2008

Reflections - Sep 08

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Allow me to introduce to you my candidate. First of all, he is a man who’s age is unknown, yet he is concerned about old and young alike. His mother was a poor teenager, but his father is a wealthy cattleman for it is reported that he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Despite his father’s wealth, he chose to work with his hands as a carpenter. At a very young age he exhibited wisdom beyond his years and it was clear to this young man that there was a calling on his life.

My candidate not only believes in creationism, but has witnessed it first hand. He has strong family values, vehemently opposes abortion and has strong words for those who would harm one of the little ones.

He has drawn criticism for socializing with tax collectors, but let me assure you his efforts were always directed to their reform. On taxation, he himself is paid up and has even been known to pay the taxes of a friend, but as our leader has promised not to put more upon us than we can bear.

He is in a unique position to understand our struggles for he in fact became one of us and he knows the feelings of our infirmities. His healthcare plan is the most far-reaching of any proposed and he has a personal stake in it for he went to great lengths and much sacrifice to bring it about. It is offered to all regardless of station in life, for he himself is the healer.

His economic policies are simple, but sound…give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together and running over. He is a proponent of prosperity and was heard to say, I would that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. He has promised to be the provider for all our needs.

There is no greater defense policy than to remind us that he has given his angels charge over us to keep us. He has a strong anti-crime policy, yet is compassionate enough to offer a full pardon.

He was himself a maverick of sorts, unwilling to bow his knee to the prince of this world or be bound by tradition. This is a man who has faced the enemy and was taken prisoner for a time. He suffered terribly at the hands of the enemy, but in a stunning turn of events wound up with the keys to the prison and led his fellow prisoners victoriously out and today the enemy trembles at the sound of his name.

My candidate has never spoken a lie nor will he ever. He has never broken a promise or failed to do what he said. His word is absolute and unshakeable….an incredible record of veracity.

This man has an awesome energy plan, for ALL power is given unto him. His mercies are new every morning….talk about a renewable source!

My candidate alone has the answers for such a time as this, and he has made an astounding offer…that if we choose him as our leader that we can reign with him.

Now, let us take a look at his opponent. This candidate has a shady past. He was fired from his first job for rebellion and insurrection. His economic policy and healthcare plan can be summed up in that he has come only to steal, kill and destroy. He is a liar and the father of all liars. The truth is not in him. He is immoral and is into bondage, for he will deceive the masses with illicit sex, drugs and alcohol and then when they are bound, laugh when their addictions take them down to the grave. He appears as an angel of light, yet there is darkness in his heart. His eloquent speeches are little more than the roaring of a toothless lion.

There is a war raging that must be won, and friends, there is an election day. Everyone must choose between these two “candidates”.

Out of curiosity recently I consulted Mr. Webster on the origin of two words. First the word “campaign”. I learned that the word campaign means “battlefield”. More astounding is the origin of the word “candidate”. The word candidate comes from the Latin word “candidatus” which means literally…..robed in white.

Now, I ask you, is there really any question who the REAL candidate is? Please cast your vote today for the man who will truly bring change….Jesus Christ…..and that IS change you can believe in.

Janice Crow
Proud to be a “delegate”
(From the Latin “delegare” meaning……to send.)

“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel”

Jason Crabb - Sep 08

I am so excited right now, as to what God is doing in my life! My main mission in life is seeing people come to know the saving power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! God is allowing me to sing and preach his word, and every week I hear testimony that confirms that I am doing what He wants me to do! To go along with that, He has provided me with some awesome songs from some of the best songwriters in the business for my new album. For those of you who know me, I want to sing songs that touch people’s lives and can actually lead to “change” in their lives. These songs do just that. I can’t wait to record them and get them out to radio. Speaking of recording them, I am so blessed and thankful to have such a great team of people working on this project! To start with, I’ve got Barry Jennings, Paul Sizelove and Bill Carter from my new record label.

Want to be impressed? Google Bill Carter and see what you get! From The Rolling Stones, to Reba McIntire,Tanja Tucker and Bill Gaither, Bill Carter has seen it all. Barry and Paul from Springhill Records are really bringing in the heavy hitters for this, my debut solo project, and I am pumped for it!

Ever heard of Norro Wilson? Google him. From Kenny Chesney to Shania Twain’s first album, Norro is a “legend” in the music business!!!! I am so amazed at the talent that God has sent my way to help make this new album great.

