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It has been a busy summer for us, we have attended numerous concerts and I’ve talked to a lot of folks that love gospel music. A couple of things have caught my attention during this time. First, the multi-day sings, we’ve always had them but they seem to be cropping up more and more.

Labor Day weekend alone I know of 3 of them. Table Rock, SC where the Melodyaires host their two night singing, on Friday and Saturday night. This tradition started many years ago when Charlie Baker was the owner of the Melodyaires and has brought some of the best groups in the business to the upper state of SC. This year is no exception. Check out their website at http://www.melodyaires.com

Then there is the Gatlinburg Gathering, for those who want to be busy all day long and enjoy great gospel music. I personally love concerts that Ray Flynn is involved in. Not only do I hear great music, I hear great preaching. The concerts are Friday-Sunday evenings and during the day they have showcases and preaching as well. You can find more info on these concerts at http://www.rayflynnpromotions.com .

Lastly, Legacy Five is hosting a 3 day event with 2 evenings of music and a farewell lunch on Monday with them. This is at Opryland Hotel in Nashville TN and the tickets are a package deal that includes your room at the Opryland Hotel. The package is a great value but if you don’t want tickets for both nights or to stay at Opryland, you can’t get tickets currently. I’ll admit that I personally wasn’t thrilled with that. I can only attend Sunday night and was told that individual night tickets will not be available until August 1st but the packages have been available for a while. Now I understand the concept, it’s great for the group, you know you have tickets sold for both nights and it’s great for the hotel, they are selling rooms and tickets. But for the fans that may only want to attend one night you are almost guaranteed seats further back than you might want. Also, while staying at the same hotel is convenient there are much cheaper avenues for those on a tight budget. The link for their concert is http://www.legacyfive.com .

Now I plan on attending one night at each of these (if tickets are available for Nashville on August 1st). It is part of the ‘summer tour’ with my daughter of hitting as many concerts as possible. And I know I will enjoy them all but I have to say in my opinion; Ray Flynn has found the best formula for the weekend. There are a lot of activities for those wanting to come to the Civic Center and just stay for the day. There are a lot of activities in the area around them. He is bringing in some of the very best talent available. There are motels and hotels all around, many within walking distance of the Civic Center.

The other thing that has caught my attention ties by to last month’s article. I’ve gotten emails from folks that said things like ‘I didn’t think I would like SGM but someone took me to a concert’ or I had someone take me at a concert ‘I thought SGM was stuffy but I like this’.

So it appears that the problem isn’t as much with our music as our attitude of the ‘closed door society’ that keeps people from finding out about us. I know this isn’t true for everyone but there are many folks so afraid to mix up the music. Please don’t misunderstand me, I love Southern Gospel Music, but I don’t believe that makes all other music wrong. And SGM folks aren’t the only ones who have the closed door attitude, other genres have it too. I didn’t get to attend the Blur the Lines tour in SC and I know it was cancelled after that. I would have gone had I not been otherwise engaged. I hate that folks on both sides were closed to the fact these were groups that sing well and truly wanted to do something special.

I know I won’t get a lot of Amens or agreement on this but when are we going to realize that another genre of music isn’t the enemy – satan is!!!!! Now he can use CCM, SGM or any other genre where there are people willing to be used. But once again, he has us so busy fighting or at least disagreeing that we can’t stay busy trying to show the world Jesus.

God has called very born again Christian, every person who has accepted Jesus as their Savior and asked God’s forgiveness of their sins to love their brother (and sister) and to share His gospel. Those are the directives of Christ.

I hope we figure that out before it is too late. When I reach heaven, it is not going to be about how much SGM I sang, played or heard (or any other genre). It is going to be about did I tell others about the only true Way, Jesus Christ. If I’m able to use SGM to do that, Praise the Lord. But that isn’t the only way.

DeeAnn Bailey
http://www.deeannbailey.com

Reader Comments

You've got a big AMEN from me, Dee!
In Romans Paul tells us to stop fighting over disputable differences - I DO believe that music style is definitely that!

God is good - all the time
All the time - God is good

Thanks Sally! And just an update on the Legacy Five concerts - after talking to their office today we find that we can't get tickets for just one night until the actual night of the concert even though we had been told last week that we could.

If we are willing to drive to Nashville without knowing if we will have tickets, we may be able to get them. I think I'll pass on that. Driving several hours without knowing if I can get in a concert doesn't have a lot of appeal to me.

But if you are looking for two nights it is a great deal and they are having some awesome talent!

DeeAnn
TGIF Today God Is First
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Read my blog at http://www.bloglines.com/blog/Dee-Ann-Bailey

David, I think you missed the whole point of Dee's article. Contemporary Christian Music is not our enemy. You fall into that trap of not being able to uplift one genre without tearing down another.
As far as not wanting to be "too preachy", singers need to stick to singing, and leave the preaching to the preachers. They are two different ministries.
Both get the Salvation message across, but not in the same way.
You know, People thought that when the Statesmen and Blackwoods come to the forefront of Gospel music that they sounded dirty and sinful too. It's NOT the music style that makes it dirty or sinful, but the message of the songs.

Deon Unthank
SoGospelNews.com
My Blog

Some people are like Slinkys… Not really good for anything, but they
still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs - Author Unknown

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