New Gospel Music
A new CD from 2006 Stellar Award nominee Micah Stamply is in stores now. According to Micah’s official website, the CD is entitled A Fresh Wind and is “a refreshing compendium of exuberant worship and praise melodies.” This sophomore album follows his up the popular debut album entitled The Songbook of Micah. Visit Micah at http://www.micahstampley.org./
Fred Hammond has just released his eighth studio album entitled Free to Worship. Gospel City.com has a nice review here: http://www.gospelcity.com/dynamic/music-articles/new_music/306/. I love, love the lyrics to the song “Simply Put”. Make sure to read them in the article. After you read those lyrics, visit Fred here: http://www.fredhammondmusic.com/.
Deitrick Haddon is back with his CD entitled 7 Days. You can hear samples from the CD on his website at http://deitrickhaddonmusic.com/. One of my favorites from this new CD is “Count Your Blessings”.
My all time favorite Dietrick Haddon song is from his Crossroads CD. The song is entitled “God Didn’t Give Up” and it encourages folks to show kindness and mercy to each other like God does to us. Part of the chorus says: I’m glad God is not like man/ when you’ve done wrong/He will pick you up/put you back where you belong.
Notes From My Church
Place: Lakewood Church-Houston, Tx
         Joel Osteen, Pastor
Date:Â Saturday, Oct. 14, 2006
Time: Â 7:00 p.m.
The Music: Cindy Cruse Ratcliff and Israel started worship services with the upbeat song “Favor of the Lord”. The audience really loved the part of the song that said, “pressed down, shaken together, running over in the favor of God”. As always, it was great to have Israel in attendance. Dove Award winning siblings Steve Crawford and Da’dra Crawford Greathouse of the group Anointed also lent their beautiful voices to the worship.
Some of the songs sung were “Highly Exalted”, “I Will Sing”, “Everywhere That I Go”, “The Freedom We Know” and “Mighty To Save”. During praise and worship the audience normally stands the entire worship service. It is great to be able to sing along with the lyrics on the big screen. The lyrics to the song “Mighty To Save” was particulary touching to me this week. It reminded me that God is able to do anything and I can just relax and know that He is in full control. You know I have to leave you with some of the lyrics:
“Savior, He can move mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me
All of my fears and failures
And fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender.”
During tithes and offering, Steve and Da’dra sung the song “Revive Us Again” from their self-titled album. They put a lot of energy into the song and once again the crowd was on their feet. The music is an integral part of the Lakewood experience and this service was no exception.  The lyrics to the songs, the wonderful voices of the choir and praise team and the band make for a blessed time.
The Message: This week Joel preached about letting God be in control of your everyday life. He used Proverbs 3:6 and John 15:5 as his reference scriptures. He said that God would only be involved in what we allowed him to be involved in. Acknowledging God throughout the day by saying small prayers as the day progressed would help to make your day much smoother.
He suggested praying to God constantly as you went about your daily duties. He noted that he often just prayed under his breath. This kept God in tune with him and made his day better. Referencing John 15:5, Joel emphasized the importance of abiding in God’s presence. He said that abiding meant something to do on a daily basis.
I thought this message was a thought provoking one because we often pray once a day and go about our business. This message encouraged everyone to include God in everything. Even things that we think that God is not concerned about. It reminded me that God is concerned about all that I say, think and do. He wants to be included in all aspects of my life. There is no item that is too small.Â
Joel mentioned things like including God in your work environment, your home duties and your children and their schools. It takes the  pressure off of us to be able to talk to God all day about anything and everything. God is really concerned about us and that is good to know. Thank you, Pastor Joel for a great message!!
The Atmosphere: In my opinion, the air is always filled with expectancy and excitement at Lakewood. You can see it in just about any face you come across. It is always such a blessing to be greeted several times by ushers that always seem to have a big smile and a “God Bless You” ready. I can imagine that to some people it is the only kind thing they hear and see all day.
My kids love to go to children’s church because they always have a great time. They insist on wearing tennis shoes because they do a lot of jumping up and down during their praise and worship. There are a lot of great things going on at Lakewood. There is something for everyone to get involved in.
