Current Events, Racism, Rant, YouTube Video

Police shootings, race, and resisting arrest

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To say that there has not been a historical conflict between law enforcement and the black community in the United States is to bury your head in the sand. History has created a distrust between both sides, and the divide doesn’t appear to be getting any better due to recent news.

But, the problem – in my view – can be resolved very simply by teaching our children (black, white, yellow, red, pink) the very basic rule of respecting authority. When an officer tells you to stop, you stop. When an officer tells you to go to the ground, you go to the ground. When an officer tells you to shut up, you shut up.

No matter your color, you greatly increase your chances of getting hurt whenever you fail to follow the instructions of law enforcement. And, in the era of civil litigation and improving race relations among the general populace, the civil litigation process is more than adequate to handle violations of civil rights.

As an attorney, I would recommend that you at least give me a chance to fight for you while you’re still alive.

Here are some recent deaths that resulted from someone resisting arrest:

1) Cesar Cepeda, 27, wielded axe at officer while resisting arrest, hispanic, October 2014
http://www.kveo.com/news/man-brownsville-shot-and-killed-after-resisting-arrest

2) Robert Cameron Redus, San Antonio, TX, student, shot in back resisting arrest, unarmed, white, 11/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/robert-cameron-redus/

3) Cody Dempsey, 25, Ohio, September, 2014, resisting arrest, white
http://wkbn.com/2014/09/26/police-and-suspect-exchange-gunfire-along-route-11/

4) Joseph Lee, 32, Indiana, September, 2014, resists arrest while officers try to serve arrest warrant, white
http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/crime-fire-courts/2014/09/24/Joseph-Lee-had-long-criminal-history-in-Indiana.html

And, lastly…

5) 2009, Pastor Jonathan Ayers (a white man) was killed when officers perceived he was resisting arrest

It turns out that the Pastor was helping an indigent woman. It could be that the Pastor was frazzled because he may have been having relations with the woman; whatever the motivation, when he was approached by cops, he tried to drive away, striking an officer, resulting in the officers shooting him fatally.

The grand jury determined that the shooting was justified.

Notwithstanding, a jury awarded the Pastor’s wife over 2 million dollars in the subsequent wrongful death suit.

The moral I am hoping to promote is that we should stop focusing on the race issue, here… but instead work on teaching our children to not resist arrest… and, most importantly, pray for more peace and understanding! At the foot of the cross, we can all find victory no matter what your color.

Your thoughts?

About Me, Evangelism, Fellowship Friday, God, Music, Religion, Songwriting, Worship

Songwriting chops I didn’t even know I had

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The title of my new album coming out tomorrow is called “Dreams I Didn’t Even Know I Had,” and I bring this up (not only as a gentle reminder, but) because I just read a simple songwriting tip that I discovered I unconsciously use… so, the blog title.

Famed songwriter Ralph Murphy says – in talking about “accessibility” of a song that you are writing: “How easy is the song to sing? One-syllable words are your friends.”

It’s that simple.

So, I thought about my own songwriting and the tunes that have been a hit and miss. Two examples:

Hit – New Life: “It’s the start of a new life… a new life for me.” (one syllable laden)
Miss – By Your Grace: “I may lack certainty in many situations in this life…” (egads)

How about a Taylor Swift hit, “Shake it off?”

I stay out too late
Got nothing in my brain
That’s what people say, mmm-mmm
That’s what people say, mmm-mmm

I go on too many dates
But I can’t make them stay
At least that’s what people say, mmm-mmm
That’s what people say, mmm-mmm

Exclude “nothing” and “people” and we have nothing but one-syllable words… and the two syllables can act like one-syllable words in syncopation.

Say what you want about “trash music” or “commercial music,” etc. But, I don’t know a single songwriter who writes songs just because she wants to listen to them herself. We write songs for other people to hear and enjoy, too. And, as a Christian worship songwriter, this is even more important.

It is most certainly hard to find originality in one-syllable words… but maybe our goal shouldn’t be “originality” as much as “conveying an emotion and a message.” This goal is certainly where we should be going in our Christian songwriting.

