Wednesday Bible Study-The End of All Things- Ezekiel

I don't know as I have learned so much that I should have known- but didn't- as I did from chapter 48 of Ezekiel.  It's like sitting around with a puzzle partially put together, and you got used to it and happy with it- and then you put it together.  Allow me to share what I learned- a learning which required me to extend the Kalko Rule for 10 chapters.


The first thing you find in Ezekiel 48 is a divvying up of the land between the Tribes of Israel- so what's going on?  Ezekiel is having a vision of the Millennial Kingdom- the one that Jesus rules over from Jerusalem after the war of Armageddon.  The people of Israel's next second chance.  Because just as I speculated that the 70 years in Babylon were God's way of catching up all the Sabbaths they should have celebrated and didn't I believe the 1,000 years will be the catching up on having GOD as King the way they were supposed to.

Anyway, that division is different from anything that we saw in Joshua's day, with a central "holy area", Leah's children Judah and Benjamin on each side, then the sons of the wives and the sons of the concubines farther out, with the most unfaithful Tribe- Dan- farthest away.

And already we learn two principles:  First, that God accomplishes His purpose with each of us- whether we serve willingly or get drug kicking and screaming.  Second, as Dan learned, actions have consequences.  In Revelation, John gives the names of the Tribes from which the 144,000 witnesses (from which Israel makes up for the years of evangelism they defaulted to the Church), and Dan is not there.  Why?  It would be a good assumption that they disqualified themselves with their idolatry (and some say- not saying it's so- that the Antichrist will be a Danite). But they return to this era, because God has finished His judgment on them- it's time to move on.

This principle hits us again when we look into that "holy area".  This time, we learn there'll be a slight change in the priesthood:

Eze 48:10  These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the LORD in the midst of it. 
Eze 48:11  This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 
Eze 48:12  And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. 
Eze 48:13  And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000. 
Eze 48:14  They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the LORD. 

The Levites messed up their jobs, except for the line of Zadok.  Thus it will be that these priests will earn the honor, bring the sacrifices- and the rest of the Tribe gets to do the "grunt work". 

Another important thing I saw along the way came from chapter 45, but pertains to this theme- God was done with their screwing around and cheating each other:

Eze 45:9  "Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord GOD. 
Eze 45:10  "You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. 
Eze 45:11  The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 
Eze 45:12  The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina. 

No more, "putting a thumb-tip on the scale".  They were going to be obedient- as they had never really been before.

Further, we learn about this holy district that God Himself (Christ) enters the Temple from the East Gate, and no one else ever gets to enter that way again, and "only the Prince" gets to enter the vestibule.  Wait, who's this Prince?  Several sources tell us it will be the resurrected David, who gets to be the human face of Christ's rule.  For example:

Eze 37:25  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 

And outside the city and the Priests' area, he gets his own portion of the land.  Note that David is now a Prince, as King Jesus now rules.  Some people claim that Jesus is the Prince, and the Father is in the Temple, but this would not make sense, as David prophesied that Jesus would be the one to rule "until I make your enemies your footstool"-

Luke 20 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand 43 until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ 44 Thus David calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?”…

For the city itself, God talks about the 12 gates it will have, three on each side.  And again, they are arranged by wife:  All of Leah's six children are either at the North (Reuben, Judah, Levi) or South (Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon) gates; the blood-children of Rachel (Joseph, Benjamin) on the east (the direction the returning Christ comes from on His return, and the Temple Gate which He enters), along with her concubine's son Dan ( who needs a little extra polishing, no doubt) with Leah's concubine's sons (Gad and Asher), along with Rachel's remaining 'concubine son'  (Napthali) on the West.  Interestingly (at least to me) this line-up is scrambled from the Tribes' places around the Tabernacle of Moses.  Levi has a gate here, which he did not at the Tabernacle because he was serving, and Joseph is no longer split between Mannaseh and Ephraim.  Only Reuben moves clear across the grid (South to north), and only Simeon stays the same.  Why?  I have no idea.  Of course, I'll try to figure it out, but that's just me.  I do see they are the first two Tribes in the new land-positioning after Rachel's sons...

Anyway, the best thing about this new situation is the Name of the new city:

Eze 48:35  The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There." 

One other thing to think about- this tour of Ezekiel's is led by an Angel who has the prophet use a rod to measure everything- just as John does with the post-millennial Temple in Revelation.

