The Better part, week #9

 

This week's FB posts, for your edification and my preservation:

The Better part, day #56:

 

Pro 22:20 Have I not written to you yesterday and the day before with counsels and knowledge,

Pro 22:21 to cause you to know the certainty of the words of truth, to return the words of truth to those who send to you? 

 

Last night I read an article in The Times Of Israel by a man whose main point was how much better Judaism and Islam was because they don't accept the doctrine of Original sin. Among his points were that it's never mentioned in the Old Testament (If you throw out enough of the Pentateuch that it becomes the 'five paragraphs'); That Jesus was a "moralizing perfectionist" who just wanted us to do better (turning the Gospels into the 'four paragraphs'); That Paul, "the true founder of the Christian faith" (If you toss out all of the miraculous power of God in Christ) pulled the doctrine of Original sin out of his left cheek; and that the Christian faith 'forces you to become a Christian to avoid hell', while neither the Jews nor the Muslims (which he 'proved' with yet more cherry-picked Koran verses that bear no resemblance to the actions of the historic- or current- Muslim faith) force anyone to do anything.

Although I could have gotten onto the comments section and put holes in his argument big enough for a Carnival cruise ship to pass through, I was a good boy for once and refrained. I knew he would never listen to someone who serves a Holy God who isn't going to dismiss what I want to do with a nod and a wink, who isn't just sitting back watching the dreidel spin, and who doesn't see man as sinless except through the lens of His Son's sacrifice. Wisdom has to be sought, and Jesus will teach it to you. If you're not too satisfied with your own intellect and with a do-nothing God.

 

The Better part, Day #57:

 

Joh 8:7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

I had something else planned for today, but real life struck: By now I know you all heard about Tiger Woods's horrible accident. And, not surprisingly, I heard on WOWO'S Pat Miller show that social media was having a lot of fun saying that Tiger's Karma for cheating on his wife finally came due. Before we start saying that, let me point out in that verse above, Jesus didn't say, "You who have LESSER sins". Jesus calls us to have mercy on ALL men, not just the ones whose sins are lesser, or hidden.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #58:

 

Rom 9:20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

Rom 9:21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 

 

To make the point I want here (not the one you might think), I'm going to add a secular quote of a scientific sort:

 

"...One is perhaps we are alone in the universe. The argument here is that we are finding more and more Goldilocks zones, meaning that it becomes increasingly difficult to find planets that can fit within all these new Goldilocks zones. For example, there is a Goldilocks zone (now) for the Milky Way Galaxy. If a planet is too close to the center of the galaxy, there is too much radiation for life to exist. If it is too far from the center, then there are not enough heavy elements to create the molecules of life...Each time there is another Goldilocks zone, it vastly decreases the possibility of life..." -Michio Kaku, The Future of Humanity, note # 245

 

Now we put the two together. How does this not convince these scientists that it all HAD to be put together by a Supreme Being? Because there are three kinds of things we don't know. There are the things we never bother to look for; the things, like in the Bible passage, God doesn't choose to share with us yet- or with each of us until we're ready; and things we REFUSE to see because it would dethrone man as supreme being.

 

 

The Better part, day #59:

 

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. 

 

Today, just a note that I took comfort that, if Jesus is The Word, and The Word is in the Bible, then every page I read, I am getting to know Him!

 

The Better part day #60:

 

Joh 14:1 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 

 

This is another just brief thought, stolen from Jack Hibbs. Jesus's first job- a carpenter. Imagine a carpenter with the Power of God having spent the last 2,000+ years building your future home?

 

 

The Better part, Day # 61:

 

(This is the tail-end of my Wednesday Bible Study post on the blog this coming week...)

 

2Sa 2:4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, "It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,"

2Sa 2:5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, "May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him.

2Sa 2:6 Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.

2Sa 2:7 Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them."

 

And thus, where a lesser king might have eliminated or at least ignored followers of the old regime, these men were blessed by David- and a city that might have died in infamy turned their path around and found themselves blessed. And we might never had noticed, had it not been set against the contrast of a soul lost without God. When we feel it's time to give up on this world, let's be men of Jabesh-Gilead, and receive God's blessing for it!

 

 

The Better part, Day #62:

 

"There is a connection between purity and power in our lives..." Charles Stanley

 

2Sa 24:2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, "Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people."

