The Prodigal Band Trilogy – Page 2

Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy Controversial Topics Series: Episode Five-Evolution vs. Creation-Intelligent Design (Part 1)

The previous episode on “It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know” ended thusly:

The next controversial topic will be played in two parts, dealing with the feud between Creation, or its more scientific calling card, ‘Intelligent Design,’ and Evolution. Featured will be a ‘would-you-believe’ fact about evolution founder Charles Darwin that shocked the heck out of me, in Darwin’s own words straight out of ‘Origin of the Species.’ Spoiler alert—Darwin isn’t who you might think he is! And that was the shock! The topic will heavily feature band keyboard-synthist Bry, whose parents were staunch atheists, humanists and evolutionists.

The actual snippets will be posted in Part 2; this episode will feature facts about Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that are not taught in any public school or Christian School because that would go against the narrative that Charles Darwin was an atheist and humanist and rationalist that supposedly came up with this theory to try to prove that Creator God did not and does not exist by stating that various forms of life began from two living particles which somehow turned into the so-called “Big Bang Theory.” Two particles collided creating more particles and more particles, and the rest of the story. Then various life forms evolved from there.

But what the narrative does not say is who or what created those two particles. After all, just as one cannot divide by zero or nothing, something cannot come from nothing. So something had to create those first particles.

And, to my shock—since I’ve never read “Origin of the Species” by Darwin—I had no idea that Darwin actually knew that whatever came to be and then evolved had to come out of something.

According to this post here called “Demonizing Darwin,” the final paragraph in “Origin of the Species”—the original versions that is—states the following:

“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed BY THE CREATOR into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”

In other words, Darwin was NOT an atheist and had to have believed in THE CREATOR (that is, God) in order to state such an ending statement. It is almost as if he’s quoting the Book of Genesis Chapter One, when God breathed life into Adam (and of course into all creation)!

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy Controversial Topics Series: Episode Four-“It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know.”

Several snippet posts seemingly back the idea that in order to succeed in the popular music industry and the entertainment business in general, one must “sell” his or her soul “to the devil.” That mind-set has been around many, many years but became a dominant theme during the period when rock music reigned supreme and continues even harder in these days of rap/hip-hop supremacy as rock seems to have faded into a background within the mainstream. For instance, it is getting harder and harder to find classic rock radio stations in places like El Paso, yet rap and hip-hop stations there are much easier to find. I have my suspicions as to why, but I won’t go into that here. Simply, it is the way industry moguls want it to be.

Interestingly enough, some of the more popular rock bands these days hail from Asia, especially Japan and Korea with J-Pop/Rock and K-Pop/Rock (the GazettE, a Japanese rock band, for example, is my daughter’s fave rock band, and they have toured the US twice on world tours…their record label is SONY as far as I know). Europe still has some of the more popular grunge and death metal bands, as well. So while rock is not “dead,” it isn’t what it used to be in the US.

These snippet posts don’t cover this notion, but do deal with how rock or any recording artists come to be targeted for fame and fortune in the first place. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” was a saying I remember as a kid in the 50s and applied to many career threads or business success. In the 60s and 70s rock and roll era, it was obvious, as several friends (and including a band I was in for a short time) could verify that they wouldn’t become “rock stars” because they didn’t “know” the “right people.” They might know local bar or night club owners, but not any of the “big boys.” I did have a college friend that played in a band that performed in a large NYC pub venue, but that was as far as they got in the early 80s.

While the first novel in The Prodigal Band Trilogy, Battle of the Band, starts off with a “prayer” for success as the band Sound Unltd began its contest-winning national pub and small venue tour, it doesn’t really cover the “who” they “knew” aspect of the beginnings of their success. The third novel, The Prodigal Band, however, does begin with introducing the “who” they “know” people that helped create the group, including influencer parents and adoptive parents as well as ancestors. And these ‘parents,’ having been in the business themselves twenty years earlier, “knew” others, higher-ups so-to-speak, with more clout who would assure early success, and who “knew” others even higher up who would make sure they’d make it big.

