Do It Yourself CD Cover and Insert

So you got your Jesus House CD at the reunion or through the mail and you are thinking, boy I sure wish this came with an album cover.

Well Sparky, this is your lucky day. Here at Blogalot Industries, our head designer Linny O'Hara came up with an album cover using Rick Mapes photo of the Jesus House. Since the CD was a do-it-yourself sort of project, why should the CD cover not be any different?

Step One. Get a couple of blank CD's in jewel cases.

Step Two. Download this picture by clicking on it. It should be 4.75" x 5.5". If it isn't you will have to adjust it to those specs when printing. Be sure to make a copy for each CD case. Cut out your pictures and insert in the jewel cases.

Step Three. Download this picture by clicking on it. Ditto on the 4.75" x 5.5" specs. This can be used for the inside of the jewel case or the back.



Step Four. Enjoy.

Step Five. When you download your CD, why not download the pictures?

For an alternative use get some of those iron-on thingies, enlarge the pictures and make your very own JH Reunion T-Shirt.

And as an added bonus...In the spirit of Where's Waldo?, the collage has a similar game called Where's Fisher's Hightop Sneakers? See if you can find them.

Weird Happenings In My Christian Walk

I thought I would share some incidents in my Christian walk that were strange but true. Things that didn’t shake my faith, but made me shake my head and think, “Did that just happen?”

When I was around 18 years old I started to spend some time singing songs and talking to my peers at different coffeehouses and churches throughout Northern Kentucky, Southern Ohio and Indiana. I did it for the Love of God and to share with others the change that accepting Jesus into my life brought about in me. I never thought of doing this as a living or getting paid. It was my gift and I shared it.

I spent a good deal of time at the Jesus House in Cincinnati singing, talking and encouraging. I always got a good response. It was such a blessing. Towards the end of each night I would ask the people to stand in a circle and sing We Are One In The Spirit. Afterwards we would pray and then have silent prayer, then praise and then end the night. I felt blessed and figured all were of the same mind. Years later a girl confided in me.

“You remember Marc how we used to get in a circle and hold hands or put our arms around each other and sing? Well one night we were in the midst of this and I was feeling blessed until I felt a hand creep up my back and unhook my brassiere.”

She went on to say that she stood there shocked for a minute and then excused herself to go upstairs and adjust her clothing.

I had no idea. I was shocked hearing about it. I was very naive and believed that all were there to hear about The Lord. One of the rules of life is that creeps live among us. We can't get around that.

Billy Graham came to Cincinnati in the late 1970’s and he spent 4 days holding a revival at the Cincinnati Coliseum, which is now called by another name. Linny and I went to this event for 2 or 3 nights. We even took my Mom with us on this night.

This arena is the same venue where The Who tragedy took place. To get there you first have to find a parking place and then walk quite a distance. Once you are in the gate, you must walk in circles until you find your isle. I think the Graham Crusade was open seating, so you would probably go to the nearest opening to the arena and then you have to climb up or down stairs. The event was packed. It took a lot of exertion for someone young to find a seat, much less an octogenarian.

I had started working at my father’s grocery store after spending almost 4 years at The Jewish Hospital working first as an orderly and then as a surgical technician. I say this since those skills came in handy this night.

We had been seated about 15 minutes when an elderly couple came walking up the stairs, along with the much more elderly mother. These people were in their mid 70’s and the mother must have been in her late ‘80’s. From their clothing I could tell they were country people. The husband and wife sat in the two remaining seats in the isle across from me. The mother took the last seat in the isle above them. Someone on the floor was singing a Gospel song and the crowd eyes were glued to this man.


My eyes were on these old folks since I am a compulsive people watcher. Halfway through the song I noticed the older woman’s head slump on her chest. I had seen that slump before while working at the nursing home section of Jewish Hospital.

She died. Right there at the Billy Graham Crusade.

I immediately got up and tried to arouse her, which did not do much good. Another fellow came over to see what was happening and I said, “We need to get this lady to the first aid department.” I got behind her and grabbed her like I had been taught as an orderly to lift and the other fellow got her legs and we carried her up the steps. By the Grace of God, the First Aid Station was immediately behind us so we carried her in to the stretcher. The nurse thanked us and we went back to our seats. The ladies family followed us up the stairs and into the station.

After the Crusade I went back and talked with the nurse, who confirmed that the lady had expired probably from heart failure.

As a certified Jesus freak, I felt confident to take on anything because God would provide. I still feel that way; however I have come to the realization I am not equipped to handle all situations.

A couple of events occurred when I was spending time with some friends that lived in a Christian Community we called the Christian Information Committee or CIC. Thinking back on the moniker it sounded kinda’ commie, didn’t it? But I digress.