2Sa 24:3 But Joab said to the king, "May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?"

2Sa 24:4 But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 

 

Rom 14:21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

Rom 14:22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

Rom 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. 

These three things came together for me this morning, telling me that a) if I want to feel God in a more powerful way, I've got to accept him bringing me to points of greater purity; b) that I go backwards in that battle every time I shut Him out as I gravitate towards sin; and c) that things that might not be sin to anyone else in the world can be sin FOR ME.

Time Machine Co-Ordinates VICLXXI66522662

 

So, you mean we have no good lead in newswise for February 26th, 1962?

EP: No, but here's a thought.  Look at yer co-ordinate number this week..

Okay...

So the 'VI' means it's volume six, an' the CLXXI means this is the 171st post of this volume...

Yeah...

But... yer total posts on Time Machine is 665...

So what?

So next week, it'll be 666- the Devil's number!  You should come up with a devil show, or a devil feature!

Say, that's not bad... let me think about it!  But don't tell our guest today- he's a pretty devout Catholic, and he might not understand.

Like he's gonna understand climbing into a phone booth in 1962 ta do a show in 2021?

Good point!  And another one is, we best get this show going!

Yessir!  An' why not start it out with a new debut!  This one isn't exactly from a box set, but it is from another Rarities collection!  Here's new old stuff at #10 from M10 stars The Explorer's Club!

NOTE:  The video is on FB, and despite the post preview showing it showed up, it obviously did not.  You can find it at this link.

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Welcome to our show, sir!

Ah-thank you verry much, Mister Martin!

You're just coming off airing a show where you saluted Jazz cornet player-bandleader Red Nichols

and some members of his original Five Pennies jazz group celebrating their 40th anniversary, including pianist Sid Appleman and vocalist Dick Noel.  In the mean time, I have a #1 on my M10 this week celebrating the 50th anniversary of a song, so it's kind of an anniversary theme today.

Red Nichols was a very fine cornet player and band leader.  It was sad that his style of music started fading out too soon, especially with all-a the talent he had in ta band...

No kidding, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa all played for him at one point or another.  And I loved your Lennon Sisters!

Dey were America's sweethearts, I'm not surprised.  Verry proud of tem.

So, it's time to get to the Panel picks.  We had an even fifty votes spread among 17 songs- including 2 that don't hit the charts until St Patrick's Day, one that debuts next week, and one that's the b-side to another charting record that didn't get a vote!

I don-a know a lot of these songs... of course, I know da Elvis an'a da Patsy Cline on ta list...

S'okay, just need you to read off the 4 finalists so the audience can pick a winner...

All right, then, a-one an' a-two...

We have-a Gene Chandler wit' The Duke Of Earl at #1 on-a Cashbox this week...

An' Bruce Channel wit' Hey Baby at #4...

An' dat sweet little Shelley Fabres wit' Johnny Angel, which don' debut till next week...

An' at last we got Elvis wit' his beautiful Can't Help falling In Love Wit' You at #30...

Thank you, sir!  There's your choices- and in the meantime, how about a LIVE 6D!

Let's start with Albert Hammond Jr, who had a #1 M10 hit with Set To Attack last spring...

His dad of course is the Albert Hammond who sang the big hit It Never Rains In Southern California; but we run into him this time because he and a lady we featured a while back, by the name of Diane Warren, wrote the Starship hit, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now- a song that came about because the lady that would become Sr's 2nd wife (and Jr's mom) and Sr fought a seven year battle to get Sr's divorce from his first wife finalized.

This song comes into the story because of one Walter Afanasieff, who played keyboards and synth-bass on the single.  Walter became better known as a writer-producer for Mariah Carey, getting co-credits on her hit All I Want For Christmas Is You.  This hit, among the many records it has since set, became the first song in 59 years to hit #1 twice in two separated runs at the chart- and that happened 25 years after it's initial run!  After making top ten in Airplay (since it never was physically released back then) in 1995, it finally hit #1 in 2019- and again in 2020!  Only one other song has made two runs at the top- and that is our 6D victim, Chubby Checker and The Twist, fresh off of its second trip to the top, at #2 this week.

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Mr Welk, we'd like you to do what we call Overseas, If You Please- the other number one songs across the English-speaking landscape.