Boy am I late with pictures!

Between last week's prayer vigil and just plain forgetting, I have a plethora of fantastic photos for your perusal...

This was in the woods- it was very wet then...

Busy day that day...

One morning, duck couple sleeping it off across the street.  Empty beer can tells the tale...

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXLI62142469

Today, we tumble into April 24th, 1969, and a lot of little things happened:  British Leyland put out their first car since the merger; the first securities from Ginnie Mae hit the market; Iraq tried their first try at scaring Iran (note: it failed); and we arrive to do Time Machine, with not one, but TWO hosts- thanks to Frank Sinatra's "final solution" to the song Honey last week!

"Final solution?  That sounds a bit... grim?"

It would have been worse, but we got the hit man to leave.  So anyway...

BG:  Hit man???

Just a big misunderstanding, right, Dino?

DM:  Well, of course it was!  Frank just likes to... help where he can.

So like I was saying, you guys are the two-headed host for this week...

BG:  "Two headed host?"  That sounds a little...

DM:  Don't say 'grim', son, yer repeating yerself.

Bobby, I was looking into your career and you actually have been a name dropper's dream!  You worked with Roy Orbison...

BG:  Yep, my band worked with him on tour for over three years- wrote a couple of songs together, too, but our publishers got into a debate over which of them would get 100% royalties, instead of splitting it 50/50...

DM:  That's the business we're in, kid.  Money killed a lotta good music.

Then, I find the story of how you got to do Honey...

BG:  Yeah, it was Bob Shane's song, and Bobby Russell wrote it and produced him.  Then I got this call from Larry Henley of the Newbeats to come listen to this song, and everybody told me I got to cut it, and the next thing I knew, it just blew up.

But the thing that makes me curious is the utter lack of personal info about you!  I know you're married to a very lovely lady named Dianne...

DM:  And that's how you'll stay married, son- don't tell nobody nothin'!

BG:  Exactly.  There are things you need to know about, and there are things you don't.

I get that.  Speaking of things to know, I suppose I should let everyone know that my lack of Monday and Tuesday posts doesn't mean I was dead or sick.  I signed up for a prayer vigil and sacrificed my prime blogging time to do it...

DM:  That so?  I'm proud of ya, boy!

In fact, I'm gonna have to cut away here in about 15 minutes to serve today's effort, so I hope you can behave yourselves for a bit...

DM:  Oh, sure, sure... you know me...

Yeah, that's why I'm worried...

DM:  An' you know Bobby here is a goody-two-shoes, so we're good...

BG:  I don't know if I'd put it quite that way, Dean...

DM:  (leaning in to Bobby) C'mon, trying to make him at ease.  I got this handled...

Uh-HUH.  Anyway, maybe we should pause to hit up the lone M10 debut this week.  With a song she said she "couldn't quite find a place for" on her earlier two lps, but thought it fit perfect for what's going on today, here's new stuff from Jana Kramer...





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BG:  So what is going on 'today'?"

DM:  Sonny, it's the future!  You don' wanna know, you'll just screw something up along the way!

BG:  But, you know?

DM:  Yeah, an' it's a real mess!

Excuse me, how do YOU know?

DM:  Elvis told me!  Don' worry son, I got a show with the Rat Pack later tonight, I'll fergit it all!

Uh-HUH.  So maybe we should look at the Panel here.  We had a whopping 26 contestants and 82 stations, but as usual we cut it down to 5 finalists.  Just so we can cut it down so these boys don't have to wait on me while I go to my prayer closet, let's just get right to those finalists.  Guys?

BG:  Thank you, and here are the candidates to choose from.  Would you like to go first, Mr Martin?

DM:  Nah, it's yer show, I just got Sinatraed in.

Now, there's a new word for you!  Okay, you guys just read the finalists while I'm gone, and hit the pause button so I can pick it up from there.  Good luck!

(Door closes...)

DM:  Hee hee hee... okay, let's do this, sonny!

BG:  Um, can you call me Bobby?

DM:  Sure, kid!  Now you go ahead and read the finalists while I look around to see what we do next...

BG:  NEXT?  But, we...

DM:  Just do it, boy!  I declare, you're more trouble than Lewis!  More pleasant, mind you...

