ALBUM REVIEW - "RED ALERT" BY MALCOLM & THE MIRRORS

Red Alert by Malcolm and the Mirrors, which came out in '82, is one of my favorite albums musically, one of my favorite albums ministry wise, and one of my favorite album covers.

No, this album came out before the TV show, so there's no connection with Malcolm in the Middle. Malcolm refers to Malcolm Wild, who in the '70' was part of the Jesus Music pioneer group Malcolm & Alwyn, who had a solo between the two groups (he's currently a pastor at a Calvary Chapel in Florida). For those who are familiar with his earlier items, you need to put on your seat belt - this one is definitely harder.

Some of the songs on this project deal with the threat of nuclear war in the title track and in "Paint Your Windows White." The answer, though, is not politics but in Christ, which are the themes of lead off song "Gotta Give," "Can't Live Without Him" (which was previously on the Back To The Rock compilation), "Sharon O (She's Gonna Go Through Stages)," and "Love Your Love."

For me, though, the highlight of the album is the final two songs. "Look Up! (His Coming's Near)" and "Alright By Me" have encouraged me multiple times in the 45 years since I started listening to them, up till present.

I highly recommend this album.

STUDY BOOK REVIEW - "NOT MY JESUS: RECLAIMING THE TRUTH, REJECTING THE IDOLS" BY SHANE PRUITT

 

The Community Group I'm in (think adult men's Sunday School class) has spent the last 16 weeks going through "Not My Jesus: Reclaiming the Truth, Rejecting the Idols". Yes, this is an 8 week study, but our class tends to take our time going deep into the material each week. Author Shane Pruitt introduces the student to 8 Pseudo-Christs:

1. The Moldable Jesus: a regular human being like us, not Divine, but being molded as we are by circumstances and the like.
2. The Personal Genie Jesus: Quick to grant us our needs and wants, focusing on our will, not His.
3. The Non-Judgmental Jesus: Ready to say, "Neither do I condemn you" but doesn't add "Go and Sin no more."
4. The Participation Trophy Jesus: Accepting everybody into heaven, without us needing to do anything but be alive.
5. The Distant Jesus: A Christ who doesn't pay much attention to our day by day lives.
6. The Comfortable Jesus: A deity who doesn't expect us to get out of our comfort zone or challenge us.
7. The Boring Jesus: A faith that doesn't have much excitement, not as appealing as the world to the believer.
8. The National Jesus: A Savior who's more interested in the U.S. of A. but not so much everybody else.

This book starts with an introduction to the author, how to use the study and Bible study tips and resources, and why we can trust the Bible.Each chapter a group session guide and three personal studies. On the final page of the study book, there's a code which allows you to view a 10-15 minute video with the author explaining the lesson. 

I found this an interesting study, and the videos enjoyable. I've had studies before from Lifeway which has personal studies, and I'm never sure if they're supposed to be comvered before the video and class or afterwards - I do the former. 

I recommend this for personal study and more so for studying this as a group as I did, and as this book is designed to.

WHAT IF WE HAD A SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL CELEBRATION AND NOBODY CAME?

American Flag displayed at Howard County Vietnam Veteran's Grounds, Greentown, IN

One of my favorite memories was sitting in the living room in '75 and '76, watching CBS and especially being interested in the short segment "200 Years Ago Today..." Just as impactful was seeing a sign on a door of a business in beautiful downtown Cottonwood, AZ during that time, which read "200 Years ago today, on this very spot, not a thing happened."

A few years later, I saw a news special on New Year's Eve, 1979 looking at the decade of the 70's, and covering three events that defined that decade. Those were, I believe, the covert war in Laos (I could be wrong about this one), the resignation of President Nixon, and the celebration of the Bicentennial.

Fast forward half a century. I'm still around. But do I see the same attention given that they did 50 years earlier? Do I see "250 Years Ago Today" on TV? No. Thought that might be because I don't watch TV. Neither do I see signs letting you know that nothing happened on that spot 250 years ago.

I'll admit that I don't feel the same jubilation because I'm not where I see it promoted. Nothing got me excited about it. That fact depresses me: I do want to be celebrant of the mile stone (I've heard some state that in 200 years after becoming free, a nation returns to slavery; I don't remember who said this, but I'm glad that hasn't happened at present time.) 

