Last week I surprised myself and reviewed an album from a band I thought had long been relegated to touring outside the United States or doing the casino or state fair circuit within. The band was Whitesnake and to my surprise I found a quality product. This is the case with today’s band as well. When I heard that this band was coming to Omaha, and performing at the Quest Center no less, I couldn’t believe it. Another metal glam band who dominated the eighties and early ninties, selling over 65 million albums worldwide. The band who has had more than it’s share of tragedy and yet has incredible staying power. When some bands would have given up and just moved on, these guys re-grouped and made adjustments. I writing about the band noted for making tattered, hole riddled, jeans popular for many years to come. The band named for an audio challenged big cat, Def Leppard. The Leppards have been making some good music of late. I loved the album Yeah released in 2006. The album contained all UK glammer band covers. Songs that pay homeage to bands from their childhood. My favorite song on the album was the T.Rex cover “Rock On”. They also did a great job covering Rod Stewart and the Small Faces “Stay With Me”.
Author Archives: barrydean
Music Review Tuesday – Def Leppard
What a comeback. Huskers 9 Aggies 8 and then some.
I know this is somewhat old news to those who live here in Nebraska but I had to post this.
This weekend the Huskers posted one of the greatest come-from-behind victories in Nebraska baseball history. With the victory and another in the second game the 5th ranked Huskers pulled closer to first place in the Big 12.
In game one, Nebraska erased an 8-4 deficit by scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth. On an emotional day where senior day and parents’ day were combined due to Saturday’s rainout, senior Mitch Abeita delivered the game-winning hit, singling up the middle on a 1-2 pitch to score Bryce Nimmo from second and end A&M’s conference-record Big 12 winning streak at 16 games.
They also pulled out the second game of the double-header to take the series from the conference leading Texas A&M Aggies. Go Huskers!
The whole story can be found here.
Update: With the Huskers defeating Creighton 8 – 1 tonight and a conference leading Texas A&M loss to Texas-Arlington, Nebraska is just a half game from 1st place. Woo Hoo!!
Music Review Tuesday – Whitesnake
Today I am reviewing a band who, like Bon Jovi, epitomized the big hair bands of the eighties and early ninties. Picture 5000 14 to 17 year old boys pumping their fists in the air to the tunes coming from 50,000 watt amps. This band has probably had the most member turnover comparable to the fictional Spinal Tap and yet has had only one lead singer. In fact the singer, David Coverdale, founded the band. The band (I can’t believe I am reviewing) is Whitesnake. I know, the same glam metal ballad laced band prominant on the MTV airwaves in the late eighties. The band that spawned the love affair and eventual marriage of video babe Tawny Kitaen (who appeared in most of the Whitesnake videos) and Coverdale. Whitesnake has had many talented musicians involved in many of the various projects over the years. Here are some of the many names: Jon Lord, John Sykes, Steve Vai, Vivian Campbell, Cozy Powell, Adrian Vandenberg, Tommy Aldrige, Rudy Sarzo, and Anysley Dunbar. These names alone represent the many bands spun from Whitesnake.
Two authors, two movements
The other day I found a link to an article in Christianity Today that features a conversation between two
contemporary authors. The article is providing a forum for each of these authors to address each other with observations and questions about each others camps so to speak. The authors are Collin Hansen who authored “Young, Restless, and Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists“, and Tony Jones who wrote “New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier“. The conversation will continue over several days and makes for some interesting reading. The guys are very civil toward each other and bring up some questions that have interested me. Through the discussion I have learned a little more about the emergent church and the logic behind some of their theology or determined lack of it. It is interesting because they each mention the movements virtually being driven in part by discussions in the blogosphere. Imagine that? There are many blogs and bloggers mentioned that we all frequent. Go check it out and use the links provided to view each days discussion.
Emergent’s New Christians and the Young and Restless Reformed
Music Review Tuesday – The Showdown
With the resurgence of metal guitar and the guitar solo in rock music today comes 
a band with Christian influenced lyrics and a hint of southern rock. That band is called The Showdown. They are another band I have been introduced to through TVU the Christian rock music video channel on the SkyAngel network. I saw their video and had to find out more. One of their famous tag lines is “jammin’ for the Lamb”. The Showdown is based out of Elizabethton, Tennessee. Being a big Tennessee fan, need I go on? Ah yes, but I will. The following is a quote from a member of the band that kind of sums up what they are about.
