Radio Show, 23 December 2007, WUSB

Bob Longman Sun 12:30-2:30 pm 23 December 2007
WUSB 90.1 FM, wusb.fm
N=new to WUSB L=Local (Long Island) I=instrumental
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabriel's Message -- Jars of Clay -- Christmas Songs -- N
(Santa's Off on a) Sleigh Ride -- the Blenders -- When It Snows
Jingle Bell Jamboree -- Keb Mo
We Three Kings -- Mario Lanza -- Christmas W. Mario
First Noel/Mary Mary -- Sarah McLachlan -- Wintersong
Secret Santa -- GrooveBarbers -- Glory -- N
Please Come Home for Christmas -- James O'Malley -- -- L
Christmas Cookies -- Martha Trachtenberg -- -- L
The Season of Hope -- Tim Dillon -- -- N, L
In the Bleak Midwinter -- Dan Fogelberg
Lulazje, Jezuniu -- Diane Zeigler
Ave Maria -- YoYoMa, Bobby McFerrin
O Holy Night -- Luciano Pavarotti
Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella -- Kathleen Battle
Le Sommeil De L'Enfant Jesus -- the Edlos
Let's Do the Elf Dance -- Sufjan Stevens
Silent Night -- If Thousands, Haley Bonar
If You Were Born Today -- Low
Ice -- Shelleyan Orphan
And On That Day -- Phil Keaggy
It's Christmas Time -- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Last Month of the Year -- Fairfield Four
White Christmas -- the Ravens
Coventry Carol / Carol of the Bells -- Bob Westcott -- Christmas -- L, N, I
River -- Joni Mitchell -- Blue
Little Road to Bethlehem -- Shawn Colvin
Dealramh Go Deo -- Clannad
White Christmas -- Bing Crosby
Merry Christmas Darling -- the Carpenters
Nothing But A Child -- Steve Earle
O Come O Come Emmanuel -- Bob Westcott -- Christmas -- L, N, I
The Christmas Song (1946, strings added) -- Nat King Cole

Santa walks on the wild side with the Blenders. (Did Lou Reed hear this?)
McLachlan really tries something here, and it comes of well.
If O'Malley doesn't get to you with this one, your tear ducts must've been removed.

New pages on Spirithome

On spirithome.com, I've been able to start adding new pages that would be a help to anyone trying to understand each of the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23, as well as several other matters of Christian character. The new pages (so far) are :

patience.html
joy.html
goodness.html
gentleness.html
faithfulness.html
self-control.html
humility.html

There's more to come, eventually, as well as more changes in the main page on spiritual fruit. And each of these pages will be added to along the way, in the same fashion as with the rest of the site : a bit here, a bit there, always evolving. Give the newbies a try!

Bobby's Believe-it-or-not

Found this while researching the fruits of the Spirit for the Spirithome site's new pages on each fruit. I'm not linking to it. Ever. It was first page Google searching for "self-control fruit spirit":

Self-Control/ Fruit of the Spirit Lip Gloss

52348-SW Regular price: $2.99. Sale price: $2.49


(You should see what comes up under "Gifts of the Spirit"...)

RIP Dan Fogelberg

Dan Fogelberg passed away, age 56, after a long bout with cancer.

The "Same Auld Lang Syne" (considered a holiday classic) will be more sad this season.

Bonds of Bury St. Edmunds area -- genealogy

I'm starting to "migrate" my genealogical stuff over to this blog, in hopes that someone may have further leads to check out. The most important section is on the Bonds of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolkshire, England. The earliest pieces are below. Any further information would surely be appreciated. My own ancestors are in bold. In my entire chain of Bond-age, by the way, there is no James Bond, no Barry Bonds, no Municipal Bonds. But the list is shaken, not stirred.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonas Bond (b. ca. 1562-68, Woolpit, England; d. 30 Jul 1601, Bury St. Edmunds)
sister-in-law : Hester Woode (see below)
wife : Rose Woode (m. 23 Jun 1588, Rattlesden, Suffolk, England; d. 05 Aug 1602, Bury St. Edmonds)

Bury St. Edmunds is in western Suffolk. Woolpit is several miles east of BStE, barely south of the current A14 road, a bit less than halfway to Stowmarket, just west of Haughley. Jonas married Rose in 1588 in Rattlesden, her hometown, several miles south of Woolpit, not particularly noted for anything. They apparently lived in Rattlesden parish until the fall of 1590, when they moved to BStE. There was no record of a previous marriage for either Jonas or Rose; it would likely have been noted if it were otherwise.

children :
--------- Oliver Bond (bapt. 04 May 1589, Rattlesden; d. after 1625). Children :

1. ------ John,
2. ------ Rose,
3. ------ Elizabeth,
4. ------ Agnes,
5. ------ Alice,
6. ------ Grace,
7. ------ Thomas,
8. ------ Oliver.

