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Praise and Worship Beat
Archives
January 2006
Scaring the Sprouts out of the Blue-State
Elites
The Cincinnati Enquirer carries a great report of a
Michael W. Smith concert at a local church:
The first time I heard Michael W. Smith in concert, it was a religious
experience. And that's not a metaphor.
He was performing at a Promise Keepers event in Columbus called Passage, to
encourage men to model character for their sons. My son and I went with our
church. And when Smith played piano and sang "Let it Rain," joined by a
crashing surf of thousands of men's voices, there was power enough to light
a city, launch a space shuttle or arc-weld an unbreakable bond between
fathers and sons.
Smith brought his gift to town last week at the Vineyard, one of those
megachurches for suburban Jesus seekers who scare the sprouts out of
blue-state elites. The Vineyard draws about 5,000 for worship each weekend -
and it felt like most were there Tuesday night to listen to Smith and hear
about his movie, "Second Chance."
There's lots more. Read it all.
January 31st, 2006
The Bible DVD Game
Stars and Stripes newspaper reviews
Jeremy Camp's work on "The Bible DVD Game" from the History Channel:
Music from Christian rockers has played on video-game soundtracks for
years but Jeremy Camp is the first to actually hit the screen.
...The game features three levels of difficulty that can be adjusted to
match specific players’ knowledge. We played games with an adult, a teen and
two elementary school students and each found the questions could be
challenging but were very reasonable — and quite fun.
Production quality is very good — although some of the test players found
one narrator’s voice a bit annoying. In addition to introducing the game and
providing a bit of commentary, Camp appears on the music video for his hit
“Take You Back.”
January 30th, 2006
Christian Concerts Not for Everybody
The North Journal reporter seems reluctant to concede that
a concert
featuring Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Louie Giglio might be quite
good:
Though Christian concerts may not be for everybody, there's likely to be
quite a crowd when Orchard Hill Church brings Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and
Louie Giglio together for a worship music event.
January 27th, 2006
SONICFLOOd - Trials and Triumphs in Turkey
Short but good - the article on SONICFLOOd at Canada's
Soulshine
music website. Their recent visit to Turkey was life-changing.
Guitarist Trey Hill says of the people, “We were touched by stories of
their trials and triumphs, and how the people of the country are responding
[in a positive way] to the Gospel…it inspired me to encourage my fellow
Christians in the US to unite.”
They embark soon on a tour of Europe and will then work to promote the
mission efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission
Board.
January 26th, 2006
Point of Grace - Desperate Housewives'
Antidote
Lovely article on
Point of Grace in the Dayton Daily News. Here's how it begins:
If there is, in pop culture, an antidote to Desperate Housewives, it
would have to be Point of Grace. The contrasts are obvious. While the
fictional sirens of Wisteria Lane wind viewers through a maze of betrayal,
lust and guilty pleasure, the talented praise singers of Point of Grace —
Heather Payne, Shelley Breen, Leigh Cappillino and Denise Jones — preach the
importance of family values and abstinence to real, live teenage girls.
January 24th, 2006
FFH Concert - Giving Glory to God
FFH are to receive far less than the normal fee
for their
concert at Bartlesville this week, in order that as much as possible of
the proceeds might go to MannaRelief. According to a news report:
There are two main goals for the FFH concert on the 27th. The first goal
of the concert is to minister to the youth and young adults of the area.
This concert will also likely attract youth outside the Bartlesville area.
...The second goal for the concert is to heighten awareness of the global
AIDS epidemic and the courageous efforts of MannaRelief to rise to the
challenge of the growing AIDS problem. MannaRelief donors believe that AIDS
is not just a problem, but an opportunity to give glory to God.
January 23rd, 2006
Chris Tomlin Update
Interesting article on Chris Tomlin - titled "Looking
Back, and Ahead" - at Top40Charts.com.