We are about power, fire, pyro, oil, rocks, and heavy. Whether than means rolling around town on our dirt bikes, hauling our twenty-five foot trailer to a show, or starting a barbeque in a random parking lot. We want to have fun and take it to the extreme on and off the road. And our live show is 110%, 110% of the time. But we aren’t about the party as a means to escape. We have joy because we have truth, and because we have been blessed. It isn’t drugs and girls and alcohol, but a genuine love of life because of our blessings that gives us our attitude.
From front-man David Bunton comes another tidbit:
Grace and our great high priest
Reading through Hebrews chapter 8 this morning I was again reminded of the 
cross. I am reminded of the work God accomplished there. Through what God accomplished at the cross, we, the chosen of God, were justified. These who were justified encountered grace. The particular grace I am writing of here is the grace given in our great high priest. At the point our Lord perished on the cross the heavy curtain in the temple that seperated the people from the jewish high priest, and holy of holies, was torn in two. Because of that grace, the justified now have access to the one and only holy God through Christ our savior. (Heb. 10:19-21) Oh, what a Savior!
In reference to this scripture I came across a little Purtian prayer:
Grace
O God, may Thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to Thee. I Lord Jesus, great high priest, Thou hast opened a new and living way by which a fallen creature can approach Thee with acceptance.
Help me to contemplate the dignity of Thy Person, the perfectness of Thy sacrifice, the effectiveness of Thy intercession.
O what blessedness accompanies devotion, when under all the trials that weary me, the cares that corrode me, the fears that disturb me, the infirmities that oppress me, I can come to Thee in my need and feel peace beyond understanding!
The grace that restores is necessary to preserve, lead, guard, supply, help me. And here Thy saints encourage my hope; they were once poor and are now rich, bound and are now free, tried and now are victorious.
Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is found in Thee, the divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells. To Thee I repair for grace upon grace, until every void made by sin be replenished and I am filled with all Thy fullness.
May my desires be enlarged and my hopes emboldened, that I may honour Thee by my entire dependency and the greatness of my expectation.
Do Thou be with me, and prepare me for all the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity, the losses of substance, the death of friends, the days of darkness, the changes of life, and the last great change of all. May I find thy grace sufficient for all my needs.
This thought provoking prayer about grace and our high priest can be found in a book titled “Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions“.
Music Review Tuesday – Duffy
Who is the first female Welsh artist to have a number one pop single in the past 25 years? If you said Duffy,
you would be correct. You would also have to be a fan of her and her music. This Welsh singer-songwriter, who’s real name is Aimee Ann Duffy (Duffy is her professional name) is not very well known in the U. S. unless you listen to modern alternative radio. I had never heard of her until my lovely wife Robin asked if I had. She was pretty pleased to turn me on to her music. My wife is a big fan of the music from the 60’s era and Duffy, although a contemporary artist, sings the kind of music reminiscent of that time period. Duffy was born June 23rd, 1984 in Gwynedd, an area in north-west Wales. In 2003 she was the runner-up to the Welsh alternative to American Idol. She sang in various bands until hooking up with Suede’s ex-guitar player Bernard Butler. Duffy and Butler began co-writing songs and created a fresh retro sound. I will tell you now that this music is not my typical “knock the snot outta ya” hard ‘n heavy musical style you have come to read about here. But there is just something about this fresh sound that hooks me in. This fresh sound is what you will hear on her full length debut album. The album review to follow.
Music Review Tuesday – Delirious?
When I think of Delirious?, I think of modern Christian worhip music. They have released many worship albums, and have several well known worship songs including: “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”, “Deeper”, and “Lord, You Have My Heart”. Delirious? began as a worship band for a youth outreach event called “Cutting Edge”. This event was created by Arun Community Church in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England. They have been a favorite in our household since purchasing and listening to their “Glo” album in 2000. I have loved their mix or worship centered lyrics and modern rock music. The band Delirious? features Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stuart Garrard (also known as Stu G) on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Paul Evans on drums and percussion.
