Time Machine co-ordinates VII-XIV697DBT

 

Elvis:  Hey, Boss, what's with the co-ordinates?  "DBT"?

Yep, I wanted a new wrinkle and decided to go to ALL the years of the Martin Era 2.0 and pick off my favorite songs that debuted this week on Cashbox for each year!  I ended up with 28 songs- and 15 of them ended up in the top 10!  Five went all the way to #1, and that's where this week's challenge #1 will be- I'll give you, at some point, the 11 of them that made top five- and from that list, you pick out the 5 that hit #1!

EP:  "Challenge # 1"?  That means there's a challenge #2...

Yep, and we'll get to that in a while... but first, let me try and strike a blow against Cancel Culture.  This week, a moment I figured would have to come someday finally came... as the Rolling Stones had to drop the third most played song in concert of all their hits off their setlist.  And if I can find it, I'm-a gonna play it...

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EP:  Boss, that there's a classic!  I'm kinda glad I didn't  live to see that day...

I know what you mean.  And maybe here someday we'll do a show on "Cancel Culture Classics"... just as soon as some "woker" decides that perhaps we should ban Sweet Home Alabama for celebrating one of the great fighters against civil rights, George Wallace.  Anyway, here's a face I hope we never have to cancel, Lulu!

Lulu:  Hi, boys!

Lulu, we have celebrated your fame, your Eurovision record, etc, on here before.  One thing I noticed was that your first single was covering the Isleys on Shout...

Yes, that was when we were Lulu and the Luvvers... of course, we started out as the Gleneagles...

And you started out as Marie... why Lulu?

My first manager gave me that name when I was 14- she thought I was 'a real lulu', because I had such a strong voice even then.  

Well, before we get started on anything else, how about we let the world in on the other debuts not in that final group, that I picked?  Leaving off the top 11, and the bottom two, give us the remaining 15...

Sure!  In chronological order, they would be...

Herman's Hermits, I'm Into Something Good, which would peak in 1964 at #13...

The next year had 2 more, the Newbeats with Run Baby Run, which stopped at #12, and the Walker Brothers with Make It Easy On Yourself, which topped at #16.

1966 had the Lovin' Spoonful doing Rain On The Roof, at #10, and then 1967 had Neil Diamond's Kentucky Woman at #22, and Spanky and Our Gang and Lazy Day at #14...

At this point, I should interject that Kentucky Woman was tied with another song for the second-lowest peak, but I made an executive decision and named the other the pick for the Overseas If You Please later on....

EP:  Like anyone woulda noticed if ya didn't...

L:  Now, now, let's all be nice to each other!  Next would be 1970 with The Guess Who and Share The Land at #10 and Badfinger's No Matter What at #8...

In 1971 it was the Grass Roots and Two Divided By Love at #16...

1972 gave us Operator by Jim Croce at #17, and Ventura Highway by America at #8...

1974 had Chicago and Wishing You Were Here at #11...

And finally, 1977 chipped in England Dan and John Ford Coley with Nights Are Forever Without You at #10, and Steve Miller's Swingtown at #17.

EP:  Hey, everyone, dinner break!  Laurie went and ordered us some Kentucky Fried Chicken!  

Whatever else happens, she's the big winner!  And to celebrate, let's bring on our special surprise guest, Col. Harlan Sanders!

Getty images

CS:  Hello, everybody!

Colonel, have you met Lulu?

CS:  It's an honor, beautiful lady! (kisses hand)

L:  Why, what a gentleman!

CS:  Tell me, my dear, have you tried my chicken?

L: No, I don't believe I have...

CS:  It's finger lickin' good!  At least it used to be.. God only knows what they've done to my recipe.  It might taste almost the same, but...

They say it's still the same, I believe...

CS:  Well, you're gullible!  These knotheads running my stores these days don't know a pressure cooker from a Packard!  Why, in my day, the only clown in the food industry was Ronald McDonald!

L:  I like Ronald... that whole charming 'McDonaldland' thing for the wee tykes...

CS:  Yeah, but what in tarnation is that big purple thing supposed to be?  Whatsis, 'the Grimace'?

Someone claimed a while back he was supposed to originally be a giant taste bud...

EP:  Haw!  A taste bud with four arms and pockets!

We should get back to the show!  Colonel, would you honor us with a LIVE 6D?

CS:  Sam Hell, I don' know how to...

