What is it about these storylines that pulls us in?

The indestructible guy who will do anything to stop evil from winning, all in a 24 hour period.

The geek who gets the girl.

The girl who can’t choose between the bad boy and the good leader.

The team that utilizes each individual’s gifts to beat evil and save the day.

The young adult from the “middle of nowhere” America who risks everything to be a star.

The team of scientists that use all the clues to catch the bad guys.

The sarcastic genius doctor who solves every medical mystery there is.

The Lying experts who can tell you’re lying by talking to you, which is helpful when talking to a murderer.

The island that goes berserk and takes its inhabitants around different time periods like Forrest Gump hits a ping pong ball.

If you were to write the next hit TV show, what would your concept be?

And now she’s killing us all softly.

So I’ll start off with the bad news today.  One of my heroes in the late 80’s and the 90’s was Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman.  His songs were and are always so honest and contemplative, sometimes cheesy and refreshingly honest.  I admit recently I haven’t been into his current music much, but I appreciate the musical influence he’s put into my life.
Yesterday afternoon, Maria Chapman, 5 years old, was struck by a car on the property of the Chapmans house.  You can see the details here or at the first link in this post.
Our prayers our with the Chapman family during this really hard time they are going through.  If you read what they’ve done for the Kingdom of God, you will get a better understanding of how amazing they are by reputation.

I don’t want to minimize the aforementioned news with unimportant news, but I was really happy for Mr. David Cook last night as he went through 5 or more grueling months of work and became this year’s American Idol.   This has been the first season ever that I’ve watched, and I really thought it was done right and that the right person won in the end.  At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy and poppy, this year’s show show inspired me to take a step, go out on a limb, and work hard to fulfill the vision God has given me.

And lastly, for those of you who attend Fellowship Church in Holden, Massachusetts, this Sunday, we’ll be starting a new series called “Something old, something new.”  The purpose of this 2 week series is to look at 3 things that every follower of Christ must go through along their walk with God – To identify, to Act, and to Remember.
How are we going to fit 3 items into 2? 

On Sunday morning, you’ll find out!

Sunday Morning @ Fellowship (10:30 am)
325 Bullard St
Holden, Massachusetts 01520
info@fellowshipholden.com

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January 1, 2008
I have been created.  I’m not quite yet formed, but after waking up with a major headache and a broken heart, my creator began the process of forming me into something great.

February 1st, 2008
He has finally finished me.  Now he can show me off to the world.  This is going to be pretty exciting!

February 14th, 2008
If this is the day of love, then how come I feel sold out?  It appears my creator has sold me to some people with very expensive clothing who have no “heart connection” to how I was created.  Something about my creator not being “pretty enough” anymore to make me popular.

March 1, 2008
I’m being “shopped” around.  It seems some people are very interested in me.  I don’t think I have the choice to say who uses me.

April 1, 2008
So, right now I’m in the hands of the “biggest manager in the industry” who claims to my new owner that I will be the “biggest hit of the summer”  I’m going to hit the studios by the middle of this month for recording.

April 12, 2008
She’s singing me!  She’s singing me!  And wow, does she have a golden voice.  I can tell she likes me and I can feel her heart when she sings it.  The summer can’t come fast enough.  She’s my new idol.

May 3, 2008
So I’m being played over and over in a big room with people acting me words out.  They say this will hit VH1 very soon and at that point the world will be mine.  Sounds good to me.

May 28, 2008
The video premiere party happens today.  My expensive-clothed peeps seemed to think that because I am so “heart-wrenching”, I should officially be out before Memorial Day.

June 17, 2008
I hit the airwaves today and I seem to be rockin!  Supposedly I’m “climbing the charts”, but I’ve never even climbed into a chair before.

July 4, 2008
Today I start the new tour with my idol.  Have I mentioned that she’s hot?  And when she sings me…Wowsers!

July 28th, 2008
In Tokyo.  A bit tired of travelling, but all the people are nice here and they love to sing me, so this can’t be all bad, right?

August 7, 2008
All the big stations are playing me now, and I’ve just been told I’m number 1.  This doesn’t surprise me as I am indeed the best song of all time, according to so many adoring fans. 

September 1, 2008
My idol is growing a bit stale.  She’s out all night and rumor has it she’s gotten into some trouble with some pictures somebody took.  She confessed to hating me last night.  She doesn’t even like singing me in concert anymore.  “Too old” she says.

September 18, 2008
I’m headed out of all the biggest charts now, and am being played by some “Adult Contemporary” stations.  If you ask me, there preparing me for some big funeral, the way the mood is around here.  I’ve even heard talk about a “new, amazing hit” being introduced to my idol this week.

September 22, 2008
What I need is a remix?  “Hey Dj, won’t you play that song?” 

October 25, 2008
Haven’t said much for a while.  It’s been a slippery slope down all the charts.  Now I’m a “big wedding song”, watever that means.  It’s not even wedding season.

November 27th
It’s Thanksgiving, but I have very little to be thankful for.  Not even the fact that Delilah mentioned me this week over some reunion between a divorced father and his high school sweetheart.

December 20th
Please buy me or give me as a gift on your itunes certificates this year!  Please

This post has been written for Watercooler Wednesday with Randy Elrod.  Check it out, it’s a great way to read about culture and community.  

Until next time…

Dear Ryan Seacrest,

You are a machine.  The world knows that you are a host that talks eloquently and straightforward, and never lets anything frustrate you, but you need to remember something.  Yes, you do work with a guy that believes that everyone is a “dog” and that the beginning of every song stinks, but it gets better as time goes on.  And you do work with a woman who is as normal as Michael Jackson on mushrooms and sports the vocabulary of my 6 year old nephew.  Not to mention a grumpy, mean talent finder.

But your problem is that that grumpy, mean talent finder is your boss.  He’s the guy who made you, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, and even William Hung very famous, and a whole lot of money.

So why do you constantly crack on the guy? Like tonight, when you rapped on him about his lack of intimacy and a few other blunders, is this a ploy to get more ratings, to get more laughs, or to get more people to like you better than him?  I can only guess that Simon’s talented mind has put you and Randy and Paula up to cracking on him throughout the show in order to create conflict, because the truth is, there is no doubt, that none of you would be anywhere near as popular as you are, if it were not for Simon Cowell.

Constantly my friends rant about how horrible he is to people and how tactless he is, and I wonder if they have seen how their fave celebs will be treated and criticized and used up by the media.  Is Simon really so bad, or is he really the only one preparing them for what their future may be anyway?

So Mr. Secrest, before you lay your head down on your pillow tonight, I think you should either pick up your telephone and call Simon right now, apologizing to him for mistreating him if you did it on your own, or thanking him for giving you a chance you may never have gotten, if he put you up to the “Simon Slams.”  Either way, American Idol would be another faded, washed up reality show without him.

Respectfully,

Marty Holman

p.s.  I voted for David Cook tonight