Their new album is called “Kingdom of Comfort“. It was released in the U. S. on April 1st, 2008, April Fool’s Day. I wonder if there was an intention to it’s release on that particular day? They did have an album titled “King of Fools” released in 1997. “Kingdom of Comfort” was inspired by the band’s recent missions trip to Cambodia and Mumbai, India. The band’s guitarist Stu G is quoted as saying:
Seeing children looking for scraps on the rubbish dump they call homes in Cambodia and the education and feeding projects in the slums of Mumbai India really had an impact on us. It wasn’t possible to simply proceed with business as usual. We had to ask ourselves, what am I building? A kingdom of comfort? Or a kingdom of heaven?
The definition of justification
With all the enthusiastic media coverage of the papal visit this week, I thought it best to post a simple reason why I do not share in the same enthusiasm. Nor would any of the eariler reformers who died opposing the doctrines of the papacy.
This reason is found in a single word, justification, as it relates to the salvation of your soul. It is one of, if not, the most significant differences in the doctrine of the papacy and the church reformers. Reformers teach that we are justified by faith apart from works (Rom. 3:20-28; 4:1-5; 9:30-32; Gal. 2:16; 3:1-14), but once we believe with true faith, the good works will flow out of the changed heart (Eph. 2:8-10; Js. 2:14, 17). The papacy teaches that we are justified by faith and the good works that come from that faith. Did you catch that little word “and“? That little word is a huge word relative to these doctrinal differences. I would contend that the word has eternal ramifications. The following is a very understandable definition from Ra McLaughlin:
Part of the disagreement between the Calvinists and Roman Catholics on the issue of the relationship between faith, works, and justification, stems from a disagreement over the definition of “justify.” Roman Catholics generally argue that to justify someone is to recognize that the person really is righteous. Thus, they read James 2:21-22 to teach that Abraham reached a point of actual righteousness when he passed the test of being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis 22. Calvinists, on the other hand, recognize two definitions for “justify” (most words may have more than one meaning), seeing that it sometimes means “vindicate” or “validate,” and sometimes it means “to count a person as if he were righteous, even though he really isn’t.” For example, when Abraham believed God, God counted Abraham as if he were actually righteousness (Gen. 15:6), even though Abraham had not yet done any good works since believing. Calvinists teach that the only one who is truly righteous enough to be saved is Christ himself (Rom. 3:9-20; 5:15-19), and that Christ shares his own status as “righteous” with those who are united to him by faith (Gal. 3:17-29). The first definition, “vindication,” is the one Calvinists apply to James 2:21-22. Calvinists believe the context in James 2 is not contrasting, on the one hand, true faith plus good works, and, on the other hand, true faith without works. Rather, Calvinists argue that James is contrasting two kinds of faith, one that produces good works (true faith) and one that does not produce good works (false faith). “Vindication” seems the best definition in this passage, according to Calvinists, because Abraham was already reckoned as righteous when he believed God in Genesis 15 — many years before God “tested” (Gen. 22:1) his faith. The test was to determine whether or not Abraham’s faith was true (Gen. 22:12), not to cause Abraham to do enough good works to earn his justification.
Just something to discuss with your more enthusiastic friends.
Sola fide!
If your right hand causes you …..
In Matthew 5:30 Jesus says:
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Although this passage is used in reference to lust, I found an interesting story that I have somewhat related to this scripture.
While being burned alive at the sake Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, was quoted saying:
This was the hand that wrote it, therefore it shall suffer first punishment.
The “it” he mentions is the right hand Thomas Cranmer used to sign the recantation documents after having been in prison for two years. The recantations were affirmations of his belief in transubstantiation and papal supremacy. Prior to his death at the stake he was lead by procession to St. Mary’s Church in Oxford where he was to make a public statement affirming his recantation. Instead he was quoted as saying:
And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine.
After this he was lead away and burned at the stake for the crime of heresy. His incarceration and subsequent execution were at the request of Queen Mary I, later known as Bloody Mary. For she was responsible for the execution of many reformers in an effort to re-establish the Roman Catholic Church.
I would commend any reformed scholar to read more on this reformer, brave man, and co-founder of the early Anglican Church movement. I have provided some links in the text above.
Upon This Rawk 
