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ApologetiX in Austin TX, Pittsburgh PA, Flint MI,
Thu., Mar. 7. 2002 2:04pm EST
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) here.
Thanks to all of you who joined us at the Philadelphia First Union Spectrum last weekend! We were really blessed by the turnout! Sorry we had to do a shortened hour-long show, but I hope we got to meet all of you after the concert, even though security was so eager to make sure everybody made it outside in time :)
1. This Weekend: Concerts in Austin TX & Pittsburgh PA
2. Next Saturday: Concert in Flint MI
3. "The Real Smooth Singer" Contest Finalists
4. Karl's Korner: Keith's Kwotes
5. Encouraging Emails
6. Downunder It All, They Like Us
7. More ApologetiX on TV
8. Rock, Rewrites & Religion
9. Upcoming Concerts
10. Prayer Requests
1. THIS WEEKEND: CONCERTS IN AUSTIN TX & PITTSBURGH PA
This weekend, we have an unusual double header, Texas and Pennsylvania. But don't worry; we'll be flying to Texas. Actually, we'll be driving to Baltimore to get the flight we need, so we still get to do a road trip! This time last year, we made our first trip to Austin, and it went so well, that we scheduled this concert at the same place at the same time of year. Hope to see you all there!
Fri., March 8, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by KNLE Radio
Westlake Fine Arts Auditorium
4100 Westbank Drive
Austin TX
Admission: $15 advance, $20 door
(We sold out the morning of the concert last year!)
Contact: Brandon Johnson
Station phone: 512-257-8801
brandon@candle88.com
We'll be playing in the general Pittsburgh area twice this month. This concert is on a weekend, though, and it's closer for our West Virginia and Ohio fans. Pastor Joe Didonato is the chaplain for the Meadows Race Track, and the last time, we played in the chapel. This time, he's expecting more people, so he's moved us to the Adios Room. Come one, come all! By the way, Pastor Joe used to be a DJ, and he was actually the first DJ to start playing "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry, and the group recognized him for that when they received their gold record for the song. Ironically, the first time we ever played our parody, "Play That Funny Music," we opened the show with that at Pastor Joe's first concert with us! We had no idea he had any connection to the record at the time, but since he was the MC who introduced us, he got to be the guy who "broke" both the original hit and the parody!
Sun., March 10, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Christian Harness Horseman's Association
Adios Room The Meadows
Race Track Road
Meadowlands PA 15347
Contact: Pastor Joe Didonato 412-576-9210 (Day)
412-257-8687 (Night)
Venue Phone: 724-225-9300
2. NEXT SATURDAY: CONCERT IN FLINT MI, HOME OF GRAND FUNK
Next weekend, we'll be in Flint, MI, home of Grand Funk Railroad. As many of you know, Grand Funk's lead singer/guitarist, Mark Farner, became a born again Christian quite some time ago, and he released some pretty good Christian albums in the late 1980's and early 1990's. He even recorded a Christian version of the Grand Funk hit, "Some Kind of Wonderful." I doubt we'll get to see him next Saturday (I did get to meet him briefly in 1988 at my first Christian festival), but we ARE an American Band, we ARE coming to your town, and we WILL help you PARODY down!
Sat., March 16, 2002 at 7 p.m.
First General Baptist Church
1102 W. Hemphill Road
Flint, MI
Admission: Tickets $8 advance, $10 at door
Contact: First General Baptist Church 810-232-2674
Tickets can be purchased at First General Baptist Church and:
Family Christian Bookstore 810-732-6709
Sunshine Bible Shop 810-233-0643
3. "THE REAL SMOOTH SINGER" CONTEST FINALISTS
As we told you last week, KNLE in Austin TX sponsored "The Real Smooth Singer Contest" this past Saturday.
Contestants performed the ApologetiX song "The Real Sin Savior" for panel of judges from KNLE and HM Magazine.
Two finalists were chosen to perform at the Apologetix concert Friday, March 8, where they will compete for a prize package including all six ApologetiX CDs, an ApologetiX t-shirt, a year's subscription to HM magazine and an HM t-shirt.