How about Tommy Simms? The “go to” man in Christian music today is Tommy Simms! Google him, you will be equally impressed! Both Norro and Tommy will be producing this new project.

Why has God sent this talent my way? I really don’t know but all I can do is praise Him for it and trust that what we come up with will bring more and more people to the cross! He’s got a plan and I am just proud to be a part of it!

My band members are doing such a great job as we travel all across this country and I just want to take a minute to just thank them for their dedication and talent. I surely couldn’t do what I do without each and every one of them. They are awesome!

On the “family” side of things, my little girl Ashleigh started school this year and Shellye is staying home a lot and getting her to school and keeping up with Emma. I sure miss them on the road when they’re not here, but God is doing some amazing things to keep me busy. He’s blessed me very much this first year, as I ventured out without my siblings, and I can’t thank Him enough. He’s also taking great care of Crabb Revival, Aaron and Amanda, Mike and Kelly and our father Gerald Crabb. Five separate ministries but with one purpose! What God has in store for the future only He knows. I just want to remain in His will and obey His calling on my life! God Bless you all and I hope to see you soon at a concert or service!

Jason Crabb
http://www.jasoncrabb.com

King’s Heralds - Sep 08

We must be doing something right! It seems that when everything seems to be going reasonably well with the ministry, and you are seeing God move in lives of folks that you are singing for that the devil tries to come against you. Now we know that we are not the only group that he has been working on lately.

For the past month God has been doing extraordinary things in our concerts. We have seen people saved, we have had the opportunity to pray with folks about needs in their life after some of the concerts and we have just felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in a very special way. About a week ago, we were coming back from a great week of concerts in the Atlanta area. As we pulled of the interstate to get some fuel, we were rear ended by a drunk driver! Thank the Lord no one was hurt. The other car was totaled. However, we were able to drive our rig home. Once we got home we realized that none of our equipment had been damaged. The only thing that was hurt was our trailer. In spite of it all, God has been watching over us. We thank each and every one of you for the prayers that you have said on our behalf. Don't stop now! Like we said we must be doing something right!

We are looking forward to NQC this year. Please come by our booth for a visit. We would love to have the chance to visit with you. If you have not been, it's time to come and enjoy the experience. We will be there all week and look forward to seeing our friends that we don't see any other time of year.

God bless you all.
King's Heralds
http://www.theheralds.org

Cavaliers Quartet

If you are wondering, who is the Cavaliers Quartet, then take a few minutes and you will see what we are all about as well as why we do what we do.

The Cavaliers Qt. started in 1993 with two brothers, Anthony and Wayne O'Neal. ( i think we are 54th cousins twice removed-of Ed O'Neal of the Dixie Melody Boys-ha ha). Over the past 15 years our group has consistantly had outstanding singers come though with very little turnover. Our first line up stayed together for over ten years and our current line up has been together going on three years. Speaking of our current line up, let's meet two of them.

Ben Mullins is our tenor singer. He has one of the smoothest all natural tenor voices in the industry. The cool thing about Ben is he did not know he could do this until about 3 years ago. He was sitting in the back of his home church and a lady in the choir told him she could hear him singing from the choir loft. "You need to be in the choir" she said. After asking and begging, Ben finally gave in and said "OK I will sing in the choir....but I will not sing any SOLO's. Now to hear Ben belt out old standards like "Oh What a Savior" and new songs like "Jesus Saved my Soul", I for one am glad that he is singing solos!!! Ben has a heart for seeing souls brought into the Kingdom, that is for sure.

Jason Reese fills out the sound of the Cavaliers Qt with his strong lead voice. Jason is Ben's nephew. He has been with the group for around 3 years also. He started singing, you guessed it, in his home church. He too has a strong lead voice with a wide range as well as style. He is the youngest in the group. He is a graduate of Middle Tenn. State University. There is no doubt that Jason does this for the glory of God and not any glory for himself. This is the first traveling ministry that Jason and Ben have been a part of.

We are all from the Shelbyville Tennessee area, about 70 miles south of Nashville Tn. That makes it very convenient when we do our recording for Song Garden Music Group-Garden Creek. We sing all over the Southeast as well as right here in Middle Tennessee. We would love to hear from you all and we would love to meet you so go to http://www.cavaliersquartet.com and email us about anything you want to know about us. Keep looking for us here at sogospelnews.com for more about the other two guys, you know, the 54th cousins twice removed of Ed O'Neal.