All of the following snippets come from The Prodigal Band.

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy Controversial Topics Series: Episode Three-Sexual Orientation

There are a couple of reasons ‘sexual orientation’ is controversial, especially these days when some folks are changing their genders for whatever reason or changing their children’s genders for whatever reason. I could have just posted about sexuality or desire for sex, or not (believe it or not but some folks have no sexual desire at all!), but that isn’t really controversial anymore. Sexual orientation implies either heterosexual or what is now called LGBTQ—lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual…and does ‘Q’ stand for ‘queer’?

If the reader has read the various ‘Snippets of the Prodigal Band Trilogy’ posts here then the reader knows that guitarist-producer Mick is bisexual. He revealed why in Chapter Eleven of The Prodigal Band: his own mother sexually abused him while a teen because his own father was gay and thus would not have sex with his wife! But Mick had already given up the bisexual lifestyle by the time he revealed this.

So then, why is this topic controversial in the trilogy books? Because if one looks closely at what is secretly admitted within the three novels by the other band characters, one might come up with the notion that Mick wasn’t the only band member to have ‘relationships’ with those of the same sex. In the snippets posted in this post, clues abound without getting heavily into this possibility.

Here is why this possibility that other band members might have bisexual leanings makes sense: it is a well-known fact that many rock stars were openly gay or bisexual, or secretly so. I am not going to mention any names here—do the research yourself. But many of these rockers did admit they had sexual relationships with same sex rockers and others, including fellow band members. For one thing, check out Rolling Stone Magazine for this. The same applies to rappers, hip-hoppers, etc. I’ve known about this for many years, thanks to Rolling Stone and other publications. There are many reasons for this, but one that stood out (including admissions in YouTube videos) was the fact that rocker handlers—managers, agents, producers, A&R men for various record labels and others—veered the rockers into accepting this lifestyle for the sake of fame and fortune. Again, do the research yourself. This is why, in an early chapter of Battle of the Band, Mick admits to having sex with record company officials, and would later have a relationship with another rocker named Adam Bloodlove.

The following snippets are short but to the point. All are from Battle of the Band.

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Parable from Luke 15: Prodigal Son Meets The Prodigal Band (Part Four)

We have come to the end of this sub-set of episodes of Biblical References snippets within The Prodigal Band Trilogy where The Prodigal Band meets the Prodigal Son (from Luke Chapter 15). Part One is here; Part Two is here, and Part Three is here. This Part Four finishes this set and is based on the verses from Luke 15: 20 until the end of the parable. Having spent his inheritance on reprobate living, then having spent it all until there was nothing left, the prodigal son is forced to eek out an existence feeding pigs, wishing he was back home and not literally starving while his father’s servants have plenty to eat. So he decides to return to his father as a ‘hired’ servant. From Luke 15, the Parable of the Prodigal Son:

{15:20} And he arose, and

came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his

father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his

neck, and kissed him. {15:21} And the son said unto him,

Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and

am no more worthy to be called thy son. {15:22} But the

father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put

[it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on [his]

feet: {15:23} And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it;]

and let us eat, and be merry: {15:24} For this my son was

dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they

began to be merry.

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Parable from Luke 15: Prodigal Son Meets Prodigal Band (Part 3)

In Part One of this Prodigal Son meets Prodigal Band sub-series using Biblical References is recounted the ‘riotous living’ of the band using the talent ‘inheritance’ given to the six band members using their fame and fortunes. In Part Two is recounted their spiritual wastelands and empty lives of alcoholism, drug abuse and personal emptiness. In this Part Three, the prodigal band is coming to grips with the fact that they must turn their lives around and at the same time, spiritual forces of Good are aiding their efforts by giving them ‘missions of God’ beginning in Chapter Nine of The Prophesied Band. The spirit being known as the ‘witch of the Hovels,’ aka Morwenna in The Prodigal Band, tells them that The Tooters, God’s angels, will ‘reveal’ their missions ‘of God’ to them as they perform at the local trade and music festival in the middle of July, 2000. In Chapter Ten, their missions are given to them by The Tooters simultaneously as singer Erik holds the final note of a song for over one minute to end the festival.

