Here's the latest things I didn't know in Revelation, from Jack Hibbs:
Rev 6:1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"
Rev 6:2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
Some people think this is Christ, but they are wrong... the "crown" he wears is a victor's wreath in the original, not "many Diadems" as Christ wears later in Revelation; and where Christ has the 'sharp two-edged sword' coming out of His mouth, this guy has a bow- but no arrows! This is thought to symbolize how he will conquer with words... lying words. This is the Antichrist.
The Better Part, Day #267:
When Russia is on the warpath and two different pastors you listen to, in the middle and beginning of different series, reference praying for Israel because of Genesis 12:3- "I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you..."... you bet I'm going to remember a little harder...
The Better Part, Day #268:
So I woke ready to type in the Wednesday Bible Study on my blog, and saw that I had accidentally scheduled last week's typing for the 30th instead of the first. I take that as a sign of one of two things. Either today's typing hasn't been given enough thought... or someone who needed last week's wasn't available Wednesday. All in God's providence!
The Better Part, Day #269:
Near the end of the Book of Job, Elihu lets us know exactly what he thinks is wrong with both sides in the argument- the three friends are oh-so willing to condemn Job- he has to have sinned because look at the state he's in- but they have nothing of value to help. Job, he says, justifies himself, rather than God. Which led both sides to the same conclusion- they were fighting for the win, instead of seeking God's will.
God has nothing to say TO the three friends- they have no real knowledge of God, just their perceptions of what a god should be. Job, who is seeking God, if irreverently, gets told that God has two things against him: first, he's doing a lot of talking and knows nothing; second, he's trying to put God in the wrong so that he can be right. Which, of course, just what Elihu told him.
I think the book was God's way of letting the Jews know why they were getting farther and farther from him. They were about creating a God that fit their purposes; they had all the opportunity to learn about God and didn't; and refused to admit that they COULD be wrong. How many of those lessons did I need today?
The Better Part, Day #270:
Recently, a FB friend shared a pretty ridiculous meme, once one thinks about it: "The names of NONE of the Gospel Writers are in their gospels. We have to rely on TRADITION to know them." Or something close to that, and exact in meaning.
Simple logic and a little respect tell you that there is a difference between traditions on facts, like this, and those that deduce from one thing (say, Mary being blessed) something that is totally against the rest of Scripture (Say, that Mary should be prayed to for access to Jesus, when Jesus said He was the only Way). Peter and Paul, who DID sign their Gospels, tell you this much- but you have to read the word and not rely on what non-Apostolic men regurgitated.
Tonight I was looking around for something to go along with this week's countdown, and in reading about the Labor settlement in baseball, I found a clickbait page promising the "25 greatest songs of all time", and had to have a look. So in between this week's hugely shook-up 10, with 3 debuts, I'll share opinions on some of this list. But first, like I said, three debuts, so let's go right away to the one at #10! From the brand new lp Rock Believer- their first in 7 years- here's a cut from the Scorpions!
************************************************
Hey, Bud, where ya been?
Elvis: Aw, I didn't wanna order out this week, so I fired up the ol' commisary and made a couple'a peanut butter an' banana samwiches! Want one?
Hard no on that one, buddy! So here's how this guy from New Arena named his top songs of all time...
1- Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen. I can see that. Not my top, but certainly one of the best put together songs ever.
2- Johnny B Goode, Chuck Berry. Again, I can see this one, maybe a bit farther down chart...
C'mon, dude! That song brought a lot of us inta rock'n'roll!
All right, I suppose...
3- Like A Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan. This one is on most every list like this, and again, I can see it.
Our second debut this week at #9 is the fourth M10 hit off Future Past for- Duran Duran...
**********************************************
Somebody named Joe Guisto came up with this list, by the by... let's do a few more....
4- Let It Be, the Beatles. This is far from his only Fab Four pick, and easily the most justifiable.
He better have me on there...
He did, but much lower and less frequent than you- or I- would have done it. Anyway...
5- I Can't Get No Satisfaction, the Stones. I know this is a virtually obligatory hit on a list like this. I just think I could name five better Stones tunes off the top of my head...
Do it!