--------- John Bond "the Elder" (bapt. 24 May 1590, Rattlesden)
--------- John Bond "the Younger" (bapt. 26 Dec 1591, Bury St. Edmunds; d. 01 Jan 1656/7) m. 28 Jun 1612 to Lydia T(r)ixtott or Tiptatt. Children :

• ------ Thomas,
• ------ Rose,
• ------ Fortune,
• ------ Joseph,
• ------ William,
• ------ John,
• ------ Matthew,
• ------ Elizabeth.

--------- Bartholomew Bond (b. ate 1592, BStE; heir ; d. after 1616)
--------- William Bond (bapt. 08 Sep 1595, BStE; d. after 1602)
--------- Thomas Bond (b. 08 Sep 1597, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England) heir, 'youngest son'
--------- Elizabeth Bond (b. 17 Jan 1599)
-- m.#1. Samuel Palmer (d. 1623).
-- m.#2. 08 Feb 1625 to Deacon Ephraim Child in Nayland, Suffolk, Eng.. Moved with Child to Watertown MA in 1630. Nayland was in Child's neighborhood, between Sudbury (south border Suffolk) and Colchester (north Essex). Son Jeremiah (b. 1641-45) m. Elizabeth Esterbrook.
poss. ---- Margaret Bond (b. 10 Dec 1600). Parents not listed.


George Woode (b. ca. 1536, poss. Frome, Somerset, Eng; d. 28 Jun 1608, Rattlesden, Suffolk, England)
wife : Katherine Buttall; b. 1540, poss. in Rattlesden; m. 27 Oct 1560, Rattlesden.
Children :
--------- Rose Woode (bapt. 25 Oct 1562, Rattlesden) m. Jonas Bond. (more above)
--------- George Woode (bapt. 02 Jul 1564; d. 25 Feb 1585)
--------- John Woode (bapt. 20 Jan 1566)
--------- Anne Woode (bapt. 21 Sep 1567)
--------- Abraham Woode (bapt. 21 Aug 1569, d. 11 Oct 1648). M#1. 27 May 1593 to Amy Amner (b. ca. 1572, d. 11 Mar 1618) in Rattlesden. Children :

1. --------- Anne (bapt. 19 Mar 1593),
2. --------- John (bapt. 22 Jun 1595),
3. --------- Margaret (bapt. 06 Aug 1598);
4. --------- George (bapt. 02 Nov 1600; children : George (m. Mary Borley), Anne, John, and Elizabeth;
5. --------- Rose (bapt. 26 Jun 1603),
6. --------- Hester (bapt. 26 Jan 1606),
7. --------- Dorothy (bapt. 07 May 1609),
8. --------- Rachel (bapt. 03 Jun 1612; d. 04 Jan 1612).

• M#2 : Margaret Smyth 27 Oct 1618. Daughter : Edith (bapt. 18 Apr 1620).

--------- Eleazar Woode (bapt. 19 Aug 1571; d. 21 Nov 1587)
--------- Elizabeth Woode (bapt. 20 Sept 1573)
--------- Dorothy Woode (bapt. 18 Sep 1575)
--------- Suzan Woode (bapt. 01 Sep 1577, d. 19 Aug 1579, Rattlesden) (spelling is correct)
--------- Hester Woode (bapt. 19 Mar 1580; no children) Parents not listed in Rattlesden baptismal records. The George Woode connection is indicated by Hester's living with Rose and Jonas, and that Hester is called a sister-in-law in Jonas Bond's will.

possible relative : John Woode (m. Martha Hyon 12 Oct 1572, Rattlesden); child : Mary Woode (m. William Stephens ca. 1600, Haughley)

Abraham's son George appears to be the last one to stay a long time in Rattlesden; the last non-funeral record of the Woode family is his daughter Elizabeth's birth in 1636 and his son George's wedding. Abraham's son George is listed in the Rattlesden record transcription as the son of "Abraham & Anne", which is incorrect, prob. carried over from surrounding records.

