Author Archives: joseph1637

Music for Life.

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Growing up I have always had a natural talent. From a young age, I loved music because I had an ear for music. Then I discovered that I could sing on key. I was in the choir most of elementary and high school. Until my voice changed, I sang soprano. I could even hit high C on the musical scale. When my voice changed, I became a baritone and some times I could sing tenor. My father loved classical music, which I still love to listen to today.

During college, I messed around more than studied and didn’t do so well. I studied communications (radio and television) in college. I served in the military after college. Then I got married. I knew it was time to get serious. I secured a job as a music director for a local Christian radio station. There I listened to all the music. Some music was good and some not so good. What I was listening for was the anointing of God. Most albums had 12 songs on it. Yes, this was before CDs. The music companies wanted me to play their choice of music. As I searched for suitable music for the radio station, I would find one or two songs that had the anointing. The criteria for the station was 1) you had to be able to hear the lyrics, 2) it had to lift up the name of Jesus. The station went from a Southern Gospel to Adult Contemporary Gospel music. Most of the time the music I chose wasn’t what the music company wanted. Sometimes I had go-rounds with their representatives. Our goals where different. What I was trying to accomplish was music that lifted people up to trust and believe God. Hope is a powerful thing. God is the author of music. The angels play music all the time. If they aren’t singing, they are playing music. It has a force all its own. As with all of the things of God, there are two sides, faith and doubt. It is the same sword. It can be used both ways. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. With all the music the angels have, there is one song they can’t sing. It is the song of the redeemed. Only we can sing that song to the Lord and all the angels stop and listen to it.

Music is a powerful instrument. If used in the right way, it can uplift people and soothe the savage beast. There are many different forms of music that can inspire us to greatness. And we know that there is music that can destroy us also. That is why it is so important for us to guard our ears when listening to music.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Life and Death.

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I have heard that from the moment you are born, we begin to die. I can understand that somewhat. Our skin continually is shedding the outer layer everyday. Our body rejects anything that doesn’t belong inside of us. But time and age always catches up to us no matter what we do. We look at people from around the world that have lived over a 100 years. But they are an anomaly. With medicines and better living, we have increased the average age lived to from 32 in the 1800s to 73 in the 2000s. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to die.

Life and death are two subjects that people seemed to be obsessed with. If it isn’t trying to live longer, it’s glorifying death so that we seem more important. The bible has different views on life and death. It says in Proverbs, life and death are in the power of the tongue. It also says that if you don’t bridle your tongue, you can’t control your life. It’s interesting that our tongue has a direct influence upon our life or death. And if you don’t think that is true, just look at people that you know that don’t control their tongues. In Ephesians, it says to obey you parents that you may live long on this earth. That is a direct correlation to the length of our lives.

It’s funny, interesting, how God seems to be interested in how long we live on the earth. And He delineates what will cut off our lives prematurely. And all of this decision making comes right back to what we do and say. So, we are in charge of our lives and have to make the right decisions to, 1, stay alive and 2, live a long life. Life and death are not only in the tongue, but also in what we do with our lives.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

As Time goes By.

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There is an old song from a movie called As Time goes By. It is a sad love song that makes me feel lonely. The song talks about 2 people who were in love, but circumstances separated them, in particular WWII. They let time slip away and didn’t appreciate the time that they had together. I see people losing their grip on time through similar situations. It’s not a world war that made them lose time, it was their own fault. We are given a certain amount of time in our life. We can’t get any more time. If you look at your life you will see where you lost time in your life. And that time is gone forever. What is that old expression, you can’t go home again.

We want to believe that we are the models of efficiency. But if we look close at our lives, time is relentless. It doesn’t stop for anyone. Time marches on, until the world runs out of time. So it is up to us to use our time correctly. Only you can determine how to use your time. People can steal your time, if you let them. I guess the most important thing in your life is your time.

My life has gone by in a blink of an eye. I still don’t understand how it has gone by so fast. I have tried to use my time as succinctly as possible. I know that I have wasted some of my time, but I have tried to correct it in the long run. So, what am I saying. It all comes down to what you do with your life. In your hand is everything that you will be or can be. And it is up to you how you spend your time on earth in this life. Use your time as efficiently as possible to have the best result for you.

There are a few song that talk about time and how to use it. The best one that I have heard is an old song by Jim Croce. It is called, Time in a Bottle. I have placed the link below to listen to the song. Enjoy.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Fitting In.

