The late Gary S. Paxton, best known in music circles as a producer of early 1960s novelty records such as “Alley-Oop” by The Hollywood Argyles and “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, recorded several Christian albums after his conversion in 1971. They were not normal recordings, unless you consider songs with titles such as “Only Christians Kill Their Wounded” and lyrics to match, standard issue.
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Only Christians they kill their wounded
Lonely souls in turmoil likе me
Only Christians kill their wounded
Why can’t thеy try to ward off defeat?
While the world tries to help its own
Christians love to throw stones
Why do Christians always kill their wounded?
The new episode of Cephas Hour delves into this quagmire, talking about how telling a hurting person they shouldn’t be is as unfeeling and illogical as telling a hungry person they would feel better if they ate something. Like, they don’t know?
You can listen to the podcast on-demand at its website or wherever you get your podcasts as long as it isn’t Spotify. Long story. Hope you enjoy it, and thanks.
A final note regarding the podcast. Thank you to everyone who has reached out during my unplanned absence from the podcast airwaves (podwaves?). I am hopefully getting back into the swing of things. A couple of sad events in May 2025 affecting the Christian music family are mentioned late in the show: the passing of The Alarm’s leader Mike Peters, and the sudden death of Derri Daugherty’s (The Choir, The Lost Dogs) son Chance. All love and prayers to their families and friends.
MORE: HIGHER CULTURE: Why You Should Know the Alarm
The hardest heart is not always found among unbelievers. Far too often, it resides in the believer who has become convinced of their self-righteousness. While one might assume, not without justification, this manifests itself in haughty arrogance and pride, such is not always the case.
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Self-righteousness often manifests itself in the spiritual equivalent of what James condemned in the temporal realm:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
In like manner, the believer who encounters a fellow believer struggling with trials attacking the core of their faith, yet who offers nothing in comfort or support save spiritual-sounding platitudes without gravitas, offers nothing. The person going through the flames needs a helping hand, not a backhand delivered while demanding, “Where is your faith?” The person suffering from loneliness needs genuine companionship, not drive-by cliches. The person suffering from loss needs understanding, not a universal one-size-fits-all cornucopia of smooth words immediately followed by a quick departure back to the comfort zone.
Believers going through situations ranging from difficult to, from all appearances, impossible to endure know that they need Jesus to get them through it all. How will they get back to Him unless those who know Him reach out to them in, through, and with His love?
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In Ecclesiastes we find these words:
As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
There are interesting comments in this verse’s footnotes offering alternate translations, which go as follows:
As you do not know how life
enters the body being formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
The other alternate translation says:
As you do not know how the spirit
enters the body being formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
Come to think of it, despite all of humanity’s scientific advancements since a weary Solomon wrote these words thousands of years ago, we still do not know how the Spirit enters the body. In case it comes up, the verse does testify to the sanctity and humanity of life for the unborn.
It’s a God thing.
The Cross is the great equalizer. We all stand before it, as it levels the playing field for all humanity. All of us need it. The only difference is that some of us know it.
Referencing an earlier comment, the believer who is going through genuinely difficult times is not unaware that Christ is the answer. The problem is trying to get the questions right.
Sometimes, one can do nothing except wait for the healing. There will be times when the best we can hope for is to be fed by ravens on our way to Mount Horeb and the still, small voice. It worked out for Elijah. God does not love us any less than He loved him. So take heart.
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The all-music portion of the podcast contains the following:
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