Radio Show, 09 December 2007, WUSB FM

Bob Longman Sun 12:30-2:30 pm 09 December 2007


Little Road to Bethlehem -- Shawn Colvin -- Xmas
O Little Town of Bethlehem -- Bruce Cockburn -- Xmas
Back Home Again -- Andy Falco -- Sentenced to Life w the Blues -- N
White Christmas -- Bing Crosby -- Xmas
Your Good Thing (Is About to End) -- Lou Rawls
Sons of Light -- Jeff Johnson
The Trumpet Child -- Over the Rhine -- The Trumpet Child -- N
O Holy Night -- Luciano Pavarotti -- Xmas
Divine Presence -- Iona UK
Coventry Carol/Carol of the Bells -- Bob Westcott-- Christmas -- N, Xmas
Kitty Kat -- Cathy Kreger
??? -- Dee Harris
??? -- Tim Dillon -- Xmas
Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring -- Bob Westcott -- Christmas -- N, Xmas
Walk Among the Stones -- Kate Campbell
More (acappella mix) -- Charlotte Doreen Small -- More -- N
More -- Charlotte Doreen Small -- More -- N
Shadow of Doubt -- Tinsley Ellis --- Moment of Truth -- N
River -- Carolyn Cruso -- Xmas
Gone Gone Gone -- Plant & Krauss -- Raising Sand -- N
Mary Had A Baby -- the Acoustix -- Xmas
the Thunderer -- Dion DiMucci -- Son of Skip James -- N
Jackie -- New York Voices -- A Day Like This -- N
The Bed Song -- Ellis Paul -- Dragonfly Races -- N
The Night the Lights Went Out on Christmas -- Ellis Paul -- Xmas
A Cradle In Bethlehem -- Nat King Cole -- Xmas
Christmas Must Be Tonight -- the Band -- Xmas
O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion -- Take 6/Stevie Wonder -- Xmas

Colvin has a delightfully light touch; it's originally from Holiday Songs and Lullabyes.
Small's song is about surviving the World Trade Center attack. She really cuts loose here.
Plant (of Led Zeppelin) knows how to do '50s rock really well (no surprise there), and he's having a blast on this one with Alison Krauss. The recent Zep reunion show in Britain was by all accounts a smashing success, and the band was tighter and more spirited than they were in the years just before their drummer John Bonham died and they broke up. (It's reported that Bonham's son did superb drumming in the show.)
Paul is not just a good songwriter; he's pretty good as a storyteller, too.
O Thou is from the Soulful Messiah project (as in Handel), and it brought out the best in both acts.

Radio Show of November 25 2007, WUSB

Bob Longman, Sun 12:30-2:30 pm 25 November 2007
WUSB 90.1 FM, Long Island NY and coastal CT

song -- performer -- album -- notes (N = new to station)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine -- Jimmie Rodgers
One Gift -- Michael McDonald/James Ingram -- -- Xmas
Good Man Down -- Brooks Willams
Watching Eternity -- Charlie Peacock
Angel -- the Well -- Drop In the Bucket -- N
The Rooms My Mother Made -- Carrie Newcomer
I Got the Dirt on You -- Toby Walker
Snowfall -- m-pact - the Carol Commission -- Xmas
Everything -- Rose Reiter -- real -- N
The River Flows -- Iona UK
Patrick's Fire -- Jeff Johnson
William's Vision -- Kate Campbell
If I Should Fall Behind -- Dion DiMucci
the Hammer -- Red Prysock
Tears Come Rolling Down -- Colin Linden -- Easin' Back to Tennessee -- N
Gone Gone Gone -- Robert Plant/Alison Krauss -- Raising Sand -- N
A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere -- Peter Case -- Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John -- N
And On That Day -- Phil Keaggy -- true believer -- Xmas
Sunset -- Cosmos -- Aiming For the Stars -- 'N'
Knock Knock II - How Many Psychiatrists (Does It Take) -- PDQ Bach
When She's Dancing -- Viktor Krauss -- II -- N
Sinner's Prayer -- Rod Picott -- Summerbirds -- N
I'll Never Turn Back No More -- Take 6 -- Feels Good
You Can Make It - Do It -- Take 6 -- Feels Good
Plena Con Sabor -- Spanish Harlem Orchestra

This is the first I've heard from Reiter, and this new album says there's more to come.
Prysock laid down much honkin' rockin' sax, released in the 50s/60s.
Keaggy's fine Christmas classic from a dreadful rest-of-album. (Commercial radio : Yo! Why aren't you playing it???)
Latvia's acappella band Cosmos has several really sweet tracks, including this one.

Radio Show of November 18 2007, WUSB

Bob Longman Sun 12:30-2:30 pm 18 November 2007
WUSB 90.1 FM, Long Island NY and coastal CT

song -- performer -- album -- notes (N = new to station)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good Man Down -- Brooks Williams -- North From Statesboro
Hide and Seek -- the Well -- Drop In the Bucket -- N
Can't Find My Way Home -- the Well -- Drop In the Bucket -- N
Can't Find My Way Home -- Blind Faith
Someone -- Jan Krist
the Thunderer -- Dion -- Son of Skip James -- N
Shadow of Doubt -- Tinsley Ellis -- Moment of Truth -- N
Sinner's Prayer -- Rod Picott -- Summerbirds -- N
I Could Have Been Your Best Friend -- Viktor Krauss w. Lyle Lovett -- II -- N
Stuck In a Moment -- U2
Your Long Journey -- Plant & Krauss -- Raising Sand -- N
Divine Presence -- Iona UK -- Journey Into the Morn
Dear Diary -- Moody Blues -- Threshold of a Dream
For My Lady (b-side mix) -- Moody Blues -- Seventh Sojourn
Love Hurts -- Everly Brothers
I'm Always Chasing Rainbows (concert ver.) -- Four Freshmen
Still Here -- Cosmos -- Aiming For the Stars -- N
All My People -- Hope Nunnery -- Wilderness Lounge
Listen Closely -- Paul Clark/Phil Keaggy
Prayer Song -- Danny Flowers -- Tools For the Soul -- N
Trouble Soon Be Over -- Colin Linden -- Easin' Back to Tennessee -- N
When I Die -- Marie Knight
Chamego (Betty's Bossa) -- Jack Donohue -- N
Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog) -- Iron and Wine -- the Shepherd's Dog -- N
The Sky Is Crying -- Etta James -- Blues to the Bone
Por Amarte Asi -- Vocal Sampling -- De Vacaciones

