M10 show week #108

 

Well, tonight we have Laurie home somewhat sick, Pizza is on the way, and...

Laurie:  Hey, what's "almost sick"?  I'm achy, like a train ran over me!  You know how this hits me...

Well, I wasn't exactly trying to type a diagnosis- although if I keep it up it might be...

...for me... anyway, we have 3 debuts this week, and...

L: But wait, if you give them now, I'll know them before you play me the list!

It's a time machine, I'll just go back to Tuesday lunchtime and play them for you then.  That way, you'll know them before I do!

L: Now my head hurts...

There's some ibuprofen right next to the button you got to push to play the first debut. Which belongs to former Kiss-er Ace Frehley.  Apparently, he told a reviewer, "This will make my old bandmates sound like morons!"  The reviewer later wrote, "He didn't make them sound like morons... but he didn't sound like one either."  Here's the title track to that lp at #9...

 

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L: Should I hit this button next? 

Not yet!  First I have to tell everyone we're featuring 1962 this week- a week where the USA had Gene Chandler's classic (except in Australia) Duke Of Earl at the top, as did Canada.  It only got to #42 in Australia, though.  They had my usual co-host at the top with Can't Help Falling In Love (and ain't you gonna be in trouble for squeezing him out at this point!), a song that was on the way down at #30 here.

Now, usually I would do my top five this week (after inserting the usual caveats) next, but...

L: What caveats?

"Based on where they are, going up or down, how long I would have been listening at this point..." You know, putting myself in the week in question, more or less.

L:  Oh, you mean that stuff you always say when it starts...

Um, yeah.  But since we have three debuts, Go ahead and h...

Pizza's here!

Okay, hit the switch marked "Food Pause" so the audience doesn't have to hear us eating, belching, etc.

Elvis belches on here...

He's a pig, though.

******************************************************

Okay, so second debut is actually the b-side of Water Underground.. so that means #8 belongs to Real Estate...

 

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Now it's Chris's top fiii-ve...

Probably best if we leave out the Casey Kasem theme music... you never know who might show up around here...

#5- Roy Orbison, Dream Baby.  Zooming from 69 to 39 this week, it would peak at 2 both in the USA and Australia...

BUUURRRRP!

Sigh... and at 8 in Canada.

#4- The Everly Brothers,  Crying In The Rain.  Unlike the Big O, the brothers are starting to slow down climbing a notch to 8.  It peaked 6 here, 7 Australia, and a surprising 25 on the Canadian "CHUM chart".

#3- Don and Juan, What's Your Name.  The bullet rides here for me, with the song moving up 39-29.  It peaks 7 here, 12 in Canada, and of course 73 in Australia. 

#2- Gene Chandler, Duke Of Earl.  It IS in it's 4th of 5 weeks at the top of the Cashbox chart.  2 of 3 in Canada.

And my #1 this week... 

...Chubby Checker and the second time around for The Twist.  It hit #1 here in both 1960 and 1962.  It got to #3 this trip in Australia... it was a recent 6 week chart topper in Canada- which it was NOT the first time around, being held out apparently by Jimmie Rodgers's The Wreck Of the John B, an early version of the Beach Boys' Sloop John B.

Okay, get ready to hit that last button!  Our last debut is by a gent who's hit the top here 3 times already, and comes in at #7 with the theme to the new show Tracker.  This is... Talk...

Um, Laurie?  Hit the button!

Sorry, I was concentrating on Pat Sajak on Wheel Of Fortune...

Yeesh, remember what I said about saying names...

Sorry, I was watching some guy on a famous syndicated game show...

The button?

Oh,  Yeah.

*********************************************

What happens now?

Now, having taken doggie out to the restroom and getting her treats, I will read off the rest of the M10...

10- Thousand Foot Krutch and friends with Let The Sparks Fly in week 7 drops 3 spots.

6- Camera Obscura up 4 with Big Love.

5- From the top to 5th, Jenny Lewis and Cherry Baby.

4- Up one for Dent May's One Call, That's All.

3- Up three for Juliana Hatfield and Secret Messages.

2- His highest charting solo so far, Buck Meek and Cuero Dudes.

And the new #1, her first....

...Amira Elfecky and Everything I Do Is For You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've had five straight #1s by acts new to the top!  Will Juliana or Dent end that?  Tune in next week!