Congratulations to:
Jarrett Austin
Stacia Stavch
4. KARL'S KORNER: KEITH'S KWOTES
I've been talking with our bass player, Keith, lately about an idea he's had for a long time. He'd like to hear more about people's testimonies, and we've decided to actually ask YOU. What's YOUR testimony? Here's Keith's email to me today concerning a testimonial I had received and then shared with him:
> From: Keith Haynie > > This is great. This is what I would like to get started. Who or what got you > going for Christ. A person, an experience, whatever. I think it might make an > interesting book on how God works differently in peoples lives and you might > not have the same experience- just the same outcome. Is there a way to get > it into the newsletter and e-mail that comes to me so I can put in it's own > folder. I think it would be cool. Let me know what you think. > > Keith
So, break out your typing fingers and write your testimony. We may put them on the web or use it somewhere at some point so feel free to sign it with just your first name and last initial and city, state, oh and year of Birth, and REBirth (like I did below)
Please include a brief description of your life before Christ, How you learned of Christ, who shared with you, how old you were, and when you made a decision.
Then please tell us about how life has been since, use examples everywhere, and if you aren't sick of typing, mention how you found out about ApologetiX and what, if anything, that has done for your walk.
Please send them to Keith@ApologetiX.com and put MY TESTIMONY as the subject. Thanks, and we ALL can't wait to hear more about you!
Karl M. Pittsburgh, PA 1970/1984
5. ENCOURAGING EMAILS
One of the very cool fringe benefits of this job, is we get to read the responses from so many ApologetiX listeners ó 99.5% of which is positive (You don't want to read the other .5%). Anyway, here's one we'd like to share with you:
"I just wanted you to know how thankful I am for your CD's. I ordered several of them for my family last year and my nine year old son (Seth) just loves them! (In fact, he has saved up his money and is ordering your latest one today.) He uses them as an evangelistic tool, playing them for all of his nonChristian friends. They're a great conversation-starter and it's such a wonderful thing to listen to him talking to his friends about Jesus! So, Thanks! I hope hearing this blesses your heart as much as I have been blessed. The Lord Bless you, Cathy Ramsey
Here's another e-mail from one of the many kids who have decided to start reading their Bibles along with Karl:
------ Forwarded Message Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 00:49:01 -0600 To: Subject: Exodus 27,28 (yesterday) Exodus 29 (today)
"We met at Christ the King Luthern Church in Plymoth Minnesota.I was there with four other guys from my school ... We were all there for your story and all started John 1 that night. I don't know how many kept with it, but it's been the best thing that has ever happened to me."
This unsolicited e-mail was sent to KLOVE radio on our behalf (He cc'ed us):
"Also, I haven't heard the band ApologetiX - That Christian Parody Band played on KLOVE. The are quite a ministry ("Biblical Parodies of Rock Hits"). They have parodies of songs that minister to me (age 44) and my youngsters (ages 11 and 14) alike. I was just wondering if there is a reason why you don't play their songs, or maybe I've just missed them... Listen to 'Christmasnite' (parody of 'Kryptonite' by Three Doors Down)... wow. You could even do a well publicized special on them that could easily attract young and old non-listeners to your stations. Every time I hear 'Daniel" (parody of 'Daniel' by Elton John) I find myself in tears re-reading the book of Daniel gaining more and more of an understanding of God's love and the awesome power of faith. And 'Second Timothy' (parody of 'Sex and Candy" by Mercy Playground)... first turned me on to what I believe is the most important verse in the Bible even above John 3:16... 2 Timothy 3:16. Without belief/faith that the Bible (all of it) is God's truth... all the rest are just stories. One of the sadest things is to hear a grocery store Christian pick and choose what they feel is true and treat the rest as . What a ministry!" Mark Dodd Wilmington, NC (KLOVE 88.9 WKVC)
6. DOWNUNDER IT ALL, THEY LIKE US
It never ceases to amaze us how much airplay and favor we have down under in Australia. Not only are our CDs stocked by a major retail chain, Koorong, we get many e-mails from both fans and DJs there. This one just came in last week:
"Hi J, Scott Gowers from 2IAM (previously Rhema FM) Coffs Harbour, Australia. Is there any chance of getting hold of a copy of the Christmas CD? Please let me know. We really love your music. I particularly enjoyed "All The Stalls Stink" from "Keep The Change" Your Brother In Christ,
Scott Gowers,
Programming Manager,
2IAM FM,
PO Box 2477,
Coffs Harbour NSW 2450, Australia"
I think it's time that we forgive Australia for sending Air Supply and Rick Springfield to the United States :) Just kidding.
