There will be no free downloads of this album from my site, however I will let it be known that the album is on the money. Many rumors have been circling around the internet and the blogs that Usher was about to drop a dud.

Well if you’re a 5 year old and can not appreciate a man’s growth through his music then you will probably not like this. But if you are ready for a sincere to R&B, I mean that real rhythm and blues then I suggest you go out and purchase Usher’s new album when it drops on Tuesday, May 27th.

From the beginning to the end of the album Usher will bring you on a roller coaster journey of a man and his emotions battling love and facing his fears head on. “Moving Mountains” finds Usher more than comfortable while divulging his feelings about a love going down the wrong path. Those who have been there can relate to the metaphor with ease and are fighting for Ush to move the mountain, climbing and hoping for things to change. What can you do?

“Prayer for you” is just an interlude but you can see the growth in my man Usher singing a prayer for his little man. I remember back when Usher was a young dude singing “just call me a mack” and now he is showing the true evolution going from the ladies man to now becoming a family man.

A sure hit for the radio “Best Thing” finds Young Hov and Usher riding the beat getting the ladies ready for a hot summer!

“Appetite” will be a favorite of all these gossip sites looking to throw some salt or hate into dude’s new marriage. He’s hitting the fellas with a message though telling us not to feed our appetites or we’ll be trying to get into the crib but the key won’t fit no more.

All the Ladies looking to find that special dude will hope that when the time comes that he serenades them with the words to “Before I Met You”! A beautiful dedication to the special one in your life, like I said Usher is definitely showing growth on this one, not the same player from Confessions!

Everyone is going to attempt to compare this album to Usher’s last but that will be their first mistake. You can not compare the two; Usher released Confessions at 25 fresh out of break up. He is now 29 and a happily married man with a child, in those four years there has obviously been a lot of growth and it shows on Here I Am. Quality Product, I’ll be buying the retail copy as soon as it drops on the 27th!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tZAFCX2Rlk&hl=en]

1. Intro
2. Love In This Club featuring Young Jeezy
3. This Ain’t Sex
4. Trading Places
5. Moving Mountains
6. What’s Your Name featuring will.i.am
7. Prayer For You Interlude
8. Something Special
9. Love You Gently
10. Best Thing featuring Jay Z
11. Before I Met You
12. His Mistakes
13. Appetite
14. What’s A Man To Do
15. Lifetime
16. Love In This Club Part II featuring Beyoncé & Lil Wayne
17. Here I Stand
18. Will Work For Love

Dear Dad,
I wanted to start by congratulating you on your 49th year on this planet and to praise you for the positive impact that you have had on the multitudes of people that you have come in contact with. I hope that you know that your selfless giving and undying efforts to teach and be of assistance does not go unnoticed. Even though we have had our rough and trying times, I am glad that at the end of the day that we can depend on each other. I know that we both see life through completely different lenses. However, I am very appreciative of the effort that you make to help me to see the bigger picture from all perspectives. I am aware that in the society we live in, raising a king is not easy by any stretch of the imagination but I am proud to see that you continuously remain a steady, constant presence in my life. We have both witnessed the consequences of young black males in the inner city that have practically raised themselves due to a lack of a fatherly influence or strong male role model. I am extremely happy that you took the time out to help mold me into the man that I am today. I may not be everything that you would like me to be but I am striving everyday to become the best Chad that I can be and that is one of the jewels you bestowed on me. We have come a long way in our journey as father and son in just one year’s time. Hopefully we can continue to progress and bring out the best in each other and become even closer for years to come. Thanks for being my life line even when the world turns the blind eye. Happy 49th Birthday… I’m sure Pop-Pop would have been extremely proud of you. I love you and God bless you.

-Chad G. Rumble

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Psalm 51: 11-13

Psalm 51 is a long Psalm and I have quoted from it before in the Pardon me messages. I find strength in repeating the whole chapter aloud after I am done praying to God. It is clear that we all make mistakes. No sin is greater than the other and I’m sure I sin everyday. In this Psalm David says “cast me not away from thy presence”. It’s like, I know I am not perfect and I continue to make mistakes Father, but please do not turn away from me for I am your work in progress. I was laying down last night and I was saying to myself how easy it is to talk about faith. To say with your mouth that you believe everything happens for a reason and that it is all in God’s plan. However, I would be lying if I said that its easy to actually make those beautiful words practical. I guess it’s all a journey and a beautiful test we hope to pass.