Fine. Miss You; Get Off My Cloud; Heartbreaker; Gimme Shelter; Brown Sugar.
Ya did it...
6- In My Life, the Beatles...
"In My Life?" Really?
I get his point about the emotion put into the song, and I guess in the end, it's his concept of great. One more for now...
7- Be My Baby, the Ronettes. Maybe a little high on the list, but certainly deserving. Let's hit that last debut this week- all the way up at #6, the Cactus Blossoms...
*********************************************
These guys could be the M10's Everly Brothers, y'know?
Lord, let's not bring those two goofs into it!
Well, I did mean the REAL Everlys, and not the 'Smothers Brothers' knock-offs we used to make them on Time Machine, King! Anyway, here's some more of that list...
8- I Walk The Line, Johnny Cash. I definitely feel the Man In Black belongs on this list... not sure this song or this high. I wonder if Joe's Cash-knowledge came basically from the movie? This is kinda the 'token country' on his list.
9- Imagine, John Lennon. Not wanting to re-ignite the great "how dare you insult Imagine" controversy we had several years back, I'll just say I'm surprised Joe didn't have him higher.
10- Hey Jude, the Beatles. Another of those 'not my favorite's, but I get it, and I wonder that he didn't have this at least were he put Let It Be.
Are we about done with the cotton-pickin' Beatles?
Well, I am done with the top ten he had... but here are some other highlights of his list...
11- Stairway To Heaven, Led Zeppelin- how on earth did he not put this in his top 3? It's almost a requirement on a list like this?
What in Sam Hell is going on with this keyboard? You've had to backtrack where it stopped or stuck about a dozen times now!
I know, right? "Now joining the parade of mechanical devices breaking down on Chris, here's keyboard!"
Seems ta be settlin' down, now that ya insulted it...
Thankfully. Anyway...
13- Respect, Aretha Franklin. Again, Joe's fellows will probably berate him for this one not being in his top ten...
15- Hound Dog, Elvis...
FIFTEEN??? Why, I oughtta sue...
Sorry, take it up with your estate... he follows with a couple of nods to constituencies I'm not convinced he cares for, like the Who (My Generation) and the Clash (London Calling)...
"London Calling?" What the...
...then really tanks a whole generation by cutting Michael Jackson off at Rock With You at 18... of course, to be politically correct, he slips Springsteen in at 21 with Born To Run... gives a nod to the Rastafarians (Bob Marley- No Woman No Cry) and the rappers (Notorious BIG with Juicy- I think this is the only thing newer than the early 80's on his list...)
Not that THAT'S a bad thing...
Right there with ya, Buddy! Finally, he has to establish his cult creds (Doors, Light My Fire at #24) and his pop chops (ABBA, Dancing Queen at #25) to close it out.
At least he didn't have any more Beatles...
Actually, he did have Yesterday, right around MJ somewhere...
I shoulda knowed...
Yes you should have, and now, you know it's time for the rest of the M10!
Yepper!
8- Maddie and Tae's about the only big guns left from last week! Strangers drops from #4...
7- Matthew Sweet an' Susanna Hoffs with Run To Me, up 3...
5- Beach House, Only You Know, up 4...
4- Tears For Fears, Break The Man, up 2...
3- Best Coast, Leading, also up 2...
2- Last week's topper, Cactus Blossoms with Jenny Lewis an' Everything...
And that gives us a spankin'-new #1.....
Envy of None and Liar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Should I make wise about three old coots and a hot babe?
Wish you wouldn't- those old coots are uncomfortably close to my age!
Hang on, because this one, I am learning as I type!
The Passage starts with Jesus preparing the Disciples to be sent out two by two for the first time.He warns them with many examples that this is NOT going to be easy, or even pleasant. Moreover, what they go to do will not be pleasant for everyone they meet. But in the middle, Jesus uses as a 'swing verse' a by-now familiar creature to use as a comparison:
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Mat 10:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Mat 10:31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
The last time Jesus mentioned sparrows, it was to show the folly of worrying over physical things...