EP:  An' if you say I'm at #1 in England again, I'm-a gonna KISS you!

LW:  I don-a think so, Mr Presley...

"That Lawrence Welk, he's my kinda guy!"

No kissing, buddy!  Mr. Welk...

All right, a-one an' a-two...

You don't have to say that every time...

I know, but I got it a-copyrighted, and it costs you extra when I say it!  

Well played, Mr Welk, well played...

So in Australia, it was Elvis an' Can't Help Falling In Love...

New Zealand had the Peppermint Twist by Joey Dee an' ta Starlighters, which was #5 this week...

Canada had a The Duke Of Earl, just like us...

An' in England... Please don' kiss me...

EP:  ALL RIGHHT!!!!!!! 5 outta six weeks!  YEE HAA!!!

God, why do I have to listen to this all week?  And our big mover?

LW:  The Big Mover for this week is the Lettermen, fine boys, wit' Come Back Silly Girl, up from 100 to 60 for forty notches!

And now, how did the Panelists fare on the 1962 year-end chart?

How about 12 out of the 17?  We had...

Don and Juan's What's Your Name at 71;

Brenda Lee's Break It To Me Gently at 66;

Burl Ives and A Little Bitty Tear at 52;

Sue Thompson's Norman at 50;

Ace Cannon and Tuff at 44;

Of course, Elvis and  Finalist, Can't Help Falling In Love at 28...

TWENTY EIGHT??:? Geez...

Sigh... The Sensations and Let Me In at 25;

Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen with Midnight In Moscow at 24;

Finalist, Duke Of Earl at 15;

Finalist, Hey Baby at 14;

Finalist, Johnny Angel at 11;

And The Twist was #1! (It made #4 first time around in 1960).

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The remaining M10 this week:

9- El Michels and Piyat Malik slip 3 with Murkit Gem;

8- Saintseneca also with Wait A Minute;

7- And the trifecta of falling three spots with Lilly Hiatt's Brightest Star;

6- Royal Blood spins up 4 with Typhoons;

5- 3 upward notches for Neil Young and Pocahontas;

4- So too Tommy James and the Shondells and Hold On To Him;

3- Holding, Crack The Sky and Blowing Up Detroit;

2- Holding, Weezer and Grapes Of Wrath;

And a third week at the top for...

Home Free with Don McLean and American Pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel vote:

Elvis, you got 6%...

SIX??? Geez....

14% for Johnny Angel....

16% for Hey Baby....

And the winner, with 34%.....

...Gene Chandler, The Duke of Earl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And just maybe a "devilish" feature to celebrate my 666th music post to go along with him next week!

Wednesday Bible Study: The End of all things- Ruth

 

The last chapter or two of Ruth is really a study in how to be a man of integrity by Boaz. This is an easy, step by step process that every MAN (and woman, by extension) should hammer onto his morning mirror... and I may just do that!

Step one: Do Not Sin

Rth 3:13  Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning."

What man would tell a woman who, with any intention, sneaks into his 'bed' in the middle of the night to just go to sleep.  Boaz did, but that wasn't all.

Step Two:  Respect her honor

Rth 3:14  So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor."

He went to great pains to make sure that Ruth wasn't besmirched by gossip. In a world where many guys would have bragged about his 'conquest', Boaz kept quiet- and made sure everyone else did, too.

Step Three: The respect of a response

Rth 3:17  saying, "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, 'You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'"

Boaz knew that this was a message from Naomi- "Marry this girl, and my fields are yours." He made sure Naomi got the positive response back.

Step Four:  Respect the Law

Rth 4:1  Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, "Turn aside, friend; sit down here." And he turned aside and sat down.
Rth 4:2  And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.

Not once did Boaz step out of tradition and the law.  By this, he did not attempt to strong arm his way to his desire- he had respect also for the man who had "rights of survivorship" in the case.

Step Five:  Even if it costs you

Rth 4:4  So I thought I would tell you of it and say, 'Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.' If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, "I will redeem it."

And what if the other man wanted to redeem it- and add to HIS land? He could have told him about Ruth first, and turned him off of the deal.  Or he could have said nothing, and the man might have had the land and ignored the law, and Ruth would have been left with nothing.  But by adding on that the man would then have a duty to marry Ruth before the city elders, the man had to either marry her or forfeit.  By Boaz's honesty and respect for all parties, everyone came out the best.