7. MORE APOLOGETIX ON TV
Thanks to everybody who showed up to see us tape the two "His Place" episodes on Cornerstone Television this past Monday. It was great to have you all there! You know, I practiced all day to get the choruses to "The Real Sin Savior" in correct order (I always mix them up), and then when we recorded it, right in the middle, my mic cut off, because it had a little switch on it that went into the off position when I removed it from the mic stand and started moving with it. Oh well!
Here's some more TV news from our publicist, Kathleen Burke:
"I just got off the phone with Mark Crouch from TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) in Indiana, who taped your concert (in Martinsville IN). He said that he wasn't sure when the program would air. I suggest that we mention in our forthcoming email news to fans to start watching "WWJD" on TBN, which is every Saturday, 1:30 PM EST, 12:30 PM CST, 11:30 AM MTN, 10:30 AM PST.
Karl has reminded me that the cameraman's name that day was Bob. Not only is that the same name as a former ApologetiX drummer, our beloved Bob Flaherty, this guy has an even greater connection to us; he used to be in a Christian band that did a set of parodies in every show called "Weird Al-lelujah!" Isn't that great?
8. ROCK, REWRITES & RELIGION
Some people say that rock music has evil roots. I would point out that rock historians generally acknowledge that much of the roots of rock music comes from church music. Others would say that Christians should come up with something different than rock music, rather than conforming to the standards of the world. I would ask, did the New Testament writers invent a new language to convey the truths of the Gospel? Of course not. They used the language they knew would reach the most people.
Did Paul try to teach the Gospel in a brand new language or did he speak the language of the people he was addressing? As you may know, in 1 Corinthians 9:22, Paul talks about how he became all things to all men in order to save some. To the Jew, he became as a Jew. To the Gentile, he became as a Gentile. That's what we do with rock music, specifically parodies. To the rock and roll lover, we become a rock and roll band. To the heavy metal lover, we become a heavy metal band. To the country music lover, we become a country band.
Like Paul's, our message (The Gospel) is the same in all of our songs, no matter what the genre. All we are doing is translating it into a language which our audience understands. Some people translate the Bible into foreign languages to reach others; we translate it into the language of music.
Using established music for Judeo-Christian songs has a very old precedent ... in David's psalms 56-60. At the beginning of Psalm 56, the Bible says, "To the director of music. To the tune of 'A Dove on Distant Oaks' Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath." Psalms 57, 58, and 59 were written to the same popular tune called "Do Not Destroy." Psalm 60 says "To the tune of 'The Lily of the Covenant.'"
I'm not saying those songs were parodies, spoofing the actual content and style of another song, and I don't know if David was doing it to other songs he had written or songs others had written, but either way, it is a precedent for putting new words to old songs, isn't it?
Some historians would even tell that some of our famous Christian hymns were originally bar songs that were rewritten with new lyrics, although that is disputed by some other speakers I've heard. I wasn't there hundreds of years ago, so I don't know for sure. However, the Christian History Institute wrote this in Issue #29 of their "Glimpses" about famous hymnist Charles Wesley: "Many musical sources were used including German chorales, classical and popular melodies, and new psalm tunes." The same issue also says "Charles Wesley, like Martin Luther, believed hymns were a means of teaching theology." And that's what we're trying to do.
In a recent article in Focus on the Family's "Plugged-In" magazine, Robert Smithhouser notes the following: "In his book Amazing Grace, historian Kenneth W. Osbeck reflects on the church's musical roots, reminding believers that, in the 1700s, 'Charles Wesley wrote more than 6,500 hymn texts on every aspect of the Christian life, fitting them to any popular tune that suited the meter and message of the lines.' Those tunes included barroom melodies. That's right, drinking songs. He co-opted the music of the dayónote for noteóto drive home spiritual truth."
God made human beings, and God made music. Human beings become sinful by the things they say and do. Music becomes sinful by the things it says (lyrics) and does (the feelings and actions those lyrics stir up in the audience). But God can change a human being and make him a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) filled with righteousness. God can do the same thing with music. When God changes a human being, on the surface that human being may appear exactly the same, but his heart is changed. When God changes music, it may sound the same, but the heart of the song is changed.
You can tell a Christian by the things he says and does. You can tell Christian music by the things it says and does. As mentioned earlier, Jesus told us to judge trees by their fruit. This principle works whether we're talking about original Christian rock music or Christian rock parodies. When we started doing parodies of rock songs in 1990, they just came to us naturally, like gifts from God. We knew the words glorified God, but we still approached what we did prayerfully, with fear and trembling -- always asking God to open doors if we were doing the right thing and to close doors if we were doing the wrong thing. We have seen Him open bigger and bigger doors every single year, including 1994 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that song parodies can be fair use of an original, requiring no permission or royalties.