My friend Kirk had lots of problems with his vision. He had developed cataracts at an early age. He was legally blind in one eye. One night I came over to see what was going on, since we usually had a prayer meeting or Bible study. Kirk was lying on the floor writhing in pain and holding his eye. We all laid hands on him and prayed that God would heal him. Nothing miraculous was happening.


Eventually one of the girls, Myra, who was a registered nurse, came home since her 11: 30 shift had ended. She said we need to take him to the hospital right now. So we got into her car and mine and drove to Deaconess Hospital were she was employed.


Kirk had no insurance, no job and no money. He spent his entire day running CIC, working on the newspaper they published as an evangelistic tool and organizing events.

The diagnosis was that a vessel had ruptured in his eye and there was a large blood clot. An opthalogic surgeon was called in for his opinion. Kirk was blind in this eye, if the clot moved the situation would become much worse, so the eye needed to be removed. For the sake of cosmetics, the doctor would remove the contents of the eye and then implant a sphere to maintain symmetry. Kirk would be fitted with a removable cap that looked like an eye.

The miracle was not just that all of this was accomplished, but that Kirk was so well known and had so many friends in Cincinnati the operation and hospitalization was all paid for.

Another episode involved a schizophrenic guy that came to hear about Jesus and then slipped into what we believed was a Trans. I think it was probably some sort of a seizure. But what did we know? He eventually came out of it and became very violent. The police were called and took him away.

We had another such incident at a home that we would go to for Bible studies. This ex-pastors house was crowded every Wednesday night for a teaching that he had prepared and some fellowship afterward. I was not at the house on this occasion, but heard about it the next day.

One of the regulars, unbeknownst to anyone suffered from schizophrenia. He was a normal guy, pursuing an engineering degree and learning more about God’s love. He figured he didn’t need his medication. Big mistake. That night the hallucination began in his mind. He stripped off all his clothing and ran out in the yard dancing and screaming and then ran up the street.

Once again someone called the police.

This fellow came back the next week, apologized and left. We never saw him again.

I was asked to play music at a coffee house. It was not the Jesus house and I am not going to divulge the name. As I recall some folks from CIC went with me. I played for about an hour and took a break.

The director asked that we pray for one of the guys that attended the place on a regular basis. I was familiar with a lot of the folks there. They seemed like a great group and I was used to being asked to pray with someone. So we all went in the backroom and asked this guy what we needed to pray about.

This guy went on to say that he was worried. He had committed sexual sin and wanted God to heal him and give him strength. So we said to him of course brother, we will pray for you and the Lord will answer you. So we all laid hands on him and prayed.

He eventually joined in by saying, “Dear God please forgive me for sleeping with Angie and Reggie and Cynthia and Jackie and Lisa and Mona and Nancy and Jane and Evelyn and Sandy and Janice and Ann and Samantha and Mary and Mandy and Fran and Connie and Betty and Darlene and Edna…

He rattled off the names of about 20 girls and I knew every one of them (BTW I have made these names up to preserve the privacy of those ladies.). I was thinking, "Son you might have a problem, but what the heck’s wrong with these women around here, they have the morals of a jack rabbit!?"

I was also thinking, “Damn it friend. You’ve slept with the entire girl scout troop and me still a virgin!” I don’t know whatever became of that guy. I suspect he eventually got an STD.

By 1977 I was married and living in Fort Thomas in a small house behind the Highland Country Club. I was asked to play in Florence at a coffee house that was run by a new church group called the Vineyard. I was more than happy to go there.

I drove down US 27 to the new exit that took me onto the new exit to I-275 and out to Florence. Halfway through the night someone made the announcement that The Beverly Hills Supper Club was on fire. Beverly Hills was only a couple of miles from my home. We all prayed for the situation that night and decided to go on home.

The exit was blocked and I had to take a roundabout way home. My family was not there when I arrived. Linny had just had our daughter Rachael and was sitting on the front porch when people dressed in even clothes started making their way through our backyard. They had walked down the road from Beverly Hills and through the golf course to escape the fire and some how wound up in our backyard.

Linny and the kids walked up to my parent’s house which was less than a block up the street. I think they later went on to her parent’s house in Newport. We were reunited the next day. I couldn’t get out onto the main street after I got home and Linda and the kids couldn’t get home.

225 people died as a result of that fire. The cause was said to be faulty wiring. From the club’s history, it was probably arson. Our town has never been the same since.

Shortly after that my daughters and their mother were driving down US 27. Linny glanced in the rearview mirror and the kids were not in their car seats. Linny panicked and pulled over. Elizabeth had pulled her sister Rachael to the floor and was lying on top of her.

Linny said, “What are you doing Boo?”

Elizabeth said, “I’m protecting my sissy from Beverly Hills.”