EP:  Here, Grandpa, just put this headset on, it'll practically do itself!

CS:  All righty... Well here's something, a musical version of the ol' Mason-Dixon Line, just a good deal more civil.  So it wasn't a line, but James Mason and Dave Dixon who co-wrote I Dig Rock And Roll Music with Paul Stookey and hitting the charts by Peter Paul and Mary.  Apparently Paul and Mary hated it, and they never played it in concert.  Fans loved it, though.  One member of their backing band was drummer Skip Prokop, and he was a co-founder of the jazz-fusion type ensemble from Canada called Lighthouse.  They had a bigger hit called One Fine Morning, but the debut this week was another one that Chris loved an' you should check out, called Pretty Lady.  It was top ten in Canada, but only got to #53 here.  Howsat?

Pretty good, Colonel!  Right now, it's almost time to let you in on game #2... and for that we need this week's M10 debut.  Blundering into my playlist last week, it is from the 2010 lp The Grand Theatre, and this is, returning for their second time on the M10, the Old 97's... at # 5...

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EP:  Say, that's 2 weeks inna row we had a debut at #5!

You are correct, and I got looking into that very thing.  The Old 97's and Jason Isbell's Midnight Train To Georgia were the 16th and 17th songs to debut on my chart at #5... which works out to 2.6% of all M10 songs ever.  The list included 3 songs in the all time top 20- Beach House and The Traveller, Brooke Annibale's Collided, and the Shacks with El Michels Affair and Strange Boy.  But here's the question- have we ever had it happen in consecutive weeks before?  This is a simple guess it off; is this the only time, was there another time, or maybe multiple times?  Take your guess while Ms Lulu gives us your choices to choose the #1s from!

L:  All right, as I understand it, 5 of these 11 songs went to #1 at some point, after debuting this week in their years.  I'm going to read the 11 top 5 or better songs on the list, again in chronological order- and you pick five that hit the top of the American Cashbox chart.  Ready?

From 1955, Frank Sinatra's Love And Marriage...

From 1956, our friend with the chicken leg in his mouth over there with Love Me Tender...

EP:  Gbbblmm ggrgglmm...

L: What was that?

EP:  ...i think i need the heimlich maneuver...

L: Oh, Elvis, such a kidder!  Let me move on while the EMTs tend to him.

From 1958, the Teddy Bears and To Know Him Is To Love Him...

From 1959, Johnny Preston and Running Bear...

From 1962, the Orlons and Don't Hang Up, as well as Marcie Blaine and Bobby's Girl...

From 1968, Steppenwolf and Magic Carpet Ride...

From 1970, the Fifth Dimension and One Less Bell To Answer...

From 1972, Albert Hammond, Sr, with It Never Rains In Southern California and the Temptations with Papa Was A Rolling Stone...

And from 1975, Elton John's Island Girl and John Denver's Calypso!

Okay, so five of those hit #1 at some point.  Bonus if you can name the one who stayed there the longest.  Colonel, would you honor us with the Overseas If You Please...

CS:  Why not, you all are already used to one old curmudgeon doing it, why not another?  So because the next lowest peak belonged to the Guess Who and Undun at #22, it's that song's year- 1969, we'll get the #1s on our other charts from!  

The massive autumn hit in New Zealand was Shane with St Paul....

In Canada, it was Nilsson and Eyerybody's Talkin'...

In the UK, it was that pretty bird Jane Birkin with Serge Gainsbourg with Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus... oooh la la!

In Australia, Russell Morris and Part Three Into Paper Walls, probably the strangest name for a song since Goo Goo Barabajagal....

And in South Africa, Jackie DeShannon with Put A Little Love In Your Heart!

Nice job.  So, did you live, buddy?

EP:  I lived...

You want the M10?

EP:  I got the M10...

10- Duran Duran drops from 4 with Anniversary...

9- Illuminati hotties and Buck Meek squeeze out an 11th week with u.v.v.p.- givin' it a probable stopping point of 6th all time...

8- Styx up 2 with Age Of Entropia...

7- Geowulf an' I've Been Over It...

6- The Beths up 3 with Dying To Believe...

4- Last week's #1, Morello an' Phantogram with Driving To Texas...

3- An' holdin', Moon Taxi an' Mission...

2- Jason Isbell an' the 400 Unit with Brittney Spencer an' Midnight Train To Georgia...

An' new at numero uno...

