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ApologetiX: Tennessee Wednesday (Tonight), Pittsbu
Wed., May. 8. 2002 1:56pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) here.
Thanks to everybody who came to visit us in Minnesota! We hope to see all of you again when we return to your state twice in July and once in August!
1, Wednesday (Tonight): Tennessee
2. Saturday: Pittsburgh PA
3. Our New CD, Grace Period: Clues #7 & 8
4. Upcoming Concerts
5. Prayer Request
1. WEDNESDAY (TONIGHT): TENNESSEE
Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m.
Ticketed Event
Strawberry Festival
Cosponsored by First Baptist Church
Humboldt TN
Contact: Bill Kisner/Church office
731-784-8280
uthguy@click1.net
2. SATURDAY: PITTSBURGH PA
Saturday, May 11, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Ticketed Event
$5 advance, $8 door
Church of the Nazarene
386 Shafer Road
Coraopolis, PA
Contact: Nancy Kehoe
724-375-6464
kehoeholt@access995.com
After these two concerts, we plan to take a much-needed break (from May 12-June 7), which will include (God willing) much time in the studio working on our upcoming CD, "Grace Period," plus the birth of little baby Jackson.
Please pray that God would graciously allow us to complete both of these concerts before the baby arrives!
3. OUR NEW CD, GRACE PERIOD: CLUES #7 & 8
Our seventh CD, "Grace Period," is slated to contain 20 parodies of rock hits from yesterday and today. Although we haven't announced a release date yet, we plan to release it this summer. As we've done with previous CDs, we're giving you clues regarding the contents ó what our parody version is about and what song/artist we're spoofing. Here are clues #7 and #8:
#7 "Tom Saw Ya"
One of the most powerful moments in the Bible for me is when the Apostle Thomas finally sees the risen Christ in John
20. You remember the story: Jesus had appeared to the disciples on Sunday, but Thomas hadn't been there, and he didn't believe the other disciples when they told him that Jesus had risen and appeared to them. In fact, he said he wouldn't believe unless he actually got to see the nail marks and put his fingers in them and put his hand into Christ's wounded side. A week later, Jesus appeared again to His disciples, this time with Thomas present, and invited Thomas to see and touch for himself. Can you imagine how stunned Thomas must have been? All he could say was "My Lord and my God!" He wasn't swearing, either; he was acknowledging Christ as both his Lord and God. But we still call him doubting Thomas, even though the Bible shows that he was willing to risk his life for Christ even before the resurrection (John 11:8,16) and history shows that he went on to become a great missionary for the early church before finally being martyred. We wanted to capture that powerful moment when Thomas saw the risen Christ with a parody of a powerful song. Although it may seem like we've been in no hurry to spoof any songs by the artists who performed the song we're spoofing here, they're actually one of our drummer's all-time favorite bands. That isn't surprising, considering this is a drummer-driven band, in more ways than one. They've only ever had one Top 40 hit, although this song made it to #44 and helped the album from which it came sell over four million copies. In fact, by the end of 2001, all 22 of this group's albums had gone gold (including four "live" albums), although their brightest time in the limelight was the 1980's ó not bad for a band that didn't come from the United States or England. After six years without a studio release, they recently released a brand new CD. On a humorous note, I originally wrote a spoof of this song back in 1981, about a friend of mine who was hooked on chewing tobacco.
#8 "How You Rewind Me"
We've been playing this parody in concert for a couple months now, and it deals with our constant battle with sin (Yes, even after we're born again) and lists some of my favorite scripture verses dealing with the topic (Isaiah 1:18, 43:25; Lamentations 3:22-23, Philippians 1:6, and the magnificent Romans chapter 7, in which we get a close-up view of the struggles that the Apostle Paul faced). I've heard a few preachers say that although God asks us to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), the problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar! Thankfully, even though we all stumble in many ways (James 3:2), God does something to us when we're born again that just won't let us go on sinning (1 John 3:9), so although we fall, there's always something (and Someone) inside of us that's picking us back up and putting us back on course again. God calls us to be holy because He is holy, so we try to live right, but thankfully we are not saved by our good works (Eph. 2:8-9) nor can we maintain that salvation by our good works ó it is the gift of God. I love the way Jesus told His disciples (and us) in Luke 17:4 that if someone "sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says ëI repent,' forgive him." If God has those kind of standards regarding forgiveness for us, just imagine the standards He has for Himself! The song we're spoofing here was a #1 hit on both the pop charts and the modern rock charts this year, and the group that performed it shares a point of origin with the group in #7. Considering that factor and the band's name, you might expect them to be fans of Doug Flutie and Warren Moon, although I doubt they are. C'mon ... look at the title. If you listen to the radio at all, this one is a "gimme."
