$2026 Matching Donation, J. Geils & J.C. Mellencamp |
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J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here.
Last week, I mentioned what a wonderful time of inspiration God had given me lately in regard to lyric-writing. Well, He still has the spigot turned on; this week, I wrote two more parodies. So now the lyrics are finished for all 12 songs on our 82nd CD, even though we’ve only released six of them, counting our latest single, which came out this past Sunday night.
Two more are currently being mixed and are slated to come out on our next single next weekend, Lord willing. I’ve already sung the first one on the single after that, so I only have three more to sing over the course of the next three weeks. Our drummer and engineer, Jimmy “Vegas” Tanner, is even farther along than I; he only has to record drums for one more.
In fact, on Thursday, Jimmy and I were already discussing potential songs for our 83rd CD. And yesterday, I was talking with our keyboardist, Rich Mannion, about some of the strongest candidates. In the meantime, the encouragement we receive from our loyal listeners helps keep us enthused. For example, check out these excerpts from a few recent emails: |
I have to say, I really enjoy the latest CD. Your ability to record music with modern technology but make it sound like a recording from 1960s or whatever is incredible! It's less of a 'cover band' style, definitely more like a reproduction. I keep you all in my prayers and am excited about all the new music you get to make.
Nick Wallace Fort Wayne IN |
My CDs arrived in the mail today. Thanks so much. I really appreciate your ministry. Your ability to rewrite songs while keeping a biblical message is astounding. That and the quality of each production is awesome. I hope that ApologetiX continues to produce Godly music as it always has.
Jeff Thompson Sun City West AZ |
My friend Maria and I love your music. A brother in Christ named Oscar told me about ApologetiX. When I first heard ApologetiX on Spotify, I couldn't stop listening. The Word of God in every song. I remembered as a kid hearing the songs on MTV and the other music in the 90's growing up. I didn't realize as an adult that that secular music had bad messages in them. And it's awesome that you guys remade them with inspiring scriptures of God. God bless you all. Please make more albums.
Gregory Elliott Poway CA |
The USB arrived today. Our anniversary is next week, and I wanted this for my wife. We have been listening to it this afternoon. Thank you so much for this and the digital songbook as well. I hope you are as blessed writing these as we feel listening to them. What a wonderful way to be able to do ministry. Thank you again!
John Langjahr Centerville MO |
How could we not feel motivated after reading all that? What’s more, we have some other encouraging news from a fan to share in the first article below ... |
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Couple Will Match Donations Up to $2026 |
A fan in the Midwest has contacted us and made a matching-donation offer.
To celebrate his wife’s recovery from a serious illness, they will match all donations sent in response to this offer from now through next Sunday, March 15, at 11:59 p.m. PDT, up to a cumulative total of $2026. See what they did there?
If you saw our appeal letter in last weekend’s newsletter, you can see how this is excellent timing. Then again, when people unexpectedly offer a donor match, it’s never a bad time.
If you're interested in participating toward the matching donation, here's how you can help: |
Give by mail: ApologetiX, 208 Charlemma Dr., Pittsburgh PA 15214
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Donations aren't tax deductible, but they're worth twice as much!
If you’re unable to participate, don’t give it a second thought. In our personal experience, whenever God has inspired somebody to make an offer like this, He has always provided the match as well. We’re just relaying the good news about this opportunity. Praise the Lord! |
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New Single Spoofs J. Geils Band & John Mellencamp |
On Sunday night, we released our third single of 2026. It spoofs a pair of Top 5 pop hits (which also hit the Top 10 on the rock charts) from a couple #1 albums … and all of this originally happened in 1982. |
He’s Framed - Freeze-Frame - The J. Geils Band Works for Good - Hurts so Good - John Mellencamp |
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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 third single of 2026: |
HE’S FRAMED
In the early 2000s, a local Christian radio talk-show host named Marty Minto was an ApologetiX fan and suggested that we spoof "Freeze-Frame" as "Please Pray." That was a good one, but we decided to revisit the story of Jacob's 11th son instead.