Mat 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
But this time, He is comparing the Disciples to sparrows, in a much different context. I had to ask myself the question- WHY were they buying sparrows 2 for a penny (or as Luke had it, 'buy four for 2 pennies, get the fifth one free', a bit paraphrased here)? One site told me this:
Because of their size and abundance, in Biblical times, the sparrows
were sold to the poor as meat, though one must imagine that such small
birds hardly made a decent meal. Nevertheless, they were available
cheaply.
I wondered if there was a sacrificial end to things, and I did find this:
Lev 14:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Lev 14:2 "This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, Lev 14:3 and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, Lev 14:4 the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. Lev 14:5 And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. Lev 14:6 He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. Lev 14:7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field.
The word here being used for birds the same as the one used for sparrows elsewhere.So what do we draw from this? "Well, Chris, we get that if God so loves a worthless sparrow, He loves us more!" True, but... this passage is directed at the Disciples- and by extension, to all those ready to go out in the Great Commission. And as such, it has very specific applications.
First, they are food to the poor. They are bringing the Living Bread of Jesus's Word to the people- a Word that was worthless to the rich and those of abundance, but to those whose day-to-day existence was a challenge, it was Life Itself. Not everyone ate sparrows because, as the man said, they were meat-poor; you had to recognize your need before you tried it. Lesson to us- to get what Jesus wants to give, you have to recognize your need.
Next, let's look at the birds of Leviticus. One bird of the two had to die. The other got to go free- but ONLY after being dipped in the blood of the other. The bird killed had to be killed over 'running water'- living, or flowing, water. Jesus called Himself the Living Water- He was the human 'bird' that had to be killed over the water that symbolized His Godhood. The Disciples- they were the living bird, dipped in the blood and sent out. And what was the end result of the ceremony? The healing of a leper- the healing of sinners.
The Disciples' lives were going to be sold cheap by earthly terms- but not without a value far beyond what most would notice. A value that brought living food to the starving, and healing to the sinner. And their reward, as Jesus explains next, was not going to be a reward in this life:
Mat 10:32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, Mat 10:33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
When I was praying for guidance in doing this post, I turned on the radio and heard the announcer launching a Chuck Swindoll message. He started by asking if we remembered the children's game where you whisper a message into the first child's ear, and see what the message had changed to by the last child. God had been whispering for a very long time into ears that just weren't getting the message passed to them right. Every one of the questions we have looked at so far have addressed this: Getting back, past the misinterpretations of men, to God's pure message. And that is the symbolism here, and in the Leviticus passage.
The cedar, used in the Temple as in closets to ward off corruption, is symbolic of God, "whose invisible attributes can be seen..."
The hyssop was aromatic, symbolizing the Word that had went out before Christ...
The scarlet thread was the blood that bound the Word to the soul of man...
And the two birds, one which had to die, the other that went forth, was the final step in getting the Pure Word to the people.
It is up to us to seek that Pure Word, and not let men's traditions force us into the 'child's games.'
Well, it's 'unofficial Spring' here, with temps to approach 70, and so here's our '1st unofficial Spring walk'...
First out were the Redwings... as soon as it got over 30.
Misty listening to a catbird's loud "meow"
Coming up on the Duck Pond
All over the place, squirrels are digging up their hidden acorns. This one, oddly, got dug up and left.
Duck Pond overflow
Stills froze in some parts
I was just thinking, "Funny to call it the Duck Pond when we rarely see any ducks there," when these two flew around the corner...
...saw us, and chose the river instead.
Looks wet ahead; but luckily, the rule back here is "last to dry, last to thaw"
Hence, the Swamp is still frozen.
Always amazes me the sheer amount of people who ignore the "dead end" sign at far right...
Two of them within moments, both sporting handicap license plates. Wondering if they were shooting for some event at the Red Cross about a mile back.
"Who cares? I'm thirsty!"
Solitary goose, for some reason standing guard over an empty Alumni Pond.
As we enter the Ravine Trail, I wonder how long it will take us to run across a disc golfer. Answer, 4/10ths of a mile- all the way on the other side of the back road. I was surprised.
Actually had one of the black squirrels pose. Shocked me so much I turned the camera off first, instead of on.
Elvis: Well, come on, be a man and get it over with...
Like I ever claimed to be right all the time...
