My good friend Rob Plummer recommended to me a Christmas album that is available as a free download, and I want to pass along the holiday cheer to you. The album was produced by Sojourn Community Church here in Louisville, Kentucky and is available at NoiseTrade.com. You can listen to samples of the album on the widget below.
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Boyce College Student Nominated for Grammy
The Protestant Reformation has come to the Grammys! On Saturday, one of our students here at Boyce College was nominated for a Grammy award. His stage name is “Flame,” and I wrote about him here in October. He’s a hip-hop artist with a gospel message—one that is rooted deeply in the reformation tradition. According to the Grammy website, Flame’s “Our World Redeemed” has been nominated for “Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album.” CMSpin.com has the details of the story, and the Associated Press reports that the Grammy Awards will be broadcast on February 8 on CBS. You can be sure that we’ll be pulling for Flame. Here’s a link to…
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Steven Curtis Chapman Thanks President Bush
Steven Curtis Chapman is thankful for President Bush’s service to the country and has written a song saying as much. You can listen to the track at www.StevenCurtisChapman.com. Here’s the message that Chapman posted next to the song: Good Bye. Mr. President. Whether you voted for him & love him, or you’ve disagreed with all his policies and dislike him… Could we all agree on this? We owe President Bush a sincere thank you. As the historic Inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama approaches, StevenCurtisChapman.com pauses to thank our outgoing President for his service to our great country. This Thanksgiving weekend, we hope you’ll enjoy a new song by Steven…
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Flame
The best thing about being the Dean of Boyce College is the students. Since coming to the college in August, I have met some of the most Christ-centered, committed students that I have ever known. I am grateful to be here and so very thankful to have the opportunity to serve them. If I could share the blessing that they are to me with you, I would. There is at least one student, however, that I can share with you. His name is Marcus Williams (with the stage-name “Flame”), and he is a hip-hop artist with Cross Movement Records. He has released four albums since 2004 and has been nominated…
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Jesus Is My Friend
This one is making the rounds, and I think it’s too good not to share. I know that styles and tastes change, but oh my.
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Ray Boltz
From Christianity Today earlier today: Ray Boltz, who sold about 4.5 million records before retiring from Christian music a few years ago, came out of the closet Friday to announce that he’s gay. . . “I’d denied it ever since I was a kid. . . I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just…
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Steven Curtis Chapman on ‘Good Morning America’
(HT: Justin Taylor)
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Steven Curtis Chapman Speaks to Press about Grief
Many of you will remember the tragic accident that took the life of Steven Curtis Chapman’s five year old little girl this past May (see here). Chapman and his wife are now talking publicly about their grief and will be doing two high-profile interviews this week. The first one will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, August 6 at 7am. The second will be on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Thursday, August 7 at 9pm Eastern Time. ABC has already posted an excerpt of their interview which you can watch here. Having only seen the excerpt, I was struck how Chapman spoke of his grief in the very…
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Pray for Steven Curtis Chapman and Family
From The Tennessean: Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home. Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name. The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson…
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What is Christian Music?
Brent Thomas has some interesting reflections on the question “What is Christian music?” He writes: ‘We must understand that we have created our own sub-culture which runs by its own rules. Just because something may be purchased at a Christian bookstore does not mean it may be trusted. Conversely, just because something may not be purchased at the same store does not mean the people behind it are not glorifying God in what they do. These issues are not new to anyone involved in “Christian” music or books at any level. However, we must be sensitive to the fact that many well-meaning believers are sincerely swayed by labeling, and the…