He is Risen!

 

A to Z mash up Bible edition

 

Yes, I'm finally getting around to the mash-up, and I thought I might have a little Bible fun here.  Hopefully I won't be hit by lightning...

Aaron- Perhaps the best line in the Bible comes in Exodus 32, when Moses confronts Aaron about the golden calf: "So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”  Poof!  Magic!

Beelzebub- Opinions differ, but the original word was supposed to mean "Lord of Heaven", but the way the Hebrews (and later Christ) pronounced it was variously "Lord of flies" or Lord of Dung".

Chedarlaomer- Hard to not laugh at a king of cheese. (Gen 14)

Dibri- We hit this one in my "Stones" series.  Grandfather of a guy who was stoned for mouthing off, had a name that roughly translates to "mouthy".  Go figure. (Lev 24)

Eglon- I don't know what's better about his story- that he was so fat, when Ehud stabbed him the blade disappeared under his fat rolls, or that Ehud got away b/c Eglon's servants thought he was taking a crap (Judges 3).

Felix- Sadly, the Bible doesn't give us a lot of F choices, so we are stuck with Felix.  He waited for 2 years for Paul to give him a bribe to get out, but got shipped back to Rome, where a cartoon cat was named after him.  

Gideon- His story is full of fun stuff, but my fave is when he snuck down to the enemy camp to spy, and 2 guards were discussing the one guys' dream- a barley loaf rolled down the hill and flattened all their tents.  His buddy says, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” Gideon sneaks off, full of confidence; the dreamer says, "Gideon who?"  and his buddy says, " 'Gideon who', what?" (Judges  7)

Haman- The villain of Esther was a lot like Wile E Coyote; has to throw a celebration for a guy he tried to humiliate, then gets hung on the gallows he had made to hang the guy.  Plus, is caught sniveling on Esther's knee when her hubby, the King of Kings, comes in.

Ishboseth- After King Saul died, his son Ishboseth- a winner whose name means "man of shame"- was left to be king- as long as he was propped up by Saul's general, Abner (big Abner, not Li'l Abner...)

"Reckon ah'm too busy avoidin' Daisy Mae, anyhow..."

...but he ends up accusing Abner of noodling with his late dad's concubine, and that pretty much screwed the deal.

Jericho- I think that we needed to get Mike Holmes to inspect those walls, amIrite?

I bet these walls would tumble down during a good horn blowing...

Korah- After the Israelites had already messed up about a bazillion times, got hit with various plagues, and  begin a 40-year tour of Lovely Sinai, Korah had the nerve to rebel against Moses, using the rationale, "You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”  If the Exodus was today, Moses would be saying, "Let's go to the film..."

And finally for part one...

Laban- He thought he was going to pull a fast one on Jacob by slipping him Leah instead of Rachel.  Turns out, not only did Jacob get the better deal there, but then God did several rounds of the "spotted goat switcheroo" to basically put him out of business.  And just for fun, Rachel took his household god for good measure!

M10 2.0.2

 

In looking for a theme for this week, I was struck by how many musicians we (us old folk) know (or might know) who have joined "Rock'N'Roll Heaven".  So this week, I will update the list (not with myself, not yet anyway).  First let me let you know that-

Dropping to 10 this week, Amira Elfeky and Death Of Me.

And debuting at 9, Linkin Park...

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So here are those I knew- well or sort of- that have passed this year...

Wayne Osmond of the Osmonds, Jan. 1 at 73

Brenton Wood (Gimme Little Sign), Jan. 3 at 83

Peter Yarrow (Peter Paul and Mary), Jan. 7 at 86

Sam Moore (Sam and Dave), Jan 10 at 89

Bob Kuban (The Cheater), Jan 20 at 84

Marianne Faithfull, Jan 30 at 78

Jerry Butler (Only The Strong Survive), Feb 20 at 85

Gwen McCrae (Rocking Chair), Feb 21 at 81

Roberta Flack, Feb 24 at 88....

and now, a little more M10:

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Austin Snell's Heavy Metal drops all the way to 8 this week.

And slipping 3 to #7, Shannon and the Clams with I'm A Fool.

And coming in at #6, why it's Amira Elfeky again...

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To continue the Dead List...

Robert John (Sad Eyes), Feb 24 at 79

David Johansen (New York Dolls), Feb 28 at 75

Joey Molland (last survivor of Badfinger), Mar 1 at 77

Jesse Colin Young (Youngbloods), Mar 16 at 83

Larry Tablyn (Standells), Mar 21 at 82

Johnny Tillotson, Apr 1 at 86

Lenny Welch (Since I Fell For You), Apr 8 at 86

Nino Tempo (Deep Purple with April Stevens) Apr 12 at 91

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And finishing the M10:

Up 5 to 5, Allison Kraus and Union Station with Richmond On The James.