Wednesday Bible Study- Hebrews part VII

 

This week I want to explore just who Melchizedek was- and that means I am going to dance around the edge of the bunny trail.  First, let me set his importance- or rather, let the author of Hebrews do so...

Heb 7:1  For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 

Heb 7:2  and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 

Heb 7:3  He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 

Heb 7:4  See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 

From this, we learn several things.  He was a priest outside the Law's priesthood, as the father of the Law's priesthood, Levi, was a couple generations from being born.  He is named a King, although the translations provided by the author in 7:2 tell us his kingdom IS NOT OF THIS EARTH, in the sense that it was not kingship over some city or cities.  (Remember Jesus saying that to Pilate in John 18:36?)  There is no record of his genealogy, whereas heretofore the Book of Genesis had a genealogy on every page.  And the author names him a great man!  So how is it he was deemed great? Well, there's the rub.

If you go back to Genesis 14, the first 17 verses are telling the story of how Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, and his allies defeated the king of Sodom and his buddies, how Lot was taken prisoner, and Abraham took his whopping army of 318 men and whupped the armies of 5 kings. And in verse 21, the story continues to the end of the chapter.  And without those other three verses, the chapter flows perfectly.  But in between meeting up with the king of Sodom in v17 and dividing the spoils in v21, we have this:

Gen 14:18  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 

Gen 14:19  And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 

Gen 14:20  and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 

And that is it.  All you get about Melchzedek for 760 years, until David prophesies in Psalm 110:

Psa 110:4  The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." 

And our author quotes later on in this chapter.  I want to note not only what I said earlier, but also that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine as a memorial to God's victory through Abraham- Just as Jesus would do to commemorate HIS upcoming victory during the Last Supper.  So, was he real?  Undoubtedly.  Was He Christ pre-incarnate, as some say?.  Maybe, but I don't think so.  I believe he was a man, a priest called by God.  He was a vivid foreshadowing of Christ, in the bread and wine, the priest without lineage, the Kingdom not on a map.  And I think that one day, in the New Kingdom, the Jews will marvel at how God hid this perfect picture of Christ in plain sight.  

Now, here's where I veer off path for just a minute.  It struck me that there is exactly one other place where the Bible has a short but meaningful story, about an otherwise unknown man (until Bruce Wilkinson's book in 2000), stuffed in the middle of a passage where it really didn't seem to fit.  After three chapters worth of (you guessed it) genealogy, and before at least another chapter and a half of it, sits this:

1Ch 4:9  And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow. 

1Ch 4:10  And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that You would bless me indeed, and make my border larger, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, so that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he asked. 

Think of Jabez as a foreshadowing of the Church.  Like Jabez, it was born in the sorrow of Christ's crucifixion.  It was blessed by God with salvation, given the commission to expand the borders of the Kingdom, and depends on God for its defense.  And God granted its prayers.  And like Melchizedek, the name is mentioned one more time- ahead in time, but earlier in the book:

1Ch 2:55  And the families of the scribes who lived at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab. 

So God apparently answered Jabez's prayer- he had a city of note (if only here) named after him.  But do a little more digging to complete the story.  These three families of scribes mentioned are also never mentioned again; but when I dug into the meanings of the names, see the connection to the Church:

- Tirathites: a gate...

- Shimeathites: an announcement...

- Suchathites: a branch...

We enter, as Jesus said, through the Narrow Gate... we announce the Gospel to the world... and in Zechariah 3, the Messiah is prophetically called the BRANCH.  In pop culture, we call these Easter Eggs:  Melchizedek for Christ, Jabez for the Church.

So why is Melchizedek great?  Because Father Abraham, the greatest of Jewish heroes, paid tithes to him, and was blessed by him.  And that means...

Heb 7:6  But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 

Heb 7:7  It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 

As Abraham accepted the blessing, he accepted that the priesthood was greater than anything that would come from himself.  In a way, so did Levi...

Heb 7:9  One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 

Heb 7:10  for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. 

But what was this superiority built on? Levi was appointed by the Law; the priests were appointed by men from his family.  Not so the Melchiedekian priesthood:

Heb 7:20  And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 

Heb 7:21  but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'" 

So it was God's oath that established THIS priesthood.  Now, God was to make an oath with Abraham, an oath that eventually led to the Law.  But...

Heb 7:18  For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 

Heb 7:19  (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 

So a new covenant would be needed.  And a new priesthood- or a superior one.  Because...

