• Christianity,  Music

    Derek Webb’s Ode to Deconstruction

    I recently saw that Derek Webb has released a new album titled “The Jesus Hypothesis.” Webb famously walked away from the Christian faith several years ago. Nevertheless, he claims on his website that “The Jesus Hypothesis” is his first “Christian & Gospel” album in ten years. You don’t have to listen very far into the playlist to discover that it is not “Christian & Gospel” at all. Yes, the subject matter is Christianity and the gospel, but it’s all about how Webb has rejected both. In his song “God in Drag,” Webb hijacks Jesus’ language from the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said… but I…

  • Entertainment,  Music

    The Best Thing on the Internet

    If there’s anything better on the internet today, I don’t know what it is. These are three dancing sisters from the Netherlands. Their names are Nora, Yarah, and Rosa. Their group name is “Let it Happen.” They have been performing for years including appearances on The Ellen Show. The video above originally appeared on Instagram with the following message from Norah: Today we have the privilege to perform live during the “James Brown Birthday IG-live musical tribute” @jamesbrownfamilyfdn . Thank you @jamesbrowngirl for asking us, we feel honored to be part of this and to remember your father. ______________________________________________ Song: Get on the good foot Artist: James Brown ______________________________________________ #jamesbrown…

  • Christianity,  Devotion,  Music

    Nashville Studio Singers Record “It Is Well” with Their Phones

    Isn’t it astonishing that, the worse things get, the more Christians sing? The video above was released yesterday by a group of Nashville Studio musicians called the Ten Two Six Music Group. Incredibly, they recorded this on their phones! I was delighted to see an old college friend of mine in this one. His name is Jason Barton, and among other things he sings with Amy Grant as well as his own band 33 Miles. So to Jason: Salute, brother! Here’s the full story on the song as it was reported by the NBC affiliate in Nashville:

  • Christianity,  Music,  News

    Praise and Prayer for Kanye

    Over the weekend, I had a chance to listen to Kanye West’s new album and to watch some interviews with him. It’s an amazing thing to watch because everything I’ve seen points to a radical conversion to Jesus Christ. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel last week, Kimmel asks West, “Would you consider yourself to be a Christian music artist now?” West responds, “I’m just a Christian everything.” That is certainly clear in the lyrics of West’s new album “Jesus is King.” The track “Selah” has a line that gets to the heart of West’s conversion:

  • Christianity,  Music

    In My Place

    A few weeks ago, a small group of us gathered at our church for a midweek night of worship. During that meeting, we recorded a new song written by our worship pastor Matt Damico. It’s titled “In My Place,” and it is a really wonderful, fitting tribute on this Good Friday. Amazon | iTunes

  • Christianity,  Music

    Whatever My God Ordains Is Right

    Together for the Gospel Live IV by Sovereign Grace Music We’ve been singing “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right” at our church in recent weeks. I have to say that the words and music to this are really special. It is written as a song for saints who are suffering. Which means that it is written for all of us. Here are the words:

  • Christianity,  Music

    Kenwood Music: “Hope of Every Promise”

    Kenwood Music is a ministry of the church where I serve as associate pastor. Under the direction of Matt Damico, they have just released a new album titled Hope of Every Promise. Matt Damico wrote the words and music for most of the songs on the album with one credit going to singer Bethany Breland. This really is an outstanding set of worship songs Matt has put together, and I highly recommend it to you. You can watch and listen to the lyric video for the song “Good to Know the Father” above. But even better than that, you can buy and download the entire album from iTunes, Amazon, or…

  • Christianity,  Music

    Christmas in Kentucky… Everywhere it’s Christmas!

    On his most recent Christmas album, Steven Curtis Chapman has a song about returning to his hometown of Paducah, Kentucky for Christmas. But this song is not sappy nostalgia along the lines of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” or “Tennessee Christmas.” Christmas is not parochial and narrow. It’s about what God has done and is doing in the whole world. And for the whole world. As Chapman puts it, “Everywhere it’s Christmas.” In the video above, you can hear the song in its entirety as well as read the lyrics. I recommend that you do both. If you haven’t bought this album since I last wrote about it, I still highly…

  • Humor,  Music

    The man who sings funny “O Holy Night” revealed!

    Many of you will be familiar with the hilarious internet meme that comes around every Christmas involving a truly horrid rendition of “O Holy Night.” I have posted the song on this site in the past. If somehow you haven’t managed to hear it yet, here’s your chance: – For years, this piece of Christmas candy has floated around the internet without attribution or provenance. Nobody knew where it came from, although there were some pretenders who took credit for it.

  • Music,  News

    Prince: “Don’t die without knowing the cross.”

    I’m still absorbing the news that Prince has died. I confess that this was like a punch in the gut for me. Little known fact: I’m a huge fan of the artist formerly known as “the artist formerly known as Prince.” His music was the soundtrack of about a decade of my young life. In some ways, that is a sad commentary because so much of what he sang about was foul and salacious. But that is not why I was listening. I was listening because he was a musical genius—a kind of post-modern cross between James Brown and Jimi Hendrix, but better than both of them.