BG:  But... but... (sigh)  All right.  Here are your choices this week...

Two songs from the Hair soundtrack- Age of Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In by the Fifth Dimension at #1 on the Cashbox chart, and Hair by the Cowsills at #3...

Then it's Mercy and Love (Can Make You Happy) at #66 and on the rise...

Blood Sweat and Tears at #2 with You Made Me So Very Happy...
 And the Isley Brothers with It's Your Thing at #5.  Um, Dean?

DM:  Yeah, coming!  I dunno how he reads these damn notes... er, darn notes!  Here, Tell 'em about this...

BG:  Okay, uh, boy he does write sloppy... These Eyes by the Guess Who, which got two Panel votes, is the week's big mover...

DM:  Yer supposed to say that in capitals...

BG:  Sorry, the BIG MOVER... moving from 83 to 42 for 41 spots.  Better?

DM:  Yeah, but just the first letters, okay?  Here, do this now...

BG:  The UK #1 is Get Back by the Beatles with Billy Preston...

DM:  Okay, now hit that button...

BG:  Are you sure we should...

DM:  JUST push the button...

So this is the crazy covers thing, an' they picked two songs out to compare.  Kid, you get to be Laurie...

BG: Why me?

DM: Cause me an' Chris are both Martins.  Now, the first one is the song Rhythm Of The Rain.  The original is the big hit by the Cascades, the contender is on this week's chart at #99 by my ol' partner's boy Gary an' his Playboys.  'Laurie', whaddya think?

BG:  Well, I liked..

DM:  Can you make yer voice higher?  A little closer to Grace Kelly, but not all the way...

BG: (exaggerated girl voice) Well, I liked the original, it was more upbeat!

DM:  See, there ya go!  Now me, I thought gary did a super job, but it was pretty faithful an' didn't have the storm sound effects...

BG:  Hey, Chris didn't write that..

DM:  Quiet, I'm in character!  The second song is called Happy Heart, an' it has two versions on this week's chart- the big hit by Andy Williams on it's way up at 68, and Petula Clark at 73.  Now I have to recuse myself, because I just looooooooove me some Andy Williams.  How about you, 'Laurie'?

BG:  Well, I've always enjoyed Andy, but Petula is so adoreabl...

DM:  The SONG, son!

BG:  Oh, yes, um, er, 'Andy puts his heart and feelings into it, and Petula is just kinda singing the song, so I'll go with Andy'.

DM:  Nice job, kid.

BG:  Can I talk normal now?

DM:  Please.  So then this 6D thing woulda been about Jerry Butler with Only The Strong Survive at #7, but he never got to it, so Jerry's on his own, I guess.  That leaves us just two more things to do.  Here, Bobby, you read this.

BG:  So, the rest of the M10 is:

Geowulf falls to #9 with Hideaway...
Brooke Annibale climbs to #8 with Under Streetlights...
The big hit of the year, Real Estate and Paper Cup, drops to #7 in its 10th week, pulling into the #5 all-time position...
Caroline Rose is at 6, up one notch with Do You Think We'll Last Forever...
Maddie and Tae move up 3 to #5 with I Don't Need To Know...
Anna Burch falls to #4 with Tell Me What's True...
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears move to #3 with Five Dollars...
Tennis moves up to #2 in its 7th week with How To Forgive...
And at number one again this week, post the picture.. huh?

DM:  Hit that button there, kid...

BG:  Oh, I see it...

...Albert Hammond Jr with Set To Attack... hey wait, Al's only three years older than me, and he has a son making hits already?

DM: It's that Timey-Whimey thing, kid.  Now, get up and move, so's I can do the winner...

BG:  Wait, I thought you were just passing the...

DM:  I'll do the thinking! Now here's the final results...

If you voted for Mercy, BS&T, and the Isleys, you got 6%.  Geddouttahere!
If you wanted Hair, you got a decent 18.3%...
But the winner, with 26.8%....

...the Fifth Dimension and Aquarius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, Bobby, we better scoot before...


HEY, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE???????

DM:  G'wan, kid, make a break for it!  I got a beer I can distract him with!

Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things- Exodus

I have really had to hash out Exodus 40 for this study, and I have drawn a few big lessons, but I had to frame it with Context.