Heb 7:12  For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 

If you were a Hebrew reader at this point, you MIGHT be asking, "So where is this new covenant you're talking about?"  And the prophet Jeremiah will supply it...

Jer 31:31  "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 

Jer 31:32  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 

Jer 31:33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

Jer 31:34  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." 

So, a new covenant, a new priesthood, and a new, perfect way to salvation:

Heb 7:27  He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 

Heb 7:28  For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. 

And when you think it's safe...

 ...Not really, but I did get two spam e-mails that were worth a shout out this week, both in a similar vein.  The first one comes to us from "Mr Richard Mark".  And it starts with a warning, in German of all things:

Achtung: Diese E-Mail stammt von einem externen Absender. Öffnen Sie keine Links oder Anhänge, wenn Sie sich nicht sicher sind, dass diese E-Mail vertrauenswürdig ist, kontaktieren Sie Ihren Support.

Which is to say:

Attention: This email comes from an external sender. Do not open any links or attachments. If you are unsure that this email is trustworthy, contact your support.

No fooling?  So now, to the missive:

we inform you that we have verified your contract file Your ATM VISA CARD worth 36,500,000.0 is currently on my desk USD was approved And it was deposited with DHL Delivery Company for registration this morning, And we agreed that the delivery of your ATM worth 36,500,000.0 million USD The package will be sent tomorrow morning. So contact your full information Where will your ATM VISA CARD be delivered,

(1) Full name

(2) Mobile number

(3) Direct telephone number

(4) Country of origin

(5) Your current delivery address

(6) Occupation/ age/ gender

(7) City

8) The nearest airport

We will publish your ATM VISA CARD when you update us and you above given information a tracking number will be assigned, that is your tracking number package after it is sent to your postal address so that you can track it so that you know exactly when it will arrive at your postal address.

Urgently get back to us today with your full address at which you have an ATM card It will be delivered as I will be out of the office next week.

The amount on your card is 36,500,000.0 million USD and your PIN code is: (9106).

and you pay the ATM CARD delivery fee, it will only cost $150, which is only the money you pay, thank you

Stay blessed as I will look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

MR RICHARD MARK

Postman, Ordinary Post Post Office Kampala Uganda Email ( diplomaticagentud@gmail.com)

As typical, we have a contestant who can't figure out when to capitalize (we) and when not (Your) right off the bat.  Also a bit rocky on where the decimal fits in in money (.0, not .00?).  Making the apostle Paul look good, we have a run-on sentence with not one, but two, passive verbs ("...is currently on my desk USD was approved..."), followed by a capitalized conjunction which probably should have been a new, if poorly started, sentence.  I had to look up and confirm DHL was still in business (it is, to my surprise).  Among the many other amusing things that follow (like that diagrammer's nightmare that is the sentence starting with "Urgently", which is one period away from being two coherent sentences instead of one baffling one) is that Mr Mark is a 'postman' at an 'ordinary' post office (which just happens to be in Uganda, where I order all my multi-million USD Visa cards from), and yet still can handle my 36.5 million dollar transaction (which is roughly 1,200 times what I made last year).

Contestant #2 is one Judge Janet M DiFiore, who in real life is the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and of the State of New York.  However, THIS Judge Janet is supposedly based out of the Federal Courthouse in Charlottlesville, VA, and... well, let her tell it.  AFTER I mention that it also came with the lovely German warning (always so much more effective with that starting ACHTUNG!):

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE JANET M DIFlORE FEDERAL BUILDINGS AD U.S

COURTHOUSE

Address: 255 W Main St #230, Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR TRANSACTION,

I 'M CONTACTING YOU NOW BASE ON ISSUE ON MY DESK THIS MORNING BECAUSE

YOUR PAYMENT FILE WHICH CONTAIN YOUR $4.5M WAS BROUGHT TO ME BY MR

JEROME POWELL OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANK WHO ORDERED ME TO SIGN THE

CANCELLATION OF YOUR PAYMENT FILE AND I ASKED HIM WHY AND HE SAID THAT

YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED AND

YOU HAVE INSULTED HIM SO MUCH JUST BECAUSE THAT THEY TOLD YOU TO PAY

$250 TO COMPLETE YOUR FUND TRANSACTION.