Let me bring up a question, though. Is it possible that many have been deceived into believing our country existing isn't necessarily a good thing? Could it be the unsettledness due to the division in the country that makes the possibility of civil war exists, one where a person will unfriend you because you vote for the wrong candidate, or where someone is considered not having anything worth saying if they they call those who aren't legal residents of this country illegal and who think law enforcement officials should enforce the law? Could it be that we've been bullied and are afraid to speak out and think that our race or religious convictions or gender or gender identity disqualifies us from expressing our views? Could it be that we're afraid we'll be called Christian nationalists if we hold to conservative views?

Is our nation perfect? Uh, the nation is made up of people - are any of our citizens perfect? We have errors. Yes, I see Christian Nationalism (as opposed to Christian Patriotism) as a problem. But it's not the only problem - Progressive Christianity is one I fear just as much.

Lifeway Research has put out a couple of polls recently for U.S. Protestant pastors, with slightly different angles. The first question was if it was important to incorporate patriotic elements into worship services on the 4th of July weekend. The second  was whether their church should do something special to commemorate our country's 250th birthday on July 4th, 2026. Yes, both are similar, but the first talks about patriotic elements and the second sees it more something special to point out the milestone. 

Results?

1st Poll - Should the Church incorporate patriotic elements into worship?

• Total Agree             45%
• Strongly Agree       16%
• Total Disagree        53%
• Strongly Disagree   29%
• Not Sure                  2%

2nd Poll - Should the Church commemmorate the nation's 250th Birthday?

• Total Agree              50% 
• Strongly Agree         16%
• Total Disagree          47%
• Strongly Disagree     19%
• Not Sure                    3%

One item that did make me smile. Google is our platform, and for a week or two the Google home page had a soccer themed artwork on their logo. The 3rd and 4th of July? They had a patriotic theme. I'm grateful for that. The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site was open, but I don't know if they had anything special. Also, the Indianapolis Zoo had a special today, with admission for $17.76. I wonder what the animals did to commemorate the event.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the 250th anniversary  and its celebration. Is it like having a Semiquincential party and nobody came?

NOTE - Question in title and in concluding sentence inspired by my friend Robert Roberg titled "What if They Had a War and Nobody Came?

BOOK REVIEW - "CLASSICAL MUSIC: THE 50 GREATEST COMPOSERS AND THEIR 1,000 GREATEST WORKS" BY PHIL G. GOULDING

 My favorite genres of music are Classical and Symphonic Rock. Do I consider myself an expert on who's the best? Not even close. I like what I like and will give what I don't like a couple of times. There are certain eras I prefer to others: Baroque isn't my cup of tea, I love a lot of the romantic era, and sometimes I think the principal instrument in 20th Century music is fingernails on the chalk board.

That being said, I picked up "Classical Music: The 50th Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works" by Phil Goulding, wondering how much disagreement we'll have. While there are disagreements, I find myself agreeing more.

Goulding started this book as a challenge by his wife At that point, I probably knew more than he did. His approach to ranking the artists was sound, using how many pages of music by the composers as a guide. 

He starts off with a few lists about the performers, including his ranking, the composer's century of birth, and their home country. He goes through his list with a short biography of the composer, focused on their compositions. He then provides a starter list (5 items), a top ten (as you'd expect, 10), and a Master's list. There are a couple where Goulding's Master's list is the same as the top ten; others have enough that he recommends a library.

You don't have to open the book to know his top 10: it's on the outside back cover. The top 10 is: 

1. Johann Sebastian Bach
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Ludwig van Beethoven
4. Richard Wagner
5. Franz Joseph Haydn
6. Johannes Brahms
7. Franz Schubert
8. Robert Schumann
9. George Frideric Handel
10. Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky

Actually, I have few arguments. I wouldn't have Schumann on my list: I've tried listening to him on occassion and remain unimpressed compared to the others. Plus, with two of my three favorite composers ranked 11th and 12th - Mendelssohn and Dvorak respectively; Beethoven is my other favorite - Schumann would find him slipping to the teens on my list. Having read the book, I doubt I'd get much argument at that point: Goulding commented that if someone wanted to rearrange the order of the top 3, he'd see nothing wrong with that.