Context is, this Chapter comes pretty much within 6 months of the great betrayal of Israel while Moses was getting the Law from God on Sinai.  In that 6 months, Moses had to teach them this Law, and start the construction of the Tabernacle.  Our chapter in question then is the "Readers Digest" version of the following 8 chapters in Leviticus- before anything happened in our chapter, God taught the people through Moses all the things expected of them about this new Tabernacle, which took the first 7 chapters of Leviticus.  Leviticus 8 then hit what we might call the 'technical details' left out of Exodus 40, so that everything God commanded Moses in verses 1-15 got accomplished between vv17-33 of our chapter and Leviticus 8.

So rather than hammer out this whole thing, let's do just like God did, and deal with a summary.

One thing I noted was that every two verses during Moses's work, the phrase was inserted, "as the LORD commanded Moses. "  And if you copy these down- what was done between the phrases- and instead of digging in as I usually do and instead back up for the big view, you see the pattern.  The things that Specifically dealt with God came first, down through the items of contact with the people which had to be consecrated, and ending with the outer court through which the people would pass.

That sets up our PRIORITIES.  First God, then the things that put people in contact WITH God, then the people themselves, i.e. their physical persons.

Next thing was the fact that they did this on what was set as the first day of the year.  One commentator mentioned that it is a good thing to start fresh at the beginning of a year.  If there's a Biblical basis for New Years Resolutions, there you go.

Another thing brought up was the fact that they did not wait until they got to the Promised Land to do this.  As soon as God had given them "the rules", they were to START RIGHT THEN- where they were, in the desert.  Which is where God wants US to start, not waiting till we're in a 'better place'.

One thing that got brought up a lot in my studies was this little deal:

Exo 40:9  "Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. 
Exo 40:10  You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy. 

So they ask, "Is there a reason why the Tabernacle was to be made "holy", whereas the Altar for the burnt offerings was to be made "most holy"?  The general consensus was;

 When we read here, however, that the dwelling and the vessels therein would be rendered “holy” through the anointing, but the altar of burnt-offering “most holy,” we are not to understand this as attributing a higher degree of holiness to the altar of burnt-offering than to the dwelling and its furniture; but the former is called “most holy” merely in the sense ascribed to it in Exo_30:10 namely, that every one who touched it was to become holy; in other words, the distinction has reference to the fact, that, standing as it did in the court, it was more exposed to contact from the people than the vessels in the dwelling, which no layman was allowed to enter. (K&D)

Do I buy this?  I'm not sure.  I wonder if the place of sacrifice isn't 'most holy' because, as the imitation of Christ's death on the cross, it is the ONE place that makes US holy.

Finally, the most obvious lesson is in the structure of the chapter.  VV 1-16 are the instructions on what God WANTS from us;  16-33 is OBEDIENCE to those instructions; and 34-38 are the BLESSINGS and guidance we get as a result of that obedience.  And that is the summary of what God gives us throughout the Bible.

Sunday message-the baby seat

As we took a Saturday morning walk, I was praying and reflecting, and I realized that the problem I had with the  people on Social Media last weekend was that they were the type of people back in the day who would have thought the "God is my co-pilot" bumper stickers were really cool.  And maybe you did, too, but here's why they were not:

It indicated that God was in MY car.

He was available to assist at a moment's notice, but it was ME driving.

And if you think about that God's purpose is HIS glory, you get why this wasn't a good thing.

No, where God wants us to be is in HIS car, in the back, in the Baby Seat.

How do I figure?

If you were here for the Wednesday Bible Study on Ephesians, you learned with me that the Whole Armor Of God that Paul taught was in every piece linked to the RETURN of Jesus.  That OUR strength is in HIS sure promise.  Just like Jehoshaphat, we strap on the armor, step back and let God win the battle.  And the baby seat is like this how?

We aren't driving. 
It doesn't go outside the car and knock obstacles away.
It doesn't soar the vehicle over potholes.
It doesn't even have an effect on which way the car goes.

But what it DOES do, it gives us the promise that where ever the ride takes us, we will be SAFE.

The SM people who fought with me want to be Christians THEIR way, and that way included ignoring Jeremiah's advice against conspiracy theories, ignored everything Jesus said about putting others first, and made it clear they had another idol- politics- as their co-pilot.  Or maybe with THEIR politics driving and "God as my co-pilot".

Either way, they were in the wrong car...