Can you think of other lyrical examples of hits and failures… perhaps your own?

cover170x170 “Dreams I Didn’t Even Know I Had” is comprised of thirteen songs that deal with God, worship, sin, freedom, fatherhood, and love… styles vary from basic acoustic singer/songwriter to Depeche-mode-like 80s electronic. Check it out!
Christmas, Evangelism, Family, God, Prayer, Religion, Worship

My Baby’s First Christmas Lullaby

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I tried my hand at orchestral music production last year, and I decided to share the music with the world… I think that it works great as a Christmas lullaby to help get your family into the Christmas spirit and to get your babies to sleep!

It is a 21 and a half minute medley of Christmas music, including Silent Night, O Holy Night, Come All Ye Faithful and more.

Available in most online digital outlets, I would recommend that you download it at CDBaby for the cheapest price ($2.99). Listen (and download) the medley, below.

About Me, Advent, Bible, Christmas, Evangelism, God, Music, Online Marketing, Prayer, Recording, Songwriting, Street Team, Worship, YouTube Video

“Dreams I Didn’t Even Know I Had”

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I am releasing my latest Christian worship CD on November 15th… it will feature my Christmas song “Christmas is Christ” and the Advent song “Tender Mercy” (originally released as a single last year).

The music is recorded and out for mastering. You can help me in getting this project out by participating in my Kickstarter campaign… I’m looking to collect $750 (as a “pre-sale” of sorts) to help defray the costs of the mastering and pressing into CDs.

If you can help, I am greatly appreciative!

Click here to go to the Kickstarter page and watch an intro video.

Here is the latest update video on the project.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Thanks for watching!

About Me, Christmas, Current Events, Fun, Music, Social Networking, Street Team, YouTube Video

Happy New Year 2014!

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I just wanted to take time out to wish you a Happy New Year and to let you know about some of the happenings in my music ministry.

RADIO PLAY
2013 was a great year as a number of singles off of “The Start of a New Life” received terrestrial and internet radio play. Currently, the singles “New Life,” “Shema Yisrael,” “All That We Need,” “I Will Rejoice,” and “None But Thee” get regular play at http://www.christiantraxalive.com. Check them out (always great music, 24/7), and they have a nice Itunes app.

The worship team at LIFEhouse Church in Northridge, CA (http://www.lifehouse.la) continues to grow. The collective ages on the team run from 15-70… what an awesome way to worship God, bridging the age gap, through the gift of music!

NEW ADVENT SONG
I released the Advent song “Tender Mercy” on December 6, 2013. It is available on Itunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tender-mercy-zechariahs-song/id776881943)… as a special offer to my “street team,” if you leave a review of my CD “The Start of a New Life” at the Itunes link, below, let me know by emailing me the review at rob@robreed.com, and I will send you a download code to download “Tender Mercy” for free.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-start-of-a-new-life/id563577234

What a blessing “Tender Mercy” has been this year! A few churches throughout the country (and one in Canada) used “Tender Mercy” in their advent services. Here is a church in Illinois that used the song for a youth group “blacklight” drama.

PLANS FOR 2014
Two projects are on the burner for this year, which might merge into one… a regular CD of original worship music and a Christmas CD near the end of 2014, featuring “Tender Mercy.” I also wrote a song this Christmas season (“Christmas is Christ”) which is bound to appear on that CD, also. You can hear a demo of that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1fF7AoQW0w

SOCIAL MEDIA
Subscribe to my various spots on social media:

Blog – http://www.robreed.com
New Release Tuesday: http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/artistdetail.php?artist_id=4096
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rob-Reed-Music/17700233565
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/robertreed
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/liftaloft
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/robreedmusic
MakerofMusic: http://www.makerofmusic.com

Thanks for all of your support!

Blessings and wishes for a wonderful 2014,
Rob

Advent, Bible, Christmas, Evangelism, God, Music, Religion, Worship, YouTube Video

One more for Advent! Light One Candle To Watch For Messiah – An Advent Hymn

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I have said it before and it bears repeating for this blog post that because I became a Christian just over 7 years ago, an “old Christian hymn” for me is anything off of Chris Tomlin’s Arriving. So, I am always greatly appreciative when a brother or sister who has been in the faith much longer directs me to a “real” oldie but goodie. This is one of those songs.

“Light One Candle To Watch For Messiah” is an Advent hymn based on an old Yiddish folk song, made popular (I believe) in churches in the 1980’s. I tried to “hip” up the oldie but goodie a bit by adding an anthemic chorus (with the intention, of course, of getting the song stuck in your head). I hope it works. Enjoy.