Songs for Easter

Need some song ideas for Good Friday or Easter? Try these:

He Lives, Because He Lives, O the Blood, At the Cross - popular hymns
The Blood Will Never Lose its Power
He's Alive
The Blood Still Works
Lord I Lift Your Name on High
Worth
The Anthem

Come again

My aunt is notorious for changing the words of songs. In fact, she does this with such strong conviction that I thought the way we sung a particular song was the right until a quick Google search corrected me.

My aunt's version:
Lord I praise you right here and now
If I don't praise you the rocks will cry out
'Cuz you are the holy one
You're the one you're the only one
Hallelujah, Hallelu
Lord I give the praises to ya
Because you are the holy one
You're the one you're the only one

The real lyrics:
Lord the people praise you
Lift you up and raise you
Because you are the holy one
You're the one you're the only one
Halle, halle, hallelu
All the glory is due you
Because you are the holy one
You're the one you're the only one

Now do those 2 first lines sound anything alike? lol Anywho, it's a great call and response song.

I don't know who the original artist is, but this rendition sounds good and subsequently nothing like my aunt's version which is real churchy.

Blessings and love you Auntie! :)

5 women in gospel who rock!

In honor of International Women's Day and Black History Month (yes, I'm late on both) I thought it would be nice to give a shout out to the women in gospel music who have inspired me with their voice, music, and longevity!

Kim Burrell
Kim is a vocal beast! No one can do what she can.

Tremain Hawkins
Tremain's voice is classically beautiful and strong.

Mavis Staples
Gospel or otherwise, Mavis's sound defined an era and she's still going strong. Check out her documentary on HBO. It was good.

Cece Winans
Great with her brother or singing solo, she sings great songs.

Shirley Caesar
Anointed to sing and minister. Respected by everyone.

One and done

The Stellar Awards used to be one of the highlights of the year for me when I was growing up. I remember making a whole night of it. This year's Stellar's just came on Sunday and to be quite honest, I just watched Celebration of Gospel last month and have thus surpassed my quota for the amount of awards shows I plan to watch this year. (This coming from someone who didn't watch the Oscars, SAG awards, BET Honors, or any other ridiculously long show featuring today's top entertainers/talent/intellects.) I guess I should've held out for the show that honors gospel music artists rather than the one that showcases talent (even though both line-ups were about the same).

The other thing is, if you're following your favorite artists on social media, you already know who won what.

In case you're not in the know, here's the link to see all of this year's winners.


Blessings

Running on E

Did you miss me while I was gone? I usually post every week, but I didn't have much to say for the month of February so I took a break.

I also am usually very upbeat, but for whatever reason, I'm not feeling very chipper these days.

In short, I think I need a Sabbatical. I won't spend a lot of time explaining everything in great detail, but I bet if you're following this blog you probably feel the same way at times. If you are like me, you wear multiple roles at your church. (#smallchurchproblems) I called myself stepping back from the youth leader role, but because our national youth convention isn't in the U.S., I've been thrust back into organizing. Then, besides leading the worship team, I also sing a solo most Sundays. Finally, I agreed to help with our district praise team this year and things are really about to pick up.

Sometimes when you have a lot of responsibilities you start to resent being involved so much. Not to mention I work full time, am a mom, and wife. I have friends, but honestly I can go well over a month without seeing them. I feel like I'm running on empty here. And not in the physically exerted way; in the personal/spiritual way. And I don't mean in the religious sense. It's more like I'm doing so much for everything and everyone and I'm not replenishing myself.  I'd like to chalk it all up to the winter blues, but it's almost spring. (I say that while it's snowing at this very moment and it's March.)

So that's where I am. Stick with me as I try to bounce back.

Why I loved Celebration of Gospel (much to my surprise)

I'm not a big awards show fan. You end up watching to see 2 or 3 of your favorite artists and the rest of the 40 hours is spent hearing from people you're just not that into. For me, it's not worth the amount of time invested in front of the tube.

For this reason I had not planned to watch BET's Celebration of Gospel. It's not an awards show, but it's the same type of deal. Sure, most of the artists have a song that I like, but I'm an equal opportunity hater so I wasn't going to automatically watch just because COG is a gospel show. (Hopefully that shows I have integrity. lol) Nonetheless, I happend to be flipping through channels and ended up watching the last half and really enjoyed it.

I LOVE that the show is about celebrating gospel. This isn't the "if you're saved and you know it clap your hands" show. This is the "if you love gospel music and you know it clap your hands." I love that pop culture celebrities, R&B, and hip hop artists are there - some of which are performing to rep their love for gospel and the message that it brings. Honestly, most black artists got their start in church. Let's celebrate that! So cheers to Taraji P. Hensen, Chaka Khan, Tank, Bryshere Gray, et. al for participating. Everyone was making a joyful noise.

I love that COG is an opportunity for pop artists to show that they do indeed listen to, enjoy, and recognize the talents of gospel artists. Y'all know one can sing like church folk! Yasssss Tamela Mann, Yolanda Adams, and Jessica Reedy (she sounded phenomenal!) And in case pop celebs' fans didn't know they believe in an almighty God - now they know.

COG also shows that gospel is not just a traditional church choir. Hello Travis Greene and Kirk Franklin. We have a message and a sound for lovers of music and it doesn't only consist of old classics like "I-iiiiii love the Lord, he heard my cry-yyy-yyyyyy."

I love that COG is a platform for the gospel community to worship together and commemorate our legends. The Andre Crouch tribute was really nice. Shout out to Be Be Winans!

Finally, I love that others can hear the true message of gospel thanks to songs like Worth by Anthony Brown and Group thereAPy.

So Kudos, BET, for getting it right and keeping it classy... this time. :)

P.S. If you missed Celebration of Gospel 2016 and want to check out the performances here's the link.