Wedding Bells, New Clues, Health Updates |
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J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here.
There are sad excuses and joyful excuses. Last week’s newsletter was late because of a funeral; this week’s was late because of a wedding. Yesterday, my second-oldest daughter, Heather, married her longtime boyfriend, Maximilian “Max" Eckert. Those two have been best friends for a decade and had been dating for about half of that time. Neither had ever dated anyone else.
They first met when Max transferred to Heather’s school in eighth grade … or so we all thought. Yesterday, we discovered that they actually met one day long before that … when they were each around three years old! It happened at a daycare center in Bellevue PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh) called A Welcome Break, where my wife, Lisa, used to work. At the time, we lived in the adjacent suburb, Brighton Heights, but Max’s family lived in Bellevue.
Two of Lisa’s co-workers from A Welcome Break, Mary Jane Sibic and her son, Robert, were at the wedding yesterday, and they later sent us eight photos that clearly show Heather and Max together. Here’s one of them. |
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What an amazing discovery! But that wasn’t the first we’d ever heard of Max. In 2001, Lisa and Mary Jane made soup for a family from her church who'd just had a baby named Maximilian. Who do you suppose that was? Incredible! Max comes from a strong Christian family, and his older sister, Gretchen, is also a friend of Heather’s. In fact, she’s in some of those photos the Sibics sent, too!
Max’s dad and Gretchen both gave very touching speeches at the reception, as did our oldest daughter, Janna, who was Heather’s matron of honor. Our fourth daughter, Natalie, was one of the bridesmaids, and our son, T.J., was one of the groomsmen, as was Janna’s husband, Rob. Our third daughter, Kelly, has autism and preferred to just watch the ceremony from the pew.
Here’s a photo of Heather and Max with all of us except Rob, who was already helping with the preparation of the food for the brunch reception afterward, which he and his friend Uriah catered. |
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Most of the current ApX members were in attendance. Rich Mannion played all the music at the service and even wrote the beautiful entrance and exit themes! Tom Milnes did one of the Bible readings. Both brought their wives. Tom Tincha’s wife was sick, so they had to cancel at the last minute, and Wayne Bartley had to work. However, Keith Haynie and Jimmy “Vegas” Tanner were there with their wives, kids, and grandchildren.
On top of that, our daughter now has a nice rhyming name ... Heather Eckert! A lyricist like me appreciates a name like that. Praise the Lord! Thank you for letting me share my joy here in this preamble. |
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We hope to release our fifth single of 2025 by the end of this weekend, Lord willing.
Here are your clues. Want to really impress us? See if you can spot all of the references in both entries. We counted a total of 20.
SONG #1
Yes, truth hurts sometimes, and when fools share it recklessly, the cut runs deep and is not soon forgotten. Careless words burn like a fireball. A true holy man keeps a hold on his tongue. The Epistle of James elaborates on that, and the addresses you should go to are 1:19-26 and 3:2-12. Listen, learn, read on, and ask God for help!
SONG #2
The Bible talks plenty about Heaven and Hell and gives us ample warning about Satan. His plots against us go all the way back to Eden and were ultimately foiled in Jerusalem, but he’ll never say die till he’s thrown into the lake of fire. With an angry heart full of megalomania, he swoops in for the kill, yet he knows his time is slipping away.
Once the new single is released, we'll announce it in our news bulletin, on our website, and on our Facebook page. |
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Treatment & Fundraiser for Bill Rieger |
In case you haven't heard, beloved ApX alum drummer Bill Rieger was recently diagnosed with a grade-three brain tumor, which has infiltrated the area that controls his left side. The surgeons halted the Initial surgery on Wednesday, February 26, because they feared further action would leave him partially paralyzed.
On Monday, doctors confirmed that it was inoperable in its current state. He met with a neuro-oncologist on Thursday to set up a treatment plan. He sent us this update afterward:
"Two months of radiation. Start date pending but soon. Followed by one year of chemo. Frequent MRIs to see if it becomes operable. Pull that trigger at that point.”
Then, in the wee hours of Friday morning, Bill suffered another seizure and had to go to the hospital again. Friday night, he sent another update:
"Finally got CAT scan. Found an abnormality. Got the MRI to settle that set the ‘mask' for radiation therapy. I don't know what that is yet except another step in the right direction. I’ve been admitted into the hospital.”
Saturday morning, he gave us new info:
“CAT-scan abnormalities thwarted by MRI. Just very minor complications from biopsy. No concerns. Upped Keppra (anti-seizure med) to 1500 MG twice a day. Using MRI to set up ‘mask' to be used by radiation to target tumor. Waiting for appointment with radiation next week to final fit mask then establish radiation therapy schedule. Four weeks of radiation minimum then regular MRIs to track tumor growth/shrinkage. Once finalized, I start one year of chemo."