...Gerry Rafferty's Sign Of The Times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All right, here are your winners:

Game #2:  Debuts at #5 in consecutive weeks happened just one other time- when Billy Stewart's Strange Feeling was followed up by an all timer- The Shacks and Strange Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That was one month shy of 5 years ago!

And the 5 #1s?

Papa Was A Rolling Stone for one week...

To Know Him Is To Love Him, Running Bear, and Island Girl, 3 weeks....

And last but certainly not least, with 5 weeks...

I'll celebrate when I don' feel like barfin'...

....Elvis and Love Me Tender!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be prepared for something very like this next week... probably without the chicken....

EP:  At least wit'out the bones....

Wednesday Bible Study: Picking through Judges part 8

 

I had one big hangup in starting the story of Samson, the almost super-heroic, fallen judge.  It came from this passage:

Jdg 14:3  But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes."
Jdg 14:4  His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

I said to myself, "Where is the line between God using sin to work His will, and CAUSING it?"  Was Samson a sinner that blundered into God's will, or was he a victim of sin who still was faithful to God and used mightily?  And after a week of praying, debate, and watching my own life and habits, I saw where the line lay- in the Russia of the early twentieth century.

Excuse me?

Consider:  In those days, it was known as Holy Russia for its devotion to the Orthodox Church- but, like Israel in Samson's time, it was anything but holy.  It was full of internal worms- maggots like Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky.  It had an external enemy, like the Philistines, in the "Germanophile" party that sat at the highest seats of government, including the Empress Alexandria.  Where Israel  "...in those days there was no king in Israel; Everyone did what was right in his own eyes", Russia's Czar- Nicholas II- was so weak, so pushed by every tide, wanting less to govern and more to be the nation's "Little Father", it was a very similar situation.  And for something to be an opposite, it has to be equal in all respects except direction.

 

Meet Samson's opposite, Grigori Rasputin.

Hear me out.  Both men were, apparently, called by a supernatural force; both men claimed to serve God.  Both men were granted at times supernatural power.  Where Samson had phenomenal strength, Rasputin held sway over people in an almost hypnotic way, had incredible resistance to injury, and was the only one able, with a word, to save the young czarevich Alexi from his bouts of hemophilia.  But now, look at the opposites.

Where Rasputin had an undeniable control over women (despite, it is said, his anything to do anything about it), women had an undeniable control over Samson.  Where Samson would willingly go to his own death to serve the Lord, Rasputin had to be poisoned, stabbed, shot repeatedly, beaten with sticks, put in a sack and dumped into a freezing river (all in the same night!) to kill him.  Where Rasputin's greatest ally was a woman who was ruling over her husband, Samson's worst enemy were the men ruling over his women.  Where we know Samson's story from his conception, "...according to historian Douglas Smith, Rasputin's youth and early adulthood are "a black hole about which we know almost nothing" (Wiki).  And while Samson was to save his nation, Rasputin was a significant cause of the destruction of his.

But the biggest difference is the one that answered my question.  Rasputin's philosophy was, as I read recently from a source I don't quite remember, "Sin, that you may obtain grace", totally ignoring the words of Paul:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Samson, however, continually received filling by the Spirit of God, so that even as he stumbled, God provided him a victory.  You see, there is a difference between a willful sin and a weakness.  And a weakness, as I mentioned in a way in the week's Better Part, is like an attack, or a natural disaster; within it lies an opportunity to learn God's will.  And when we learn that, we are just as strong as Samson.

But now, let's try to set the stage for what we can learn from Samson.  Once again, Israel had fallen away from God.  Strangely enough, there is no mention in Judges 13 of "the people cried out", just that they were in the midst of a 40-year domination from an enemy they seemingly couldn't shake- the Philistines.  Nor did God speak to the people first, just one woman:

Jdg 13:2  There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children.
Jdg 13:3  And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
Jdg 13:4  Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
Jdg 13:5  for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines."

 

Unpacking here, we note, "no razor, no alcohol"- two of the three restrictions when one took a Nazrite vow.  But this child wasn't going to be like the Nazrites prescribed by Moses, who chose it for a period as adults, but from his very birth, all through his life.  Note also that the third restriction- to not touch dead bodies- is absent, which will come into play later.  This might have been why Manoah himself wanted a hearing:

Jdg 13:8  Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born."
Jdg 13:9  And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her.
Jdg 13:10  So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me."
Jdg 13:11  And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to this woman?" And he said, "I am."
Jdg 13:12  And Manoah said, "Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?"
Jdg 13:13  And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
Jdg 13:14  She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe."