Step Six: Receive the blessing!

Rth 4:11  Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem,
Rth 4:12  and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman."

And they all lived happily ever after?  Pretty much.

I did notice one other thing in this blessing: By this point, seven generations later, the stigma Tamar might have gotten from seducing her at-the-time corrupt and superstitious father-in-law Judah, had been erased, and she was mentioned with respect as being the mother of the true main line of Judah- the line from which Jesus would come.  I haven't really debated this point, having just noticed it, but I imagine for Israel it became a "They shall know you by your fruit" situation.  Maybe I should label this point thusly:

Step Seven: Forgive and forget the past!

The Better Part, week #8

 

Here are this week's FB posts!

The Better Part, day #49:

 

Pro 31:20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

Pro 31:21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.

Pro 31:22 She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Pro 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. 

 

I thought it might be good to do something with snow, and with my 31-day regimen in Proverbs every month, this was the first passage that came to mind. But notice the wonderful balance of the virtuous woman- and apply it to our lives, whether man OR woman. In v21, she made sure her family was taken care of- but in v20, we see she didn't neglect those suffering in the wider world. In v22, we she her taking care of herself, but in v23 she glorifies her husband. In thinking of everyone- herself and others- all end up being put in their finest. God is best glorified when we balance the things He asks of us.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #50:

 

Mat 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Mat 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 

 

Jack Graham told the story of a long ago local (Dallas area) man named Father Bugner who had established a children's home that is still around. Early on though, it was in debt and about to close, when he fell to his knees, asking God for His promised provision. As he prayed, he could hear pecans falling from the trees in the yard onto the roof, like gentle, "I'm right here" messages from God. When he rose from his pleading, he looked out into the yard- and after a moment, he understood. He and the children gathered bushels of pecans from the trees, sold them at the farmer's market, and raised JUST enough to cover the debt. Sometimes the provision is right there, we just have to shut up and listen for it.

 

 

The Better Part, day #51:

 

Rom 10:13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Rom 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 

 

One thing I considered as I spent my afternoon Missions prayer time is, we've recently had some missionaries lose their heads- missionaries on the home front, losing their heads, their works, to unconfessed sin. If we are to pray for the work to be done, one place to focus is on OUR pastors and leaders, that they not fall, and if they do, to confess in humility. The Mission field starts wherever two or three are gathered- and the preaching starts with those who call. Lift up your pastors, your youth and mission directors, and everyone else who helps lead the flock. Otherwise, the wolves will see them- yea, and the lost as well.

 

 

The Better Part, day #52:

 

Pro 18:12 Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. 

 

I can see, clear as a bell, an incident about 24 hours ago, and another one this morning, of me getting haughty in considering someone else's efforts.And on considering that first incident afterwards, I realized what it was I was doing. It was not overt, just a thought thing- that reminds me that character is an ongoing battle. Philippians 3:12, buddy, you haven't attained yet.

 

 

The Better Part, day #53:

 

2Ki 6:4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

2Ki 6:5 But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, "Alas, my master! It was borrowed."

2Ki 6:6 Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float.

2Ki 6:7 And he said, "Take it up." So he reached out his hand and took it. 

 

2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 

 

So this machine of mine at work is a real test of my ministry at times. It can really, when I'm struggling, seem a tool of the Devil! But as I thought about it today, I asked my memory, "Are there any places where a THING was demon possessed? My first thought was that axe head in the first passage- I would have probably thought of that axe head much like I do my machine. But, would Elisha have raised it if IT were evil? Then I thought of the second passage. This serpent was a symbol , a precursor of Christ in that being lifted, "It would draw all to itself". But when time passed, it didn't become demonic. They MADE it an idol- probably starting like, "We're not worshiping it, we're just 'honoring what it stands for' " -Catholic friends, take note! It took on a 'name' of it's own- a name that basically means, ' the bronze thing'. And while I wasn't making an idol of my machine, I may have been half-kiddingly making it a demon. A reminder it isn't the object, it's the attitude.

 

 

The Better part, day #54: (How's this for keeping a resolution!)