Larry Norman's Grave

Larry's brother Charles Norman has a link to Larry's Grave as well as some interesting information. Before Larry died he told Charley that he wanted to be buried on a hillside beneath a tree marked by a simple cross.

If you read the story you'll find how this came about. Larry Norman's grave

The family did not know what to put on his grave stone. In going through Larry's papers, Charley came upon some drawings Larry had made of a cross with the epitaph Larry Norman - Evangelist without portfolio - and is small letters - Bloodstained Israelite.

Larry had also written in - 1947 - 2009.


This was all done prior to his death. Larry missed the date by one year.

"...no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows."

Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday

God Bless Pete Seeger on his 90Th birthday.

He has lived a long and interesting life. His parents were both entrenched in the business of music. His father was a pioneer in ethnomusicology and a composer. His mother was a classical violinist and teacher. The apple did not fall far from the tree.


In his travels with his father, Pete picked up the 5 string banjo as his instrument of choice. He acquired a repertoire of race songs and hillbilly songs during this time.

As he grew older he fell in with Alan Lomax, who went throughout the country recording blues music, folk music and mountain music. He also was friends with Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly. He played before Presidents and was black listed by McCarthy for being a communist.

He was in part responsible for The Almanac Singers, named after a play about American workers being on strike.


His most famous group was The Weavers, who had some Hit Parade songs with Good-night Irene,So Long It's Been Good To Know You, On Top Of Old Smokey, Tzena Tzena (an Israeli song) and Wimoweh (which was released in 1962 as The Lion Sleeps Tonight).

The Weavers stopped touring in 1953 after the McCarthy hearings blacklisted Pete and he could not get booked. The reunion tour and subsequent performance brought us such songs as Sixteen Tons written by Merle Travis and Kumbaya (which everyone knows).

Seeger penned such great songs as Where Have All The Flowers Gone , If I Had A Hammer and Turn, Turn, Turn. He also adapted a Welsh poem The Bells of Rhymney into a song (which I always was fond of due to the line..."for the vandals in court, the bells of Newport" - it was prophetic since Newport now has the Freedom Bell). Pete has introduced many, many songs into our culture that are now considered folk songs.


Seeger invented his own long neck banjo and had the Ode company produce it. It's neck is 28" long and is tuned a minor third lower than a regular 5 string banjo which has a neck usually 24" to 25.5" in length.

Seeger married his Japanese born wife Toshi and moved his family to New York State in Dutchess County and built a log cabin and later he built a house. In a documentary his children talk about how he built it and how much of the time, they would sleep outside. He heats the house with wood that he still gleans from the forest and draws his water from outside as well. He also built a sailing sloop and sailed up and down the nearby Hudson River to encourage people to clean up the Hudson.

Taking a cue from Woody Guthrie, who posted a sign on his guitar that said, This Machine Kills Fascism, Seeger has stenciled on his banjo's perimeter the words, This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It to Surrender.

God Bless Pete Seeger.

Obama Does Not Want To Be Associated With Symbol Of Jesus

Amidst all of the American flags and presidential seals, there was something missing when President Barak Obama gave an economic speech at Georgetown University this week -- Jesus.
A decision to cover up a symbol of Jesus for the president's speech at Georgetown is upsetting many.

The White House asked Georgetown to cover a monogram symbolizing Jesus' name in Gaston Hall, which Obama used for his speech, according to CSNNews.COM

The gold "IHS" monogram inscribed on a pediment in the hall was covered over by a piece of black-painted plywood, and remained covered over the next day, CNSNews.com reported.

The Washington Times Belief Blog asked the university about the presidential request:
Julie Bataille from the university's press office e-mailed me that the White House had asked that all university signage and symbols behind the stage in Gaston Hall be covered.

"The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they've done for other policy speeches," she wrote. "Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn't high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context."


While the "IHS" directly behind where Obama spoke was covered over, CNSNews.com said the monogram was still visible in 26 other places in the hall during his speech. Those areas just weren't as prominent. However these other places were not shown during the speech.

The Belief Blog talked with the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Institute at Georgetown University, who said he didn't think "this is motivated by theology, but by communications strategy."

The blog also talked with Catholic University spokesman Victor Nakas, who felt a bit more strongly on the subject:

"I can’t imagine, as the bishops’ university and the national university of the Catholic Church, that we would ever cover up our religious art or signage for any reason," Mr. Nakas wrote. "Our Catholic faith is integral to our identity as an institution of higher education."

As a Christian I object to being pushed aside and having symbols of my faith covered. Would this same cover up occur if a speech were given by our President at a house of worship of another faith?

Rising Hope

I am working on music for the Jesus House reunion concert coming up this May.