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……..and that is what happened in my church this week. You can always watch live and archived services at http://www.lakewood.cc/ or http://www.joelosteen.com/. What was it like in your church this week? The entire universe is filled with God’s love and grace. We would love to here about what is going on in your church. Post a comment or e-mail me at dominique@1800gospel.com and tell us all about the music, the message and the atmosphere at your church.
Dominique
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lakewood church joel osteen israel houghton cindy cruse ratcliff gospel music
Christmas Music Continued
Have you checked your Christmas CD’s? There are so many great Christmas albums available. When we had our music store one of our busiest times was the Christmas holidays. There were many gospel Christmas CD’s that were very popular year after year. Some of the most popular were:
1. Kirk Franklin-My favorites from this album are “Now Behold the Lamb” and “Silver & Gold”.
2. Yolanda Adams-Yolanda’s jazzy voice is so pleasing, you could listen to this CD the whole year around and never lose your Christmas joy.
3. Fred Hammond-Anything by Fred is popular. My kids love his music and his Christmas CD is no exception. Standout songs on this CD are “He is the Reason” and “Christmas Everyday”.
4. Ben Tankard-Ben’s instrumental Christmas CD is great to have playing in the background when you are spending time with your family. The song “Christmas Love” is classic Ben Tankard.
5. Shirley Caesar-standout songs on this CD are “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Angels Have Heard on High”.
6. John P. Kee-he even made a Christmas CD for the little ones.
7. Donald Lawrence-a year after year favorite is the song “Love’s Holiday”.
8. Dottie Peoples-the always beautiful Dottie has a great Christmas album. Favorites are “Jesus What a Wonderful Child” and “Away in a Manger”.
Honorable Mentions (not really gospel albums):
1. The Temptations-Not really a gospel album but it is one of the all time favorites because of “Silent Night”. I think every household has some version of this song.
2. Kelly Price-My absolute favorite song on this CD is “Mary’s Song” with Wynonna Judd. The lyrics of the song are absolutely beautiful and the blending of Kelly and Wynonna’s voices is perfect.
What are some of your favorite holiday CD’s? We would love to hear from you!
Dominique
gospel+music kirk+franklin christmas+music
Great New Christmas Music
One of the many reasons I look forward to this time of year is the great Christmas music. It is always fun to get the new holiday tunes as well as to listen to the old favorites. This holiday season will be a bit sad for me because I lost my mom a couple of weeks before my birthday in September. I am sure the spirit of the season and the uplifting music will help me enjoy the festivities anyway.
The beautiful ladies of Mary Mary released “A Mary Mary Christmas” on October 10th. Produced by Warryn Campbell, this latest release from the award winning duo combines our favorite traditional carols with some upbeat contemporary gospel sounds. Anything by Mary Mary is a total joy to listen to and this CD will definitely help you celebrate the season. Click on the image below to hear samples:
Israel and New Breed’s newest offering is titled “A Timeless Christmas” and it is in stores now. It was produced by Israel and Luther Hanes and features appearances from CeCe Winans and Marvin Winans. A Timeless Christmas delivers 15 tracks that fuse Israel & New Breed’s innovative style with the classic elements of holiday music. These ingredients will make A Timeless Christmas an album to be treasured by your family for years.
I attend Lakewood Church in Houston where Israel is part of the worship team and I get to see Israel assist in leading worship when he is in town. He travels quite often so he is always a favorite when he is a part of the worship services. This past Sunday he sung “Turn it Around” from his Alive in South Africa CD. The audience went wild!! It is such an uplifting song that the audience connected with the spirit of the lyrics immediately. I know I am off my subject, but I just have to leave you with some lyrics from this awesome song:
All things are possible for you,
all things are possible.
Nothing’s too difficult for you,
nothing’s too difficult.
I’m ready for change, ready for rain, ready for favor
I know You are able.
Turn it around,
Open the windows of Heaven
Pour out a blessing, overflow.
Turn it around,
Open the windows of Heaven
Pour out a blessing
We cannot contain.
Let it rain.
Get in the Christmas mood early by getting your holiday sounds ready. Check the blog tomorrow for more on Christmas music. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter! It will keep you informed on the latest happenings at 1800Gospel.com. Did you listen to the greeting recorded by my son Joshua? It was his first time and he was a bit nervous. He has been practicing and he is looking forward to re-recording it. Let us know what you think about the site by posting a comment. We would love to hear your thoughts and any suggestions on how we can improve.
Dominique
