Follow The Times

I love to get into the discussions as to why Southern Gospel Music is struggling so much. Of course we all have our explanations of why our concert attendance is so low. Some say it's poor quality, but I was watching Nashville Star the other night, and after hearing that talent, I am not worried about the talent in SG at all. Some say it's because there is too much entertainment involved and others say there isn't enough entertainment involved. Some say it's because we have let the Country sound infiltrate our "pure" SG sound. Some say it's because we want to stick to close to the "quartet" sounds. Everybody has a reason for why SG isn't growing as fast as we would like.

I have an idea I'd like to throw out for your consideration. Just what if, what if, it's .......... the message. There I said it. Before you stone me here let's think about it for just a minute. Where was the Nation when SG was raging in our fair land. What were we doing? As I look back at the history of our great genre, I see that the Nation was living in hard times. We had just come through the Great Depression, a couple of World Wars, money was tight, the great Industrial Revolution hadn't really gotten a hold on us. We still had to grow a lot of our own food, rely on family for our needs, our fun, and our inspiration. We still had to depend on God as a Nation. There was no thought of taking God out of the classroom, no thought of four letter, offensive words being used in the movies we were watching, and we still had very good attendance at church every Sunday,

Ah, I just hit part of my evaluation, Church attendance was still growing. As a Nation we were still very dependent on our Faith and our God. Today we are much different. We are very independent. We don't seem to need family, we don't seem to need church, and most important we, as a Nation, don't seem to need God. Now to my point. It's our message. It's not that our message isn't still true, or not still important, or that it's not even still needed. The problem is that much of America doesn't realize that they still need the message we have to offer. If you think back to September 11, 2001, for a brief moment in our history, our Nation turned to God in desperation. In fact for a six month period of time, church attendance and even CD sales of all Christian music rose sharply. We, for a brief moment, saw again our need for God, religion, church, family, and a lot of other things we had seemingly forgotten about. Now, as often happens, as a Nation, we have drifted back into that feeling of independence and our need for God, church, etc, has been hidden in the back of our mind again.

So, what has happened to church attendance, Southern Gospel concert attendance and CD sales? They have again plummeted and we have again reverted to our reasoning that SG is failing because of quality or any of those other reasons I discussed earlier. The fact is that it's our message. We have the message that our Nation and the world needs, but they just aren't interested in listening to it.

Not SGM, But I’m Excited

While this blog is on a Southern Gospel Music site, sometimes my subject varies, and this is one of them. I have to admit that I'm not much of a hockey fan, but I've been to a couple of games and I have to admit that I did enjoy the action. Not sure I really knew what was going on all the time, but the action was fast and furious. Now I reckon I have a little more reason to watch the game of hockey. Robbie Czarnik, my grand-nephew, son of my niece and nephew, Rob and Denise Czarnik has just been drafted by the LA Kings. After just graduating from high school this last month, Robbie was drafted as the third pick in the third round of the annual National Hockey League draft.

We'll get back to Southern Gospel shortly, but for now, let me proudly say "CONGRATULATIONS" to Robbie on a giant step in his life ands career. Good going, Robbie.

The Mess We Are In

The Book of Proverbs tells us (Paraphrased), "As a Man thinketh in his heart, so is he". The same can be said for a nation, "As the people of a Country think in their hearts, so is the Country". At a Gospel Concert the other night, as the MC was desperately trying to say our Nation was still great, he said "even with the mess that we are in". I am sick of hearing that phrase. First, it is way over used, and secondly, it's just not true.

It seems that every election year, one party is going to go around the country telling us how bad off our great Nation is. Why are they doing this? Because they want to be elected. It doesn't matter that they are planting negative thoughts in the minds of our citizens, and it doesn't matter that the statements aren't true, if it can get them elected, they will spread the demise of our country.

I am old, but not that old. I still remember when in the 70s interest rates were up to 21%. Right now, they are at 5.8%. Does that sound like the "mess we are in"? I can remember also in the 70s when unemployment was at 12 and 13%, for the month of April, 2008 is was at 5%. Remember in the Depression days, unemployment was at 24%. Does that sound like "the mess we're in"?

We are perhaps the most blessed Nation in the world, and yet all we can see is "the mess we're in". I am sick of it. Just stop and look around you. Even the most impoverished section of our large cities does not live in poverty like they do in foreign countries. I've been on the mission trips and seen the people living in mud houses. I've seen the people who live with dirt floors. I've seen cities of cardboard houses. I've seen the people who have to go to the stream each morning to get their water. I'm looking around to see the "mess we're in". I look around and see the poverty in this great Nation and I see cable TV hooked up in the houses in the ghetto. I see people taking their food stamps to the store to buy food for the entire family. I heard their toilets flush form running water. Drive through any neighborhood in this country and you see cars parked in front of just about every home. I'm STILL looking to see the "mess we're in".

For crying out loud, let's stop bellyaching about "the mess we're in", and start looking around us and thanking God for just how BLESSED we are. Let's try being appreciative for what we have. I see tragedies happening from storms and other natural disasters in other countries where tens of thousands are being killed, and yet I see our Nation blessed with very few fatalities when similar storms and disasters hit here. Go to any Emergency Room in any city and find all of our citizens being treated for things as simple as the common cold.

We are a BLESSED Nation. It's time to stop crying and complaining like a bunch of spoiled brats, and it's time to let the rest of the world know, because they are watching ans listening to us, that the United States of America is the greatest country on this earth, and we love and appreciate all the God has done to protect us and to keep us blessed. So, when all of the politicians and other naysayers start proclaiming just how bad our Country is and what a "mess we are in", stand up and shout it in your loudest voice that we are the most blessed Nation in the world and they need to stop tearing our Country down, go back to Washington and start working TOGETHER, for the good of the people. The next time you hear someone say "with the mess we're in" you tell them just how blessed we are and what a great Nation we live in.

"As the people of a Country think in their hearts, so is the Country". How are you going to think in your heart about our fair Land?