Another thing I need to point out- that part in v 5 about "He shall BEGIN to save Israel".  This reminds us of two things- in the previous 40 years, it doesn't seem Israel had done anything to divest themselves of Philistine domination, and that it was a process that would only start with Samson.  It would take another of the Lord's Annointed- David- to finish that.

And here I'll end with what may be the biggest lesson from Samson- God's way of working.  Say Samson didn't have the Achilles' Heel of women.  He may well have stayed in Dan, married a "nice Jewish girl", and settled down.  It was only through his weakness that God drove him to the deeds he did- which were the Lord's purpose.  And like all other lessons in the Bible, it doesn't just show up in one place:

2Co 12:8  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
2Co 12:9  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Better Part, week #40

 

This week on FB:

The Better Part, Day #202:

 

Jdg 14:3 But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes."

Jdg 14:4 His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. 

 

 

Num 13:27 And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

Num 13:28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan."

Num 13:30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." 

 

 

Yes, two verses today, opposite sides of the same lesson. God was going to use Samson's sin to accomplish His will; He was using Caleb's obedience for the same thing. Point being, bad times may happen because of our sin; they may happen just because they happen (as in the things that scared the other ten spies). God can accomplish His will powerfully through both; but the endings of these two men show that being obedient in the face of them gains a better reward.

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day # 203:

 

Job 37:11 Yea, He ladeth the thick cloud with moister, He spreadeth abroad the cloud of His lightning;

Job 37:12 And they are turned round about by His guidance, that they may do whatsoever He commandeth them upon the face of the habitable world:

Job 37:13 Whether it be for correction, or for His earth, or for mercy, that He cause it to come. 

 

 

I was meditating on yesterday's post, and realized this verse was exactly what I was trying to say- and again shows the interconnectedness of the living, breathing Word.

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day # 204:

 

A moment shared by David Jeremiah about President Woodrow Wilson's faith reminded me... he was also a racist. Robert E Lee, a man of faith- but fought for a system that promoted treating some as second class citizens (to be charitable). Here's one you might not know, I got from a Henry Kissinger book: The night before he resigned, alone with Kissinger, Richard Nixon got down on his knees and asked, "Pray with me, Henry". 

 

 

Point being, you can be a man of faith and have a blind spot you don't see for what it is. Lord, remind me, I don't need to be a man greater than these. I just need to see in front of my nose.

Time Machine Co-ordinates VII-XIII6966165666772

 

Elvis:  Well, Chris, you've certainly gotten sloppy these last few weeks.  Last week you messed up the co-ordinates, this weekend you had the years all messed up...

I know, right?  I've done better while drinking than I have sober on this lately!  But I finally got us a set of years that SHOULD be close to where we're supposed to be...

EP:  Oh?  Is that why 2 of the years only had one song each?

But one of them was one of yours, so you can't complain TOO much...

EP:  Yeah, well I'll wait to see if I made the winner's circle...

And this week, Marvin Gaye joins us!

MG:  Hey, glad to be here!

Marvin, I've been thumbing through your life and career- despite your talent, nothing came easy, did it?

MG:  It surely didn't.  You have to believe in yourself a whole lot.  "If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else."

(NOTE:  You know the drill on this, yes?  Anything in quotes is an actual quote.  Anything outside the quotes, consider the source.)

Well, this show will be easy- and we're going to kick it off with one of the three new songs on the M10!  At #10, here's brand new- but sounding like when they first came out- Styx:

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So, like Elvis mentioned, we have kind of a light load of songs this week, due to some clerical errors...

EP:  Don't blame it on no preacher!  You done messed up!

Um, yeah... so three finalists this week, a would be 6D victim that touched off a research feature that also went belly-up, and a tie for next-lowest tune which I settled by looking at which of the two was higher this chart week.  That leaves Mr Gaye with 8 songs stuck in between to read off this week.  Marvin?

MG:  Yeah?

Um, yeah... are you ready?

MG: I'm good and ready.  I look to change the world through my music.  "I hope to refine music, study it, try to find some area that I can unlock. I don't quite know how to explain it but it's there. These can't be the only notes in the world, there's got to be other notes some place, in some dimension, between the cracks on the piano keys..."

