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ApologetiX in Kentucky, New CD Goes to Print
Mon., Sep. 17. 2001 1:07am EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer for ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band), here.
So much has happened since our last e-mail newsletter last Monday. The events on Tuesday really made what we do seem pretty trivial. Of course, God's word never comes back void (Isaiah 55:11), and I had to remind myself that now is a time when people will be looking for answers from God, looking for hope, and eventually, looking for something to cheer them up. Both concert promoters for this past weekend asked us to "go on with the show" and so we did, and I'm glad that we did. We made a lot of new friends and got to see some old ones in both Adrian, MI and Trexlertown, PA. And we got to meet some members of Smalltown Poets, too. Most of all, we got to have an impact on a lot of high school and college students, and even a few older folks!
I still can't believe what happened last Tuesday, and I'm sure we all probably feel that way. Thanks to all of you who e-mailed us to express your concern for our well being after that plane went down in Shanksville, PA. Actually, the location was about an hour and a half from us (80 miles away) in Pittsburgh, although only 27 miles from where I lived in part of 1999 and 2000, and where my parents still live. And we've driven through that general area plenty of times on our way to concerts.
1.Concert This Saturday in Elizabethtown KY
2.Our New CD, "Keep the Change," Goes to Print
3.Keep the Change Song List (Clues #17 and 18)
4.Upcoming Concerts
5.Prayer Requests
1. CONCERT THIS SATURDAY IN ELIZABETHTOWN KY
I've stopped in Elizabethtown KY many times on my way to my wife's parents' home, which is about three hours or so southwest of there. It's a central place where tons of people stop to get gas and a good meal. This weekend, we'll actually get to play a concert there! We get to play two different Elizabethtowns this month ó one in PA (Sept 1) and one in KY this weekend. And both go by the nickname of E-town.
Sat., Sept. 22 at 5:30 p.m.
First Christian Church Freeman Lake
140 Freeman Lake Road
Elizabethtown KY 42702
Contact: Chris Kiger 270-765-4994 (Day), 270-765-2224 (Night)
ACkiger@cs.com
chris.kiger@excite.com
2. OUR NEW CD, "KEEP THE CHANGE," GOES TO PRINT
As I am writing this, very late Monday night, I am waiting on a call from our producer/guitarist, Karl, so I can go up to the studio and review the final mix for "Keep the Change," which he plans to send to the duplicators tomorrow, September
18. As you probably know, "Keep the Change" is slated for a September 25 release, which means we would have to get the CD manufactured, back to us, and off to the stores in a week. That's pretty much impossible, so we are almost surely going to have to change the release date on the CD until at least one week later. Please pray that our CD manufacturer will be able to pull off a miracle and get the CD back to us ASAP. The main concern is that "Keep the Change" is featured in several catalogs which serve hundreds of stores, and those catalogs need to have the CDs in the store by Tuesday, October 2. Please pray for speed and favor for us! Karl and Bil have been working so hard on the mixdown of this CD. It's just taken a lot more time than we ever dreamed, due to some circumstances which were beyond our control. The good news is that it will be well worth the wait! I think you're gonna love this one! And a few months from now, nobody is going to remember it was a week or two later than expected; but they'd remember it if we'd rushed it out before making sure it was the best it could be! Thanks for your prayers and your patience!
3. KEEP THE CHANGE SONG LIST (CLUES #17 and 18)
We're almost finished with the clues for the 19 songs on our new CD, "Keep the Change." Just today, somebody sent me an e-mail in which they had figured out all 16 artists and 15 of the songs thus far. Here are clues #17 and 18:
#17 "Mama Told Me (What's to Come)"
If the truth be told, my mama and I butt heads on a few theological issues ... but we love each other, and she's a big supporter of the band ... even has her own ApologetiX t-shirt. Furthermore, she was the one who first encouraged me to read the Bible, pay attention to sermons in church, listen to "Jesus Christ Superstar," watch the movie "Jesus of Nazareth," and a bunch of other steps in my walk with God. One of the Biblical concepts I remember her imparting when I was just a wee lad was, "Don't go to fortune tellers." Back then, "psychics" was a fairly new term. Anyway, God told the Israelites long ago not to consort with mediums, spiritists, fortune tellers, etc. (Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, 29:29), and that theme is consistent through the time of King Saul (1 Samuel 28) to the Apostle Paul (Acts 16). I have a good friend who has a good friend who spent an unbelievable amount of money calling psychics, and that's what finally inspired me to write this parody, although it's a lesson that both Christians and non-Christians should learn. If you lived through the ë70's, you've probably already figured out the #1 song we spoofed here. It was the first of three number one hits for the original group that performed this song, a black and white septet that brought a lot of joy to the world, fronted by three lead singers who each knew how to deliver an old fashioned love song in a way that made people celebrate. They're down to a duo now, with one singer declining to reunite, but the other two decided the show must go on. The man who wrote the original song we spoofed here had his own #2 hit in 1977 (Some people thought it was comedy, some didn't), and he was a man who could never be accused of forgetting the little people in his life.
