Itunes

New Music from Point of Grace, Danny Gokey, Starfield…

Music is a great resource to motivate and encourage your spirit. Here are the latest releases:

No Changin’ Us
By Point of Grace

Satellites & Sirens CD
By Satellites & Sirens

My Paper Heart -Deluxe Edition
By Francesca Battistelli

As Long As It Takes
By Meredith Andrews

WOW Worship (Purple) 2 CDs
By Various

Rock-N-Happy Heart
By Yancy

More Than Noise CD
By Pocket Full of Rocks

My Best Days CD
By Danny Gokey

Of Men And Angels CD
By The Rocket Summer

Adoration CD
By Brenton Brown

The Saving One CD
By Starfield

Healing 4 Haiti

Or, if you prefer, you can Shop at the iTunes Music Store.

New This Week and What's the difference?

Our youth group is starting a 7 week series tonight called “What’s the difference?” We are going to be looking at various world religions and the differences between them and Christianity(hint: it’s Jesus). The goal is not for them to know more about other religions but to know what and why they believe better. Here are two of the main resources I’m using for this study. Fritz Ridenour’s book has some great stories about the various founders. It’s as informative as a text book, but is a fun read because of the style.

718982: So What&quot;s the Difference? How World Faiths Compare to Christianity, Revised and Expanded

So What’s the Difference? How World Faiths Compare to Christianity, Revised and Expanded

By Fritz Ridenour

In easy-to-understand chapters, the author explains the basic beliefs of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, New Age and a dozen other belief systems of the world. It will help you recognize the real differences and make it easier to explain and share your faith with others. Completely revised and updated.

Christianity, Cults & Religions: Compare 17 Religions and Cults with Biblical Christianity

Compare the beliefs of 18 world religions and cults at a glance, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, and more! Learn what each group believes about God, Jesus, salvation, and other basic points of Christianity. Laminated pamphlet measures 5.5″ x 8.5″ and unfolds to 33″—ideal to keep in your Bible or briefcase. From Rose.

In April and May, we’ll be studying the 10 commandments to continue the process of strengthening their faith foundation. More and more I am finding that many students’ Biblical knowledge is sorely lacking. There are several factors for that but I believe the main culprit is the breakdown of the family unit in our society(more on all that later). The church’s responsibility to make disciples often falls on the local organized body, but I believe that Christ intended for every believer to be and make disciples. I’m not sure when showing up for an hour on Sundays started passing for being a disciple.

Here’s the latest music out this week.

Beautiful Things CD
By Gungor

Michael Gungor’s musical creativity and passion for worship are on full display with Beautiful Things, a thirteen-song set of refreshing original compositions. Featuring a guest appearance from Israel Houghton, Gungor breezes through alternative worship styles on tracks like “Dry Bones,” “Please Be My Strength,” “People of God,” and others.

Gungor also at

Ohio Avenue at

Vicky Beeching’s new EP at

Saw the preview for this book. Just had a conversation with someone about this very thing.

316888: Why Is God Ignoring Me?: What To Do When It Feels Like He&quot;s Giving You the Silent Treatment

Why Is God Ignoring Me?: What To Do When It Feels Like He’s Giving You the Silent Treatment

By Gary R. Habermas

* Have you ever cried out to God when you were in trouble and felt like he’d abandoned you? Sharing personal experiences, heartfelt insights, and biblical truth, Habermas asks tough questions, shares wise answers—and reveals where we can find our heavenly Father in the midst of suffering and sorrow. 256 pages, softcover from Tyndale.

Tony Morgan interview with David Crowder

I’m a big Tony Morgan and David Crowder fan. Here’s Tony’ interview with him about his recent new album.

The Outsiders Review-needtobreathe

I became a fan of needtobreathe after they performed at our youth camp last summer. They had several things going for them. First, they are from Possum Kingdom, SC(near my hometown), sound like Hootie and the Blowfish(you can take a man out of the 90’s but you can’t take the 90’s out of the man), and are really cool guys who love the Lord. You may know them from hits like Washed By the Water. I love the Washed By the Water (Acoustic Version). They also had More Time from the movie, P.S. I Love You. This is their third album following and Daylight and The Heat. From start to finish I love this album. There is something about a banjo that gets me going. The Deluxe Version includes an acoustic version(video) of the Outsiders featuring said banjo. I’m pretty sure plenty of churches will use the Garden during Easter next year. A haunting and amazing song. Gotta love the accordion on Through Smoke. All in all, I think this is the band’s best effort to date. They don’t seem trapped by a single niche and they continue to break through the mainstream with songs featured on TV and movies. If they keep pushing the envelope and writing songs that people want to hear then needtobreathe is headed for a nice long ride.

Clicking on the above links will invite you to open itunes where you will be able to preview, read reviews, and purchase the albums above.

Give Me Dabo

1. Well, Clemson made a great decision and hired interim head coach Dabo Swinney as the full-time head coach. I am pumped about this hire though some of my fellow Clemson fans were hoping for someone with more experience. They probably said the same thing when Clemson hired Danny Ford. Yes, those comparisons are starting now. How can they not? Both played at Bama. Both coached at Bama. Both won at Bama. Both were hired as head coaches in their 30’s. I was soooo glad they did not hire Lane Kiffin who was hired by Tennessee. I think in three years you will see two programs headed in different directions.

2. I found my new favorite church, Heath church. It’s about 15 minutes from us. Check them out here. It’s cool to see vans with Heath Church on the side. I wonder how tall the pastor is?

3. Hillary Clinton has been nominated for Secretary of State. I wonder who is more offended, secretaries or states? Actually, I think she will be a fairly tough negotiator. President-elect Obama had already appointed many Clinton aides from the past so why not appoint an actual Clinton?

4. Just had to go pick up Milena at school. She got sick, but didn’t tell anyone. Thankfully, Charis spoke up about the throw up. She just can’t seem to get well. Hopefully, the Tinkerbell movie(which you can buy for $20 or DVR for free last Sunday) will cheer her up.

5. I’m trying to figure out how to have a books I’m reading section on my blog’s front page with pictures of the books, cds, or movies I’m currently using. Any help on how to do this would be appreciated.

6. Got the Killers new CD on Itunes along with the new Coldplay EP. Both are pretty good. I remember taking shoe boxes full of cassette tapes to parties. What will replace the Ipod? It sure beats lugging a 250 CD case around everywhere.

7. I’ve been reading a lot lately. Lots of history books especially ones about JFK. Most did not paint a flattering picture of him and his family. Right now I’m working on 1776 and John Adams though I’m hoping to get the John Adams HBO DVD from the library. Also finishing Simple Church.

8. We have a NC East youth pastor’s meeting today so me and Apostle Tall will be heading over for that. Pray that we will make wise decision in planning next year’s youth camps.

9. Finally, I would put last night’s episode of Heroes in the top 3 all-time. It was amazing. My favorite part is when Hiro shows up at the Bennetts house, looks at Sylar, says “Bad Man”, and teleports him away. It just came out of nowhere. Lots of twists and turns and they’re not focusing on characters I don’t like anymore like Maya. Maybe the Haitian could wipe the whole Maya and Alexandro story line from my memory. Speaking of the Haitian, what did he do to his brother? Did he wipe his memory or kill him? If so, then how did he kill him? The Seth Green and Duncan Meyer cameos have been priceless.

10. It’s off to Sir Pizza’s!