The news of the sudden death of pop icon and superstar, Michael Jackson filled the airwaves. Everybody has something to say about Wacko Jacko as he is called. Michael Jackson was said to have collapsed in his Los Angelis house at about 12.30pm Los Angelis time and his death was confirmed at about 2.25pm L.A time. The immediate cause of death was cardiac arrest, but there were reports of the fact that ha has been having problems with prescription drugs for a long time. Michael seems to be not only a bundle of talents, from his weird but creative lyrics to his dancing steps and choreography including the moon walking, but he was also an embodiment of emotional problems and psychiatric manifestations.
But first let talk about his talent, music, lyrics and dances and the impact they have on many of us. Like Larry King said in his interview on CNN, while it is true that he had a troubled life full of scandals and wrong choices, it is also true that he was talented beyond measures. What is sure is that he gave us his talent, let us celebrate that.
All of us have something to say about Michael Jackson. It could be the good, the bad or the ugly, but none of us can ignore him! For me, I will say that I was fascinated by his creativity. His lyrics were out of this world, but I have always had a suspicion for the mysterious mind that will be churning out such weird subjects at a consistently regular frequency. What do you have to say about things like Thriller, Dangerous, and Bad. Of course he was also instrumental to the USA for Africa fame, but for a young boy that I was, the video of his Thriller album always invoke a mixed feeling of fear, amazement and admiration.
Now going down memory lane, I remember how my big cousin will clear the centre table in our house then just to dance to the music of Michael Jackson with moves like backslide, head spin and trying to mimic his moon walking moves. Then I also remember how with each passing year, his once handsome face was constantly changing until it eventually became like that of a ghost. I remember myself wondering if he really wanted to become like one of the ghosts in his Thriller video. Then as the years went bye, the news started changing from his ingenuity to his ignobility. It now became constant news to have a scandal about wacko Jacko. If he is not accused of molesting little children, he was seen attempting to throw down hi baby from the back of his balcony, to financial problems and marital woes. There was a time it was even said that he could never attempt coming to Africa because of his skin. A black man who could not come to the original home of all blacks !
One will never really know the depth of the mysteries in the mind of this genius, but it has been said that there is a thin line between genius and madness. I will attempt to highlight some of the emotional issues and Psychiatric issues that I think plagued his ingenious but troubled life in subsequent posts in this blog. But for now I join millions in the world who were touch by his music and dance and who are feeling a sense of loss and vacuum about the news of his death in saying ,ADIEU MICHEAL JACKSON.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
AN INTERVIEW WITH RICK WARREN (AUTHOR OF "A PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE")
Interview with Rick Warren , author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California .
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain."
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal my wife or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better ...
God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)