As I do this I am reminded of all my old friends from those sweet days.

One group that had such a big impact on a lot of us in this part of the world were a group of friends, Michael Goldberg, Susan Goldberg and Ross Johnson that made up the Christian trio, Rising Hope.

Michael and Susan were students at Great Lakes Bible College in Lansing Michigan. Ross was from Cincinnati and a student at Cincinnati Bible College. They pooled their assets, lived together and drove around the country fighting crime and saving the world from evil... uh. Well no they didn't actually do that. However they drove around the country playing music at churches, church camps, festivals, coffeehouses and pretty much anywhere they could sing about their love of the Lord.

They were not just musicians. Aside from having an incredible singing voice, Susan was blessed with a gift for visual art and did produced both covers for the two LP's. Michael was a photographer and put together their multi-media slide shows. Ross was a woodworker. Michael had the ultimate Martin 12 string guitar. I think it may have been a D35S12. It was a beautiful instrument.

Rising Hope included some of their friends to enhance their performance. Mikal Keefer didn't sing or play, but he had a great speaking voice. Nancy McIntosh added her flute and voice to their songs. In later days Chris Adams was added as a permanent bass player and permanent member.

The excellent thing about their performance was that it was multi-media. They would play their own songs and then have a visual arts show that utilized Mikal Keefer's voice over recorded music and 3 slide projectors that would blend photographs onto a screen.

Yes folks, this was many years ago in a galaxy far, far away..... before Power Point existed.

They wrote most of their own music or sang songs written by friends. Their voices blended well. Their style was quiet and acoustic-oriented.

Alas all things change and the 3 went their separate ways.



Ross Johnson married a wonderful Aussie girl named Lyndell and raised a family.

His woodworking skills have blossomed into luthery and he creates beautiful acoustic guitars.

Michael and Susan parted ways. Susan, now Susan Rice, became a minister, studied at the American Christian University in France and is currently a missionary in Thailand.


Michael became a radio guy and is currently on WNKU as the morning host. He is also a noted artist in stain glass. I still see some of them on Facebook so it is nice to keep in touch and I listen to Michael aka Michael Grayson (reliable sources say the pseudonym was taken from a favorite professor) on the drive to work.

I miss their wonderful songs and their comradery.

The Jesus House Song

I'm starting to get ready for the Jesus House Reunion. This is occurring on May 2.

There will be a lot of folks playing music for the day. I'm trying to get a handle on what I will play for my half hour set.

I understand Mike Wilshire is coming for the day. Although he is not aware of it I learned a lot about playing guitar from him and also have sung many of his songs at prior reunions and during those days way back when.

So this time I'm concentrating on my own songs and I'll sit back and enjoy listening to Brother Wilshire's music. I'm really looking forward to seeing Sally, too.

I've already mentioned my one real song that I recently finished, Where Have They Gone, in a previous post from back in February of this year. I spent a couple of days putting some lyrics together to Chuck Berry's old standard, Memphis. I consider this sort of a "throw-away song" since it's probably going to be done only once. Besides I didn't write the tune. But as I always say, "Plagerism is the sincerest form of flattery."

The Memphis shuffle is probably the first thing that all young up and coming guitar players learn since it involves a fairly easy to play. My lyrics are based on how I actually came to play at the Jesus House for the very first time which lead to playing there many, many other times.

Now it is probably not widely known why I seemed to show up there so often, but what happened usually was that I would be sitting at home on a Saturday afternoon and about 4 pm the phone would ring. Mom would say, "Markie, it's for you." (Mom called me Markie.) It was inevitably Terry Fisher and he would say something to the effect of, (close your eyes and think of Terry's voice), "Heh-heh...Marc...uh, heh-heh...you know Rising Hope was supposed to play here tonight...but..a...they all have come down with a serious case of the cold-robbies. We need someone to play tonight. You doin' anything?"

I was always glad to get the call. Although I never actually had time to practice, it was a joy to throw the guitar in the car and drive on up to spend Saturday night at Mount Healthy's greatest establishment with the greatest people in the world.

So with that said, you all know the tune and here are my lyrics:

When I was just eighteen years old,
The Father said to me.
"Now that you're a Jesus Freak,
go play some music."
I went to Cincinnati
and told my friends you see.
They said go to the Jesus House
it's out in Mount Healthy.

So I drove up to this big white house
and I walked inside the door.
There were lot's of people everywhere,
sittin' on the floor.
On stage there was this hairy guy
with a great big happy grin.
He said, " 'you play guitar?
Well come up here my friend."

So I played a song called Praise the Lord
and one called Allelu.
I sang about Simon Peter and
how much I Love You.
When I think back to those happy days,
it brings back memories.
Of being at the Jesus House
out in Mount Healthy.