SouthernGospelBlog.com

I finally found a few minutes to make a couple of necessary updates to the blog.

1. In the left sidebar, under the “search” box, you can find a number of options for reading this blog in various RSS readers.
2. Under each post—when you view it as an individual post (which you can do by clicking on the post title)—you will now see a row of buttons to make it easier to share these posts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other websites.
3. I’ve added threaded comments, so you can reply to other commenters or start your own discussion. Love it? Hate it? Tell me in the (presently threaded) comments.

One other thing. Occasionally I come across a Christian book or film that intrigues me enough that I’ll review it. To this point, I’ve mostly posted those reviews on www.danielmount.com, my author site. Now I wouldn’t want to take anything away from the Southern Gospel content here, so I was thinking of only posting these on weekends. (I doubt I would do more than one per month.)

Also, Sony is interested in doing some columns in her Sunday “Sony’s Thoughts” feature that don’t have any particular Southern Gospel connection.

Would you be interested in seeing these occasionally? Or do you think it would take away from the Southern Gospel focus of this site?

This is my second off-topic post in as many weeks, but like the previous one, it’s also tangentially related to Southern Gospel.

According to a Fox News report (hat tip, Matt Paasch), San Diego county is attempting to shut down home Bible studies. Apparently, they only want licensed religious gatherings. They want the couple they are targeting to pay thousands of dollars for a license to hold services on their property.

If a move like this holds up under judicial and legislative scrutiny, it would be the beginning of the end of the right to peacefully assemble for church services or Christian concerts—because a system where you must get government approval to meet is only one small step away from a system where the government denies certain applications.

This is only tangentially related to Southern Gospel, but it was too thought-provoking not to share:

Every now and then, the question of the future of the Southern Gospel demographic is raised. This sheds a unique perspective on the subject.

For those of you who enjoyed Fireproof and Expelled, another independent Christian movie is coming out for a limited one-week release in about a week, (hopefully) to a theater near you.

The Widow’s Might is a film produced by two Christian teenagers in Texas, both recent homeschool graduates. The film is a western musical dealing with (of all things) the issue of property tax, specifically how it can hurt the elderly. The official site, with the trailer and other clips from the film is www.thewidowscry.com, and a list of theaters where the film can be seen is here.

I have seen a DVD of the film, and the technical quality is amazing. The story is interesting, and the actors, especially Gator, deliver good performances. The film also won the top prize, the “Best of Festival” award, at this year’s Independent Christian Film Festival.

This film is worth checking out and supporting.

On a personal note, this week I released a DVD on the Faith of America’s Presidents. It’s available here. Here are two video clips:

If your browser blocks YouTube, you can watch these directly on my website.

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There is a little more to these off-topic personal posts than might meet the eye. I have never been a big fan of the anonymous-blogger-behind-a-keyboard model. Posting my photo (on the “about” page) and these video clips helps me be a little more recognizable, and thus accountable. It serves as a check that keeps me from running a needlessly critical story or unsubstantiated rumor, since any of you (fans or artists) could recognize me at a concert and call me on it. And I think that’s a good thing.

On a personal note, I was out of town last Saturday and thus missed my daily post. During this trip, I had the chance to be interviewed by Phyllis Schlafly on Eagle Forum Live. If you didn’t catch the interview on your local station, you can hear the two half-hour segments here and here.

I’m scheduled to be interviewed on a nationally syndicated radio program this afternoon, Janet Parshall’s America. Some radio stations will carry it live at 3:30 EST; others will play it on a time delay.

I have a couple upcoming radio appearances promoting my book on The Faith of America’s Presidents. Any of you who might be curious to hear the voice behind the keyboard can tune into today’s Viewpoint Radio live show at 4 PM Eastern. It’s aired nationally on various radio stations, and is streamed online here.

Also, I’ve already taped a show for WCTS Radio in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I doubt many of this blog’s readers are in listening distance, but it will be streamed online next Tuesday at 8:35 AM Central / 9:35 Eastern and at 7 PM Central / 8 Eastern.

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Trust me, there’s no way I’m going to change topics on this blog. It’s just that these radio appearances are so exciting for me that I can’t really help but talk about them! I’ll return with more Southern Gospel posts tomorrow, Lord willing.

I just wanted to let you know that I’m starting a personal blog on my website, http://www.danielmount.net/blog/. It will focus on what I’m doing as an author–books, songs, and articles. I’m going to aim to update it about once a week, while still updating this one daily (six days a week).