He ranks a pair of my favorites further down - Bruckner at 25 and Rimski-Korsakov at 42. Three others are missing from his list: Correlli, Franz Berwald, and Carl Phillip Emannuel Bach, but overall, I think his ranking is more objective while I won't at all claim my rankings are subjective. 

The book is concluded with a section on the orchestra and its instruments and arrangement and a 42 page discography.

If you are interested in learning more about classical music and its composers, I very hightly recommend this book. 

KINGDOM COME FESTIVAL 26 REPORT PART 2 (SATURDAY JUNE 20, 2026)

Photo of the late David Pataconi, in the Subculture Stage area.

Saturday, June 20, was my seventh day of going to Kingdom Come Festival (KCF), but the first day I was not planning on volunteering. A friend from church was going to go, but it didn't work out. While I love to volunteer, the schedule was full of people I wanted to hear, so I kept busy without  helping out. 

Starting at 10:00am, the Main Stage has a rotation where the band plays for 30 minutes, tear down and set up lasts 15 minutes, and repeat. For me, it makes it easy to think of the performances as blocks of four in a three hour period. This year, the first four included True Revival, Melanie Waldman, Natural Grace, and Angel Machine. True Revival started off the Saturday line up the last three years, and I look forward to that tradition. Melanie Waldman performed solo, and was one of the few quiet times (not counting the Acoustic Stage). I enjoy a lot of Natural Grace's songs, such as "Paper Tigers." On that song, she tossed out tiger striped beach balls. She was joined on stage with Kevin Young from Disciple. First time I was able to say. As for Angel Machine, they became my #1 bucket list band after hearing Daniel Band the previous night. 2 bucket list bands fulfilled in two days. 

True Revival on KCF Main Stage

Melanie Waldman

Natural State with Kevin Young of Disciple

Wayde and Apryll of Angel Machine, with D.Z. of Fervor My Dear in the shade on the right.

From 1:00 to 2:30, I went to the Acoustic Stage where I had the honor of hearing another band I had yet to hear in person: Chaotic Resemblance. Considering I wrote a term paper on the Nazirite vow, how can I not be a fan of a group that has an album called "The Nazirite?" I thoroughly enjoyed that acoustic set. Then, I went back to the main stage area where I heard a couple of songs by the rapper Saint Rockstar, had lunch, and enjoyed Tricord, whose set included an appearance by B Wayde, joining them on the song "Liar," a tune that spent multiple weeks at number one on Rock 4 Him's countdown. From there, I went to the Subculture stage for an event I had been looking forward to since they announced the line-up. 

There were two sets I couldn't miss at this year's KCF. The previous blog mentined The Daniel Band being on the stage Friday, which was a time of joy. The other was the David Pataconi Tribute at 2:30, a time  to mourn. David Pataconi and a couple of other people involved with KCF and Always 1 Ministries went home to be with the Lord. I had the honor of hearing David Pataconi twice last year.

Believe it or not, I don't often run across conflicts between two artists I want to hear, so it can be traumatic when it does happen. One band I wanted to hear was Drive Thru Society, who was scheduled for 2:30 at the Main Stage. Some might say, "But wait! Isn't that when the David Pataconi Tribute was scheduled for 2:30 on the Subculture stage? Yep. And the decision was a no-brainer. But then, they announced the schedule for the acoustic stage, and Drive Thru Society had a 6:00pm set. 

However, there are inevitablity changes, and some artists last minute aren't able to make it. One of those artists were the one schedule for 8pm. How did they fill the slot? Well, they moved the 7pm artist to fill that spot. And the 6:15 artist to fill 7pm. And so on, up to... you guessed it. Until the 3:15 slot, so there was no bands performing on other stages when the Memorial Tribute took place.

I needed that time of mourning.The band members and the guest singers (including Asche Relesser, Fyrebrand, Jermaine Nixon of Tricord, Jerrod Cunningham of I Am The Pendragon and XIII Minutes, and Jeremy Brown of the Rock 4 Him Podcast) wore shirts similar to the one David Pataconi has on in the above photo ("I'm Dave Doing Dave Things"), with the first "Dave" replaced by the singer's first name. I had tears when I heard Jeremy sing my favorite David Pataconi song, "My Path To Walk," a song that moved me since I first heard it in '24. I needed to be there.