The biggest blessing for us is that people come back to us after a concert or listening to one our tapes or CDs and say, "Now, when I hear the original song, I can't help but think of the new Christian words." (We very, very rarely find someone who says, "When I hear your song, I can't help but think of the original.") As the lyricist for our songs, I know without a doubt that our parodies are a gift from God. They come to me too easily (that doesn't mean I don't have to put blood, sweat and tears into them, of course) to be just the product of my own talents/imagination. We try to incorporate as many Bible verses, facts and verse numbers into our songs as possible. I am absolutely delighted when people come back to me and tell me that our songs are helping them to memorize scripture. And of course, the greatest thrill of all is when the lyrics we changed cause a change in somebody's life. For an example, make sure you read the Prayer Requests section of this e-mail.
9. UPCOMING CONCERTS
Note: We have a bunch of new concerts in the works, and I'll get you an updated list soon! If you'd like more information about booking a concert with ApologetiX, please contact Burke Communications at booking@apologetix.com or call 949-770-3001 (Business hours are Pacific Standard Time.)
This Weekend: See Section 1 Next Weekend: See Section 2
Thursday, March 21, 2002 5-11 pm
(Karl's Birthday)
1st hundred tickets sold are $10 each. After that, $12.
Reserve by email. Plus there's a special for families.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
2040 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA (Upper Saint Clair)
Contact: Ron Felgar 412-853-9379 tcg233@libcom.com
ApologetiX headlines this evening of Christian music including Jeff Trish, Wings Praise, Remnant, 3Thirty3 and Ten Point Ten.
Come see the only time this year that ApologetiX Keyboardist for hire, Bill Hubauer, actually sits in a live show!! (and get to see him MEET our drummer, Bill Rieger, with whom he's been on two albums!)
Friday, March 22, 2002 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $12 General Admission, $15
Artists Circle Tyler Metro Church -
Sponsored by Downs Productions
14196 Highway 110 S. Tyler
Tyler, Texas (near Dallas)
Contact: Mr. Terry Downs 903-683-8080
Email: terryd@downsproductions.com
Tickets Online: http://downsproductions.com
Saturday, April 13, 2002 at 7 p.m.
West Virginia Annual Conference
United Methodist Youth Spring Gathering
Fairmont WV
Admission: $15 for pizza dinner and concert
(must get tix in advance)
Contact: James Malick
Phone: 304-366-5188
Email: journeyym@juno.com
(tip: register now- it's selling out)
Saturday, April 20, 2002
Ticketed Event
The Brunswick Performance
Sponsored by Medina Alliance Fellowship
3581 Center Road
Brunswick, Ohio
Contact: Pastor Dave
Wiener/Medina Alliance Fellowship 330-725-7730 or
email pastordave@medinaalliance.org
Sunday, April 21-25, 2002
Karl Messner Interviews at GMA Week, Nashville
Friday, April 26, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Ticketed Event
Glad Tidings Church
750 E. Grangeville
Hanford CA
Contact: Jeff Milhon 559-584-6644
milhon@cvconline.com
Saturday, April 27, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Free Admission
Kick-off for Ministries and "Celebrate Recovery"
Weather permitting this will be an outdoor concert
Antelope Crossing Middle School
9200 Palmerson Dr.
Antelope, CA (suburb of Sacramento)
Sponsored by North Valley Church
www.northvalleychurch.org
Contact: Tony Nole 916-997-1741
or a&a@altaplating.com
Saturday, May 11, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Church of the Nazarene
386 Shafer Road
Coraopolis, PA
Ticketed Event $5 advance, $8 door
Contact: Nancy Kehoe 724-375-6464
May 12- June 7 Studio/Spring Break
Saturday, June 8, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Ticketed Event
Spirit FM Crossover Festival
N. Highway 5
Camdenton MO
Admission: Tickets
Contact: 800-386-5253
Web Site Information: www.crossoverfest.org
Fri., June 21, 2002, Stage and time TBA
Atlanta Fest
Six Flags Over Georgia
Atlanta Fest runs June 19-22, 2002
Admission: Tickets
Contact: 800-783-8839
Web Site: www.atlantafest.com
Saturday, July 13 at 11 a.m.