That's great, and I dig what you're saying.  But maybe you could read the list?

MG:  Oh, right! Heh.  Anyway, the songs that didn't get features are...

From 1961 this week, Take Good Care Of My Baby by Bobby Vee, #4; and the song that tied for the second lowest on its year-end chart but charted higher this week, Ray Charles and Hit The Road, Jack.  It was at #2.  Boy, you sure go through enough gyrations to do these posts!

EP:  No foolin'!  It confuses him, it confuses the audience, an' all so's he can take some cheap shots at me!

Buddy, you're awful ouchy this week.  Something up?

EP:  Naw... let Marvin do his thing, we'll talk later...

Um, yeah.... Marvin?

MG:  Yeah, sorry I brought you down, King!  In 1965 the songs Chris picked were Eve Of Destruction by Barry McGuire, at #3- now that one will lighten a room... 

Yesterday by the Beatles at #4... 

...and Catch Us If You Can by the DC5 at #6....

In 1966, it was Los Bravos and Black Is Black at #3, and the Monkees' Last Train To Clarksville at #10...

...uh oh...

EP:  WHUT 'uh-oh'?

MG:  In 1972... Burning Love by Elvis at #8.

EP:  See, I knew it wasn't worth gettin' all hopeful...

Uh, yeah... maybe we better go to that second debut at #9.  This one was from the Jump Rope Gazers lp, and while Spotify never sent it to me as a single, they did just send me a live version.  But I'll go with the studio version.  Here are the Beths...

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Now, see, wasn't that fun?  Bet you feel better now...

EP:  Yeah, I'm okay.  I guess.

And it's just in time for Lawyer Horace Bellbottom and the 6D feature!  Horace, I understand you have a judgeship coming up in your future...

HB:  Yes, I have accepted a position in a dimension between the keys of a piano, where I hope to use the rather limited skills I acquired in your employ to be fair and reasonable...

MG: "I think if I had to choose another profession, I'd like to be a judge because I'm very capable of determining what's right and what's not."

HB: Well, after hearing your song Sexual Healing, I'm sure we are all delighted you didn't go into medicine.  At any rate, our victim to be, having finished off the 1961 top 100 of the year, was the Dovells and the Bristol Stomp.  This helped Chris get the idea of doing a biggest hits about dances- but alas, it was akin to impossible to find such a list, at least one that wasn't well into territory that we had no interest going into- i.e. Gangam Style, the Macarena, etc.  Thusly blocked, Chris made up his own list of his favorite dance songs, carefully excluding songs that weren't really involving specific dance steps, such as our friend Elvis' Jailhouse Rock.  So here, from bottom to top, Chris's favorite dance songs...

Just to make it perfectly clear- just because I like the song don't mean I can do the dance....

HB:  Um, yes... anyway...

10- Kay Starr, Rock And Roll Waltz...

9- Chubby Checker, Pony Time...

8- The Miracles, Mickey's Monkey....

7- Mr Checker again, Limbo Rock...

6- And again, with The Twist...

5- The Peppermint Twist- with a slight preference to the version by Sweet...

4- The aforementioned Bristol Stomp...

3- The Orlons, the Wah-Watusi..

2- Bobby Rydell, Do The Cha Cha Cha...

 and at #1... preferred version by...

...Grand Funk Railroad and The Loco-Motion!  

EP:  ARRRRRRGH!!! Don't any of you care we only have four shows left??????

MG:  Don't look at me, I'm just a guest host....

Elvis... I didn't think it mattered that much to you...

EP:  Well... I didn't either.  But it's been so much fun.  An' now, Bellbottom's goin' on, Nardole's gettin' new ears...  An' don' tell me about havin' the commissary to look after, because that'll be shut down too...

Well, sure, but we'll still do some form of M10...

EP:  Maybe... you weren't sure you were even gonna do that...

Well, I'm not, not entirely... but I'm sure we'll come up with something to do...and we gotta have a Beauty Contest every year!  Anyway, here's gonna be a new contestant this year...

...this is Brittney Spencer, and she sings lead on our latest hit, and highest debut this week, for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit!  He's doing a cover lp called Georgia Blue, and they get together to knock this one out of the park!  At #5.... that's right, #5....

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MG:  That lady's got some soul!

Right on!  And now, let's have you give us, first the finalists, next the Overseas If You Please, and third, the big mover this week!