Chaotic  Resemblance, Acoustic stage.
 

Tricord, including Jermaine Nixon second from left and Charles Martin on right. I was able to hear both their full power set and their acoustic set. Jermaine and Meg Hudson of Drive Thru Society had joined Reclaim the Day. In like manner, rapper B Wayde joined Tricord on "Liar."

Asche Relesser and the members of Autumn's Descent at the David Pataconi tribute.

Drive Thru Society

Matt Moore at acoustic stage.

I mentioned the one conflict that was resolved, but a lesser conflict took it's place. I mentioned I wanted to hear was Drive Thru Society, who had been moved to the 3:15 slot on the Main Stage so they didn't conflict with the tribute. Another artist I wanted to hear was Autumn's Descent, who were scheduled for the Subculture Stage at 3:30, overlapping with Drive Thru Society. So I did what anybody else in their right mind would do: Go to hear Drive Thru Society at 3:15, then after two songs run over to hear Autumn's Descent and then ... you get the picture.

My original plan for Saturday after the Memorial was the above mentioned Autumn's Descent at 3:30, Tricord acoustic set at 4, either a few minutes of XIII Minutes (maybe watching XIII Minutes for 13 minutes?) or wandering around the merchandise tent and talk to artists. At 5, I would have the honor of watching my first Matt Moore set at the acoustic tent, killing more time till 6 to hear Drive Thru Society's acoustic set, and closing out my time with Graverobber. That is a band that I'm curious if it's just a rock band in a horror getup, or if they put on a unique, memorable show. 

Well, I did watch Autumn's Descent, and I did hear Tricord  at the acoustic stage (a real blessing), but that was where plans were changed. After a round trip and a half from home and a lot of standing at concerts and moving from location to location, I realized I was running out of gas. So I did spend some time at the tent and listened to a couple of Matt Moore songs, and then headed to the car to get home while I had my second wind. (Yes, I obviously made it home okay.)  So I'll be hoping to get to hear Drive Thru Society's full set and maybe Graverobber next year. 

So now I'm counting the days until they reveal the KCF 27 lineup.

David Pataconi Memorial with (from left) Asche Relesser of Relesser/Autumn's Descent, 
Jeremy Brown of Rock 4 Him Podcast, Jermaine Nixon of Tricord, Jason Brand (aka Fyrebrand)
Jerrod Cunningham of I Am The Pendragon,  and DZ of Fervor, My Dear.
Jacob Mars is represented by the elbow poking out on the right.

KINGDOM COME FESTIVAL 26 REPORT, PART 1 (FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2026)

 

What was my dream? Seeing The Daniel Band at KCF What was the dream of Concert Foto's photographer Chad Fenner (red hair, lower center)? Photographing The Daniel Band at KCF. 

Last weekend (June 19-20, '26) was my fourth consecutive Kingdom Come Festival (referred to subsequently as KCF, not to be confused with KFC, though both include drumsticks). In '23, Becky suggested I go on Saturday but not use time off. The following three years, she said, "Go to both days. Enjoy yourself." (Note - technically, it gets started on Thursday, but I don't like driving at night, so I only go during the day on Friday and Saturday.

If you've been reading this blog awhile, you'll notice I usually have a follow-up where I cover both days. This year, I'm going to have a separate blog for each days. Several reasons. 

1. It makes each blog shorter for the readers.
2. The more I go, the fuller the days are, so I have more to include.
3. Both days this year have a special activity, and as a result both days and thus I'm separating them.

I started off Friday volunteering at the welcome booth from opening at 10:00am to 2:30. There's an internal conflict - at 10am, there's a prayer and worship time, allotted two hours, While I want to do both, on Fridays I hear a couple of the worship songs led by the , share any requests with The Subculture Pastor Dale Vaughn, and run off to the welcome booth. During that time, I snuck into the Subculture Stage to hear a little of Brightstar, then grabbed lunch from the concession stand, which I ate while listening to rapper B-Wayde, and manage to get back to my post early (that shocked me!),

A year old picture from last year of me at the Welcome station. 

