June 3, 2021
Brazil-based JBS, the world’s biggest meat company by sales, was hit by a ransomware attack that took a big chunk of U.S. beef-and-pork processing offline, sending buyers scrambling for alternatives and raising pressure on meat supplies. The attack put more pressure on a food-supply chain already under strain from labor shortages, production constraints and high transportation costs. The company said the majority of its meat plants would be operational June 2. The attack originated from a criminal group based in Russia.
Here we go again. Just as with the attack on the gasoline pipeline, prices are sneaking up, and people are panic buying.
👉 Another casualty of the Chinese virus is the necktie. During the pandemic year, Zoom shirts leapfrogged corporate attire. Interest in the necktie – already waning in recent decades – was nearly extinguished. Seigo Katsuragawa, the proprietor of Seigo, a tie-focused store in Manhattan, said this past year was the worst in his company’s 30-year history. Previously Rutledge’s, a classic men’s clothing store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, sold 35 neckties a month. That number has now dropped by more than half. Today, neckwear sits largely ignored on the sales floor.
👉 We haven’t been to the jukebox in a while, so let’s spin a record by Tommy James and the Shondells. Like many rock and roll groups, they went through many name changes and featured different band members, but always with Tommy James (born Tommy Jackson) as the lead singer. The band, made up of musicians from Niles, Michigan, high school, was earlier known as “The Echoes,” and “Tom and the Tomatoes.”
In 1964 James renamed the band the Shondells because the name “sounded good” and in honor of nearby Fort Wayne’s Troy Shondell, famous for his 1961 release, “This Time (We're Breaking Up).” Shondell was one of James’ musical idols. “This Time” and Troy Shondell were one-hit wonders, spending 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at # 6, and selling over 3,000,000 records and earning gold.
By 1968 Tommy James and the Shondells had 16 charted hits, including three in the top five. After a meet-and-greet on a college campus, a student approached James and handed him a sheet of notebook paper. At the top was a title, “Crystal Persuasion.” The rest was a religious poem he had written, inspired by the New Testament’s Book of Revelation. He urged James to keep it and then left the gathering, never introducing himself.
In a Wall Street Journal interview James said, “I folded the paper and put it in my pocket. I, too, had been struck by the Book of Revelation. I was brought up in the Catholic church in Michigan, but religion wasn’t that meaningful to me when I was little. Then in ’67, I became a born-again evangelical Christian after watching Billy Graham preach on TV. Graham’s simple, elegant message hit me between the eyes.”
The student had used Chapter 22 for inspiration: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God.” James said, “I liked ‘crystal persuasion’ for the chorus line, but it needed an extra syllable so the phrase would sing well. I suggested ‘blue,’ a soft, easy-going word. The guys agreed and it became ‘crystal blue persuasion.’” Many parts of the song, particularly the last verse of “Crystal Blue Persuasion” reflect that conversion experience. “Crystal Blue Persuasion” went to # 2. It was the group’s last top 5 song.
👉 There will be a family yard sale at 233 Woodland Drive on June 12. We didn’t have one last year, but stuff has been accumulating, so the Five Families (that sounds like something from The Godfather) will be putting out neighborhood signs advertising the goodies. I found several examples of other yard sale signs and saved them as inspiration.
👉 Today’s close, “How the Cross Proves Your Value,” is by Rick Warren.
“Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable.” (1 Peter 2:4 GNT)
God says that you’re accepted – and that you’re valuable!
How much do you think you’re worth? I’m not talking about your net worth; I’m talking about your self-worth. Don’t ever confuse your tangible valuables with your value as a person. Being rich or poor has nothing to do with your worth as a person.
Two things determine value in life: what someone is willing to pay for something, and who has owned it.
The Bible says, “You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him” (1 Corinthians 7:23 TLB).
You belong to God, and Jesus paid for you with his life. The cross proves your value. Nobody has ever paid a greater ransom than God paid for you! You’re acceptable, and you’re valuable.
Peter uses the imagery of a building project to illustrate your value. He paints a picture of God constructing a stone building. That building represents the family of God. Peter says, “Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable” (1 Peter 2:4 GNT). Jesus is the living stone. He was perfect, but some people still rejected him. You may think, “If I could just be perfect, then I would be accepted.” No! Jesus was perfect, but even he wasn’t accepted by everyone. Yet he was “chosen by God as valuable.”
You are one of God’s chosen, valuable stones, too. When you gave your life to Christ, you became a building block in God’s great plan. The next time you’re questioning your own self-worth, remember that Jesus thought you were worth his life, and you’re now forever part of God’s family.
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