MG:  Right on?  They still say that in the future?  Anyway, your finalists this week...

Cherish by the Association, #1 this week in 1966...

Lulu with To Sir With Love, the #10 this week in 1967...

...and You Were On My Mind by the We Five, #2 this week in 1965!

The Overseas If You Please, thanks to the Fortunes and You Got Your Troubles finishing 87th for the year and 9th this week, goes tom 1965.  This week around the world...

Canada's #1 was Sonny Bono and Laugh At Me...

In the UK, Ken Dodd and Tears....

In South Africa, the Stones and Satisfaction... and you know, satisfaction has to come from within...

EP:  Here we go again...

MG:  Seriously!  "If I do my job well, then God will smile on my offspring and on their offspring. I'm sure my father is seeing a blessing in me..."

EP:  You wanna make book on that?

MG:  What?  What do you...

Um, Marvin?  The OIYP?

MG: Oh, right!  Heh.  In New Zealand, it was their 'missing year', so only God above knows what their song was...

...and in Australia, it was the Beatles and Help!

And the big mover this week in our 5 years, Chubby Checker one more time with The Fly, up 40 spots in 1961 this week, from #79 to #39.

Okay, Big Buddy, the M10 is yours...

EP:  Got it, son!  

8- Geowulf up 2 with I've Been Over It...

7- Alkonost and Solntse down 2...

6- illuminati hotties and Buck Meek move to #7 all time with u.v.v.p., down 3....

4- Duran Duran up 2 with Anniversary....

3- Moon Taxi up 1 with Mission...

2- an' holdin' Gerry Rafferty and Sign Of The Times...

And third week at the top for...

...Tom Morello an' Phantogram with Driving To Texas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feeling better now, bud?

EP:  Yeah, a little.  I wonder if Noodle needs a caregiver... for a couple weeks, y'know...

Can't hurt to ask him!  Anyway, here's the finals....

Cherish finished 16th in 1966...

The We Five finished 10th in 1965...

And the winner, finishing 1967 at #5....

Lulu and To Sir With Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like the man said, 4 weeks left- including the Halloween bash!  See ya next week!

Wednesday Bible Study: Picking through Judges part 7

 

I'm going to surprise you by not digging into the five minor judges surrounding Jephthah just yet.  Because there is a hard nugget to understand in Jephthah, and in praying about it, I was moved that the story was the mirror reflection of the story we just finished with Abimelech.  Seen that way, it quickly becomes a "right way- wrong way" parable within the story, and I think that this- even including that 'hard nugget', is the way God wants us to see it in this context.  I'm going to try to tell the tale with chronology draped over this structure, so bear with.

First of all, if you think back, Abimelech's was the first story that didn't start out with, "And the people of Israel did evil..."  mainly because he BECAME the evil.  Not so with Jephthah:

Jdg 10:6  The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. 

Moreover, in the first story, I had to point out how, unlike the others, God chose not to intervene directly, because they weren't listening anyway.  Not so, here...

Jdg 10:10  And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."
Jdg 10:11  And the LORD said to the people of Israel, "Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines?
Jdg 10:12  The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand.
Jdg 10:13  Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 

Jdg 10:14  Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress." 

Jdg 10:15  And the people of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day."

Recognition, at last, of their sin- and in the following verse, the setting aside of their idols- did the trick; the Lord relented.  Now here you're going to get the only treatment I'm going to give the five minor judges.  I'll point out something about one, and reference three others....

Jdg 10:3  After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
Jdg 10:4  And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead... 

Jdg 12:8  After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
Jdg 12:9  He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

Jdg 12:13  After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.
Jdg 12:14  He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years.

Throw in with this Tola, who had no donkeys, but whose name references a worm used to make expensive crimson cloth, and these are all relatively rich men for the time- and while they served the Lord well, they did not achieve the glory that a poor boy like Gideon- or as we shall see, Jephthah- did.  Nor does Abimelech, the spoiled son of a de facto king.  God can and does work through the rich- but does his greatest work with the most unlikely.

And just what makes Jephthah unlikely?

Jdg 11:1  Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.

Just like Abimelech, the son of a not-full wife, Jephthah was a harlot's son.  But while hate-filled Abimelech killed his brothers, Jephthah, in a way, had this reversed....