Jay, worship leader of The Subculture in Illinois.

Rapper B Wayde on the main stage.

Brightstar on the Subculture Stage at Kingdom Come Festival with photographer Chad Fenner

When I finished my shift, I did something not typical. From 2:30 to 4:00 I bounced back and forth between the main stage to The Subculture Stage to the Acoustic Stage and Coffee House (also sponsored by The Subculture), catching one song at one, two at the other, and having a visit or two to the Merch tent. It wasn't as frantic for the following couple of hours. During that time, I found a couple of new favorite band (Oak & Linden, and Jason Wayne from Drown The Planet). Of course, there were other already favorite bands I heard such as Reclaim the Day, Becca Sugg (singer of Reclaim the Day, who also did an acoustic set), I Am The Pendragon, and Chris Bousum. 

Oh, I'm talking about the music. But is the Gospel preached? Yes. Trevor Heyd of xstaytruex Ministries had a set where he shared the gospel. Others did so as well. I mentied Dale Vaughn above? He's pastor of The Subculture in Illinois, which has several ministries in the area as well as church. He brought along a group that he hear called the Castros, and asked them to share. In the above photo, you'll notice photographer (Flash Mob) has red hair. There's a reason, ministry related, which I'll share in Part 2.

Dale Vaughn, of the band As We Are and pastor of The Subculture, at The Subculture Stage at KCF 

Reclaim The Day on the Main Stage.

Me with Jason Wayne from Drown The Planet, in the Merchandise Tent. 
 

Oak & Linden at the Subculture Coffee House & Acoustic Stage

Trevor Heyd of xstaytruex Ministries. He did an excellent job sharing the Gospel (as did other artists).

The Castros at the Subculture Stage.

  

 

Me with Matt Moore. Besides being a great artist, Moore is the emcee for the Main Stage every year.

Becca Sugg, lead singer of Reclaim The Day (l) and her sister Miranda Brown at  the Acoustic Stage.

Kevin (Moose) Bush (white hat, pink jacket) and Jerrod Cunningham (mask) of
I Am The Pendragon on the Subculture Stage at Kingdom Come Festival..

Chris Bousum at the Coffee House and Acoustic Stage.

And then came the highlight of the day.

On the top of my bucket list was to hear The Daniel Band in person. I discovered them when they were in concert twice at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in the early '80's, but never had a chance to see catch a concert. That bucket list item was fulfilled Friday at 6pm, when Daniel Band took the main stage. It was the blessing I expected it to be. That set had several favorites such as "He's The Creator," "Run From The Darkness," "I'm Sorry," "Never Again," "Two Roads," and "Somebody Loves You." I had the honor of hearing the riffs and solos and melodies and the lyrics I've heard on pre-recorded material for over four decades.

The highlight: I was able to take a few seconds to thank Bassist/Vocalist Dan McCabe for blessing me for years with the songs "Spiritual Game" and "Here I Am." 

Tony Rossi of The Daniel Band, on the Main Stage.

There was a voice in my head talking about feeling entitled. But another voice told me that the real reason I'm a Daniel Band fan is not because of Tony Rossi's great guitar (though it is great) or Dan McCabe's vocals (though they also were great), but because the band had a heart for evangelism and also edified fellow believers as well.

Daniel McCabe of the Daniel Band.

ALBUM REVIEW - "RUNNING OUT OF TIME" BY THE DANIEL BAND

 

"Running Out of Time" is the last of the Daniel Band's five studio albums, and it's as strong as the others. The opening song, "Black and White," is one of the hardest songs in their roster: I first heard it as part of the compiliation "Heavy Righteous Metal." 

Once again, there are several strong songs on the album, such as "Hold On," "Long Time," "Party In Heaven," before getting to a double whammy to end things up, with the title track and the bonus track "One."

It's a Daniel Band album, so of course I'm recommending it. 

By the way, this is scheduled to post at 7:00 pm on June 20th, 2026. 24.5 hours ago, the Daniel Band finished up their set for their first appearance at the Kingdom Come Festilval, with me finally getting to hear my all time favorite band live, almost 45 years since I heard them on the radio.