SO I DECIDED TO WRITE YOU BECAUSE I FOLLOWED THE LAW AND I WILL NOT BE

AGAINST ANYBODY IN THIS WORLD AND I THINK THAT MAYBE HE HAS A LITTLE

PROBLEM

WITH YOU. I HAVE NOT TOUCH YOUR PAYMENT FILE UNTIL I HEAR FROM YOU

THIS MORNING BECAUSE I HAVE A HUMAN SYMPATHY AND I KNOW THAT YOU WILL

NOT AFFORD TO LOSE YOUR FUND JUST BECAUSE OF $250 AND PLEASE ALL I

NEED FROM YOU IS SINCERITY AND TRUTH.

SO MY DEAR I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AND IF YOU STILL NEED TO

RECEIVE YOUR FUND THEN I WILL TELL YOU WHERE YOU WILL SEND THE $250

AND HAVE THIS

FUND SEND TO YOU THROUGH MY POWER AND NOTHING WILL STOP IT.

YOUR URGENT REPLY IS NEEDED AS I AWAIT YOUR EMAIL NOW.

THANK YOU,

JUSTICE JANET M DIFIORE

First off, what happened to spam mails that started out with, "Hello dear", instead of all the caps-lock shouting.  Chill, Jannie.  Anyway, Let's rebuild this.  The director of the Fed sent a file with my name and 4.5 million (which is why I don't deal with those cheapskates in Virginia) to a New York Judge moonlighting as the Chief Justice's notary public in Virginia.  He tells HER to sign off on cancelling my payment because I insulted him, either by or during, telling him I wasn't going to pay $250 to get it.  Poor baby.  I would have to be pretty dumb to pay him $250 to get 4.5 million when I can write to the postman in Kampala and he'll send me 9 times as much for 3/5ths the cost, but whatever.  

In the meantime, Judge Janet seems to think I'm an okay Joe and Jerome Powell is an ass, so she wants to get with me and talk me into spending the money because she's just overflowing with the milk of human kindness.

Oh, and I guess I have to rescind that earlier comment, because she did call me, "My dear."  Really means a lot coming from you.  One final thing though: If you have the "power to send it to me and nothing can stop it", then why are you fetching and catching for Powell, instead of telling him to calm his butt down, get a cup of decaf, and lower his demand to apparent market value?  If 36.5 million costs $150, then he shouldn't be asking more than, oh, about 18.50.  And that I could afford!

This week in pictures

 So we had a dead flat week on pics this week, so I thought we'd do this week through time...

February 11

2017- Just hanging out

This year- the day it was warm...

February 12

Last year- I thought it would be clever to get a shot through two bridges

February 13  14 15

2016- Some monkeying around

2020- Relaxing with some CBS

Last year- Young lovers found our "hidden spot"

February 16

2022- Water water everywhere

February 17

2017- Warm enough to explore the creek

...and lay around

 

February 18

2013- Testing the ice

2014- Snow got deep

2017- Along the boardwalk

2020- Learning to "treat"

M10 show week #107

 

Elvis:  Say, we're going to feature 1963 this week, so's it's safe fer me to come back an' do this show, without the durn Beatles everywhere, an...

Now come on, son!  If it weren't for the Beatles, I'd have Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, and the Everly's complaining about you!

What'dya mean?  Everyone likes me!

Care to look into that?  Let me do a little research while you play our one debut...

Oooo-kayyy... These guys had a #1 a while back with a tune called Making Money... this one is more of a country bend... at #10, here's Camera Obscura....

*************************************************

Okay, so I did a bit of digging... you still think everyone loves you?

I think I ain't gonna love YOU so much after this...

How about when you were charting with Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog?  Hugo Winterhalter missed out on #1 one week behind DBC with his take on Canadian Sunset... and the next week, you did it to Bill Doggett and Honky Tonk behind BOTH of them!

Yeah, but...

Then, how about M10er Billy Williams, who you kept out his song, I'M Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter for a week with Teddy Bear?

S'what he gets fer havin' such a durn long title...

You kept Carl Perkins out for two weeks, with Blue Suede Shoes stuck behind Heartbreak Hotel....

Yeah, but...

Then it was another two wasted weeks for The Brothers Four with Greenfields, behind Stuck On You...

Four on one, still couldn't get me!

Then it was Are You Lonesome To-Nite doing it for 2 weeks to 2 different acts-   Johnny Tillotson and Poetry In Motion, and Floyd Cramer with Last Dance...

Yeah, but...

Then it was Jim Lowe's The Green Door, for FOUR weeks- one behind Love Me Tender and Don't Be Cruel, then 3 more behind just Love Me Tender....