 

Rom 6:21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 

 

I've set myself to reading a chapter from the epistles every morning, and today I was in that famous chapter where Paul is trying to hammer into the Roman church that freedom from sin does NOT equal freedom to sin. I hadn't noticed this one line before- and to me, it might be the most compelling argument in the discussion. "And how is that working for you?"

 

 

The Better Part, day #55:

 

Luk 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 

 

I saw this on FB today, and at first I was put off by its brashness...

 

"If you need people to validate you,

you live a shallow, fragile existence and give your strength to others."

 

But as I thought about it, it's dead right. If I needed- as Satan keeps telling me- people to 'like' these posts for them to do any good, well, God wouldn't be in them and I'd just be glorifying myself. Better to glorify God, and let Him figure out where the 'bread cast upon the waters' goes.

 

Time Machine co-ordinates VICLXX66421761

 

So today we go to February 19th, 1961- the day before THIS happened, per Wiki:

Jerry  Garcia, an 18-year old drifter who had been discharged from the U.S. Army, survived a car accident in Palo Alto, California. He would later describe the event as "the slingshot for the rest of my life". "Before then I was always living at less than capacity," he would write later. "Then I got serious." Garcia would go on to found the Grateful Dead.

And speaking of unknown people getting big breaks, wait'll I get talking to Johnny Preston about just how Running Bear came to be a hit- and who helped him on it!  In the meantime, another new debut, a 6D that I actually got done prior to the show for a change, and the usual good stuff!  Let's sling right on into things!

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Hey boss, shouldn't I be getting some kinda award this week?

What, you mean besides being called the King, and the 150 different albums and singles that have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum?

Well, when ya put it that way...

What our big buddy is moaning about is that this week, he hit the UK #1 for the third TM in the last four!  We'll find out which of his 149 songs to appear on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Chart in America he claimed the UK honors for THIS week!  In the meantime, speaking of the UK, here's the new- and title- single for a British duo debuting at #10 on the M10!  Here is Royal Blood...

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So first off, Johnny, why don't you let the folks know who was doing the "Indian" background singing on Running Bear?

Well, sir, that was George Jones and the Big Bopper!

How did that come about?

Well, it was JP- the Big Bopper- who wrote the song.  And he also wrote White Lightning which George recorded after the plane crash. He thought Running Bear was too "Romeo and Juliet" for his image, and gave it to me, but we never was gonna release it- until the crash.  'Course, the story of George recording White Lightning was legendary, too.  We lost a lot of good music when that damned plane went down.

Amen to that.  So this week, we had 17 tunes from 46 stations- and one song was on the Panel twice!  The instrumental Wheels was charted by Billy Vaughn and by the String-a-Longs.  The String-a-Longs had the bigger hit- #8 combined on Cashbox and 15 by itself on Billboard- and had a 2 to 1 margin on the Panel.  However, both Laurie and I thought Vaughn's version was more enjoyable despite peaking outside the top 40.  Still, we managed 5 finalists, and now, it's time for you to introduce them!

Sure thing!  You all can choose from:

Lawrence Welk's Calcutta, the Cashbox #1;

The Everly Brothers with Ebony Eyes at #26;

EP:  I sure hope they don' win!  Those two clowns cut into my air time!

Hesh up, or I'LL be cutting into your air time!  Johnny?

Yeah, then we got Chubby Checker and Pony Time at #10;

Buzz Clifford and The Babysitting Boogie at #14;

And Connie Francis and Where The Boys Are at #9.

Thanks, Johnny, and maybe this'll help you guessers out...

EP:  But I doubt it...

...but I will throw in where the Panelists finished in the 1961 top 100 of the year!

Out of 17 Panelists, 11 made that countdown, and they were:

Finalist, Ebony Eyes at #75;

Finalist, Babysitting Boogie at #69;

The Capris and There's A Moon Out Tonight at #51

The Shirelles and Dedicated To The One I Love at #41;

Jorgan Ingmann's Apache at #30;

Finalist, Where The Boys Are at #29;

Smokey and the Miracles and Shop Around at #25;

The String-a-Longs' version of Wheels at #24;

Finalist, Pony Time at #14;

The Shirelles again, with Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow at #3;

 ...and Finalist, Calcutta at #2!

Some further oddities:

The year's #1 song is this week's 6D victim- highest charting without a Panel vote;

One song on the Panel- Pretty One by Roy Orbison- somehow got a vote despite being the b-side to a song that peaked at #72 last year...

