Prodigals, ApX Returns to the ‘50s and the 2000s

Prodigals, ApX Returns to the ‘50s and the 2000s

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here.

I noticed something interesting recently while reading the parable of the Prodigal Son with my three youngest kids. Check out this part from the end of the story:

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

-Luke 15:28-32

Notice how the older son refers to the prodigal disparagingly as “this son of yours,” totally disassociating himself from the situation. However, in response, the father refers to the prodigal as “this brother of yours,” bringing the older son right back into the realm of responsibility.

Isn’t that a lot like what we do with our heavenly Father, and what He does with us? No, the older brother wasn’t responsible for the sins of the younger brother, but the father did urge him to welcome the prodigal back into the family.

When you think about it, in that story, the younger brother didn’t even sin directly against the older brother, just against the father. You can imagine the father thinking, “Look, if I can forgive him after he sinned directly against me and not against you, surely you can forgive him.”

But Jesus wants us to forgive when it’s directly against us (which is also still directly against God, if you consider Psalm 51:4) as well. Two chapters later, He had this to say:

“So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

-Luke 17:3-4

Most people are more familiar with the part in Matthew 18:21-22 where Jesus tells Peter he has to forgive a brother or sister who sins again him "seventy times seven" (or "seventy-seven times," depending on the translation). Personally, it seems to me to be easier to forgive somebody 77 times or even 490 times over the course of a relationship that could last a lifetime than to forgive them seven times in a single day.

Seven times in a day really strains the credibility of the repeat offender. Former major-league relief pitcher Steve Howe was suspended seven times in his career for drug-policy violations. He was reinstated seven times, too, but those incidents were spread out during a career that lasted 17 years! Even so, people started questioning his sincerity after the second time.

No wonder the Apostles immediately responded to Jesus’ admonition about “seven times in a day" by saying, “Increase our faith!” Nevertheless, as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is fond of saying, “The standard is the standard.” Just some food for thought as so many of us will be getting together with brothers and sisters and other family members next week for Thanksgiving and next month for the Christmas season.

And for those of you who are already waiting with open arms and just wish your family members would come to the Father for forgiveness, here’s a bit of encouragement ApologetiX-style in a lyric-video put together by ApX fan Bob Van Wicklen:

New Single Spoofs Gnarls Barkley and Danny & The Juniors

On Sunday night, we released our 21st single of 2025. It spoofs two huge hits originally released nearly half a century apart (1957 and 2006)!

Praise Him - Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

At the Cross - At the Hop - Danny & the Juniors

Get the New Single

The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

Here are the stories behind the songs on our 21st single of 2025:

PRAISE HIM

I remember when — I remember, I remember when I got my lines (the opening line of the first verse and the opening line of the first chorus of this parody). It was 2006, and "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley was taking the pop charts by storm (#2 U.S. for seven weeks, #1 U.K for nine weeks).

We never got around to attempting it at the time, so I didn't write the rest of the lyrics until we finally put "Praise Him" into production, almost two decades later. By then, "Crazy" was an oldie! It blows my mind to think that us spoofing that tune in 2025 would be the equivalent of us spoofing a song from 1973 when ApologetiX started out in 1992.

As a matter of fact, we did spoof four songs from '73 in '92: "China Grove," "Live and Let Die," "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" and "Your Mama Don't Dance.”

Anyway, I emailed Rich Mannion on September 23, 2025, to ask if he thought we could pull off a parody of "Crazy," and he replied, "As long as I am given plenty of time to work on this at my leisure, I’m fine with it. There is a lot going on in this. Both drum-programming and backing vocals ... I do love this song and performed it with Megan Straz in Pittsburgh one year.”

At the time, I thought it would just require keyboards and electronic drums for instrumentation, but there is actually some real bass and guitar, too. No worries, though ... Rich took care of it all. One-stop pop! As you may have noticed, some of the lyrics in the first verse are reminiscent of the old hymn "Amazing Grace.”

"Praise Him" features J. Jackson on lead vocals, Rich Mannion on backing vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, and drum-programming.

AT THE CROSS

I'll admit it's a little strange juxtaposing a jaunty little number like "At the Hop" by Danny & the Juniors with the dead-serious concept of the Cross. However, I'm reminded of a Bible verse that speaks of joy in the midst of a conversation about crucifixion:

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

I got the idea for this parody on the morning of October 3, 2025, and worked on it while driving. Our two youngest kids, Natalie and T.J., didn't have school that day, and our other daughter living at home, Kelly, got time off from work so we could all go to the Splash Lagoon indoor water park in Erie PA (about 120 miles from our home).

Kelly's birthday is October 1, and she'd been wanting to go all year. We'd been there numerous times in the past with ApX bassist Keith Haynie and his family, and I remember working on lyrics for plenty of parodies on previous trips, including "Cut-Rate Hotel," "Word Of," "Psalm 19," and "School of Ours," to name just a few.

Kudos to ApX keyboardist Rich Mannion, who provided the intro, outro, and backing vocals throughout this recording, plus the upright bass (played on keyboards) and the pounding piano. After finishing all of the instrumentation, he texted me the following: "Very hard to play chords that fast at my age." To which I responded, "Danny & the Seniors.”

"At the Cross" features J. Jackson on lead vocals, Rich Mannion on keyboards and backing vocals, and Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner on drums and percussion.

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.

Complete Library

USB Thumb Drive

Songbook

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.

Donate Online or by Mail

If you'd like to donate to the ministry of ApologetiX, there are a couple ways you can do it.

Donate Online

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!

David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:6

P.O. Box 101705
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
USA

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