Jdg 11:2  And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman."
Jdg 11:3  Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

Now, here's the next contrast:  while Abimelech had to PAY men to follow him, men naturally were drawn to Jephthah.  There was something different about Jephthah, which we'll see soon enough.  The next contrast fell hot on the heels of this one.  Because, as we mentioned, the Lord was allowing all of Israel's neighbors to attack- not just in the north like Sisera, or just passing through like Cushaim the Double-Wicked, or the weaker neighbors like Moab, but all of the above- and they were making inroads into heretofore untouched Judah.  And unlike Abimelech, who had to politick the men of Shechem, the Men of Gilead came to Jephthah:

Jdg 11:5  And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.
Jdg 11:6  And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites."
Jdg 11:7  But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"
Jdg 11:8  And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
Jdg 11:9  Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head."
Jdg 11:10  And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say."

And indeed, the Lord was made witness, as we see next:

Jdg 11:11  So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.

And here, perhaps, is the biggest, or at least most important, contrast:  Jephthah went before the Lord, unlike Abimelech, who accepted money from Baal-Berith.  This is why Jephthah was blessed, and got his name in the "Faith Hall Of Fame" in Hebrews 11.  One chooses evil, one accepts his lot.  One is violent, one accepts persecution.  One makes himself a 'king', one makes himself a servant.  But it goes on.

The commonality of their birth was one of two things that I saw the two had in common. The other was this- they had enemies that didn't listen.  You remember Gaal last week, too hung over to realize his doom before it struck; in this story, Jephthah send to his enemies, asking why they attacked.  Here you have to go back to the book of Numbers...

Num 21:24  And Israel defeated him (Sihon of the Amorites) with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.
Num 21:25  And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
Num 21:26  For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.
Num 21:27  Therefore the ballad singers say, "Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be established.
Num 21:28  For fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab, and swallowed the heights of the Arnon.
Num 21:29  Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters captives, to an Amorite king, Sihon.
Num 21:30  So we overthrew them; Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; and we laid waste as far as Nophah; fire spread as far as Medeba."


The key so far as our story is verse 29:  Moab had first lived in Hesbon, the brothers (remember Lot?) of the Ammonites, and serving the same god, Chemosh.  They were driven out by Sihon's Amorites, who were then conquered by Israel.  But when Jephthah asked the Ammonites their reason for war, they claimed that it was Israel, not Sihon, who stole this land from them.  And it was because of this lie Jephthah answered them:

Jdg 11:23 ... So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?
Jdg 11:24  Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.
Jdg 11:25  Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 

Jdg 11:26  While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 

Jdg 11:27  I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon." 

Abimelech justified himself by what he could win with his sword-arm.  Jephthah justified his stand with the truth.  But, like I said...

Jdg 11:28  But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

 

And thus it was that Jephthah and his army defeated Ammon and drove them from Israel.  But then, a very familiar twist occurs...

Jdg 12:1  The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire."

Once again, self-important Ephraim, who had every opportunity to save Israel and sat back while others did, comes out afterwards to claim a little of the glory.  Here is a lesson about self-importance- it deludes your thinking.  If you were scared to fight the Ammonites, who Jephthah beat (or earlier, the Midianites, who Gideon beat), how is it you have the courage to come against your own kinsmen?  Unlike Gideon, who mollycoddled them with words, Jephthah used words to teach them a lesson:

Jdg 12:5  And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" When he said, "No,"
Jdg 12:6  they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

And that would be "they all lived happily ever after", but for that hard nugget I mentioned before.  And thew only way to explain it God's way is in the contrast.  Remember in the tale of Abimelech, Jotham the surviving brother, levied a curse on him that came true to Abimelech's destruction?  Well, this happened here:

Jdg 11:30  And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand,
Jdg 11:31  then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

And then...

Jdg 11:34  Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
Jdg 11:35  And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow."

Now, if you read the Jewish accounts, they claim, 'Jephthah would have known he could have had the vow annulled by the priest, but he was too proud to bow before a priest he considered beneath him.  Indeed, the two months his daughter requested...

Jdg 11:37  So she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions."

..was her going to the priest and appealing the decision, to which the priest refused unless Jephthah himself came.  So he sacrificed her, and he died a cursed, horrible death for his sin.'

Yes, that's the story the Rabbis came up with.  Because it glorified them, as they were of the priesthood.  The truth, taught by the Bible, was simpler.  Jephthah fulfilled his vows to the Lord, even to his hurt.  And, his death?

Jdg 12:7  Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.