Up 3 to 4 Lucius and Impressions.

Up a hot 5 to #3, Cole Swindell and Spanish Moss.

Slipping from the top to 2, Greta Van Fleet with Black Smoke Rising.

And our new #1- her second...

...Beabadoobee with Sway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess I should close with, "Stay alive in '25!"

Newspage go!

 

Because you didn't ask for it, the return of the feature that shares each newspage's stupidest headline story!  Today we have:

FoxNews

'Get over this,' man tells 'picky' date with food allergies who rejected his dinner

This might be a headline story for The Joe's Diner Review, but a serious news story? Kinda fits into the "get to know someone first" category.  Better headline:  "Insensitive lout wears dinner for two".

BBC

Viral videos claim luxury bags are made in China, is it true?

Better headline:  "BBC credibility so low, looking into viral videos as news sources, is it true?"  Please tell me that "luxury" items being made on the cheap in China isn't a surprise.

BBC, also receiving votes

French jails have come under attack. Are violent drug gangs to blame?

No, I'm sure it's those darn jaywalkers (marcheurs) and Marine Le Pen....

Moscow Times

This one is more of an "answer your own question" item.  Headline one:

I Trained With Russian Diplomats. I Can Tell You How They Work

Followed by:

Russian Politician Admits He’s Been Working Remotely From Ukraine Since 2021

There you go- they work remotely from Ukraine...

Xinhua

Now China's state news commonly posts stories about schoolchildren greeting someone or some flower celebration, but that doesn't catch the true spirit of Xinhua- as the diary of Xi the Pooh.  And so I give you:

Xi says unilateralism, hegemonism receive no support of the people

Which in addition to being against every principle Xi actually lives by, probably 70% of the Chinese populace don't even know what the two words mean...

News.comAU

Video reveals gross act Katy did in space

Katy of course being Katy Perry during her all-girl trip into space last week.  What was that gross act?  I went through the whole article and the closest thing I saw to a 'gross act" was kissing the ground after they landed.  Sorry, fans of booger-picking out there...

Times Of India

Suryakumar Yadev checks Abhishek Sharma's Pocket for a Note

That smile makes me wonder what kind of note he was looking for...

And finally...

The Copenhagen Post

Danish PM enjoying an European kind of Trump Bump

Of course the first thing I thought was, "She doesn't LOOK pregnant..."

Wednesday Bible Study: the stones that roll

 

We are now in Holy Week- midway between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday.  And it struck me during Palm Sunday service that this week is also bounded by two sets of stone.  Observe, as Jesus fulfills the prophecy by riding into Jerusalem on the donkey:

Luk 19:37  As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 

Luk 19:38  saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 

Luk 19:39  And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 

Luk 19:40  He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” 

Now Jesus is God; and if He commanded stones to shout, they would.  But let me take you back to stones we visited once before:

Mat 3:7  But when he (John The Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

Mat 3:8  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 

Mat 3:9  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 

Living stones, surrounded by the living water of the Spirit; In essence, Jesus was telling the religious elite, "If you forbid the Jews to praise Me, I will go to the Gentiles."  And this is borne out in what He told them next:

Luk 19:41  And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 

Luk 19:42  saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 

Luk 19:43  For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 

Luk 19:44  and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 

The Jerusalem that rejected Him later that week would be torn down, just as He prophesied, in 70AD by Titus.  At the beginning of this week's service, they showed a scene from The Chosen in which the Pharisees were begging Jesus not to come into the city.  "We know the significance of your riding on that donkey", they told Him, eluding to Zechariah 9:9...

Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

"...and the people will believe that you are the Messiah!" To which, the character of Jesus shrugged as if to say, and so I am."  Jesus had given them EVERY sign they needed to believe He WAS the Messiah; and yet, even at this extremis, they could not let themselves believe it.  So who were the believers, and who were the stones?

But there was one more stone to be dealt with- the stone rolled over the tomb where Jesus laid. This is the stone where all our works, all our deeds, all our ritual comes to an end.  And when we come to this extremis:

Mar 16:1  When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 

Mar 16:2  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 

Mar 16:3  And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 

Mar 16:4  And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 

Who will roll the stone away for us? We ask.  But it is already DONE.  Jesus did it all.  There was no need of further anointing, no need for ritual, no need for human hands.  It is impossible for us- for me.  So Jesus did it.