The Well is a local group that includes one of my faves, Martha Trachtenberg, and her husband Tom Griffith. This one's an especially poignant track, from their upcoming release. The Freshmen did this almost-acapella version while touring with Stan Kenton. Chamego gets around -- it also turns up on the new album by the New York Voices.

Music notes

(1) On Dion DiMucci's newest album, in amongst the blues songs from Skip James, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and such, he has an original named "The Thunderer". It's about, of all people, St. Jerome! (The guy who translated the Bible in Latin, the translation known as the Vulgate.) Check it out!

(2) On The Amazing Race 12, there is a team of a grandson and grandfather, Nicholas and Donald. Apparently, they're the son and father-in-law of Robbie Fulks, the sometimes-country recording artist. If they're anything like him, then I'll guess that the show's editors must cut out an awful lot of FCC no-nos, because does Fulks ever spew them!

04 November 2007 WUSB 90.1 FM

Bob Longman -- Sun 12:30-2:30 pm -- 04 November 2007
(N=the album's new to WUSB)

All The Ways You Wander -- Brooks Williams -- Hundred Year Shadow
I Still Miss Someone -- Johnny Cash
Speak Into Me -- Christopher Williams -- When I Was Everything
Who Is Not Afraid? -- Charlie Peacock -- Lie Down In the Grass
I'm Still In Love With You -- Al Green
Good Stuff -- Eric Bibb -- An Evening With -- N
Yellow Guitar -- Kate Campbell -- Monuments
Mary -- Maeve
Awake -- Peter Mayer
How Deep Is Your Love -- the Bird & the Bee -- Please Clap Your Hands -- N
Happiness Runs -- Storyhill
Along the Way -- Doug Wamble
Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven -- Jimmy King -- Live at Monterey
the Backbiter -- Cephas & Wiggins
You Can't Hold On (to a Love That's Gone) -- Holmes Brothers
Missing You -- Johnny Rawls-- Heart & Soul -- N
Tunnels -- Donockley & Bainbridge
Let Us Get Together -- Marie Knight -- Let Us Get Together -- N
Beijing (Widescreen mix) -- Iona UK -- Songs For Luca
Wolves (Shepherd's Dog) -- Iron & Wine -- the Shepherd's Dog -- N
Lay Down (full-length mix) -- Melanie
Feels Good -- Take 6 -- Feels Good -- N
Big Boy Blue -- Ella Fitzgerald/Mills Brothers
I'm Through With Love -- Arthur Prysock
Artillerie Lourde (Heavy Artillery) -- James Carter -- Chasin' the Gypsy
But Beautiful -- Betty Carter -- I Can't Help It
Too Marvelous For Words (1940s) -- Nat King Cole
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans -- Take 6 / Aaron Neville
Boyd's Bounce -- Professor Longhair

Jimmy King @ Monterey, with a traditional -- ... but nobody wants to die [which is how you get there].
If you've never heard the full-length Lay Down, do so. It's a gospel-sound full-out celebration w. Edwin Hawkins & co.
Prysock gets really deeeeeep.
When he visited WUSB, Allen Toussaint spoke a lot about how he patterned his piano and musical styles on Longhair in his youth.

WUSB FM / wusb.fm, 21 October 2007

Bob Longman WUSB 90.1 Fm / wusb.fm Sun 11:30-2:30 pm 21 October 2007

America --- Simon & Garfunkel
Wild, Wild Heart --- James O'Malley
Doin' Nothin' --- Phil Keaggy
Snowman -- Jan Krist
Everybody Knows -- Ryan Adams -- (single) -- N
Morris of Arabia (In the Sahara) -- Myron Cohen
Somebrightmorningblues -- Peter Case -- Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John -- N
Let's Go Out -- Devon Sproule -- Keep Your Silver Shined -- N
Eyes On the Prize -- Mavis Staples -- We'll Never Turn Back-- N
Java Jive -- Manhattan Transfer
Shanghai Moon -- Cosmos w. Dawn Ho -- Aiming For the Stars
Dreaming My Dreams With You -- Waylon Jennings
Sinners' Prayer -- Rod Picott -- Summerbirds -- N
Lula Lula Don't You Go To Bingo -- Boozoo Chavis
I Know What's Going On -- Joan Osbourne -- Breakfast In Bed -- N
Take Time to Know Her -- Percy Sledge
Take Time To Know Her -- John Mooney
Change -- Gospel Hummingbirds
Substitute For Life -- Real Group -- Commonly Unique
A Thousand Things -- Real Group -- Commonly Unique
Road to Hope -- Hilary Scott -- Road To Hope -- N
Juan Loco -- Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Falling Star -- Tom Prasada-Rao
Jazz n' Samba -- BR6 -- Here To Stay -- N
Don't Fix What's Broken -- Cadence

Just another note on Cold Case

...and what is typical of so many shows, especially those of Jerry Bruckheimer, but most typical of Cold Case.