"Stage 2"
Ticketed Event
Sonshine Fest 2002
Wilmar, MN
Sonshine Fest runs from July 11, 12, 13
Contact: 800-233-3378
www.sonshinefestival.com
July 11-14, 2002 at TBA
LiFest
Sunnyview Fairgrounds and Expo Center
Oshkosh, WI
Stage, date, and time TBA
LIFEST runs July 11,12,13,14
Admission: Ticketed
Event www.lifest.com Or
telephone 800-955-5433
Wed., July 17, 2002 at 7 p.m.
Week Extreme Youth Camp
Heart of Texas Baptist Encampment
8025 N. Fm 2125
Brownwood TX 76801
Contact: John Barnes
(Day) 254-967-2679
(Night) 254-445-4487
cbarnes@escll.net
Saturday, July 20, 2002 at TBA
Spirit Fest Midwest -
Variety Stage
Detroit Lakes MN
Admission: Tickets
Web Site: www.spiritfestmidwest.com
Saturday July 27, 2002 at 8 p.m.
Atwood Lake Ministries
6181 Riggle Road NE
Somerdale OH
Admission: Tickets
Contact: John Frazee
Phone: 330-859-2578
Saturday, August 3, 2002 at 2:30 p.m.
Inside Out Soul Fest
Inside Out Stage
Loon Mountain
Lincoln, NH Ticket Info:
www.newsoundconcerts.com
Sunday, August 4, 2002 at 2 p.m.
Inside Out Soul Fest
Revival Stage
Loon Mountain
Lincoln, NH Ticket Info:
www.newsoundconcerts.com
Wednesday, August 7, 2002 at 8 p.m.
Kingdom Bound Six Flags
Darien Lake NY
Ticket info: www.kingdombound.org
Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 5 p.m.
The Last Blast of Summer
Del Grosso's Family Amusement Park
Tipton PA
Admission: Tickets
Contact Doug Sloey 814-940-0112
doug_Sloey@yahoo.com
Sunday, Sept. 1, 2002 at TBA
Six Flags Jackson NJ
Admission: Tickets
Contact: Tim DeMoss/WZZD
Phone: 800-990-9673
timmyd@wzzd.com
Saturday, Sept. 7, 2002 at TBA
Ticketed Event -
Sponsored by Calvary United Methodist Church
The Palace Theatre
276 E. Center Street
Marion OH
Admission: TBA
Contact: Rev. Dr. Michael Mohr or
Jon Crothers/Youth Advisor
Office: 740-387-6830
Sunday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Ticketed event
Crossroads United Methodist Church
1000 Crossroads Drive
Oakdale, PA
Contact: Scott Fritz/Crossroads UMC
412-494-9999
September 12-15 ApologetiX in Hawaii! More details to come!
10. PRAYER REQUESTS
Please pray for Barbara, a friend of the band's, who has been taken off chemo treatments and has been given six months to live. Barbara is a strong believer in the Lord, but she has been going through great physical pain.
Please also pray for an old friend of ours who lost his mother to cancer recently and has been fighting off pneumonia. I am not including his name out of respect for his privacy, but part of his e-mail to us is too touching and beautiful not to relate to you, and I'd like to ask you all to pray for him too, because he's a dear friend:
"Well, I was listening to 'Ticked' this afternoon. In particular the 20th track. There is a line that said something like '...don't run from Jesus Christ, You look like a man that wants to change. So do you want eternal life, decide!' And that's when it hit me. That's what I have been missing. All through my mom's illness, I prayed to Jesus to take her and make her well. I didn't grieve because I didn't lose her. I just had my prayers answered. I've also started to do something that I have never done before. I started reading the bible - really reading it. That due mainly to an email I received from Karl where he was starting to read the bible as a group activity. I am still in the old testament and I have a lot of questions but I'll keep those until I finish.
"In short, lot's of things have happened to me lately. Some not so good. But all with a purpose. Through it all your music broke through and told what I already knew. It is time for me to decide. And I have. I have decided to finish reading the bible cover to cover. I have decided to stop the insanity of my current life before it kills me. And I have decided to accept Jesus and pursue eternal life."
All I can say to that is "Wow." Please pray for this friend, that God would show him just how faithful He is to those who seek Him out like that.
Apologetically,
J.
-- J. Jackson Lead Singer/Lyricist ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) www.apologetix.com j@apologetix.com
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
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