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Where do you fit in? Everyone wants to fit in somewhere. Sometimes it is with your family, but mostly it is just trying to fit in with your friends. The young people tend to gravitate to other young people. Us old guys tend to talk to older people and children. I have seen people take to the ninth degree. It is rather a sad commentary on people. Everybody is unique. Many people have quirks that are unique to themselves. I wouldn’t call people odd, but sometimes that is the case. Whether odd, unique or quirky, God made us all. We are to a point, different from each other. I like blues and purples. My wife likes reds and purples. God made us to fit together. We are only separated by what we think. Sometimes then it isn’t really real. God said do unto other as you would have other to do to you. God also said He is no respecter of persons. He judges all peoples by their hearts. This is the true judgement of people. You see everybody’s heart looks the same. There really is no difference.

Crain Blanchard. 

http://www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com

What Remains the Same?

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If you look at the news of the day, you will see our President, (USA), undoing as much as possible the previous administrations policies. For good or bad, this President believes himself to be right. Just as the last President did. It all depends on what you believe is right. I have a riddle for you to solve. I wrote this riddle 12 years ago. I’ll give the answer at the end of the blog.

What remains the same and is constantly changing? and why?

My life has changed in this past 12 years. 2 of my brothers have died. I have 4 grandchildren. 6 major hurricanes and a state wide flood have occurred in Louisiana. My house was under a 1 ½ feet of water for a week. Not everything was destroyed in the flood. Which I am very grateful. We found a brand new house and bought it. I have maintain relatively good health. My poor wife has had multiple surgeries for broken bones. She tries hard to move fast as she can and ends up falling and breaking something. C’est Malheureux. When Covid came, everything shut down. So many people lost their jobs. It was a time of great uncertainty. It could have been a real disaster in this country, if the government has not done something. But there has been a lingering distrust of government since the end of Covid. We just had a record snow fall of 10 inches in South Louisiana. South Louisiana is what you would call semi Tropical. This snowfall has happened twice in my life time. It seems like nothing remains the same.

Now let me give you the riddle.

What remains the same and is constantly changing? and Why?

The answer is Man. The constant or the same is change. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Snow in South Louisiana.

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South Louisiana is known for hot summers and mild winters. We have blistering heat and high humidity. Our water table or sea level is about 35 feet below my house. We have rivers running through almost everywhere. The only state that has bigger misquitoes is Alaska. We have alligators, bobcats, muskrats, beavers, nutra rats and crawfish. And all of those animals have recipes for them. I’m joking, except for the alligators and crawfish. South Louisiana is called Bayou Country. The French Acadians came to Louisiana when there was nothing but bayous and misquitoes. They settled here and populated the state. I’m French and Irish. My french family settled in North Louisiana. Then moved to Lafayette.

All my life the weather patterns have changed drastically. If we had a cold winter, we had hurricanes in the summer. If it was a mild winter, then we had a blistering heat in the summer. I can remember days that were 100 degrees with 100% humidity and it wasn’t raining. Louisiana is a green state, beautiful oak and magnolia trees everywhere. So to my surprise, when an arctic storm to come through from Texas to Georgia.

As I am writing this, it is 12 degrees Fahrenheit with about 10 inches of snow on the ground. The last time that I saw cold and snow like this was when I was 8 years old in 1957. Everything is white and beautiful. The snow will stay for another 2 days. It is suppose to warm up to 70 degrees this weekend. Which means all the snow will be gone. Life changes every day. Nothing remains the same. This is the true test of life. If you can survive the change. This is a challenge that everyone faces. And not everyone survives.

I struggled when this change until I couldn’t go on. I was about 28 years old. Some dear friends lead me to the truth. I couldn’t survive the changes in my life without one person changing my life for the better. Of course, I am talking about Jesus and His life changing ways. I gave in and decided His way was better than mine. I have never regretted that decision. Whatever the weather does outside, my life is set on achieving one goal. That goal is to make it to heaven and to live with God, my Father and Jesus, my older Brother, forever.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

What do Other People see?

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Perception is an important tool in our arsenal. It is not just what we see, but it is what we understand. It is easy not to see what the truth is and make a mistake. Perception is tricking if you don’t know what you are looking at. It is like the old saying, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Whether it is a person, place or thing. We have to get to know who or what is there, personally. Sometimes it is hard to do that and people just give up on trying. And in that moment they make a judgment call, whether it is right or wrong. The strangest thing is that man believes that his perception of himself is right. Sometimes it is true, but I think it is just bravado.

You know what is funny(interesting) is that other people can see us for who we are. They can see the real us faster than we can. There is a real reason for that. What they see in us is a reflection of themselves, whether good or bad. Everyone says that they are an individual. They are unique in this world. It is true that we are individuals, but we are more similar to each other than we want to acknowledge. Cultural differences make us unique, not different. And just because of the pigment of our skin, it does not mean that we are not the same. We are born, we live and we die. There is no difference. We are not going to get along with everybody, but we can at least try to understand who they are. So that we can have a better perception of who we are.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Value of Age.