Once again, as it has done repeatedly over the years, time and again, the show writers of this Sunday's segment once again made absolutely sure to trash marriage. Once again, romantic affairs are portrayed as a healthy way out of a stymying marriage. This has been said by so many show biz sources that many people are actually beginning to believe it. And it may well be true in a few instances. But here in real life, whether in the 1930s (the show's setting this week) or today, the vast majority of the time affairs don't make people stronger, they make people more foolish. They don't make people's lives more real, they play into people's fantasies. They don't build up, they destroy. Far, far more often than the other way around. And we always think of ourselves as the exception, when we are really the rule.

An affair is not someone standing up to break their chains. Much more often, it is a surrender to our own worst enemy, which is usually ourselves. But do you think a Bruckheimer show will ever say that? And am I being a [male tool] by asking that they start being real about it?

I'm almost mad. Can't get really mad, though. I met Allen Toussaint on Saturday, saw the Patriots win Sunday on TV, and then saw the return of Amazing Race !!

For Halloween

check out these links :

http://www.spirithome.com/halloween.html

http://www.spirithome.com/ghosts.html

Have fun!

At least I know who I'm not...

A note on the Robert Longmans that I am not :

1. I was not the lead live broadcast engineer at the BBC for many years, who was instrumental in their live casts of Parliament sessions. He was, in many ways, a broadcast pioneer.


2. I was not the town smithy in Easington UK in the 1850s.
   Nor am I his probable ancestor who married a woman named Mary, who soon after his death married the son of the Rector of Easington, Thomas Mallory, in the 1650s.


3. I was not witness to the wedding of William Dowling and Ann Longman, 30 Oct 1785, at St. Mary Bourne, Winchester Anglican Diocese


4. I was not a poet/writer in Lancashire UK around 1350.


5. I was not the Anglican minister of Placentia NF starting in 1759.


6. I did not live in Tingewick UK in the 1890s.


7. I was not the son (1785 - 1850) of William & Matilda Longman.


8. I did not marry a Jane Hodges in Corton-Denham, Somerset UK, whose son was Charles Longman (b. 1722). (Though I could be related to him.)


9. I am not the president of Central Surveys Inc.


10. I do not head the Australian Electoral Office.


11. I was not he who agreed to the Protestation of 1641, in Stalbridge, Dorset UK -- nor would I have done so.


12. I was not his probable descendant, a woodman from Hilton in Dorset, who at the time of the 1881 census was an inmate at the Poole Union Workhouse.


13. I am not a credit officer at the Rural Community Assistance Corp. (though I have read articles related to his work)


14. I am not the Laparoscopic Surgeon in Bristol UK.


15. I did not marry Hillary Carter (Hillary was b. around 1954). (Or anyone else :( )


16. I was not a fencer at Oberlin College (class of '62)


17. I did not marry Hannah Scouse in Wherwell UK on 12 Jan 1767, nor marry Rachel Becket in Wherwell UK on 25 July 1785.


18. I am not Group Technical Director at Plasmon.


19. I am not in any way involved with USA Shout Media.


20. I am not the Longman who is affiliated with Green Living Now.


21. I am not the antitrust legal counsel at Kasowitz, Benson LLP. That Robert is also an officer of a group that works with the world's needy women and children, Heartbeats Of the World. His wedding to Chin Quee was written up in the New York Times (16 July 1996).


22. I am not the consultant who was quoted in several news reports as having heard the Cory Lidle plane crash.


23. I was not the 1800s British thief (whose real name, as far as I can tell, was Phineas Henry).


24. I did not serve in the US Navy at sea on the USS Montrose in the Korean War.
    (However, I am the son of a Marine who served on land in battle during that war.)


25. I am not the one who raises show cats in Sussex UK.


26. I am not a staff lawyer for the Washington State legislature.


27. Guitarist Richard Durrant's record label was not named after me or my family.



28. I am not a leader in the Saskatchewan Miniature Horse Association.


29. That sure wasn't me who was a leading character played by Linus Roache in the British TV show Seaforth.


30. I did not publish scandal rags (newspaper/flyers) in New York in the 1900s. (Though I may be related to him.)


31. So far as I can tell, I am not related to the Longman family that founded a major publishing company in the UK. (If someone has other information, I'd love to know.)


