During an NQC interview with BFA, Brian was asked how he goes about choosing songs for an album. This was his answer: We don’t pick “filler” songs. A lot of groups will pick 2-3 good songs and then… they’ll need 7 others to fill the album. We don’t do that. I don’t want a filler song. I will not stage a filler song. We try to pick ten singles, knowing that any one of those songs could be a single.... Read more
The church today has a problem. Well, actually, it has many problems, but we’re just here today to discuss one of them, and that is the problem that modern Christians seem to have something against “good boys.” You know what I’m talking about. There was a time when the wholesome, the upright and the clean-cut were held up as admirable examples, but today, that admiration has been replaced by aversion. Godly people are no longer admired for their godliness. Instead,... Read more
Some time ago I did a half-review of an EP by a new group called Declaration who’s been appearing with the Booth Brothers in concert. Some weeks ago, group owner and baritone Jake Sammons sent me the mastered tracks from the full project. I am only now getting around to doing a review. (Note: Some material from this review overlaps with the EP review.) 1. Come to the Water: Mosie Lister gave Declaration the first cut on this mellow song... Read more
This quartet is called the Alborada Quartet, and they recorded some music in the 1980s. I’ve been able to find out virtually nothing about them. But they sing acapella quartet music, in Korean, like you’ve never heard it sung before. Close your eyes and just listen to this blend: Now take a listen to this arrangement of the black spiritual “No More Sorrow.” I know they are borrowing it from another incredible and little-known quartet called Breath of Life who... Read more
I missed the quiet advent of a new southern gospel blogger a couple months ago. Please join me in welcoming Lauren from Arkansas! You can read her reviews and commentary at The View From the Pew. Read more
This morning, two members of the Tim Greene Trio (Tim Greene and Stacy Sanders) were in a bus accident. Both are hospitalized in stable condition, and Tim Greene severed some muscles/tendons and is slated for surgery. Keep them in your prayers. [Update: Via the Greene’s facebook page, Tim Greene came through his surgery “just fine.”] Read more
When I realized Spring Break was coming up, I resolved to make a list of all the things I’ve been planning to think about getting around to doing… so that I could maybe actually do some of them.* (*This presupposes that I will survive my mid-terms of course.) Now I’m not unrealistic. I know full well that I probably won’t accomplish half the things on this list. To some extent, it’s a fantasy. But it sure would be nice if... Read more
Are you the kind of person who tends to blame yourself for everything? If so, then you’re a lot like me. Like the song says, when something goes wrong, I’m the first to admit it. I’m always second-guessing myself in every area of life. It ranges from the trivial (did I get everything right on that quiz?) to the less trivial (have I done wrong by a friend?) It doesn’t really matter how unjustly I’m treated. It doesn’t really matter... Read more
Whenever I feel physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually drained, good comedy really helps lift my spirits. I felt that way last night, and I was searching for some Tim Hawkins clips I’d never seen before. Among many others, I came up with this, in which he abridges some classic (but lengthy) songs—specifically, into a single verse apiece: He should do this with “American Pie,” or anything by Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan… come to think of it, most folk or Western... Read more
John Piper has apparently upset some feminists. Recently, he made some rather direct comments on the masculine nature of Christianity. To quote directly: God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother… The second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male…God appoints all the priests in the... Read more
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