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXL62041768

Today we travel to April 1968, and the A's very first home opener in Oakland.  Among the highlights:  The biggest crowd the Athletics had played in front of in any of the three cities they played in; the debut of Charlie O, the mule, (appropriately) named for the team owner Charles O Finley; Ronald Reagan, then California Governor, coming out to toss the first pitch and being roundly booed (his response: "I was glad to be here, until a few minutes ago..."), the game nearly being picketed by the Musician's union (Finley had hired a union organist and band for THAT day, but had not agreed to using union talent afterwards), Joe DiMaggio debuting as an As coach, and a loss to Dave McNally and the Orioles, 4-1, in which one of the two hits they got was a home run by Rick Monday.  It would be the first winning season (at 82-80) the team had had in 16 years.

Welcome to this week's Time Machine, where we get to hobnob with Frank and Nancy, finish out the Bob Crewe list, try to find a way around the gigantic elephant coming into the room (you'll see in a bit), two new M10 debuts, the latest member of the all-time top ten thereof, and whatever else I can do to make this a "Honey" of a show!


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I am doubly honored to have the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra himself, and his lovely daughter, Nancy, on our ship today!

F:  Yeah, well, you're lucky to have me! I don't usually have the time to... HEY!  My eyes are here, not on her chest!

N: Oh, Daddy, it's okay!  I do have my boots on, if I need them...

Er, ah, yes, anyhow, I guess I'm at a bit of a loss right now- and not just because of you two!  You see, usually, when I have such an overwhelming winner as I do this week on the Panel- Bobby Goldsboro's Honey got as many votes as the other 18 contestants combined- well, I tend to find other ways to make the contest interesting.

F:  Hey, ya want I should have Goldsboro taken care of?  I have a guy who knows a guy...

That might be a teeny bit over the top for this kinda show, sir...

N:  Well, you could let ME have it...

(Choke) Er, um, you don't have a song on this week's list...

F:  Honey, never tell a man to let you "have it"... Anyways, I got an idea... let me see the list, an' I'LL pick the winner!

You mean like, let you pick a set of songs, and the song you like the best?  Hmmm... I kinda like that!  Um, here's the Panel list, and...

F:  I can't even read that crap!  Just gimme the chart for this week, an' I'll pick you out what I like.  You an' Nan can deal with this...

N:  I'd love to, Dad... wouldn't you, sweetie?

You Be- I mean, certainly.  Here's the notes for this week's 84 station, 19 song Panel...

N: Okay, so the real runners up this week were Gary Puckett and the Union Gap with Young Girl with 15.5% of the vote... The Beatles and Lady Madonna with 10.7%... which leaves 20 votes divided up between the remaining 16 songs, some of which you talk about later.  Dad?

F:  I'M BUSY!!

No prob, let's slide right on over to our first debut this week.  I watched a Brooke Annibale stream a couple days ago, and heard her sing this one, which was originally on her 2011 debut, and she re-released as an acoustic last year.  It comes in at #10... called Under Streetlights.




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N:  You like her better than me?

Uh, let's not go there just now... Frank, how are y-

F:  I'M BUSY!!!

Okay, then, why don't we just have you read us off the next hunk of Bob Crewe's greatest hits, Nancy?  We left off at #13 last week..

N:  Sure, honey, just let me have the list...

Number 12 is a song he wrote and produced- I guess I'm supposed to put w for write and p for produce here... anyway, the song is the Four Seasons and Let's Hang On!, #3 in 1965.

Then, it's the Four Seasons again in 1964 with Dawn (Go Away), a "p" only in 1964. Oh, also #3.

Then is the third time for the song Silhouettes, this time by the Rays, a "w/p" from 1957, taking the #10 spot on the list, hitting #3.

We have two more songs that hit #2, and all the rest will be #1s.  Our 9th song on the list is Oliver from 1969- say, that's next year!- and Jean, a "p" only.

Number 8 is Frankie Valli with a solo credit- although the Four Seasons were on the record- a w/p with Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You from 1967.

The songs that hit #1 start at #7 on our list with the Four Seasons and Rag Doll, a w/p from 1964.  Say, how old were you in '64?

Two.

TWO?  That would make us... not the same age...

I know, but in relative terms, I'm... even more older than you, than you are of me in real life...

But if we average it out, where would we be?