4. UPCOMING CONCERTS
Please note that, as usual, there are concerts in the works that are not yet listed below. For more details on any or all of the concerts below, please go to http://www.apologetix.com/tour.html
To inquire about booking a concert, please contact our booking agent, Kathleen Burke, at booking@apologetix.com or call 949-770-3001, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST.
May 08 - Humboldt TN May 11 - Pittsburgh PA Jun 08 - Camdenton MO Jun 21 - AtlantaFest GA Jun 27 - Paducah KY Jun 30 - Moberly MO Jul 03 - Philadelphia OH Jul 06 - Elysburg PA Jul 13 - Sonshine Fest MN Jul 03 - New Philadelphia OH Jul 13 - SonShine Fest MN Jul 14 - LiFest, WI Jul 15 - Oklahoma City OK Jul 17 - Brownwood TX Jul 20 - Spirit Fest Midwest, MN Jul 27 - Somerdale OH Aug 04 - Inside Out Soul Fest, NH Aug 07 - Kingdom Bound, NY Aug 10 - Bloomington MN Aug 15 - Cullman, AL Aug 17 - Clymer PA Aug 24 - Canton OH Aug 25 - Oakdale PA Aug 31 - Tipton PA Sep 01 - Six Flags, Jackson, NJ Sep 07 - Marion OH Sep 11-14 - Honolulu HI Sep 21 - Holland MI Oct 12 - Columbia MO
5. PRAYER REQUEST
We'll be flying into Memphis airport tomorrow, and the last time I remember doing that was when I was visiting my oldest sister (I have three older sisters), Jeannine, way back in 1990. She even took me to Graceland!
That's a good segue to tell you more about Jeannine. She has a rare liver disorder and has been on the waiting list for a liver transplant for some time now. Recently she was so ill that she had to go the hospital, and they've moved her to the top of the list. Please pray for her.
Jeannine is the kind of person who is always giving to other people and never asking for herself. She'd never tell you that she had this life-threatening illness, and she'd never tell you all the great things about herself. So I will.
My sister is an incredibly gracious host, and put the band up for both of our "tours" to Atlanta in 1996 and '99, and she's always opening her home to everybody, including me and my family, which isn't surprising, considering she's been the president of Welcome Wagon in a few towns where she's lived. She's been married to her husband for over 25 years and has four kids, who are all extremely successful, polite, talented, funny and enterprising kids. Her second daughter, my goddaughter Jessica, recently started an internship at MTV.
Jeannine is one of the reasons why I ended up getting in music/theater/public speaking. She was the first in the family to get a lead role in the high school play (the Miracle Worker), to join the chorus (She was the most valuable member), and to get involved in public speaking (She won a TON of awards for that, as did my other two sisters, and she went on to teach courses in it at a number of colleges and universities.)
Jeannine has always been very active in her local church, and she actually writes sermons that are used by priests nationwide. She started doing that for the local priest when she was in Atlanta to help him reach the youth in the congregation (She's lived in Pittsburgh then Atlanta then Memphis then Atlanta then Washington DC), and it went so well that she's actually part of a national group of people who do that now.
Jeannine is extremely generous, but she is also very tough; she first got her rare liver disorder back in the late '80s, and when she became pregnant with her fourth child, the doctor recommended abortion because of the high risk, but Jeannine would hear none of that. Anyway, she had the baby safely, and that's my niece Cate, who is now 12 and is absolutely adored by our daughter, Janna.
Jeannine may be reading this e-mail now, and I hope I have not embarrassed her, but I love my sister and am proud of her, and I also know that both she and I believe in God's ability to answer your prayers.
Please pray for my sister, Jeannine! Thanks so much!
God bless you all!
Apologetically,
J.
-- J. Jackson Lead Singer/Lyricist ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) www.apologetix.com j@apologetix.com
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
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