Please keep him in your prayers.
Bill's church is also having a spaghetti-dinner fundraiser.
If you would like to give to support Bill and his wife, Chris, through this event, please go to his church's website, scroll down to “click here for online giving,” and select “Bill Rieger - Spaghetti Dinner.” |
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Surgery Scheduled for Tom Milnes |
As we previously reported, ApX guitarist Tom Milnes is also dealing with a brain tumor — a low-grade one (oligodendrogliomas) on the right side of his head.
After a meeting Monday with his neurologist, he told us, "My options are surgery or radiation and chemo. They recommended surgery, which is fairly routine at this time. The sooner the better."
His wife, Barb, gave us an update on Thursday afternoon:
“Tom is getting his pre-op scans next Wednesday, March 19. His surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25.”
Please pray for Tom! Thank you. |
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A Powerful Sermon From Bill Rieger |
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
ApologetiX alum drummer Bill “Moose” Rieger gave this sermon a year or so ago, but I just learned about it and watched the whole thing. Bill’s been the worship leader at Faith Alliance Church in Saltsburg PA for years. However, I never knew he'd ever had the opportunity to preach.
I was super-impressed with his message and his delivery. Longtime fans of ApX — and those of us who were in the band with Bill — are well aware that he is a sparkling conversationalist and a very funny guy. Still, preaching is a whole different animal … yet Bill has managed to tame that one, too.
Considering his current situation with the brain tumor, this sermon seems almost prescient. As Bill said, "Prophetic? Probably not. Nonetheless valuable.” I highly recommend it. |
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Get ApX Complete Library, USBs, Songbook |
To get the complete ApologetiX library, ApX USB thumb drives, and/or the new ApX digital songbook — or to get more info about them — just click on the item(s) you want below. |
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Bible-Reading Plan for 2025 |
We began our latest trip through the Bible on Wednesday, April 3. Note: If you don't have a Bible handy, you can look up these passages for free on Bible Gateway. They have about 60 different English translations/versions there to choose from, plus translations in many other languages, many of which also have multiple translations/versions. |
CLICK HERE to see the reading plan for the whole year. |
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Influential Albums #1766–1772 |
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the latest entries in the "albums that influenced me" series I started writing in May 2020.
Note: Just because an album appears on this list doesn't mean I give it a blanket endorsement. Many of the secular albums on this list are mainly there because they wound up being spoofed by ApologetiX.
1766. ApologetiX '74 - ApologetiX ApologetiX '74 was our 74th LP and exclusively spoofed Top 10 hits from 1974. We released it in 2024 (late July, to be specific), exactly 50 years later. I turned 10 in '74, and it's my favorite year for pop music. It had some of the cheesiest, corniest, greatest hit singles ever. I already had parody ideas for some of 'em and finally thought, "Let's do a whole album!" It was a good year for Hank Aaron, a bad year for Richard Nixon, a controversial year for Patty Hearst, and a groundbreaking year for me. I was suddenly learning the words to many songs on the radio, and I began singing them for my friends in the neighborhood. At the same time, I was starting to sing publicly as a choirboy at my school and church. A record-setting 36 singles hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, and eight of them are spoofed on ApologetiX '74. A couple other tunes covered on this project got as far as #4, and the remaining two went to #5 and #8. All the parodies are presented in chronological order of when the original song reached its peak position on the chart. For example, our opener spoofed "You're Sixteen" by Ringo Starr, which hit #1 on January 26, 1974, and our closer spoofed "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas, which hit #1 on December 7, 1974. Other artists covered on this project included Blue Swede, Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods, First Class, Grand Funk, Terry Jacks, Elton John, Paper Lace, Redbone, Reunion, and Three Dog Night. The original recordings are all half a century old, but the topics addressed here are all timely and/or timeless. Although the music brings back memories of the way we were, the lyrics reflect the way we are. 1767. Devotion - Newsboys Released on November 2, 2004, Devotion was the 11th studio Newsboys LP and their second worship-themed album in a row, following Adoration, which had come out a year and a half before that. Two of the 10 tracks reached the Top 20 on Billboard's Christian charts: "Presence (My Heart's Desire)" (#4 pop, #4 AC) and "Devotion" (#16 pop, #16 AC). I especially liked "Devotion," plus "I Love Your Name," "Strong Tower," "The Orphan," "Name Above All Names," "Landslide of Love," and a cover of Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name" (with Rebecca St. James). Peter Furler, who produced this project, and the rest of the group did a great job of creating good worship music while still maintaining the trademark Newsboys sound (with occasional