I'd have 25 years on you... maybe we better move on...

"Say, son, just how much a' yer age do you shave off ta do these shows?"

Well, I shave 62 years off of you, so it ain't THAT much...

N:  Boys, maybe we should check on my father...

F:  Awright, awright!  I got my list!  Here's who you get to choose from:

The Mills Brothers at #28 with Cab Driver...
Dean Martin with You've Still Got A Place In My Heart at #46...
Nancy has 100 Years at #51...
The Four Seasons and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow at #32...

And ME, with I Can't Believe I'm Losing You at #83!

That's a pretty stiff lineup, sir!  Well done!

F: Hell yes, it is!  So who are ya voting for?

N:  Daddy, I liked Dean's song...

I think I'll take the Four Seasons..

E: Um, I kinda liked Dean Martin's, too...

F:  What about YOU, Baldy?

Nardole:  I try to stay out of these th-

F:  WHAT ABOUT YOU, BALDY??

N:  I'll go with Miss Nancy, sir.

F:  Whattabout it, Shyster?

Bellbottom:  Er, well, they are all just fine...

Elvis:  You want him yelling at you, HB?

Bellbottom:  Um, I rather fancy the Mills Brothers...

F:  And I take Dino, so there you have it!

Okay... so I guess it will be Dean Martin... and Bobby Goldsboro next week...

F:  Ya sure ya don't want me to handle this Goldsboro kid?

E: Noodle could handle that Goldsboro kid...

N:  Nardole, sir!  N-A-R-...

E: Give it a rest, son.

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Here's our second M10 debut, at #8.  Country star duet Maddie and Tae...


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N: You think they're cuter than me don't ya?

Sigh... no, and they don't get to finish out the Bob Crewe list, do they?

N:  No, I guess they don't...

F:  An' neither do you!  Gimme that list!

N:  Daddy...?

F: Number six is the Four Seasons with Sherry, a "p" only from 1962... Then it's Walk Like A Man, "w/p" from 1962 at #5, and Big Girls Don't Cry, a "w/p" from 1962 at #4- an' that takes care of those paisanos from Jersey.

Then you got Christina Aguillera, along with a whole list of others I never heard of, with Lady Marmalade from 2001, that's a "w" with Kenny Nolan... that's #3...

Frankie Valli with My Eyes Adored You, a "w/p" from 1975, is #2..

And Bob Crewe's biggest credit...

(courtesy Verve Records)

 ...Labelle and their version o' this Lady Marmalade, from 1974!  C'mon, Nan, we gotta get movin'!

N:  But, Daddy...

F:  No buts, young lady!  Dino's picking us up at 6!

Well, thanks for helping out, this has been a lot of fun!  Of course, all that's left now is mopping up:  First, the remaining M10...

Adelitas Way moves up 1 to #9 with Habit...
Caroline Rose up 2 to 7 with Do You Think We'll Last Forever..
Geowulf up a spot to 6 with Hideaway...
Real Estate moves into the #8 all time spot while dropping 2 to #5 with Paper Cup...
Black Joe Lewis thunders up 2 to #4 with Five Dollars...
The last remaining climber from Iron Ceiling III, Tennis up one to #3 with How To Forgive...
Holding at 2, Anna Burch and Tell Me What's True...
And at the top for a second week...

...Albert Hammond, Jr, with Set To Attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The Stat pack this week had Manfred Mann in the 6D spot with The Mighty Quinn at #6... the big mover was Panelist  A Beautiful Morning by the Rascals, 35 places from 77-42... Congratulations to Cliff Richard, who had Congratulations at the top of the UK chart... And one last thing...

One of our Panelists, with one vote, was former Kingston Trio leader Bob Shane doing the FIRST recorded and released version of Honey, which at some point would peak at #104 (But was still #1 in Denver this week).  So we put him up against Goldsboro, and....


...sigh, two more votes for Bobby.  Next week, it will be him and Dino and 1969!  So, be th- hey, who are you?

I heah yer lookin' ta get rid of some dude what sang a song.  I got a call from a friend o' yers to help ya out...

Oh, just lovely...

Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things- Esther

When I saw the 10th chapter of Esther, I thought, "Boy, you are up against it this time!"  For what I meant, let me show you the ENTIRE chapter of Esther 10:

Est 10:1  And King Ahasuerus laid a tax on the land and on the isles of the sea. 
Est 10:2  And all the acts of his power and of might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, with which the king made him great, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 
Est 10:3  For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews, and pleasing to the multitude of his brothers, seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. 

That's it- three seemingly tacked-on verses.  And I had no idea of where to go- maybe a slight inkling, but nothing astoundingly useful- until something from last week's stop in Ephesians struck me.


In our look at Ephesians 6, we saw how the verses referenced in Paul's listing of the Whole Armor of God were attributes of the Returning Christ.  One of those, which I had to find on my own, was in Psalm 5:

Psa 5:12  For You; O Jehovah, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield. 

And in the word "favor" we found the core meaning, "to satisfy a debt".  And guess what?  That same word (actually a direct derivation thereof) is in those above 3 verses.  And in finding that, I learned that Mordecai was a type of Christ.  Let's look at the attributes in v3 of Mordecai.

1- "he was NEXT to King Ahasuerus".  That word for 'next' contains a very interesting meaning:

משׁנה
mishneh
mish-neh'
From H8138; properly a repetition, that is, a duplicate (copy of a document), or a double (in amount); by implication a second (in order, rank, age, quality or location): - college, copy, double, fatlings, next, second (order), twice as much.

And while Jesus, while on earth, consistently put Himself BELOW the Father, He also told us "The Father and I are one", and, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father"- in essence, He was a 'repetition, that is, a duplicate' of the Father.  Just so, in the eyes of all who mattered, Mordecai became a 'duplicate' of the King.

2- "...and GREAT among the Jews..."  No hidden meaning here.

3- "...and PLEASING to the multitude of his brethren..." And here is where I figured out what God was saying to me, because the word "pleasing" is virtually the same word as 'favor' in Psalms 5:12.  In effect, Mordecai "satisfied the debt" of his brethren.  How?  Not only did he stand where others bowed, but was willing to give the most precious thing to him- Esther- to save them all.

4- "...seeking the WEALTH of his people..." This a bad translation for the modern day from the MKJV; most other versions use "good" or "welfare".  The definition says the word is good as an ADJECTIVE.  In that sense, you might re-write the sentence, "he sought to make his people good.."

5- "...and SPEAKING PEACE to all his seed..." These are two figurative terms, and actually is more like "arranging safety".  Which Mordecai in essence did for them, and Christ does for us.


It might seem a hard task to see Mordecai as the hero of our tale (especially since it got named after Esther) but consider he did save both his people and the King; the tale began to turn ONLY when the King realized that Mordecai had done HIS will in the past.  And he did the same again in the end, not through word but through sacrifice.

A to Z Mashup a day early, part two

Read the first half here, if you would.  It explains why my lazy butt does the annual challenge this way, and gives you the A through M part of this picture post through time.  It also gives the official A to Z challenge insignia for this year, which I obviously didn't title on my gallery and forgot where it's at, so I didn't post it this time. (again, lazy butt!)  But here are plenty of shots to make up for it...



N-  "Now, I know where the squirrel disappears to!" (2-8-20)

Honest to Bob first time she figured it out...

O- Well that's an Odd looking animal... (5-22-19)

"I assume you mean the dolphin on the hat..."

P: Scrappy's Playdog spread... (2-1-14)

"And this is just the cover shot..."

Q- "Quick, I'll knock at the front, and when it comes out the side, grab it!" 4-10-15)

R- Rabbit Babies... (4-27-13)

S- The Spot (3-30-13)

Me and Scrappy's special hidden spot.  I won't be back...

T- The Turtle Bar (4-12-16)

"Didn't you see the sign? NO CREDIT!"

U- "I warned you about Using the bathroom over here.  No privacy!" (4-16-17)

V- Viewing the dam at the Spot (4-18-17)

"Yeah... whatsay we get outta here?  Looks like it's about to go..."

W- Scrappy's favorite Watering Hole... (4-8-15)

"Last stop before home", as it used to say at the Third Base Tavern...

X- eXamining for critters (4-16-16)

Never, ever passed that log by... never found nothing.

Y- "You go out there and fall in.  I'm done falling in the river!" (4-22-13)

Frankly, I'm amazed I did it, let alone him!

Z- It's like a Zoo up in here... (5-26-19)

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did putting it together!