So when this week's service finished, I had to look at the stone Jesus rolled for me.  Am I seeing just the effect I wanted- or am I looking for the overarching EVERYTHING it did for me?  The Pharisees couldn't see past their Rome.  Am I seeing past MY Rome, to the EVERYTHING He did for me?  That is the question I must ask.

M10 2.0

 Okay, so I am going to loosen up the paradigm a little.  It's going to be a "you never know what's up next" deal, and this week I have to share with you a bit of research (not my own) on TWO-hit wonders.  In the mean time, I do have 2 new debuts, and the first one comes in at #10, from Allison Krauss and Union Station...

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Chris Dallas Riva (Cantgetmuchhigher.com) did the research on official two-hit wonders- acts that had at least ONE top 10 and one more that cracked the top thirty.  I didn't know a lot of them, but I'm going to share with you the ones I did, and where they ranked on his list.

19- Deep Purple- with Hush and Smoke On The Water both making #4.

17- Jimmy Buffett with Margaritaville (8) and Come Monday (30).

16- Staind with It's been A While (5) and So Far Away (24).

15- Bonnie Tyler with Total Eclipse Of The Heart (1) and It's A Heartache (3).

14- Beastie Boys with Fight For Your Right (To Party) (7) and Intergalactic (28).

13- The Clash with Rock The Casbah (8) and Train In Vain (23).

12- Crowded House with Don't Dream It's Over (2) and Something So Strong (7).

Take a breath, and listen to my other debut at #8 from Cole Swindell:

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Back to the two-hit wonder list...

11- Tracy Chapman with Give Me One Reason (3) and Fast Car (6).

10- a-Ha with Take One Me (1) and The Sun Always Shines On TV (20).

8- Enya with Only Time (10) and Orinoco Flow (24).

7- The Scorpions with Wind Of Change (4) and Rock You Like A Hurricane (25).

5- The Cure with Love Song (2) and Friday I'm In Love (18).

4- The Cranberries with Linger (8) and When You're Gone (22).

3- The Killers with Mr. Brightside (10) and When You Were Young (14).

And the biggest two- hit wonder, by far...

1- Pink Floyd with Another Brick In The Wall (1) and Money (13).   And now, the rest of my top 10...

Last week Geowulf was 4 with Can't Read Your Mind; falls to 9 this week.

Austin Snell's Pray All The Way Home at 10 last week and The war And treaty's Love Like Whiskey at 9 both fell out.

Lucius, which debuted at 8 last week with Impressions, climb 1 to 7.

Beabadoobee's Sway, coming in at 7 last week, goes all the way to #3.

Amira Elfeky's Death Of Me held #6 both weeks.

I mentioned that Matt Berry's Silver Rings made the top ten all time last week.  This week, after a drop from 2 to 5, now sits #4 all time.   

Shannon and the Clams were #4 both weeks with I'm A Fool.

Austin Snell claimed a second week at the top last week, but falls to #2 this time.

And that means this week has a new #1- up from #3...

...Greta Van Fleet with Black Smoke Rising!

See you next week- at least I hope to...

Wednesday Bible Study: The stone paths

 

Once again, the Lord has postponed where I was going in this series for what He wants me to share.  This time, He had me look at the Genealogies of Cain and Seth in Genesis and see them as stones in a pair of footpaths- one leading to a good place, one not.  And then, last night as I type, He gave me another perspective- He had me look at the fallen Pastors who once were on my Christian radio, and the reasons they are no longer there.  Without names, this is why they fell:  One by perversion; one by lacking integrity; another by pride; another by seeking ritual; and another who I believe was never a true man of faith.  Somehow, God tells me, these fit into our story.  Find out, with me, just how.

We start the paths with their beginnings.  Cain's name was basically from Eve saying, "Look, I've made a man"; Seth was a "replacement", a substitute for the murdered Abel.  Cain tried to do things his own way; Seth was a substitute of sorts for Abel, just as Jesus is a substitute for us before God's wrath.

Cain's first son is Enoch- one of 2 names that will be on both lists.  The name means, "To train up", so Enoch was taught all of his father's ways.  One of them involved his stubborn pride, for it is said Cain built a city, and named it after Enoch. (Unless mentioned, all these references will be from Genesis 4 and 5.)  Now God had something to say about naming this city, here in Psalm 49:

Psa 49:11  Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. 

Psa 49:12  Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. 

Psa 49:13  This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah 

This was a way of seeking after immortality, of finding a way to live after death- the sin of Nimrod many generations later.  A better way is on our other path, where Seth's first son is named Enosh- a subtle difference to us, but a big one in Hebrew, where it means, simply, "human."  And this human had a better idea for immortality:

Gen 4:26  To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. 