Oh, just wait'll you guys hear this one!
It's really not that big of a deal... in reviewing the color #1s from last week I found some songs that I missed, and others who might just be let in on technicalities...
Tell 'em how many! There wuz 6 of 'em!
Is there some reason I kept you on board, instead of Lawyer Bellbottom or Nardole?
Aw, c'mon! You cain't do this without yer Big Buddy....
One never knows, does one? So yes, there were three I will admit, I just flat missed. None of which would have made that top nine we did. There were also three that could be let in on a technicality... and one one, the biggest stretch, would have made the top nine, so I wasn't too bad off. So I will let you in on those in between the two debuts on our top ten this week!
That first debut at #10 is something Laurie and I stumbled onto last week- that 3-time #1 act Matthew Sweet had done a couple of cover albums- cleverly called Under The Covers, Volumes 1 and 2- with Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles!
Listening my way through them, I put a couple of likely candidates on the shuffle, and at #10, here's one of them! From 2006...
***************************************
Okay, so let me first tell you the ones I flat missed. I was in search of songs that Billboard #1ed but not Cashbox, when I discovered I missed Neil Young and Heart Of Gold! #1 for one week, 15 on the chart.
Later, I discovered the FIRST one I missed was Brian Hyland's classic Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini ! #1 one week, 16 on the chart.
Then I saw the last undisputed miss at the far end of the years... Crystal Gayle's Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue...
An' that should be worth TWO misses, becuz there wuz 2 colors in it!
Sigh... you just wait, 'Big Buddy', I'll find a reason to replace you with the Beatles...
THAT WORD! You said THAT WORD!
Yes, I did. And the next word I'm gonna say is, "More new stuff from Beach House at #9..."
******************************************
Now, as to the 'technicalities...' the one with the biggest claim would be Helen Reddy's Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress). Like Heart Of Gold it was a 1/15 er, and I have no problem admitting it.
The second I have more reservations about, and that is Diana Ross with Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To?). I do have clear memories of mahogany being in my childhood crayola 64-packs, so I guess I should suck it up and let this in as well. It was a #1 1 week/chart for 16.
The last one I'm dead set against, even if I have a hazy memory of this color possibly being in that 64 pack, although I'm half convinced it was in a later version that my kids had and thus wouldn't count. That would be Barbra Streisand with Theme From A Star Is Born (Evergreen). If I was forced to allow it (and I'm the one who decides, anyway!), it would have come in at #5 (making last week's second list a top ten), with 3 weeks on top and 25 on the charts (topped only by Crystal Gayle's 27). In all fairness, I do not clearly see that 'evergreen' crayon in my set, no where is it ever called "Ever Green", where the green would get it in, and so I reject the claim. If you like you can copy last week's post and paste it in at #5, but just remember that if you do, Bobby Vinton, the Fifth Dimension, the Marcels, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and Nino and April will be as mad at you as Neil, Helen, Crystal, Brian, and Diana are at me. Which in all truth probably isn't that much.
Dude, pick up the rest of the M10!
Sure thing! An' I just want you ta know I think yer a helluva good man ta set the record straight, even if ya still kicked Rose Garden out...
Whatever, dude...
Anyway, here goes...
8- Matt Berry drops 3 with Alone...
7- an' holdin', Lucius an' Next To Normal...
6- up 4, Tears For Fears an' Break The Man... We saw a story on this that when they decided to do a new album and tour with new stuff, their agent was so thrown that he was no longer managing a 'legacy act' anymore, he sent them a "I can't take this anymore!" e-mail and quit....
5- up one for Best Coast and Leading...
4- Maddie and Tae down one with Strangers...
3- Beach House down 1 with Pink Funeral...
2- Envy Of None an' Liar, up 2...
And once again at the top....
...the Cactus Blossoms an' Jenny Lewis with Everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice job... I guess you do have your uses! Oh, and BTW- the one that Billboard had and Cashbox didn't- the Stones and Brown Sugar. Have a great week!
A lone man looking for means of expression in a tsunami of information. Seeking truth justice and the American way in the perspective of a Nixon conservative. And the Commissioner of the free world's smallest and best fantasy football league.
Posts