Finding success at retail, Tomlin also became R&R's most played artist at
AC Christian Radio in 2005, while simultaneously capturing No. 1 at
Inspirational radio on the year-end charts. Once relegated to Sunday morning
radio shows, Tomlin's "Indescribable," "Holy Is The Lord," and "The Way I
Was Made" have sparked unprecedented airplay. Tomlin's fourth single from
Arriving, "How Great Is Our God," released to radio Dec. 16 and has already
garnered a Worship Leader Praise Award for "Best Praise and Worship Song."
January 21st, 2006
Delirious?
– Passionate Feelings for God
Delirious? are
receiving some good reviews for the US release of their latest recording
“Mission Bell.”
Here’s
Knight Ridder Newspapers:
The British band
Delirious? mixes it up in its latest release. On the 12 tracks you'll hear a
blend of rock, a gospel choir, a rap from guest artist TobyMac and
restrained worship music. It's all bundled with the signature Delirious?
guitar riffs and vocal stylings of lead singer Martin Smith.
Delirious? was
leading the pack of worship bands in the '90s and remains one of the most
enjoyable and creative bands in Christian music.
Some of the songs are
a little on the long side ("Take Off My Shoes" clocks in at 6 minutes, 28
seconds), but the band is talented enough to pull it off. If you want
an edge to
your music and lyrics to challenge your faith, then you'll like this album.
And check out
the great review at
CD Times, a British website. Here’s an excerpt:
“The
Mission
Bell”,
album number eight, is their most explicit “Christian” album since 1999’s “Glo”,
considered by most to be their finest hour to date. On earlier Delirious
albums, the songs could be interpreted as “love” songs between boy and girl,
not necessarily between man and God. Here though is a collection of 12 songs
which can only be read one way.
These are songs of worship, singer Martin Smith singing passionately of his
feelings for God and his desire to share his beliefs with others. Songs such
as “Miracle Maker”, “Now is the Time” and “Our God Reigns” are practically
hymns with loud guitars….
Delirious? are unlikely to gather any fans outside of the Christian music
scene with this album, which is a shame, but inevitable. For a
non-Christian, it is their least accessible album. Those wishing to try them
would be better to listen to early albums. For those who think the band’s
beliefs might put them off, "Mezzamorphis" or "Audiolessonover" are good
places to start. For a real flavour of the band though, "Glo" is their best
work, an inspirational and wholly original piece of work that gives bands
such as The Flaming Lips a run for their money for sheer audacity.
In Q magazine, the review of "The
Mission
Bell"
ends with the following statement - "Still, as they must surely reflect in
darker moments, without God they could be massive". From listening to the
songs on this album, I genuinely believe that they never think this for a
second.
January 20th, 2006
“Stand” – Joyful and Enthusiastic
Avalon release
their new recording “Stand” next week. You can listen to clips
here.
According to
CCM magazine:
Considered to be a
joyful, enthusiastic expression of renewal and affirmation, the group’s
seventh studio recording represents Avalon’s evolution to a new level of
understanding of God’s unrelenting faithfulness.
“Overall, the theme
of this record is that pure and simple joy,” Greg says. “Over the past three
years, we’ve all been through a lot, but now the transition is done. We’re
all here now. There’s a history here. And we’re all encouraged and excited
about finding our way together. We’ve experienced one of the most joyful
things you can experience in this life—two babies being born. And so it’s
like Melissa says, ‘Joy has come in the morning.’ It’s morning. It’s spring.
The songs are a definite testament to where we’re standing now.”
Produced by Shaun
Shankel, Bernie Herms and Mark Hammond, STAND takes its title from Russ Taff
classic, “We Will Stand.” The original writers of the song, Russ and Tori
Taff and James Hollihan, agreed to write a new bridge for the cover of their
classic and Russ is featured as guest vocalist on the track.
The
Christian Post reported:
With this
record, Jody says, “We were ready to let our hair down a little bit. The
Creed was a little more serious, and, though we’re serious about the message
of every song on Stand, we were just ready to have some fun. … I think even
though we love a great ballad, and that’s sort of what Avalon is known for,
we’re also known for great up tempo stuff, high-energy stuff, and that
creative energy and passion is something that we really wanted to bring
back.”
January 19th, 2006
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