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As a person gets older, it is expected that wisdom follows. Wisdom is a combination of experience and knowledge. There is a famous saying, that has been written on many walls, knowledge is power. But the sad part of that saying is that knowledge is not power. It is knowledge (understanding) + experience = wisdom, then it is wisdom applied that equals power. As a young man so many things were handed to me. First, my parents paid for my college tuition and books. All I had to do is work for spending money. I worked at a burger place on campus. All the social things got in the way of my college education and I failed. If that was not enough, it was the height of the Vietnam war. And I was #41 in the draft. I did not learn what I was supposed to. It was not the college work, it was the living skills.

I fumbled around for a few years, until I decided that I was going to get my life on tract for success. Once I became focused on living up to my potential, I began working toward that goal. It took hard work and many hours to get wisdom in my life. I did not succeed in all my endeavors. But the ones that I did succeed in were great. I truly believe that the failures keep a person balanced in life. If all you have is success, where is the growing part of your life? It is true that we grow in all our failures or completely fail.

It took a lot of wisdom to keep me from becoming bitter about life. I had to apply the wisdom I had learned to keep my on track. All of my paths were lonely. I alone had to figure out what was the best way for me. I had to struggle against myself to accomplish my goals. This is how we succeed.

I worked retail for 35 years. Then I began to write. I have always wanted to write, even when I was young. I have written 5 books so far. Only published one and had one on Kindle. I have been blogging for 9 years, Joseph1637.com. It has been very interesting. I even had one blog go viral. It was Disconnect 1.0. It went around the world. I had comments from most every country, starting in Europe, to the Middle East, then Asia, then Australia and back to America. There were over 15,000 comments in one month. I have followers in China, Europe, South America and North America. Success is relative. But I have enjoyed the success that I have received. I understand, just like the roman generals after their victories that paraded in Rome, Glory is Fleeting.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Will of God.

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The bible says that Jesus made everything including earth. After God set everything up and gave it to man, man rejected God. It was by God’s will that the earth and mankind be made to share with Him all that God has. God has continually tried to bring man back into the fold. God has not given up on mankind. But mankind has given up on God. Ever since Adam and Eve received the knowledge of good and evil, man has declared his godhood. He can do what ever he wants. The only problem with that is that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Then mankind does not have the power to correct his mistakes. In which they lead to death and destruction. That is why there is so much devastation in this world.

God has from the beginning intervened in the affairs of man. He has tried and with some success, helped man to create a stable world to live in. It is funny, interesting, that man knows and proclaims who the devil is. But is unwilling to confess the same for God. In 1982, a US Congressman, who was dying of cancer, tacked a bill on the wall of Congress for anyone to sign. This bill would proclaim that 1983 was the Year of the Bible in the US. It didn’t go through any committee or any debate. It was just up to the Congressmen and Senators to sign if they wanted it to become law. Well it passed and the President Reagan signed into law. It was the first time in 2000 years that any government had acknowledged God. The GNP for the US increased by 100% over the passed 20 years. People became wealthy by the will of God.

The bible is a written history of what God has said and done for mankind. In every case, those people who did the will of God have prospered. And those who did not, fail in their efforts. We ,with free will, have to decide if we are going to do the will of God. God did not make His will complicated. He made it simple for man to follow. But we have to decide what we are going to do. I would ask you and implore you to follow God. This is the only way that we will succeed in this life and in the world to come. Yes there is another world. It only has two place to go to. There are heaven, God’s home, and hell, the devil’s home. God does not send anyone to hell. Anyone who goes to hell has to choose to go there. Although God is sovereign with all power to do anything, we have to choose where we are going after death on this earth. God’s will is there for anyone to choose. And I highly recommend to follow God home to heaven.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

A Charlie Brown Christmas…

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Charles Schulz, Sparky, wrote the Charlie Brown series. He was an avid Christian. In his early years, he had applied at the Disney Studios but was told his drawings were too primitive. Charles always said that he was Charlie Brown growing up. His comic strip became very successful. In 1965, Sparky produced a television show, A Charlie Brown Christmas. The show is about Charlie Brown being depressed about Christmas and the commercialism. At first, the television executives didn’t want to air the show, but they didn’t have anything to put in it’s place. A Charlie Brown Christmas show aired on CBS on December 9th, 1965 in prime time.

During the show, Charlie Brown asked if anybody knew what Christmas was all about. His friend Linus began to quote Luke 2:8-14, the Christmas story.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Several things happened that night, 50% of all television viewers were watching the Charlie Brown Christmas show. This was the first time it ever happened on television. The show was the first cartoon show to preach the gospel and it has aired on television ever since. Charles Schulz knew that Jesus was why we celebrate Christmas. And he was able to preach the gospel in his own way. So if you are depressed about Christmas watch the Charlie Brown Christmas show and see what he discovered. It is the Jesus is life itself and we don’t need to be depressed about our lives. For God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com