deep inside for so long. Every rejection, every betrayal, every hurt that scarred my heart, God chose THIS time, in public, to PERSONALLY speak to me as I waited for the train. I wept the WHOLE way to Green Street station! A woman came up to me at Green street and invited me to Bible study as I wept and walked...I will never forget THAT particular encounter....God is amazing...

"Greatest Love Of All"

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

Everybody's searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me
[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I'll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

[Chorus]

And if, by chance, that special place
That you've been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love

I am probably the last person on earth who STILL buys CDs

Sometimes I feel like I am the last person on earth that STILL buys CDs.

I have NO music on my iPad. (YET) Yes, I still use my purple CD boombox, the descendant of the 8-Track player and Stereo Record Player.

It is also a cousin to the portable CD walkman. We have iPod users in the house, my teenage daughter downloads music all of the time. That process seems a little weird to me, to peruse online in the privacy of your own home, hear what you like, then purchase and download. I used to love strolling down the aisles of Strawberries Music & Video back when I worked downtown or even at Best Buy when outside of the city at the mall. Purchasing music was a small event in a sense.

Remember album covers!? They were like little pieces of art.

CD covers are an important as well as powerful part of the buying process. This first presentation is how they would engage a potential customer unless you are a diehard fan of the artist and the cover wouldn’t matter anyway.

This brings me to another point. How we communicate. How we disseminate information. How we engage, entertain or teach our audience. Regardless of how the information is imparted to the audience, the information is STILL the information. We can still hear the same thing. Part two of this point is our willingness to adapt. When 45s and LPs were phased out, the console stereo player owners didn’t just shut down, some eventually accepted the cassette. As a cassette-on-the-verge-of-CD playing young adult, I still appreciated the albums from my favorite Uncle Rodney’s extensive collection.

All of this makes me think of how the church ministers musically to multiple generations, whether through the iPad, CDs or albums. Whether we have the traditional, robed, large choirs, smaller groups of praise & worship teams or one psalmist, the message is the same. Jesus is LORD. ‘Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”’ – Mark 4:9 NIV