As you look over the ApX catalog, you can tell I've done a lot of thinking about the fourth quarter of the Book of Genesis ... or a lot of listening to the soundtrack to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ... or both. This is our first parody to zero in on the events of Genesis 39 and the incident with Potiphar's wife, who framed Joseph for attempted sexual assault.
Some Bible commentators believe Potiphar probably didn't put a lot of stock in her story, because he had Joseph incarcerated —in the royal prison, no less, where the king's prisoners were confined — rather than put to death. Then again, one of those prisoners (Pharaoh's baker) was eventually executed.
When I got the title "He's Framed," I thought of four options: Daniel, Paul, Jesus, and Joseph. Then the opening line came to me, and the choice was obvious. The rest of the words followed quickly thereafter.
Both "He's Framed" and the other song on this single, "Works for Good," were written while walking at our local mall. I usually take my daily walks around our very hilly neighborhood, but we had a string of days with very chilly single-digit temperatures, and that's why I was in the mall. How ironic that I was spoofing “Freeze-Frame" while there!
"He's Framed" features J. Jackson on lead vocals and additional backing vocals; Rich Mannion on keyboards, bass, and primary backing vocals; Tom Tincha on guitars; Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner on drums and percussion; and David Michael on special effects. |
WORKS FOR GOOD
This parody was originally going to be “Herds so Good” about Jacob and Laban ("Come on, Laban, Jacob herds so good") or “Heard so Good” about the deaf man Jesus healed with spit in Mark 7:31-37 ("From the day He came, I heard so good"), but each of those would've employed improper grammar and would've been hard to distinguish from "Hurts so Good" at first listen.
However, the biggest reason I moved on from them was that I needed to be able to rhyme closely with all the rest of the lyrics in the original song, too, and once I got “with a bird’s-eye view” and some of those other lines in the two pre-choruses, I knew I had to go with “Works For Good.”
We'd touched upon Romans 8:28 before in "It's All in God's Control" and "Something Goes Wrong," but this one is from the perspective of a person coming alongside a friend going through a trial.
It's tough enough to remind yourself that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose," but it's a delicate matter sharing Romans 8:28 with someone else when they're in the midst of depression or grief. You don't want to sound trite or minimize another person's suffering.
If we hadn't chosen ApologetiX as a band name in 1992, I might have suggested Romance 828, an original song title I'd had since the late '80s or early '90s. I wonder how many people would've gotten the pun immediately and how many might have missed it entirely.
"Works for Good" features J. Jackson on lead and backing vocals, Tom Tincha on guitars, Rich Mannion on keyboards, Keith Haynie on bass, and Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner on drums and percussion. |
The cover of this single features a photo of Keith Haynie taken by the man himself, although he didn’t know we were going to turn it into a work of art. |
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New USBs Include Songbook & New CD, Too |
Two weeks before last Christmas, we offered a deluxe USB thumb drive that proved to be popular with fans.
It included the digital versions of all of our CDs, plus any singles, EPs, or rarities that aren't on CD, but it also included the latest edition of our digital songbook (1992–2024), which is not on our standard USB. We had just enough of them to get us through the holidays.
With Easter around the corner, we’re happy to announce that we have a new batch in stock.
And this time, they not only include the songbook, they also include our new CD, Everything But, plus the two new singles (four songs) we’ve released thus far in 2026.
The songbook is 1359 pages long with lyrics and commentaries for each song, photos, articles, discographies, and multiple indexes (parody title, topic, original song title, original artist, year the original was a hit, and Bible verses covered)! Sorry, no sheet music.
Emblazoned with the band's logo, the USBs have a storage capacity of 16 GB, and they’re write-enabled, so you can add more music to them if and when you get future ApX downloads.
We only have 85 of these USBs in stock. They're available for a donation of $150 or more each. Multiple copies are available for $100 each.
ALL THAT, PLUS THIS ...
If you order one or more of these USBs, we’ll also email you a PDF of our complete library AND a link to download the songbook directly to your computer. That way, if you're getting the USB for somebody as a gift, you'll also get digital copies of our library and songbook for your own collection. Or vice versa.
NOTE: If you wish to order the digital songbook or the complete library without the USB, those options are still available. |
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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 2026 |
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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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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Mark 4:26-27 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.” |
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P.O. Box 101705
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
USA
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