32. and, I most certainly, absolutely am not the one who, under the apparent pen name Bob Longman, wrote the rated multiple "X" so-called 'underground classic' book titled 'The Debutante Whore'. (Believe it or not, I get occasional emails asking me about that.)

Charismatic report card -- 2007 pt 1

How is the charismatic movement doing in regards to some of its most basic aims or signs of the Spirit's work? Not too good, from where I'm watching.

Let's take one of the aims : "Spontaneity, openness, freedom and joy in
praise and worship."

When I first wrote on this one in 1996, I was taking note that many mainline-church charismatic congregations were stiffening. Since then, that process has definitely continued. In many cases, the stiffening has taken them away from charismatic freedom to a rather frozen form of liturgical orderliness that feels like what they were originally objecting to. (This can't be blamed on the mainline liturgical renewal, a separate thing which is also beginning to show signs of stiffening and has never really been friendly to any charismatic input -- to its serious detriment, as I see it. They both in some way attempt to address the same situation in worship -- a palpable lack of spirit.) In any event, worship in many formerly charismatic mainline congregations has become, well, lifeless. It took on liturgical forms, which can be good, but then left the Spirit at the door, which is deadly. When returning to liturgy in freedom, the most important thing is that they use each traditional form based on what it means and what it does, and then feel free to modify the traditional form so it can better carry out that form's core purpose(s).

To be blunt, with the exception of some Anglican circles, mainline-Protestant Charismatics have not only failed to bring freedom and joy into their denominations' worship, they have for the most part lined up with leaders whose actions have been killing the Spirit in worship for decades -- the very ones who created the dead atmosphere that mainline Charismatics used to rail against. Instead of real spontaneity and empowerment of local worship leaders, they're straitjacketed into watching the 'experts' for the next 'acceptable' new thing. Those who didn't line up that way have for the most part headed out the door to independency.

Add to that a sense among Christian leaders that the mainline Charismatic movement's time has passed, and thus they are free to totally ignore them. The former part is true, unfortunately. The latter part is a continued serious breach of the near-absolute responsibility and duty to listen to, understand, bring to bear, and fully and fairly account for, all the parts of their church, whether in vogue or out of vogue. (But that's for a different rant....)

The independent churches and church networks have a different problem. They are not aware of their own set patterns of worship - they don't think they have any. Thus they don't know when they're just vamping for time, or when they are not maturing from an earlier set of experiences. Many of the newer worship leaders are keenly aware of charismatic worship's obsession with "me" and "I", and are working hard on ways to keep that sense of "my" intimacy with God and yet also be into "You" and "us" and "together". They're a promising development. Yet when the newest hit worship song makes the rounds, it's still usually an "I me mine" song, or is prone to misstate God's promises as if done by push-button. HELLO -- God is not focused on just you!! Worship leaders also have to be careful that certain false teachings about prosperity or about the end-times do not start worming their way into the worship service. Also, they must be more cautious about talk of receiving divine power -- power-talk can breed power-addiction.

So there are still signs of worship life in the independent circles. There may yet be some new positives coming from there. But for the most part, the non-Anglican mainline-Protestant charismatics have lost their first love. It's sad, but it's true. And if you're one of the exceptions, as a mainline-Protestant charismatic and/or a worship leader, you need to think hard and pray harder, in hopes that maybe you can be a part of a new and different thrust within the mainline churches, less stuck on worship rules and more firmly connected to the Holy Spirit as found in Scripture. A thrust that is self-consciously not an extension of the previous movements.

Blueberry's Razzberries

Some for whom nose-ick is too kind a descriptive :

(1) Ever and always, Ann Coulter. The Coultergeist. I heard she's got a new book out this week. That means we can expect a series of super-outrageous comments that will get this group or that group annoyed, angry, or afraid. She's got talent -- a talent for saying just the thing that most reflects hatred of somebody or some group. Usually, when some right-wing pundit says something, there's someone among those I know who will echo that sentiment; you can't get much further out there than these few. But when she made her comments about the 9/11 widows, even they couldn't stand it. She makes Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh seem like Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears. I finally found the book in a store, right below Colbert's new book. Colbert, of course, lampoons the right by making stupidly extremist comments in character. But when someone writes in a tone that actually trumps the lampoon, what do you do? That's Coulter. So you'll buy the book, and reward the hate-talk? Not me.

(2) It's back -- the commercial with the guy whining "waaaaaa-ha-haaa...I maxed out my credit cards, so I can't get the new car I wanted....waaaaa!" And radio listeners all over the NY Metro are saying, "MAN UP! Stop spending on trivia and stick to the real needs, will ya?" "Waaaa... but my credit is bad...waaa!" And the listeners cry, "So you're the one who's been getting those loans that never should've been granted, ruining the credit picture for the rest of us!!! I'll sue the pants off you!!!"