In His Arms!!
Cavaliers Quartet
http://www.cavaliersquartet.com

Meet Mike LeFevre

Mike is no stranger to countless gospel music fans. For those of you who are wondering how he is related to Eva Mae, she is his aunt. Mike's dad was a brother to Urias and Alphus LeFevre. Mike began his career in gospel music by taking a full time position with his uncle Alphus LeFevre's group in the 70's. His starting salary was a whopping $25.00 per week. MIke later went on to sing with The SInging Americans, but most will remember him as the baritone position he held with Gold City from 1985 to 1992 when that group took gospel music by storm. Mike was voted "Favorite Baritone Singer" 3 times at the Singing News Fan Awards at the National Quartet Convention and he has been a fan favorite ever since. Although, Mike appeared to be at the top of the world in those days, things weren't exactly as they seemed.

In Mike's Own Words:

"I grew up watching the LeFevres and other groups singing and I knew that was what I wanted to do. So I worked and worked and in the late 80's found myself with one of the top groups in the country. We were winning awards and singing every night. On the outside, I was living the dream I'd always had, but on the inside I knew that I had never taken the time to meet this man named Jesus that I was singing about. I knew about Him, but I didn't know Him. In September of 1988, I was under such conviction and was so tired of running, I called a pastor friend of mine and as I knelt in my living room, I surrendered my life to Christ. I called my wife afterwards and after sharing with her what had just happened, she called the same pastor and was saved that same day. We were baptized before my next trip out with Gold City. After years of Satan convincing me that if I ever got saved, the shame and embarrasment would cause me to loose my job, my family and all I had worked for because the fans would hate me for lying to them all those years, I finally faced my biggest fear. We were singing that weekend and I stepped out and shared what had happened to about 3,000 people. To my amazement, those people stood up, applauding, welcoming me into the family of God. Not one person rejected me, which proved that Satan is a liar and a deceiver. However, being gone every Sunday singing, I found myself not growing in the knowledge of Christ, so in 1992, I decided to come off of the road and spend time in church and with my family. In recent years I dabbled in music here and there, knowing that God wanted to use me somehow through music, but I never pursued what has happened in the last 3 years. One by one, God put this group together and it has really overwhelmed me. God is allowing me to sing again and has placed me with in my opinion is an absolute dream team of singers around me. I love singing with these guys, but what I love most is that they all share the same passion and love for God that I have. We're not just four guys that sing together. These guys are some of my best friends and we keep each other accountable on the road and off. I'm amazed and just stand in awe of what He is doing"!

If you knew Mike during his run with Gold City and haven't seen him in a long time, come by our booth at NQC and catch up with him. If you've never met him, come by and we'll introduce you to him. Mike is just Mike and I promise you that you will not meet a nicer, more genuine guy anywhere!

Three Bridges - Oct 08

Ronnie Hinson wrote a song on the Three Bridges' new project that says " It really doesn't matter if I'm not livin' high. I gladly get along on meager fare. I'll never be the one to ever question why, livin' right beside my Jesus, I'm a millionaire!" In this great song, Ronnie reminds us about God's goodness and His many blessings! God blesses us every day. The closer we walk with Him and his son Jesus, the more blessings we discover. And, when we count those blessings, we realize that we are rich where it counts. We thank God for making us "blessings millionaires!" Some of His recent blessings upon Three Bridges include: the Autumn "smell" in the air; health and ability to be at the National Quartet Convention this month; a wonderful last week and Labor Day with our families and friends at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri and in Pickerington, Ohio; getting to see and hear our friends Karen Peck and New River and The Booth Brothers at Silver Dollar City; a great sermon this past Sunday that reminded us that work and rest are blessings from God; the "SoGospelNews.com" family; all of our friends who worked on the new project; and many, many more. Speaking of the new project (of course, we've already done that a couple of times ;~) ), this is an exciting time for Three Bridges as "Another Blessing" releases this month! You can contact us through the website http://www.threebridges.net to find out more about ordering this CD! Also, you will soon find it in stores.We look forward to hearing from you! Also, our first radio single "Step Back On The Rock" debuts at #42 in October 2008! Please call your DJs and ask them to play it. We hope you get "another blessing" when you hear the single and the project!