Guess he never did find out what wuz goin' on in there, haw!

But the ones who really must hate you are the Diamonds, who were stuck with Little Darlin' at #2 for SEVEN weeks behind All Shook Up!

A'right, a'right!  I am a man with enemies....

As all the greats are... LIKE the Beatles.

Well, how many did the Beatles keep out the top?  

Good question!  Let me find out, while you do 1963...

Y'know, I think all I'm doin' here is givin' him excuses...  Anyway, this is Chris's top five this week in 1963, based on weeks on, up/down, bullet or no... in other words, his best guess.

First off, lemme tell ya that Paul and Paula was #1 this week in the USA an' Canada with Hey Paula- which would go on ta hit the top in Australia, too.  However, this week, they had Del Shannon's Little Town Flirt at the top.

Chiris's list:

5- Lou Christie, The Gypsy Cried- it would peak on Cashbox at #23, an' not chart in the other 2 countries.

4- Skeeter Davis, The End Of The World- it would top the Canada chart, #2 here, but a #32 in Australia.  This week, up one to 25.

3- Cascades, Rhythm Of The Rain- #1 Canada, #2 Australia, #3 USA.  It moved 6 to #5 this week.

2- Four Seasons, Walk Like A Man- Because, Four Seasons!  Unanimous future #1, climbs 5 to 4 this week.

An' Chris's top song this week...

...Del Shannon with Little Town Flirt!  How 'bout that?  Chris an' Australia agree fer a change!  Canada peaked it at 9, the USA (on Billboard) at #12.  It moves 16-13 this week. 

Okay, I covered fer ya agin- what are ya doin'?

Well, I wondered how you and the Beatles stacked up in the "Keeping them out of #1" race, and I have the results!

Oh, boy...

As far as number of songs prevented from reaching the top, the Beatles had 9 songs stopped, just like you:  Leslie Gore's You Don't Own Me, 2 weeks at 2 and one at three- I Want To Hold Your Hand, later joined by She Loves You; the Four Seasons and Dawn (Go Away), by the same two for 3 weeks, with Please Please Me and Twist And Shout pushing them back to #5 for 2 more; Bobby Vinton's Mr Lonely, two non-continuous weeks, by I Feel Fine; We Can Work It Out stopped the Temptations and My Girl and James Brown's I Got You (I Feel Fine) each one week; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Fire for 2 weeks, by Hey Jude; Get Back claimed two more, Mercy and Love (Can Make You Happy) for 3 weeks, and CCR's Bad Moon Rising for one more; and the Long And Winding Road stopping two weeks worth of the Poppy Family and Which Way You Going, Billy.

So we tied...

...unless you count the one week that the one A-side, Come Together, stopped the other A-side, Something.  Then it's 10-9.  Either way you roll the total weeks blocked, with 26 to the Beatles 19- or 20.

Finally, I beat 'em at something! Haw!

And now, with time getting away from us, the rest of the M10:

9- TCH and Pretty Lady down 3...

8- Jungle up 2 with Back On 74...

7- All the way from the top, Thousand Foot Krutch and Let The Sparks Fly...

6- up 3, Juliana Hatfield and Secret Messages...

5- Up 2, Dent May and One Call That's All....

4- Up one for Buck Meek and Cuero Dudes...

3- Up one, Amira Elfeky and Everything I Do Is For You...

2- Back up one in week #8, TCH and Heartbeat It's A Lovebeat...

 

and the new #1....

...Jenny Lewis and Cherry Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great weekend, y'all!!!!!!!

Wednesday Bible Study- Hebrews part VI

 

We start this chapter with a 'therefore', which means we are now passing beyond the study of the things that we have put as idols, or 'roadblocks', in front of our faith: lesser spiritualism, mortal men, the traditions of men.  The author explains his intention to move past the things they were already taught: repentance from sin, the resurrection, and the coming judgment, and to move on to more mature study.

With a caveat: Heb 6:3  And this we will do if God permits. 

But then he hits a subject that I, at least, found confusing:

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 

Heb 6:5  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 

Heb 6:6  and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 

What, wait! Is he saying that you can LOSE your salvation?  I thought it was 'once saved always saved'?  And it is true that many who don't believe "OSAS" will point to this section.  And those who defend it will turn to Jesus's words:

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 

Joh 10:28  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

Joh 10:29  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 

Joh 10:30  I and the Father are one." 

