Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
This was probably the least entertaining episode of Idol this season except for a couple of rising stars. Did the contestants pick songs from a bottomless list of choices, because I didn’t love any of them. However I’ll say this: When Gabby started, I thought here we go again with another drowsy song but then her performance turned into the best of the night, and she can sure sing! No surprise then that she made it to the top 14.
It was just a weird night with the songs. The handful (or two handfuls this season) that always sound good sounded good so there wasn’t any damage done (I’m thinking of Jamal, Thunderstorm, Canaan, Breanna and my favorite, Slater).
But love is in the air and I’m not just talking about that Target commercial that kept popping up. Just looking at the YouTube stats, the top viewed from last night are from Jamal (94k), Canaan (73k), and Thunderstorm (64k). John Roberts is making gaines, too. If YouTube views is an indicator of how fans are voting, Jamal is feeling the love and might run away with this thing!
You could say the theme of the Easter episode was “I’m still standing” as most contestants AND judges Lionel, Luke, and Carrie performed songs about Jesus– because, you know, if he rose from the dead then technically he’s still standing. So much for death having victory, right? But not all contestants got to sing. Four got the least amount of votes and therefore are out of the competition (Kyana, Grayson, MKY, and Penny). As it is now, my favorites are still in– Slater Nalley, Thunderstorm Artis, and Jamal Roberts.
A quick recap of the Easter episode, officially titled “Songs of Faith,” is that the show got better and better as it reached the crescendo of Carrie Underwood performing “How Great Thou Art,” a song becoming part of her overall fame in the last few years. As far as the contestants go, it’s practically pointless to discuss their talent because they all have it. I have a feeling we all pretty much know the ones who are starting to really stand out and can we all admit that it’s Thunderstorm leading the pack? I think Filo is gaining momentum because of his sweet mom (and his amazing talent, of course). Lots of love shown to moms this episode and I watched a little bit of the episode with my sister. Every time someone talked about their mom, the camera showed their mom, or they ARE a mom (Breanna), my sister and I said, “…oof, top 5!” We said that for about 9 different people so the match doesn’t quite work but when you mention your mom, how can you not get an automatic bid to the next round, right? Sweetness overload.
My favorites of the Easter episode were Filo, Thunderstorm, John Foster, and CeCe Winans.
John Roberts performed an original song for Maggie Dunn, a friend of his who passed away. Sheesh. He might have strummed his way to the top 5 with this one. Check out a more detailed recap of the Easter episode here. Here’s the wonderful and wonderfully traditional-sounding song… then scroll down for the lyrics.
No words can describe how I truly feel. But I hope these will try. It’s a feeling that I can’t explain. Deep and endless, like the sky.
And though we may not know the reason, it’s not for us to understand. Lord, won’t you tell that angel I love her as soon as you can.
Because sure the sun will come up but it won’t shine on her skin. And I’d give anything I have to talk to her again.
Sure, the sun will come up but it won’t shine on her skin. And I’d give anything I have to talk to her again.
Each tear that falls on my guitar is a hug from afar. Tell that angel I love her.
Every year for the past however many years, I’ve participated in “Jesus, the Risen 1K” which, based on my own amateur research, is how far Peter (and Mary, John, and others I’m sure) ran to the tomb of Jesus when he (they) were told Jesus was no longer in the tomb. Can you imagine that plot twist?
I really like imaging myself in that situation. The people who were devastated by the death of Jesus, mourning and confused for a handful of days, then all of a sudden everything changed. I’m sure that was a moment that lived in their memory for the rest of their lives.
“Hey, remember when Mary came running up and told us Jesus’s body was gone? That was wild.”
A moment in history that literally means so much in the Christian faith (see how I’m less dramatic than I was in yesterday’s post!?). So on Easter Sunday, I put my running shoes on, along with my Garmin watch, and run approximately 1.2 km, or about 0.75 of a mile. That distance still makes sense to me for the time in which all of this happened. There weren’t cars, bikes, etc., so I believe most of the things that happened were in a short walkable distance… or in this case runnable.
As a man of Christian faith, Good Friday means everything!! But also, Easter Sunday means everything!! But also, Christmas means everything!! Can you tell I’m a little dramatic? I guess it’s probably more accurate to say that each of these foundational moments in the Christian faith are so, so, so important. Without Good Friday, are our sins covered by Jesus? Without him rising three days later, do we have access to eternal life with God? Without his birth (Christmas), what even are we talking about??
The life of Jesus is very interesting and I dare even call it fascinating. He was an outcast, a friend of lowly people, yet he had no reservations about speaking boldly to the rich, elite, spiritual leaders, government officials, people in circles he wasn’t running in. And even with that kind of charisma, he still was humbly serving those around him, people in need of just something simple like relief from the obstacles of life.
I love him.
This week means everything!! Dang it, there I go again. Today is Saturday, the day between mourning Jesus’s death (Friday) and then Sunday rejoicing his unfathomable act of coming back to life with no secret outside help at all. Remember when Peter ran to the tomb (about 1 kilometer, I think) to see for himself what his friends said happened? How can all of that be anything but divine (not that Peter ran almost a mile with a robe on, although I wear a bathrobe in the morning and that seems like a pretty obvious impediment)? But back to the reason Peter went to the tomb… Jesus. Divine. Especially considering everything else he said and did that we know about. It must be true that Jesus was/is either a liar, lunatic, or Lord. There are no other choices. Psalm 22, “…all who go down to the dust will kneel before him– those who cannot keep themselves alive.” That’s either the biggest lie, the words of a crazy author (King David), or it’s true. It’s also pretty clever (good writing, your majesty!) but what choice am I making today? What choice will you make? There’s a lot at stake!
Because of his radical love, grace, forgiveness, patience, not to mention that his death covered my sins and in all the ways finished the punishment I (and we) deserve, I’ll kneel now before I go down to the dust. Am I doing everything perfectly? Ummm, did you read my post from Wednesday? 👀
Yeah, go back and read that sometime if you need a reason to feel good about your situation. Gee wiz I suck sometimes! OK OK, I’ll try to be less dramatic. I love in the Bible where it says “consider Jesus.” That’s all God’s ever really asked. Just think about what his life and death and resurrection could mean for us. I’m really starting to think it means… everything!!
Out of the Wilderness 