Saturday, September 15, 2007

One of my new favorite things....

I am becoming more and more a fan of the band Casting Crowns. Their latest album (The Alter and The Door) has some terrific songs on it. My favorite thus far is "East to West"(that link will take you to a page where you can preview each of the songs on the CD).

To be honest, I've not cared for this genre of music until recently (as I've explained a couple of different times here). As I've gotten over some of my hang-ups regarding CCM, I've been blessed time and again by inspirational (and sometimes emotional) music merged wonderfully with theologically sound and oft-times deep lyrical content. I've taken on a somewhat steady diet of CCM as of late, and I've found myself being confronted with my own depravity as well as the goodness and majesty of a Great God repeatedly. By no means do I like everything I hear. There are some musical styles within the CCM movement that, quite frankly, offend my sensibilities; however, my attitudes towards the genre have changed tremendously over the last 12 months as I've began to truly appreciate what some of these artists have to offer. I'm thankful for groups like Casting Crowns who have put out some truly Christ-honoring music that has had a profound impact on my life.

If you click on the picture above, it will take you to the Casting Crowns website.

2 comments:

Bob Hayton said...

Ellis,

They are one of my favorite groups too.

You are right that in time you can appreciate more of the CCM-style music. For instance I was totally turned off by the appearance of Jeremy Camp, prominently shown on his album covers. He had piercings and stuff, looked totally "worldly" you know. But when I heard of his testimony (he married a young woman with cancer, in their honeymoon they found out it had come back and in a year she was dead), and his deep understanding of faith in God, I really gained an appreciation for his music. I really like his Carried Me, worship album, too.

Anyways, back to Casting Crowns, you may find this post of mine from a while back, interesting: "Casting Crowns & Mercy Me: A Look At Motivations".

Blessings from Jesus,

Bob Hayton

Ellis Murphree said...

I just went back and read your posts, Bob - thanks for the good info. I echo the comments made by one of the folks responding to your thread - CCM (specifically, Christian "rock") is a lot different today than it was 20 years ago. Some of the people writing and performing many of these songs are actually pretty decent theologians and not just mere performers. Thanks for the link and the comment.