Matthew: Matthew 1:1

 Matthew: Matthew 1:1 by ric gustafson

Jesus Christ comes from the Greek words Iesous Christos. The original Hebrew is Yeshua Ha Mashiach. Yeshua means Yahweh saves. Ha Mashiach means the anointed. Matthew in this first verse says that Jesus was the Son of David. When Matthew uses son of David and son of Abraham, he is referring to Jesus. Jesus is the true King of Israel. Jesus will bring salvation to the nations. Matthew uses verse 1 to set the stage for the rest of his gospel. Praise Jesus's name.

research help: ' Matthew the Hebrew Gospel' by Carroll Roberson

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

the Story: eyes of faith

 the Story: eyes of faith by ric gustafson

God told Moses to send some men to explore the land of Canaan. At the end of 40 days, the men returned. The men reported that the land does flow with milk and honey. They also reported and showed fruit that was plentiful.

God was giving this rich land to his people. The men also reported large fortified cities and powerful people. The men reported pros and cons about this land.

Caleb said let's do it let us possess this land. God's perspective prevails.

research help: ' The Story 365 devotions' by Zondervan

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

the Story: serious business

 the Story: serious business by ric gustafson

To God, sin is serious business. The people took gold, Aaron threw it in a fire and out came a calf. The people worshiped it. God deals with sin seriously. 

So what did God do?. First, three thousand people lost their lives. Moses knew he needed atonement for the people's act. Moses approached God and offered his life. Instead, God struck his chosen people with a plague. To God, sin is serious business.

research help: ' The Story 365 devotions' by Zondervan

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

a Beatle at 80 page 1

 a Beatle at 80 page 1 by ric gustafson 

In April of 2009 was the 10th annual Coachella Festival. It was three days of rock and roll in the Southern California desert. McCartney was onstage closing day one. Coachella had been a successful open air rock out stage for young people. It was an emotional day for McCartney. His late wife Linda had been gone for 11 years already. 

At 80, Paul McCartney was still a vibrant force on the music scene. He likes to connect contemporary sounds with his style of music. In 2021, McCartney came out with an album called ' McCartney III Imagined'. The songs had been remixed from his 2020 album ' McCartney III'. The album was recorded and produced by McCartney during the pandemic lockdown.

There are only two Beatles left. McCartney and Ringo Starr. McCartney has been making music for more than six decades. He started making music to console himself over the death of his mother. Making music helped him release emotions that had been bottled up. Paul McCartney is driven. There has never been anyone like him. Now let us go back to the beginning of the Paul McCartney story.

research help: ' A Beatle at 80' by Life Magazine 2022

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

the Story: righteous anger

the Story: righteous anger by ric gustafson

" Go down" God tells Moses. " Your people have become corrupt". " They have turned away from me already". God tells Moses the people made an idol in the shape of a calf. God tells him the people have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it. God calls them a stiff necked people. God told Moses to leave him alone. God's righteous anger now burns. He is going to destroy these people.

Moses pleads with God. He tells God not to forget his promises to Abraham. God relents. Moses gets angry on the way back down the mountain. He throws down the tablets. They break into pieces.

research help: ' The Story 365 devotions' by Zondervan

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

Blackbird page 5

 Blackbird page 5 by ric gustafson

When the Beatles left for Hamburg in 1960, the song they sang as they departed was ' Bye Bye Blackbird'. McCartney remembered this song from singing it at family gatherings. He got to know the chords for it. At family get togethers, he became the family piano player. It became the family's sing song. Ringo Starr recorded it for his first solo album in 1970. The album was called ' Sentimental Journey'. It was a tribute to Ringo's mother and stepfather.

When McCartney wrote ' Blackbird', he used light dark motifs from ' Bye Bye Blackbird'. In ' Blackbird', the bird is encouraged to come out of the darkness. ' Bye Bye Blackbird' reminded the Beatles of their musical and cultural roots in Liverpool.

In the late 50's, John, Paul and George were influenced by a black musician named Lead Belly. At that time, a music art form called skiffle was the rage. Leading the skiffle craze was a guitarist named Donegan. Skiffle came from the blues. For a skiffle group, all you needed was a washboard, a tea chest, string, a broom handle and a guitar. To John Lennon, Lead Belly influenced him as much as Robert Johnson and Sleepy John Estes. A skiffle favorite was Lead Belly's ' Grey Goose'.

research help: ' Blackbird' by Katie Kapurch and Jon Marc Smith

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

the Reluctant Beatle page 48

 the Reluctant Beatle page 48 by ric gustafson

By March 2001, George Harrison knew the end was near. A checkup at the Mayo Clinic revealed his cancer had now entered his lungs. To prepare for the end, George bought a house in Switzerland. That way he could be close to his cancer doctor. But George never forgot about his music. With his son's help, he began to record demos for his last album. After his father's death, Dhani along with George's friend Jeff Lynne finished the album. It was called ' Brainwashed'.

At the end, many people came to see George. Paul and Ringo came. George's sister came. One of the last was Eric Idle George's friend from Monty Python.

George Harrison died in Los Angeles on November 29 2001.

He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the River Ganges.

The End

research help: ' George Harrison the Reluctant Beatle' by Philip Norman

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric