SouthernGospelBlog.com

Greater Vision has released a Hymns project entitled Hymns of the Ages. This project will be available from Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries. They described the project in their email announcement:

Several months ago, we started working on a project with Producer Lari Goss, that we planned to release as a print project for Church Choirs. When we started working on it, we had no idea what it would become. During our pre- production meeting, we talked about working on some classic Hymns, and then the idea of putting them in a chronological order was mentioned. That meant we’d have to find songs that covered everything from the Creation to the Second Coming, and everything in between. What we came up with has become known as “Hymns Of The Ages”.

After we finished working on the soundtracks with the renowned Prague Symphony Orchestra, we put the print project on “hold” so we could record our vocals and produce a CD that we could make available to our friends. Shortly after the project began, our friends at In Touch Ministries contacted us about doing a special project for them, and when we mentioned what we were already working on, all of us realized that it was not a coincidence. “Hymns Of The Ages” would be the perfect recording to make available to the supporters and friends of In Touch. That recording is now available!

Well, this blog has lost a reader. So I find in this thread on Averyfineline.com. Doug Harrison, the author of the blog, had written a post on the Steeles’ song “We Want America Back.” Harrison was criticizing the simple-minded evangelicals who “wanted America back” because society is moving away from God and from Christian standards. Essentially, his argument was that gay marriage, abortion, no prayer in schools, and other liberal panaceas should not bother Christians because these things do not affect us personally. He stated: “There just aren’t that many instances in ordinary American life when evangelicals are going to be penalized or forced to suffer severely for their beliefs.”

When I read this, I decided to post the following comment:

Doug,
You said: “There just aren’t that many instances in ordinary American life when evangelicals are going to be penalized or forced to suffer severely for their beliefs.”

This is true to an extent. So why are Christians getting worked up, if you will?

A good part of the reason we care is that, in several arenas, we are only one step away from where we could be forced to suffer severely for our beliefs. Let me give just one example: Gay rights.

In Canada and several European nations, it is a criminal action to read certain sections of the Bible aloud, because those sections state quite clearly that homosexuality is a sin. The gay lobby in this country is pushing for similar legislation, making speaking against homosexuality a hate crime. Such legislation has been considered by the U.S. Congress, but since we had a Republican majority to date, it has been voted down.

If Christians could be imprisoned for reading certain sections of their Bibles in public, would you not agree that we would then be “forced to suffer severely for our beliefs”?

I was amazed to see another poster reply thusly:

Well, Avery, so much for the intelligent, civil conversation. Daniel Mount’s post really blew my mind. Absolutely ridiculous. Guess there goes another blog off of my list. …

Well, guess what? I’m a conservative Christian, and I’m not ashamed of it. If you don’t want to read a blog written by a conservative Christian, then don’t read my blog. If you don’t want to listen to music made by conservative Christians, than quit listening to most Southern Gospel groups. Whatever their political affiliation, I think that most Southern Gospel performers would agree that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that it should be a basic element of religious liberty to read the Bible out loud. I believe that my views on this topic are fully within the mainstream of thought in America’s evangelical subculture.

That said, let me assure you of this: This is a Southern Gospel blog, not a politics blog. I will not discuss politics here, except as it directly affects Southern Gospel (such as the song under discussion). If you object to reading a non-political blog written by a conservative, so be it. See you at the next Legacy Five concert!