(3) The *&%$#!@*! ticket scalping companies that sucked up all the Hannah Montana tickets. The punishment should be to throw them unprotected into an auditorium with tens of thousands of screaming, angry little kids who couldn't afford the tickets at the outrageous prices they're charging. I know -- that's inhuman, but as they suffer, the next set of would-be pro scalpers might think twice. Why, it would be far better and far more real that Kid Nation!

TV execs dreams could become nightmare

When the baseball playoffs started a week or so ago, the TV channels who were covering them were licking their lips and preparing for a feast. The Yankees made it, so did the Red Sox, and the Cubs. Just think : a New York-Boston AL championship (guaranteed to go all seven games, all long and tense), followed by a possible New York-Chicago or Boston-Chicago superstar World Series, with one of the two mega-ratings national-drawing teams plus all of Chicago panting for an historic miracle.

Well, now the dream has turned bleak. Three of the first round series were minimum-game sweeps, mostly with uneventful wins. (Try getting the full load of ad dollars from that.) Both the Yanks and the Cubs are out of it. So much for the mega-market matchup.

But it could get worse : if Colorado blows through Arizona (quite possible), and Cleveland defeats the Red Sox (a very remote possibility), the television nets/cable channels could have a series where the only people watching will be from two medium-market cities. I'll still be watching it, like any real fan of the game itself. But for the most part, the East, West, and South Coasts won't be. Then, what kind of money can they ask for next time, what with this latest example of the risk side of sports advertising? I can picture TV execs squirming and sweating in bed at night, watching their dream payday convert into a horror movie nightmare. And how they suddenly get religious enough to pray that Papi and Manny can send Cleveland back home.

WUSB radio show Sun 30 September 2007

Bob Longman Sun 12:30-2:30 pm 30 September 2007
http://wusb.fm/

song -- artist -- album
Nobody's Fault But Mine -- Toby Walker -- Just Rolled In -- N
Cry Cry Cry -- Johnny Cash
Train of Love -- Jimmy Dale Gilmour
Amazing Grace -- Daniel Lanois/Aaron Neville -- Acadie
Desperate For Love -- Over the Rhine -- The Trumpet Child -- N
Somebrightmorningblues -- Peter Case -- Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John -- N
Go Boy -- Zap Mama -- Supermoon -- N
Walk On By -- Ian Moore -- To Be Loved -- N
The West Was Burning -- Martha Scanlon -- The West Was Burning -- N
Road to Hope -- Hilary Scott -- Road to Hope -- N
Confetti -- Lori McKenna -- Unglamorous -- N
On the Way -- Abra Moore -- On the Way -- N
You -- Al Green -- I Can't Stop
Need You Now -- Gurf Morlix -- Diamonds to Dust --N
Happy Ending -- Chuck Prophet -- Soap and Water -- N
Question -- Moody Blues
Blues Boy -- Phil Minnisale -- N
Prayer Song -- Danny Flowers -- Tools For the Soul -- N
How Deep Is Your Love -- the Bird and the Bee -- Please Clap Your Hands -- N
Got To Do Better -- Eric Bibb -- An Evening With -- N
Till Then -- Mills Brothers
Victory At Sea -- Bill Morrisey -- Come Running -- N
I Cover the Waterfront -- Don Byron
Too Marvelous For Words -- Nat King Cole

Prophet's new album shows he's ready to step forward. Bibb has a new live concert album; the track played here is a new(er) song. Gurf has recorded many albums -- mostly for others.

Griping about Cold Case

... no, not beer. I mean the TV show. I like the show. But there's one thing that really, really bugs me about it.

This past Sunday's show was a great example of it.

Teen girl is murdered. A quarter of the way through, we find out that she was part of a 'chastity circle', of teens who make a commitment not to have sex at this point in their life due to faith in Christ. I immediately thought, 'here it comes again...'. Sure enough. All the ghastly stereotypes about committed Christians get trotted out once more. In this case, of course the youth pastor had sex with a teen (or at least enjoying himself as she eagerly spoke her fantasies, apparently more than once), of course one of the girls was skilled at controlling the others, of course the couple was having sex and getting pregnant, and of course there was the closet homosexual who was denying it. (That's right, the youth pastor and all four of the other teens fit a stereotype.) And the dead girl got stoned (who stones but religious folk?) by all four other kids, taunting her and calling her slut and other hateful taunts while they were killing her.