And one Panelist- the song Angel Baby- was on the chart at #13 by Rosie and the Originals- but got the vote for a version by a gent named Charles Brown, of whom I could learn nothing.

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This lovely lady is Wendy Waldeman.  She comes into our story with Jim Photoglo, who had a pair of early 80's top 40-grazers.  But together, they wrote a country #1 in 1987- my prime country era- by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band called Fishin' In The Dark.  Wendy had a famous dad- Fred Steiner, who wrote the themes for a pair of well matched TV programs- Perry Mason and The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show.  Wendy was also part of a folk supergroup that was called Bryndle- an act that also included Karla Bonoff and Andrew Gold!  Andrew, of course, first made a mark by being Linda Ronstadt's multi-instrumentalist 'one man band', playing most of the music on the hits Heat Wave, You're No Good, and When Will I Be Loved.  Andy also had a famous dad- one Ernest Gold, who wrote several movie themes, including our 6D victim at #4 this week- Ferrante and Teicher's Exodus.

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Johnny, it's time for the Overseas, If You Please!  Here are the #1s across the English-speaking globe...

Oh, I get ta read them, too?  Say, this is kinda fun!

So the UK...

Save them for last...

EP:  HEY!

Gotta build up the suspense, Amirite? Go on...

So, then, let's go to Canada, where Panelist, A Scottish Soldier by Andy Stewart- which would chart here in April- is at the top.

In New Zealand, it's Floyd Cramer and Last Date, which was at #57 here.

Australia, you had Bert Kaempfert's Wonderland By Night- which was #1 here in January;

and the Elvis song at #1 in the UK was- Are You Lonesome To-Nite, which was #33 here.

There, happy now?

Why ain't it #1 HERE?

Because, you boob, it was #1 for 5 weeks at the end of LAST year, and is taking it's good sweet time leaving the chart, okay?

Yeah, that's burnt!

Good!  Now go entertain yourself while I get at the M10...

JP:  Hey, Mr Martin, this here card says I still gotta do the big mover...

Sorry, Mr Insecure distracted me!  Go ahead!

A song that Bobby Vinton will do in the future, the big mover is Please Love Me Forever by Cathy Jean and the Roommates, 22 spots from 94 to 72.  That it?

I reckon so!  Thanks, Johnny!  And now, that M10...

9- Middle Of The Road slips 4 with Fate Strange Fate.

8- Neil Young and Crazy Horse up 2 with Pocahontas.

7- Tommy James and the boys up one with Hold On To Him.

6- After peaking at 3, El Michels Affair and Piyat Malik's Murkit Gem slips 3.

5- Also slipping three is Saintseneca's Wait A Minute.

4- Former #1 Brightest Star by Lilly Hiatt holds at 4.

3- Big move:  Crack The Sky with Blowing Up Detroit.

2- Bigger move: Weezer up 5 with Grapes Of Wrath.

And still at the top... and not going anywhere...

...Home Free with Don McLean on American Pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel picks?

Buzz Clifford babbled his way to 8.7%...

Everyone else got 10.8% each, except for... with 15.2%...

...Lawrence Welk and Calcutta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be here next week for thrills, spills, and BUBBLES!

Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things-Romans

 

Romans 16 starts with a long list of people Paul and his scribe Tertius wanted greetings passed on to- boring stuff, right?  Even the commentators seem to content themselves with debating whether Andronicus, Junius, Herodian, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater were actually his kinsmen or this was a euphemism (my take on that at the end.)  But one thing among many we can learn from this chapter is the qualities in a Christian that Paul valued, because he names those qualities as he names off the friends that had them.  Ready?

- A servant of the Church:  Phoebe was noted as "a helper of many, including myself", and it was she that got top billing.

- Risked their necks for the Church: Which always brings to mind our missionaries in the field, and those, God bless them, who risk their lives bringing the Gospel to the Arabic and Oriental worlds.

-A firstfruit:  Valuable because when that first one goes in, others will follow.  Not only applicable in the sense Paul meant, but any endeavor. 

- "Did much labor for us": A bit of a difference here between Mary and Phoebe, in that you CAN serve the Church without laboring.