Immediately, the paths diverge.  One sought immortality through pride; the other through humbling themselves to the Lord.  The next generation brings to Cain's Enoch a son named Irad- "to hide away".  Adam and Eve had hid after sinning; Cain had sought to hide his sin from God.  Now this evil path was leading to a lifestyle of hiding away- like the pastor who had faulty integrity because it rested on an untrue telling of an old sin.  On the other side, Enosh gave birth (through his wife, of course) to Cainan (a Nest), who was at home with the Lord.

Fourth generations give to Cain, Mehujael, and to Seth, Mahalaleel.  I want you to see the contrast in these names:  Mahalaleel means, "praise of God"; Mehujael is the chilling, "Erased by God".  The ungodly line was moving farther away; the godly line was moving ever closer.  This puts me in mind of a lesson I learned about consequences.  Just as Samson didn't know he had lost contact with God after he ran out of lies for Delilah, the pastor this brings up had a hidden life of perversion, and died in extreme pain.  You can only ignore God so long.

The fifth generation is the flip to this- that things CAN change.  This time, the ungodly line gives us, like one raised stone, the name Methusael, a "man of God".  At the same time, the godly line gives us Jared- a name that means, "descent".  Even the ungodly can have one saved from it- even the godly cannot rely just on ancestry.  This reminds me of the pastor that went from a Biblical "expert" to retreating into a religion of ritual- and as the Tao teaches, ritual is the dead husk of faith.

At this point, the one-on-one matchup of the generations collapses.  Seth's line gives us Enoch- the good Enoch, who joins Elijah in never having died, but instead-

Gen 5:22  Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 

Gen 5:23  Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 

Gen 5:24  Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. 

Before you shake your head at Enoch living 365 years, remember: this was before the flood, and his son Methuselah would live 969 years.  Lest you think this is crazy talk, the Bible says it's also the future:

Isa 65:20  No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 

After Methuselah came the good Lamech; and he would father Noah.  Noah is the next one to one matchup, and his match up was with the evil Lamech, whom we must look at next.  This Lamech- whose name's meaning is the lone mystery in the list, although the Jews think it MIGHT mean "vigorous youth"- lived in the days of the Watchers.  The Watchers- explained in the Book of Enoch and hinted at in Genesis 6- were angels who took on flesh, being tempted, it seemed, by the beauty of human women and the allure of sex.  They, according to Enoch, taught various arts to Cain's ungodly line, and these would become evident in the brief stories of Lamech's wife and his sons.

Lamech was the first (that we know of) to break the one-man-one-wife command, having two wives.  One was Adah, whose name indicates she learned of jewelry from one Watcher, the other was Zillah, who apparently was a student of makeup.  Now, Lamech is the one who the Bible tells us gave this mysterious line:

Gen 4:23  Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 

Gen 4:24  If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.” 

The 'sevenfold' he refers to is God's promise that whoever laid hands on Cain would be avenged by God sevenfold (Gen. 4:15).  While scholars disagree on what he meant by this, and the Jews try to say it was about his accidently killing Cain ( even though he says he killed a "young man"), what we can glean from it was that he was bent to violence- much like the pastor who became violent when his forceful dictatorship of his church was revealed.  Noah was born the promise of something better:

Gen 5:28  When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 

Gen 5:29  and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 

Lamech has three sons (and a daughter), whose names- while reflecting different subtle attributes of skills taught by the Watchers- are basically variations on the same theme- "bringing forth with pomp" (remember the quote from Psalm 49?), indicating that the strain of stubborn pride started in Cain still ran strong in the family.  Jabal was the first named, and was taught to be a nomadic herdsman; Jubal learned the arts of music; and Tubal (who the rabbis and commentators believe had the familiar  "-Cain" added on later) was the metal-worker and weapons-master.  One old commentator say that they were representations of the later Greek gods- Jabal was Pan, Jubal was Apollo, Tubal-Cain was Hephaestus, and sister Naamah (the name means 'pleasure') was Aphrodite.  In the meantime, as you may know, Noah had three sons as well.  Shem meant "name of honor"; from him the later Israelites would spring.  Ham meant "hot"; his descendants would spread to the tropical lands, Egypt and Africa; Japheth meant "Roomy", and his descendants would cover everyone else.

The problem with where these paths were growing- the ungodly, angel-infected, pride filled like of Cain was growing far too numerous; by the time of Noah, the godly were down to 4- and there is some reason to wonder about Ham.  But God had a plan, and preserved Noah through the purging Flood; and Cain and the immortality he sought, and the cities he built, were washed away.  Someday- maybe soon, from the looks of things- the scenario will play out again in disaster and fire.  Which path will you choose?