Here are the verses that are being considered in this post from Luke 15: 18-20:

15:18: “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before thee”

15:19: “And am no more worthy to be called they son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

Verse 20 begins by saying ‘And he arose, and came to his father.’

But while they are willing to carry out their ‘missions,’ they would prefer not to ‘do missions on themselves’ so to speak. While their missions involve spreading the Good News about accepting Christ as Savior, they are not necessarily willing to accept Christ themselves. They believe they’ve been ‘too sinful’ and doubt they could even consider accepting Christ. But that nagging feeling haunts them, knowing that not doing so while being “missionaries” makes them hypocrites. It is the commitment to ‘being hired’ by Christ that is standing in the way. Such that it will take a special nudge by spiritual Good to get them to choose to be ‘hired.’ This happens in the spiritual void they find themselves in Chapter Eleven of The Prodigal Band.

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Parable from Luke 15: The Prodigal Son Meets The Prodigal Band (Part Two)

In Part One of this episode, here, the Prodigal Band mirrors the beginnings of the Prodigal Son within the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15, where the prodigal son is given his inheritance and then proceeds to waste the fortune given to him on ‘riotous living,’ which, if one ever read from the celebrity tabloids and popular culture magazines of the 60s through the 90s, mirrored the lifestyles of the most famous and notorious rock stars. Some of these rockers, however, would regret their wasted—and I mean wasted!—drug addictions and such, including the so-called ’27 Club’ of rockers who died or suicided (or, some say, were murdered) legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janice Joplin, Brian Jones, and others of whatever age, such as Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington and more. And let’s not forget the recently passed Eddie Van Halen, who had serious health issues likely brought about by his ‘rock star lifestyle’.

Luke 15: 14: “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land; and he began to be in want.”

The next two verses say that the prodigal son “joined” himself to a citizen of that country he was in, and was to feed swine in the fields; in the meantime, he craved being about to eat those corn husks he fed as he was given virtually nothing in return.

15:17: “And when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish in hunger!”

The ‘famine’ referenced in verse 14 is spiritual as well as physical but certainly not financial, as the members of the prodigal band are all filthy rich. They have ‘spent’ all of their true actual beings, especially spiritual, on the ‘riotous living’ in verse 13 as stated in part one. They were wasted in every way they could think. Chapter Seven of Battle of the Band features several instances of their ‘wasted’ selves: singer Erik, not being able to get near his baby son, turns to alcoholism; guitarist Jack, in anger over hurting his woman who was pregnant but didn’t let him know that until the 1993 tour was over, turned to drug addiction, as did bassist Keith, who lost his wife over infidelity; drummer Tom lost his lover to another hated man; guitarist Mick was poisoned by a drug laced with poison, blamed on his partner but committed by his ‘friend’ Swami Negran as punishment for not fulfilling their ‘soul-selling oath’ to the satanic figure Corion; synthist Bry suddenly hurt his back on a short vacation that would bring about unintended consequences later. So yes, they were certainly in want!