- "Noted among the Apostles":  Though not as famous; the pastor might get credit for the sermon, but what of the little child he met that week that planted an idea for that sermon in his head?  Paul goes on to mention that Andronicus and Junius were "in the Lord before me", which also reminds us we have- or should have- a long line of mentors behind us.

- Beloved in the Lord: This description of Ampliatus is echoed in the hard-working Persis later on. And it is not far from Apelles, who is "approved in Christ".  The commentators note that this means tried or tested, and there is some suggested that "Apelles" is also the more famous "Apollos".

-Fellow workers and prisoners: Sharing in all these works for the Lord.

As to the kinsmen part, I found what I think is evidence that Paul was using the term for those who had traveled with him on missionary journeys, with whom he had a special bound.  But would it be so much a stretch that Paul had a large extended family, and many of them were saved either by or (in the case of Andronicus and Junius) before he was?  It is not hard to believe that if he had previously saved relatives, they might have been particularly fervent in praying for him- at a time where most Christians might have been praying AGAINST him- and those prayers were heard when Christ appeared on the Damascus road.  And that- persistence in prayer- might be the biggest lesson from this list, if you're willing to do the mining of the Word...

On blizzards and Bangladesh

 So here I am, staring what has the potential to be a downright Indiana blizzard here in a couple hours...

...and thus, I've been looking around for some angles to make this all entertaining.  I got onto a Quora discussion of where it doesn't snow, and a gentleman named Abdullah tried to explain in English how Bangladesh has what they consider 6 seasons.  To the best of my ability to interpret what he said, here are the 6 seasons of Bangladesh:

-Hot summer

-Always rain

-Day Time so hot +

- At whole night (?)

-Always rain (round two, apparently)

-winter

Of course, I had to dig further into it, and discovered the more accurate 6 seasons are:

summer (grisma, in Bengali), monsoon (barsa), autumn (sharat), late autumn (hemanta), winter (shit), and spring (basanta).

Note, this is from Discovery.com- I DID NOT make up the Bengali word for winter, though I certainly agree with it.  And, you know me, I wondered what other languages used that 4-letter word to mean something other than it means to us foul mouthed English speakers...

In Albanian (according to Google Translate, so don't blame me), it means "sell".  I bet their stock market is fun during a shit-off...

In Sundanese, it's "bitter".  Which would change a song from last summer's M10 to, "It's a shit pill to swallow..."  Doesn't seem to lose much in meaning...

In Tamil, it means "Sheet".  So I guess all those times my Dad would exclaim, "SHEET the bed", he was just speaking Tamil.  Amazingly cosmopolitan from a man who routinely mangled 'Afghanistan' into "Fagistan'...

In French, it means "hash".  That might tend to change my breakfast potato ordering...

And in Gujarati- "What is Gujarati?  You ask- well, it's spoken right here-

(That, BTW, is India)

...in Gujarati, it means "Including".  I know there's got to be a good gag about that one, but I should get back to the blizzard thing.

So, later in that first post, a teacher of secondary mathematics (AKA a junior high teacher) named Brian-

Probably not, but you never know....

- gave us the following list of places he says have never had snow:

Maldives, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Suriname, Belize, El Salvador, Saint Lucia, Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu, Fiji. Kiribati, Singapore, Bangladesh, Vanuatu, Bahrain, Kuwait, St. Kitts & Nevis, Egypt, Malta, Tonga, Timor-Leste, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, and there may be a couple more.

 

And I'm thinking many of them are places I'd rather be than here tonight (given adequate food, shelter, and beer).  What's it doing right now in Bangladesh, Abdullah?

67 F, and foggy at 4 AM.  That is the typical description of Bangladeshi shi- er, winter.  Looking for a high of 82.  But it's prolly pretty crowded there, right now.  How about we try Tuvalu?  Where, you ask, is Tuvalu?

Ah, there we go, the south Pacific, just a hop, skip, and 2,500 mile jump from Jo-Anne!  And the weather?

82F, with a 65% chance of thundershowers at 10 AM.  I can live with that, too!  Let's try one more... say Bahrain?

66F at 1 AM, looking for a high of 77 with no rain!  We have a winner!

In the meantime, our WUndergound forecast is 12 F with snow falling at a rate of half an inch or above for the next SEVEN hours.  SHIT!