In this story, God is not glorifying human sacrifice.  It is obvious that Jephthah's vow was a foolish one.  What God does show us admirable are Jephthah's obediences:

He set the whole deal to God's will.

He put the truth before lies, before rage, before avarice.

He did not stand for falsehood from friend or foe.

And he kept his promises, even to his own hurt.

That, I think, accomplished not by a rich man but a poor one, is God's lesson for us in his story.  And that's why he made the Faith Hall Of Fame.

Doggie Sunday

 

I thought it might be interesting for you to hear a bit about a typical Misty Sunday.

We wake up with Mommy's alarm at 7:00.  As soon as my bathroom duties are done and my Bible read, we head out for the Bark Park.

credit David Chapman

Today, in a bit of an unusual twist, we were near the creek that runs through our complex (stream might be a better word, but whatever) when I spotted a frog in the street on a still gloaming, muggy morning.  I sent Misty to the 'rescue', and to her delight, the frog came out with a good Calaveras County leap.  With Misty in pursuit, three such bounds took it to the safety of the bridge edge and into the water.

It was soon sprinkling, but not bad enough to take us out of normal routine.  And that routine is: into the park, run around like crazy (after taking care of her 'bathroom duties'), and eventually get bored with no one else there.  About 15 minutes of this is enough, and she runs up to me, barks, and heads for the gate.  Sometimes a walk follows, but as I said, it was raining, so we head back.  Still thinking about the frog, she thoroughly scans the bridge area for her frog, even pondering a trip into the water.  About this time, though, a dove resting on the bank takes off and scares crap from her, and we go home.

She curls up at my feet as I work on the week's Bible Study, post the Better Part, and sign in for Church.  I get her her handy dandy "Church Bone"...

...and I move the computer screen around so she can watch her eyelids on my lap while I watch the service.  Because if I don't go over to the big chair to watch, she'll sit my lap at the computer chair, which isn't terribly comfortable for sitt-er or sitt-ee.  As we sing the closing songs, I start the Sunday cleaning: wash some dishes, clean the stovetop and the microwave, and sweep the kitchen and dining room of "a whole 'nother doggie (worth of shed hair)", all the while she sits at my feet (or underfoot).  Then we take out the trash- her favorite job, as she goes out with me to 'help'.  And she knows what's a trash trip and what isn't- she goes right to the dumpster with me, and turns right back when the bags are tossed in.

After lunch, it's daddy-doggie naptime, and then we get up and watch RedZone, message back and forth with my son KC about football, and lay about until Mommy gets home from work.  This usually involves me getting barked at several times until she's sure I've noted that Mommy is, indeed home.  The rest of the afternoon would be spent watching the race (but not this week because, of course, it's 'Dega, and 'Dega always gets rained out.)  From there, she has one last highlight- the every night 7 PM Pupperoni.  Broken into several parts, she shakes hands for two, waits without moving for one, catches two more, and takes the last one gently from my mouth.

In between all of these is scattered playing, and at least one point where she absolutely goes nuts- which almost by definition involves me having to chase her up and down the steps at breakneck speed (hers, not mine).  Following this is coma-mode, in which she tries out various sleeping positions anywhere from 'almost human' to 'roadkill victim'.  Soon enough, day is done, and she leads the way up to bed.

The Better Part, week #39

 

This week's Facebook posts:

The Better Part, Day #198:

 

One thing you'll see if you follow the blog-which-FB-thinks-is-spam on my Wednesday Bible Study was a down home truth that wrote itself under God's supervision, that slapped me across the face when I read what I typed: Compromising with sin is mocking God- and God is not mocked.

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #199:

 

Php 1:22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

Php 1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Php 1:24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Php 1:25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,

Php 1:26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. 

 

Every day, I pray about not failing, about breaking old worn habits, about staying obedient. But, in this I keep forgetting that I'm here for a reason... and that reason ain't me.

 

 

 

The Better Part, day #200:

 

Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

 

I know this may be common sense, but today as I listened to David Jeremiah speaking to the fact that this occurs as a result of "being in the Word", I realized- late but finally- that this, too is not a magic cure that God just gives you, but like the sign says at my job- "If you want it, work for it".

 

 

 

The Better Part, day #201:

 

 

Just a quick one, without details, but: that moment when you believe God has told you something, and you ask for a backup just to be sure, and you hear it on a program you weren't even planning to listen to...