Speaking of tests, I took my final exam of my 1L year today. A sense of relief came over me when I was finished with the exam. Anxiety set in too however, when we accomplish one feat we often look to the next ordeal or obstacle without taking a moment to be satisfied with our small victory. But back to this scripture, I love it because he asks the Lord to restore joy to him and he asks the Lord to uphold him. It’s like please don’t turn away from me, I make mistakes, but please hold me up with you awesome spirit. After that I am indebted to you, I will teach your word to others and speak highly of your amazing work. Listen we all make mistakes, and we should try and learn from the ones we repeatedly make. Thankfully, the Lord does not turn his back on us, instead he lifts us up to achieve greater heights and we praise his name for that. Sounds like a good look to me. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Things are easier said than done!

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Then Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his fathers funeral. But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became afraid. Now Joseph will pay us back for all the evil we did to him, they said. But as Joseph told them, don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, to judge and punish you. As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. Genesis 50: 14-15, 19

What a rich scripture this is, I first read it days ago but I was not ready to embrace it at that point and attempt to decipher what it meant to me. I am so amazed by the grace of Joseph that I do not know where to begin. His faith is so strong, how often are we faced with people who attempt to sabotage our very existence? Whether this be at work, school, your love life; far too often people’s actions can have a great impact on us and for a short time negatively affect our lives. Since a child my mother has always told me “vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord”! Listen to Joseph, “Am I God, to judge and punish you”. We have no right nor do we need to judge those who trespass against us, their own conscience does it for them. Look at the fear of Joseph’s brothers, they are afraid because they know that they have wronged him. By not judging, by not taking these situations into our own hands we are sowing good seeds into the earth. If we followed the eye for an eye rule; a. we would all be blind, but more importantly we would sow bad seeds of karma into the earth for ourselves. We are responsible for our actions so even though we were wronged; by retaliating we only restart the cycle of wrongdoing. Making ourselves vulnerable to yet another attack and this time a rightfully deserved attack.

His faith amazes me, because he has set his faith in our creator and took the hardships that he was presented with and now sees them as good. The rough road that you are traveling may seem rough now as it did for Joseph but one day we will look up from the mountaintop and remember when we were down in the valley. We will stand tall from the balcony of a skyscraper and remember when we walked amongst the streets, confused and angry at the situations life had presented. We will stand and be thankful because the evil that others had tried to bestow upon us; that bewildered us for a time will be made good. Because we endured and believed in our Creator we will be able to look back at those blemishes and be thankful for that journey. We are not the judge, so let us let go of the ill harbored feelings that we have towards those who wrong us, their own conscience is eating them up already. Let us get deeper in our faith and understand that we are being blessed, we will be blessed and that God will turn our hard times to the most joyous occasions we have ever experienced. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Reputation is the shell a man discards when he leaves life of immortality. His character he takes with him.

February 21, 2008

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside by begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me! And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him.  And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, Recover your sight; your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. 

– Luke 18: 35-43

Good morning, I had to read this one a few times because at first all I saw was the man recovering his sight by way of his faith. However, when I looked a little deeper I saw so much more and I wanted to share my thoughts. Things were running through my head, like our destiny, and the journey we must travel to get there.

He cried out for Jesus because he knew that he could help him. Men sat right there and knew that the man needed help yet they rebuked him. Here a man in need is almost turned away by his fellow man despite his cries for help. Think about your dreams, think about when you are in need and some people try to hold you back, they don’t help push your dreams forward instead they attempt to hold you back. Should you stop! The man didn’t stop, he cried louder, cried out for the Lord louder. Here the man shows how determined he is, he knows the works of Jesus; he knows that this moment right now may change his life. He won’t allow any adversity to stop him from reaching his destiny, that’s what his cries represent to me.

Jesus heals him, but his words are so real, your faith has made you well. Your faith; what you believe in is how you reach your destiny, that is how we achieve. Believing in the creator, having faith that we do not exist here alone, the man had faith in the power of the Lord and he was healed. He didn’t take that healing and go chill, like “I’m good”. Instead he followed in the way of the lord, giving praise to God. He took the blessing the Lord gave him and showed it to everyone who could see so that they could know the power of the Lord. Sometimes when we read a passage like this, I know I imagine a dirt road, and from that point on this man followed Jesus around. But today I looked at it like he followed in the ways of Jesus; he followed in the teachings, and allowed his new sight, him reaching his destiny to be a testament of the Lord’s work. We get blessings everyday, when we are blessed maybe we should take from this man and show others the blessing so that they too can be blessed. I like how the man went on to show others his blessing despite the fact that others had tried to keep him from his blessing.  Peace and Grace be unto you!

A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.