touches of U2) and lyrical style. Steve Taylor is listed as an executive producer (along with Wes Campbell) and co-wrote seven of the songs. Not surprisingly, some of the words bear his distinct fingerprints. "Landslide of Love" is a prime example: "Opening salvo didn't help solve anything; every time we shout our rights out, we get all grouchy and gray." Same goes for the title track: "You found me in a shallow grave — You dragged me out from beneath it all. You healed me, saved me in the nick of time, Your perfect time." Also, "The Orphan": "I try to settle, but I just pass through — a rain dog, gypsy, a wandering Jew. All those homes were not ours — then I slept one night in Abraham's field and dreamt there was no moon the night he died, counting stars — Selah." Not your typical worship wording, although some of the other compositions have more conventional lyrics. Devotion made it to #61 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the Billboard Christian albums chart. 1768. Go - Newsboys After a pair of worship albums in 2003 and 2004, Newsboys returned two years later with a project more along the lines of the stuff that had brought them so much success in the second half of the '90s. Released on October 31, 2006, Go was the group's 12th studio LP. Ironically, considering the title, it was their last with bassist/vocalist Phil Joel, who had been on their previous six, starting with Take Me to Your Leader in '96. Meanwhile, Paul Colman (formerly of The Paul Colman Trio) also joined Newsboys as lead guitarist/vocalist for Go, although he, too, would leave the band in January 2009 to focus on his solo career. The album produced three hit singles on Billboard's Christian charts: "Wherever We Go" (#3 pop, #15 AC), "Something Beautiful" (#4 pop, #6 AC), and "In Wonder" (#4 pop, #5 AC). Those are all great songs. My other favorites were "Your Love is Better Than Life" (extremely clever lyrics), "The Mission" (reminiscent of "Breakfast," complete with whistling), "I Am Free (Whom the Son Sets Free)," "Secret Kingdom," "The Letter," and the title track. Go went to #51 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Billboard Christian albums chart. 1769. Listen Closely - Smalltown Poets The second Smalltown Poets LP, Listen Closely (neat cover artwork, by the way) came out on the day after Christmas in 1998. This time around, there were three Top 20 singles, rather than six, on the Contemporary Christian Hit Radio (CHR) chart: "Gloria" (#2), "There Is Only You" (#8), and my personal favorite, "Anything Genuine" (#12). The other three tunes I liked best on Listen Closely were "Call Me Christian," "Quasar," and "48 States." I also enjoyed "The Gospel Is Peace," "Hold It Up to the Light," "New Man," and "Garland of Grace." I only owned the first two Smalltown Poets albums, so I can't comment much on their later work, but I bought their rendition of the Christmas song "Angels From the Realms of Glory" through iTunes a number of years ago, and it quickly became one of the songs I most look forward to hearing every year when I dust off my Christmas playlist. 1770. Something - Lost and Found
I previously posted an entry about Lost and Found and their 1998 LP This. In 2001, they released the follow-up, Something. As the duo said on their website, "We weren't going to give this album a name, but everyone said we had to call it something. So we did." Lost and Found classifies their music as "speedwood." In fact, their official website is http://www.speedwood.com. That term is play on "speed metal," since guitarist/vocalist Michael Bridges plays an acoustic guitar ... but he doesn't really do any shredding, although he plays quite well. Michael and keyboardist/vocalist George Baum are both Lutherans and popular within the denomination. They even wrote and performed a rock opera about Martin Luther. However, Lost and Found makes music for everybody. When I saw them live, George reminded me a bit of musician Paul Schaffer, best known for his years as musical director on The David Letterman Show. Like its predecessor, Something is solid from start to finish and has a well-balanced mixture of moods — sometimes upbeat and fun, sometimes laid-back and serious, but always thought-provoking and soul-stirring. The cover art looks a bit somber, but most of the selections lean toward the sunny side of the street. There are so many great tunes on this one, but my personal picks among the high-octane numbers are "The Kingdom, "Convinced," "Take a Chance," "These Days," "Hearts on Fire," "Ground," and "Real World, Too." Meanwhile, among the mellow "think pieces," I favor "All I've Ever Wanted," "Distant Land," and "Fruit We Bear." The music from "Convinced" reappears in various styles as a coda after many of the 14 tracks, and some of the interpretations are quite beautiful. There are great lyrics throughout Something, but "These Days" has a passage I particularly like and wanted to share: "Well, there are things that seem to defy the logic of a regular-ordered world — and they happen to me quite regularly — and I must confess there's a God — these here days, they count for something — though I don't know what sometimes." 