To My Southern Gospel Readers

CLICK HERE for what may be the first scholarly study of historical southern gospel music in book form. I ordered a copy. Excited, am I? Why, yes. It shall sit next to my "Song And Dance Man: The Art Of Bob Dylan" on the ol' shelf.

Even though I love contemporary (read, pop-rock and the various Genre-Heads that spring from this big ol' body) forms, it is interested to think about what has been lost in terms of lyric, and dare I say, theology, when we talk about music of the church. Why aren't modern church-music writers talking about heaven and hell? Why aren't they recounting Bible stories? Why the dearth of material about the Second Coming, and why, given that there are (rightfully) so many songs about the cross, is there so little mention of the resurrection? Now that in itself is a good topic because without the resurrection, the cross is just another good man dying for the cause. There have been many examples of that in history -- a man dying for his friends, his country, his ideals. But does substitutionary atonement flow through any of those sacrifices? No, because none of those heroes had the power over life and death or held the keys to heaven and hell. One man did, and he proved it with the resurrection.

I Cor. 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

But I digress. Check out the link to that book. You may find it of interest.