The show, like many shows and just about anything loosely connected with Jerry Bruckheimer, has a steady track record on this. Nuns are shriveled biddies or closet Nazis (unless of course they're acting against a dogma, in which case they're always heroes). Fundamentalists (which by their definition includes evangelicals, charismatics, religiously conservative and even moderate mainline Protestants and Catholics) are mad bombers, guilt-trippers, crooks, or sex perverts. Religious ideas are always not only part of the problem, they are portrayed as its root cause, and must be smashed for the sake of the show's absolutist definition of 'personal freedom'. It's relentless. I can think of only one Cold Case episode in which religious faith and those who have it were treated with any real respect (a show that intersected two schoolyard murders last season, to the tunes of U2). Otherwise, it's been treated as a relentless enemy. The stereotypes are not entirely lies, mind you. I myself have known perv pastors, shrill nuns, hateful churchgoers. But I also know of a whole lot more who aren't - they're really fine people who really live their beliefs. They have to live under the burden not only of the bad ones, but also the hateful stereotypes that others foist upon them. Do I really have to say that they're not hate-filled? That they'd no more think of stoning someone to death than you would? Do I have to say they're the opposite of dangerous? If I do have to say that to you, then I have to say another truth to you : you're a raving bigot, and you have no business trying to foment more of your bigotry. And yes, I do know, very personally, what certain tightly-held dogmas can do to one's life. I also know that it is precisely my faith in Christ, shaped rather strongly by that same Bible they seem to hate so much, that has as a very practical, real-life matter led me to a life of caring and loving, in spite of the brutality of life that is (in reality) worse where the faith isn't than where it is. That is the truth. Can you portray that?

Of course, the show doesn't really believe in the reason teens join such groups either -- that is, to establish at least some level of sexual self-control. Even the attempt is ridiculed as being an inevitable 99% failure, and the people who make those commitments as invariable liars who are just looking for cover for their secret behaviors. They don't think it's even healthy to band together to at least try; better to feel free to have sex whenever you want to. In that view, their evidence is how often the effort fails. HELLO THERE -- teens are humans, and are still learning about the side of themselves that's their own worst enemy. That's all the failures mean. And many of these youth circles are quite aware of that, applying grace instead of law. (Yes, even many of the evangelical-based ones.) Sure, some don't; some can be quite cruel. But teens of all stripes and in all groups can find cruelty easy to do; being religious doesn't stop them from being teens.

I wonder what would happen if the youth pastor didn't go sexual toward one of them? If the couple could actually be shown as really dealing with their desires instead of just lying? If someone actually was trying to be a true friend to the dead girl? Couldn't they do even one of those? That, I propose, is much more of a reality than the predictable script way. They could've still had a good murder mystery without having everyone turn evil. But then the show wouldn't have reinforced its favorite set of prejudices in the minds of the public.

It seems that the one group that's fair game for bigotry nowadays is any sort of conservative Christian. NO. There is no such thing as 'fair game'; it's always unfair, always wrong. All bigotry rots your soul out. All bigotry undermines public life. ALL of it. It seems that conservative Christians are far from being the only ones who need to learn that. I hope more people tell the TV show makers that.

A P.S. : I'm not one of those who likes to rant about this sort of stuff. It makes me sound shrill and far right-wing. (They've jumped on the same episode with fangs out.) But I'm not at all a right-winger, a rabble-rouser, or much of a ranter; you can check me on that. But Cold Case's willingness to feed prejudices about a certain group of people has to be called to task. That's way more important than making their political point, because their political struggle is supposed to be largely about getting rid of prejudices. Do as you say, please.

Another look at charismatics, 12 years later

Looking back on the points made 27 years ago by Charismatics at Geneva, I can only feel a great sadness. For I look at the landscape of what had then been the the robust, energetic Charismatic movement, and what is there now, the mainline part of it becoming either spent (Lutherans, for example) or reshaped and tamed in a manner better suited for the powers-that-be (like Catholics and Methodists). The 'Third Wave' part of it isn't in much better shape, for while there are many congregations within it that are better than ever, the overall impression is that they've lost their vision, and are being blended into a veriety of new mini-movements, or are being taken up by some larger movements that have little to do with following Christ.

I'll use the points from Geneva that I addressed 12 years ago as a starting point. When I do this, please remember that I am an outside observer, a mainstream Christian who is clearly not (by nearly all of the movement's own self-definitions) a charismatic, and never has been. I am simply a believer in Christ who insists on being in dialogue with a movement that, even at this stage, is still the main shaping force for many millions of Christians the world over. A believer in Christ who believes that mainstream Christian leaders are still seriously shirking their responsibility as Christians by choosing not to be in real dialogue with them.

In 1980, Charismatics at one of their many conferences saw a series of marks of the Spirit that they believed were present in their movements. These included :

• New openness toward the healing power
  and the lordship of Jesus;
  
• Renewal of spiritual life of the church in
  local congregations;
  
• Spontaneity, openness, freedom and joy in
  praise and worship;
  
• New interest in the Bible as God's living
  Word;
  
• Deeper experience of the reality, holiness,
  and transcendence of God;
  
• Deeper interest and new openness in regard
  to the essential doctrines of the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, his
  death and resurrection, confirmed in experience;
  
• Renewal of the service of healing for the
  sick;
  
• Lay leadership;
  
• New incentive for evangelization, missions
  and witness in the power of the Spirit.
  

I'll be going over these in upcoming weeks.