In view of Daniel Mount’s most recent post, and in view of the fact that I have little time to write these days, I’m going to let my readers write the interesting stuff here for me. If you could pick just three favorite contemporary praise songs—your ripest picks—what would they be and why? (Note: I am using “contemporary” loosely. It seems only fair to allow you to pick stuff from the 90s/80s, since southern gospel has such a rich history.... Read more
Dead at 48, a legend of pop music, many regard her as one of the greatest female voices of all time. Her life stands as a sad witness to Satan’s destructive work on those blessed with great fame and fortune. I do not know her fate, for it rests in the hands of God only. But I know that the memory of her voice will live on for many more years to come. Here she is, in her prime, singing... Read more
ASGM is partnering with Southern Gospel Yankee to offer five free online tickets to one of Poet Voices’ upcoming re-launch concerts! Simply be one of the first five people to click on this link and register. You have three dates to choose from—February the 17th, the 18th and 19th. All concerts begin at 6 PM. There will also be a Q & A period with Phil and the other guys afterwards. Read more
Today is the 101st anniversary of the birth of my all-time favorite President (as you can see on my “About” page). His name has become legend. If I were to say it among a random group of Americans, anyone would know immediately who I’m talking about. But fewer people are familiar with who Ronald Reagan was before he became President, particularly before he began his political career. Ronald Reagan spent most of his young life in Hollywood, carving out a... Read more
“It’s a ballad!” “Oh, that’s helpful.” There’s been some recent discussion around the southern gospel blogosphere over the vagueness of the generic term “ballad” by itself. I personally believe David Bruce Murray nailed it with his categorizations, even though they were tongue-in-cheek. There’s nothing wrong with the term, but without appropriate descriptive adjectives, it really doesn’t tell the reader much. But if you couple it with its proper modifier(s), you’re on your way. So instead of describing the different categories... Read more
It came to my attention that Francis Schaeffer was born exactly 100 years ago today. Here is a very timely quotation from this influential figure in Christianity: We as Bible-believing evangelical Christians are locked in a battle. This is not a friendly gentleman’s discussion. It is a life and death conflict between the spiritual hosts of wickedness and those who claim the name of Christ. It is a conflict on the level of ideas between two fundamentally opposed views of... Read more
Last week, Brian posted on Assurance’s facebook page that he’d been having some blood pressure problems accompanied by heaviness on the chest. Today he’s going in for some testing and hopes to share results soon. Meanwhile, keep him in your prayers. [Update: Brian’s most recent status says that his appointment has been rescheduled to tomorrow, but at the moment the doctor seems to think that the heaviness in his chest may not be heart related.] Read more
Via Denny Burk, I just saw the news that Rick Santorum’s youngest (Bella) has been admitted to the hospital for unspecified health concerns resulting from Trisomy 18. It’s a miracle that she’s still alive today, as the vast majority of babies born with the illness die quickly. (Watch an inspiring video about her story here.) However, she does have many complications. Our prayers go out to the Santorum family. Santorum has canceled his scheduled campaigning events for today but hopes... Read more
This half of the week is going to be very busy for me this semester, so I’ve decided to write something today that will hopefully generate good discussion for a little while. The topic is preaching from the stage. Is it a good thing or not? Well, certain churches amazingly take the latter view. As most southern gospel fans are aware of by now, Scott Fowler can tell you from personal experience that he’s been forbidden even to speak the... Read more
Hat Tip, the Sacred Sandwich. Go to their website, go, go, go… Read more
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