And at this point, of course, the atheists will scream "Contradiction!"  And perhaps the Catholics will reply, "See?  This is why you need to have a Purgatory!"  And both they and my original statement would be wrong.  Because if you ask, "Does this mean you can lose your salvation?", you should here Paul giving his famous response, "By no means!"

So, what is going on?

I went to commentators, who left me slightly more confused.  At least one suggested this should be read, basically, "As if such a thing COULD happen".  That the whole passage is a hypothetical.  I'm not sure I buy that.  But my paper Bible has reference notes, and it points me to the better explanation- just a few chapters later in this very book.  Not wanting to give out the WHOLE of chapter 10, let us look at just one part:

Heb 10:38  Now, "the Just shall live by faith. But if he draws back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him." 

Heb 10:39  But we are not of those withdrawing to destruction, but of those who believe to the preserving of the soul. 

Again, the author folds back on the prophets, from Habakkuk and Zephaniah.  But the key word here to get is "withdrawing."  Remember, we are talking about Jews who, in many cases, saw miracles from the hands of Jesus, ate bread and fish that were multiplied, had formerly dead relatives visit them after the Crucifixion and Resurrection (Matthew 27:52).  This was what they had witnessed; and yet, they couldn't handle the step of faith needed to believe 'to the preserving of their souls', but withdrew from the whole thing.  They went back to Moses, back to the Law, back to the Talmud- or back to previous unbelief.  

There was a choice- believe what they saw, and heard, or not.  And they chose, 'not'.

This, like I have said, is the choice we have.  And where the author goes now, it's where the 'casual fan' drops out.  To go on, keep learning, become mature, you need- if I may- "hard believism".  Jesus taught His followers this very way:

Joh 6:53  So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 

Joh 6:54  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 

Joh 6:55  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 

Joh 6:56  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 

Joh 6:57  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 

Joh 6:58  This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 

Joh 6:59  Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. 

Joh 6:60  When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 

Joh 6:66  After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 

Joh 6:67  So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" 

Joh 6:68  Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 

Joh 6:69  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." 

But now, the author addresses 'those who were left when the room cleared':

Heb 6:9  Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation. 

Would the author "feel sure" if he were referring to people who could LOSE their salvation?  So that whole debate is merely people with an agenda cherry-picking the verses they want to hear, to 'prove' their point.  That's why I try to bring you a deeper study.

And now, the author at last wraps the prelims up with a set of final points.

- God will honor your faith and your works for Him (v10)

-The author is teaching these things so you'll have a 'go and do' faith, not a 'sit back and relax' one (vv11, 12)

- these promises are anchored on 2 unshakable truths: that God has sworn an oath to do it, and being God He cannot lie (vv13-18)

-this anchor proves that Jesus has "gone behind the veil" as our High Priest- a priest of the order of Melchizedek (vv19, 20).

Next time, at long last- Melchizedek, and what he means to the story.

Sunday pictures

 Well, we had some nice enough days to take some walks.  And while 'interesting' is subjective, here's what I took pics of...

We start last Sunday afternoon...

Bright, sunny, and warmer than today

So bright we were 'mud-blinded'!

Watching the discers

This is new

All the rain and all the wind toppled a big tree

And in front of it is the mud-stream into which I proceeded to trip and fall just outside of...

Doggie patiently waiting while I clean myself up a bit

Good throw!

"Poor Daddy!  He has to rest again..."

"So that's where the geese went..."

Next comes Monday- a bit colder...

Cutting cross-field

Duck pond looks like a pond again

River bank looks... muddy...

Bump ahead to Wednesday... not much to see...

I counted 86 geese on the soccer field

A few more trying to get a cricket game up

Now, a much nicer Thursday afternoon...

Yep, she's ready

Coyotes had a meal out here... possibly a deer elbow...

"Against the wind..."

Waves and whitecaps aplenty on the river

Duck nap time

"And why shouldn't I get 2 trips into the river?"

Tearing out the brush beside the back roods road.  One more place we won't see deer any more.  Probably will chase off the homeless camp, too

Finally, Friday, after PT finishes trying to rip my shoulder off ( no, it just feels like it)...

The big blue tarp 'tent' is decimated

This dude had a grabber that looked like a fishing pole, trying to grab his disc.  His friends told me, "It works better when (the disc) is under water..."

Doggie playing fetch the ball

Aftermath of running her snout under water

Even after just being in the river, HAVE to walk through the center of all puddles