First Off….
Praise God! Christ was preached.
I had to rewind my TIVO several times before it sunk in, then I called a bunch of friends to verify. I have mixed reactions to it…and I have heard downright Pharisee”ic” reactions to it. The bottom line for me is this, American Idol is the biggest venue and “pulpit” on the planet these days. Take it for what you will, but one of the most powerful testaments to the majesty and redemptive grace of the Living God was sung in front of a needy and spiritually dry world. I was praising!
Let’s invite people to jump into this fantastic adventure with us, instead of walling them off with spiritual piety. Christ came to the sick… needy, downtrodden, unloved, unworthy… hmmm…us. When did we as Christians stop making Christ accessible to all?
When God is glorified, it is worship. If we won’t, God will raise up rocks… or tv contestants?
Christian music falls into two categories for me…Worship to God…singing directly to Him in praise and adoration… and Songs about God… Songs about God, stir the heart, talk about how great and wonderful He is, testify into our souls….and can serve as a wonderful evangelism tool. Shout to the Lord, in my mind, falls into both categories…
and who knows if that song wasn’t written…for such a time as this.
I don’t know the condition of the souls that sang it. I don’t know the motivations of who chose it. (I would have liked to be a fly on the wall in the production meeting when it was selected.) I am not going to “judge” the musicality. Only God, is to judge the heart. What I do know is the Bible says:
Philippians 1:15-18 (NLT)
15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.
And, if you are looking for a great read about making Christ accessible check out Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis…highly recommend it!
I didn’t hear the “Idol gives back” track, so I am just going to lay a shout to the next evenings full version, check it out….and hey, leave a comment…taking all comer’s.
The Write Tools 
Amen! I was amazed when I saw them singing! I was so happy with David Cook when he was vocalizing at the end of the song. I wanted to grab my guitar and play with them!
Love the blog! I wrote one like it last week….
I was amazed and blessed as I sat there the night of idol gives back stunned that this was on National television. And then for them to play it again the next night. Of all the songs the used on idol gives back they choose to sing it again the next night as the opener. Wow. I agree with you Amie. Thank God Christ was preached. Cool blog. How do you have time to write a blog? Love you, Lisa
I was amazed and doing double takes at American Idol as well…but truth it truth, and will win out every time. Only God knows the hearts, but I for one was blessed and so appreciated hearing it in that venue, with those voices and can’t help but think that God softened some hearts in the process. Great website, keep up the great work!
Shout to the Lord, my Jesus, my Savior on american idol! I had to see it to believe it and I have a renewed hope that there is still hope for this world to be reached in a mainstream forum.
I love your blog!! I especially loved reading, so poetically, about your lovestory with Mike that after all these years of friendship, I still had not heard. Beautifully written, my friend!
Hugs and blessings,
Dana