1771. Something Different - Lost and Found A year after their Something LP, Lost and Found unveiled Something Different. As they explained on their website, "We couldn't use the name Something again. So we had to call this one Something Different. Plus, there's something different about this CD because we do each song twice: once by ourselves, and once with a whole band. Truly Something Different!" When ApologetiX played with Lost and Found in Gatlinburg TN in January 2003, Michael and George generously gave me their three most-recent releases at the time: This, Something, and Something Different. They had a shtick in concert that I really liked but couldn't remember well enough to relate here. Thankfully, ApX fan Jeff Palmberg could. He saw the duo play in Pennsylvania a number of times and said, "Among their witty moves was the naming of their CDs: This, Something, and Something Different. When referring to them, they said, 'Have you heard This? You should pick This up. Why not buy This? Or at least buy Something. When asked what to buy, we say, "Buy Something Different."'" Being able to compare the acoustic and electric renditions of the songs made something clear to me: Michael and George are such strong vocalists and versatile musicians that their no-frills versions sound just as good — and often better — than the ones with a full band. Don't get me wrong; those are great, too, but I actually prefer the "unplugged" stuff, because you can hear their distinct (and often delightfully quirky) vocals and lyrics more clearly. The guys did nine songs multiple ways on Something Different, and it's hard for me to pick favorites. One of them, "Saskatchewan," is a hilarious tribute to their time spent in Canada. I was hooked within seconds. Only two of the tunes are ballads, "Elijah" and "Your Memory," but both are highlights, especially the latter, which is a poignant lament for a female loved one. I can't tell whether the person being addressed is the singer's mother, friend, wife, girlfriend, or a sister. I also don't know whether she has died or just moved away. That actually may make the song more relatable to a wider audience, because listeners can apply it to their own lives. The rest of the songs are all lively numbers, and each is an joy to experience: "Remember," "Can't Take Away," "No Matter," "Raise Him Up," "Multiply," and "Everybody Matters." Although I've noted my preference for the acoustic versions, the full-band version of "Remember" is an absolute winner, and I like the new touches added to "Can't Take Away," "Elijah" (sounds like a toy xylophone, but it works), "Raise Up" (keyboards that call to mind The Cars), "Your Memory," "Multiply," and "Everybody Matters" (a great early '70s funky groove). There are also two hidden bonus tracks: a third version of "Multiply" with a bluegrass twist (banjo included) and a brief (1:10) full-tilt acoustic rocker called "1980." It's a crying shame that more people aren't aware of Lost and Found. Thankfully, all three albums I've written about (and additional titles) are on Apple Music and (I presume) other digital platforms. I highly recommend them. You can also order physical copies of the CDs on the group's website. 1772. Can't Stop the Rock: The Stryper Collection 1984-1991 - Stryper I talked about Stryper's first three LPs — The Yellow and Black Attack, Soldiers Under Command, and To Hell With the Devil (all from the mid-'80s) — much earlier on this list. Can't Stop the Rock: The Stryper Collection 1984-1991 included selections from each, plus additional cuts from In God We Trust (1988) and Against the Law (1990). It also featured two new bonus tracks, "Believe" and "Can't Stop the Track." Three of the songs had charted on contemporary Christian hit radio (CHR), and two of them even made the secular Hot 100: "Honestly" (#23 pop, #13 CHR), "Always There For You" (#71 pop, #4 CHR), and "Together As One" (#3 CHR). I'm glad they put "Soldiers Under Command," "To Hell With the Devil," "Free," and "You Know What to Do" on this CD, but I missed "Calling on You," "Makes Me Wanna Sing," "Sing-Along Song," and "Holding On." However, the first two of those made it onto 7: The Best of Stryper in 2003, which had 18 tracks, despite the title. Musically, my favorite song on Can't Stop the Rock: The Stryper Collection 1984-1991 is probably "Two Bodies (One Mind One Soul)," from Against the Law, their one album that wasn't overtly Christian. Based on the lyrics, I presume it's written from a husband to his wife. The other song from Against the Law on this collection is "Lady." No, it's not a cover of the classic Styx song, but, while listening to Can't Stop the Rock: The Stryper Collection 1984-1991, I started to notice just how much Stryper's harmonies remind me of Styx's. Furthermore, there are times when Michael Sweet's lead vocals sound an awful lot like Dennis DeYoung of Styx. One prime example of that is when Michael starts really belting it out in chorus of "Honestly" on these lines: "Call on me and I'll be there for you —I'm a friend who always will be true — And I love you, can't you see — That I can say I love you honestly." Come to think of it, Stryper and Styx have pretty similar names, too. Hmm ... |
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If you'd like to donate to the ministry of ApologetiX, there are a couple ways you can do it. |
If you prefer to mail a check or money order, please make it out to "ApologetiX" and send it to:
ApologetiX
208 Charlemma Drive
Pittsburgh PA 15214-1414
Although the donations are not tax-deductible, they will be received very gratefully and used immediately. Thank you! |
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“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:4-6 |
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P.O. Box 101705
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
USA
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