The next two verses about going to another country and working for someone there feeding pigs and going hungry over it doesn’t really play out in the novel, unless one considers the ‘citizen’ they are ‘working’ for is an evil satanic agenda of debauching the youth as they had been ‘assigned’ to carry out. And they do their best to carry this evil agenda to fruition to the point where they are anything but economically ‘hungry,’ so that this ‘hunger’ is a spiritual one that is having its negative consequences in more ways than one. And no band members feels this hunger more than its front man, singer Erik. In Chapter Nine of Battle of the Band, his wife Ger ‘betrays’ him by being with her personal assistant for sex as well as ‘exercise,’ for she has convinced herself that she is ‘fat’ because the tabloids say she is, which also leads to her serious bout with bulimia (referenced here) that she hid from her man. Angry over it, Erik leaves her and continues his self-pity over it even when she tries to apologize, which he will not accept—and then gets plastered with booze that evening, leading to him (as well as his ‘bro’ bassist Keith) winding up with mild heart attacks in a hospital, having added Bry’s back medication to their drunkenness. And their wanting to end their spiritual ‘hunger’ in the process.

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Parable from Luke 15: The Prodigal Son Meets The Prodigal Band (Part One)

Folks, this trilogy is called The Prodigal Band Trilogy for a reason! And the reason is this: the parable within the Gospels spoken to the Apostles by Christ Himself that gave the most inspiration to this trilogy was the Parable of the Prodigal (Lost) Son within the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15. The parable is below, and has been during my entire life one of my favorite parables. My other two favorite parables have also been referenced in my Biblical References Snippet posts—the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard and the Parable of the Talents. All three work together to impart my mission message, but it made more sense to me, what with my trilogy about a rock band that gains fame and fortune but loses their ‘souls’ so to speak, to call this the Prodigal Band Trilogy, where the ‘prodigal band’ meets (spiritually) the ‘prodigal son.’

Before I go on, let me explain the meanings of prodigal and prodigy. The ‘prodigal son’ is ‘lost’ because of wasteful extravagance. He is wasting his ‘inheritance’ (or, in the case of my prodigal band members) or ‘talents.’ Three of the band members, singer Erik, bassist Keith, and keyboard synthist Bry, are also child prodigies, possessing ‘extraordinary talent’ at singing and music playing as children through inheritance from ancestors. Instead of throwing their given talents into classical music or opera singing where they could make good incomes, they instead choose rock stardom, as they could then acquire extravagant fame and especially fortune. And we all know the lifestyles of rock stars, right? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll…

Below is the parable from Luke 15 (copyright-free King James Version):

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy: Biblical References Series, Episode Four: “Born Again”

The Gospel of John Chapter Three makes clear what Christ meant by “being born again”—that is, not physically, but spiritually. I need to make this clear because many folks take this whole “born again” theme as similar to Hinduist “reincarnation” or that Christianity practices a “murder” of sorts in order to be “born again.” After all, those who hate Christianity are going to make whatever excuses they can to claim it supports the notion of “murder” in order to be “born again,” using the fact that Christ Himself was crucified so that He could shed His own blood for the sake of taking on the sins of the world…He died so all believers could be born again, which some claim means Christians support murder! Seriously. I watched a video that actually made that claim, and it was not an atheist who made the video! (I have no idea what this person’s religion is….as for me, I do Christ, not religion, the hand, not the glove, and I let him know that in the comment section!)

But one does know Christ arose from the dead, soooooo…. Was He too “born again”?

Anyway…. John Chapter Three, when Christ is speaking to the Pharisee Nicodemus, tells him that ‘ye must be born again,’ to which Nicodemus answers how he’s supposed to do that since he is already old. Christ tells him it is a spiritual rebirth. It is not a matter of physical rebirth, or Hinduistic reincarnation.

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy: Biblical References Series, Episode Three—“The Parable of the Laborers of the Vineyard”

Several New Testament Parables given by Christ to His Apostles influenced how and why I wrote the three novels in The Prodigal Band Trilogy. One of these is from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Twenty, verses 1 through 16. It is called “the Parable of the Laborers of the Vineyard.” It is cited below, from the copyright-free public domain King James Version of the Holy Bible, the PDF version.