#18 "You Booked Me All Along"
One of my favorite lines in the Bible is Revelation 13:8, which says that Lamb (Jesus, the Lamb of God) was slain from the foundation of the world. In other words, God knew man was going to sin and all that would follow, and He had already made provision and plans for the arrival of Jesus before Adam ever set foot in the garden. I think it is so cool that we serve a God who knows everything that ever happened and everything that ever will happen, and one who made plans for us long before we loved Him (Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10) and actually draws us to Him (John 6:44). I heard a preacher say once that there's a two-step process to salvation. The first step is that you come to God. The second step is that you realize that He was the one who really took the first step. Predestination can be a difficult subject to grasp and a controversial one to discuss, whether you're a Calvinist or not, but it is a part of scripture (Romans 8:29-30 and Ephesians 1:5), and no scholar disputes that. The differences of opinion occur whenever people discuss exactly what it means, its role, its relation to a person's free will, etc. We're not trying to give a sermon on predestination or to define it in this song, though; we're just pointing out some cool verses that show that even before we decided to look for God, He had already found us. As Jesus says in John 15:16, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." The group we spoofed here is one of the few that proceeds us on the alphabetical list, and their breakthough would make an interesting companion piece to our concert standard, "Narrow Way to Heaven." They're one of the few groups in rock history to survive the departure of a popular lead singer and then go on to even greater success with a replacement lead singer.
4. UPCOMING CONCERTS
Sat., Sept. 29, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
7th Annual Barbecue on the River Foot of Broadway
(Riverfront)
Paducah KY
Contact: Pam Ward 270-415-9095 bandp@paducah.com
Free Admission
Sun., Sept. 30, at 4:30 p.m.,
Garvin Park
(Pavilion shelter next to fountain)
Heidelbach & Maxwell Ave.
(Next to Bosse Field Baseball Stadium)
Evansville IN
(812) 424-3318 tracylynnbarnett@hotmail.com
Free Admission
Fri., Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Family Christian Stores Holiday Center
3747 William Penn Highway
Monroeville, PA
Contact: Chuck Ernst, Mgr. 412-372-1610 cpernst@sgi.net
Free Admission
Sat., Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Christian Publications/Cornerstone Chapel
620 Route 23
North Pompton Plains NJ 07444
Contact: Emily Strunk 973-616-7080
Sat., Oct. 13 at 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Cup O' Joy Benefit Concert
Green Bay West High School
966 Shawano Ave.
Green Bay WI
Contact: Jan Oettinger 920-435-3269 (Cup O' Joy)
920-437-6694 (home)
jano@cupojoy.com
www.cupojoy.com Tickets: $5 in advance plus freewill offering $6 or $7 at door
Fri., Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m.
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
201 W. Jefferson St.
Butler PA 16001
Contact: Pastor Rich Leseganich 724-287-6741
Sat., Oct. 20 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey Scarlet Cord Teen Center
150 Main St.
Brookville PA
Contact: Tommy Rowe (Convention) 717-652-5856
Contact: Erik Lane (Scarlet Cord) 814-849-7659
kcmpromo@yahoo.com
Sat., Oct. 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Scarlet Cord Teen Center
150 Main St.
Brookville PA
Contact: Erik Lane (Scarlet Cord) 814-849-7659
kcmpromo@yahoo.com
Fri., Oct. 26 at 9:00 p.m.
Common Ground Beautiful Savior Lutheran
5005 Northwest Blvd.
Plymouth MN 55442
Contact: Larry Deyoe
763-550-1000 ext. 106
Sat., Oct. 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Nebraska Church of God Retreat
Rock Haven Conv. & Retreat Center
76309 Road 415
Gothenburg NE 69138
Contact: Jason Johnson 402-486-3450
Sat., Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Praise Tabernacle
2235 Ocean Heights Ave.
Egg Harbor Twsp, NJ 08234
Contact: Yvonne Parr 609-601-2460 les-yvonne@worldnet.att.net
Sat., Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.
Restoration 2001
White Oak ISD Campus
200 S. White Oak Rd.
White Oak, TX 75693
Contact: Mark Dickson, Millennium Missions
903-297-7185
Fri., Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m.
FCA Benefit
Poplar Bluff High School
1300 Victory Lane
Poplar Bluff MO 63901
Contact: Jim Hoyt, Cheerful Heart Ministries
573-778-0955
Sat., Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
First Baptist Church
801 US Hwy 50
East Union, MO 63084
Contact: Rich Permenter 636-583-2386 oshkosh@usmo.com
5. PRAYER REQUESTS
Our friend Lacey in Sioux City, IA, asked us to pray for a four-year old little girl she knows named Jenna, who has had brain cancer for three years. Lacey says: "She has gone through chemo, radiation and three surgeries to remove tumors. They thought that she was on her way to recovery until she had a CT scan and they found another large tumor. The doctors gave Angie, her mother, no hope for recovery this time. When members of her church heard this, they searched for a cancer center that could help Jenna and found a center in Austin Texas. So we set out to make cookies to raise funds, as Angie is a single mom. We raised $2,500 for Jenna's medical bills. The doctors unfortunately cannot do anything for Jenna. She is now on comfort measures until she passes away, we all are praying for her, but we need all the help we can get. Could you please put out a prayer request to all of your buddies on list? All of us would really appreciate it." For more info, please e-mail Lacey at iastchamp@yahoo.com
Obviously, we all need to pray for the families and friends of those lost in the tragedies last Tuesday, for our country, for our world and for our leaders, both political and religious. I'm sure you're all doing that. We're doing it, too.
Thanks! God bless you all!
Apologetically,
J.
-- J. Jackson Lead Singer/Lyricist ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) www.apologetix.com j@apologetix.com
Isaiah 55:11
(God is speaking) "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it out."
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