To sum up the message: The “householder” (God) “hires” “laborers” (missionaries) to reap new fruit (believers on Christ) within the vineyard (the world), beginning with those hired early in the morning (that is, early in the life of the “laborer”; children, teens or those in their twenties), then hired mid-day (“laborers” in their thirties), then later (“laborers” in their forties or fifties), then later (sixties and seventies) then the “eleventh hour” (those on their death beds or close to it…I actually know a couple of folks who accepted Christ as their Savior days or even hours before they died or ‘passed on’!). I myself, while I (with one exceptional time period I described in an earlier snippet) believed in God and Christ, never fully committed to God and Christ until I witnessed a miraculous event while in my mid-forties. The “laborers” in question are those who not only accept Christ but tell the world about why they should consider accepting Christ as well (and EVERY Christian author, fiction or non-fiction, needs to partake in this however God guides them!). That is, these “laborers” are on their “mission of God,” an expression I use often in the trilogy. The final verse, 16, says the last (to accept Christ) will be first (as they will die shortly) and the first shall be last (as they have a full life ahead of them, God willing), and that “many are called but few are chosen.” And among these “few” there just might be those that prior to accepting Christ led extremely evil lives! And the “few” that are “chosen” are “chosen” for a reason; for one thing, among these “few” that are chosen are those that “choose” to be “chosen.” God is calling the entire world, basically, but only few will choose this “calling.” The “payment” of course, is eternity with God in Heaven. And it doesn’t matter to God at what point in the lives of the “laborers” they do become workers for God, and it shouldn’t matter to one who works his or her entire life for God gets the same reward as one who works for God at the end of his or her life—so it shouldn’t matter to anyone working for God, either. Below is the parable.

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy: Biblical References Series, Episode Two—Gnawing of “Bones Forever.”

I had originally called this post “Episode One.” Sorry about that, it is Episode Two.

The previous Biblical Reference post here about “weeping and gnashing of teeth” was used to point out that the evil satanic character Corion would mete out retribution onto those he commanded if they did not carry out his will. But Corion never says anything about ‘gnashing’ of teeth on the bones of those wayward minions—he uses the term “gnaw” and “gnawing.” While both ‘gnashing’ and ‘gnawing’ mean pretty much the same thing—teeth scraping on bones or whatever—I used the term ‘gnaw’ because it is more commonly used. Everyone knows about the gnawing of rodents on wood, on nuts, on gardens, on leftover food such as dog or cat food; gnawing is why rodents have those sharp fanged front teeth that they have.

There are only two references to ‘gnaw’ or ‘gnawing’ used in the Bible; I learned this by using Strong’s Concordance, which defines both in a similar way as it defines ‘gnashing,’ which is only found in the New Testament referring to Christ’s “weeping and gnashing of teeth” quotes in Matthew and Luke Gospel verses. But both ‘gnaw’ in Zephaniah 3:3 and ‘gnawing’ in Revelation 16:10 make the same connotations, except that while in Zephaniah the ‘gnaw’ is on bone, in Revelation the ‘gnawing’ is on the tongue ‘for pain.’ Zephaniah’s ‘gnaw’ on bone refers to evil leaders within Jerusalem that “are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.” (KJV) One could compare the evil Corion to these evil leaders in Jerusalem. So one could say that Corion’s ‘gnaw on bones forever’ has the same connotation as Zephaniah’s use of the word. However, in Revelation 16:10, the gnawing is on the “tongues for pain” and the ones doing the ‘gnawing on their tongues for pain’ are likely those who refused to repent of their deeds in the Revelation time-frame, which could mean either Corion’s minions had their tongues gnawed on by Corion or the evil minions gnawed on their own tongues. In The Prodigal Band Trilogy, the connotation is that Corion or his Demons did the ‘gnawing,’ but not one tongues, but bones. Forever.

The term ‘gnaw on bones forever’ is used several times in all three novels that make up the trilogy, and all refer to Corion’s gnawing on bones of either wayward minions or on the forces of Good, such as the angels called The Tooters who work for The Creator, God.

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