Friday, April 11, 2008

Nothing Compares...

American Idol Top 8 Season 7 - Shout To The Lord (Jesus) - Studio Version

Nothing compares...



To the Promise I have in You!

We Love You, Jesus!!!!

12 comments:

Christinewjc said...

Some great comments from another blog on this subject:

"They sang this song on Wednesday night and Thursday during elimination and Wednesday must have been cut short because Thursday performance included EVERY word of the song beginning with " My Jesus My Savior." The Bible says that His word will not go out void which means that regardless of why idol producers decided to sing it does not matter. Satan has just received a black eye and Jesus has just been uplifted and His word will now be in the spirit of over 30 million viewers through His precious Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord, this be the catalyst for the greatest revival mankind has ever seen." - Dennis

"I thought about a lot of things last night. It crossed my mind that AI producers were expanding their market. It occurred to me that some would argue that the singers did not understand what they were singing. So... why am I sitting here this morning still feeling goosebumps? Because I know that in my 47 years of knowing Jesus as friend, brother, Savior, High Priest, King and Lord God of Heaven and Earth - I have never been aware of a time when so many tens of millions of people around the world were joined together to hear Him be praised. While their are other great songs that speak of God's love and his "Amazing Grace", the World we know finds consolation in making it fit the god of their choosing. Last night's full and unedited version was undeniable praise to our Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST. It doesn't matter who wanted it, what the motives were or if the singers meant what they sang. HE is worthy to be praised."
- Randy

"I totally agree with Dennis..."His word will NOT go out void." I work on one of the "sister shows" of American Idol...so picture an office, with all of the producers, crew, etc. gathered in watching the live feed at our CBS offices, then this song comes on...an office filled with a few Christians....atheists and agnostic Jews. You could hear a pin drop....it was awesome.....the power that came through....nothing had to be said...no debates....just people being touched more than they realised...producers, writers...crewthat had never darkened a church door in their lives, or their only experience with Christians was a negative one. You don't always see the workings of us Christians that are behind the scenes...you don't know how much prayer went into getting a song with that message on a, let us not forget, a SECULAR show. So, from someone behind the scenes, the best thing you can do is write to the producer of Am. Idol and simply state how much you appreciate the diversity they showed in having an very inspirational song in their program. Period. No critizing. This will go farther than you realize. Also, pray, pray, pray for us Christians that have chosen Hollywood as our vocation, career and our mission field." - Beverly

"Jason Castro and his family attend my church in Rockwall, Texas. He is a Christian and has asked for prayer because one of the other contestants is either an atheist or agnostic. I was told that Jason Castro encouraged a few of the others to sing "Shout to the Lord" after they at first balked at the lyrics. Just FYI: Jason's mother gave him the idea to get dreadlocks, and he now uses his look as a way to be able to witness to teens that normally wouldn't listen. Way to go, Jason!" - Leslie

Anonymous said...

Who knew American Idol and Christianity had so much in common? Talk about taking an absurdity (namely, religion) to its most absurd extreme. Congratulations!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Christine - some great posts. Irene and I saw Idol Gives Back and I was also shocked that the lyrics were changed, removing the name of Jesus.

As a songwriter and a member of BMI, one can be sued for changing the lyrics to a song, especially for public performance. Major royalties are being paid to license/perform/sell the song to the writer(s)/publisher(s).

Unless AI obtained and signed a legal agreement with the music publisher to change the lyrics (extremely and highly unlikely - especially with that song), it could very well be in major legal trouble -- possibly why they "re-did" the song the following night.

It's kind of like altering a "brand" or "logo", such as Apple Computer's apple logo -- maybe showing an apple tree on the laptop instead of its trademark apple.

An interesting side note, Mariah Carey's song "Fly Like a Bird" (original lyrics) DO NOT contain the name of Jesus. However, SHE changed and ENTIRE LINE of the lyrics on Idol Gives back to INCLUDE the name of Jesus twice! (Check out YouTube.com) I am assuming she wrote/co-wrote the song.

Anyway, I'm glad AI did the right thing the following night.

No matter the purpose or plan, good or bad, the name of Jesus Christ was exalted!

As our friend Susan would say, "Praise His Name!"

Anonymous said...

Clarification above: when I wrote "sell the song", I should have been more clear. The writer(s)/publisher(s) are NOT selling the song to the performer(s), they are licensing the song for recording and/or performance and/or distribution, in which the performer or licensee may now SELL the song, bringing in royalties for usually everyone involved.

I wonder if as a way of "giving back" - the writer/music publisher(s) skipped on the royalties -- and gave all to AI for charity?

I'll check. Blessings - Stephen

spud tooley said...

i can't really tell from your two posts which side of this deal you're winding up on. but i have seen a bunch of idiots badmouthing everything from the songwriter, to her church, to the publishing company, etc. etc.

here are my thoughts:

Isaiah wrote, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Is 9:6)

then Matthew quoted him a few years later, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Mt 1:23)

and Peter, when Him-who-must-always-be-Named asked him, Who do you say that I am?, answered this way, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. (Mt 16:16)

you know, i guess we should be thankful that Isaiah, Peter and Matthew weren't asked to speak on American Idol, or a certain large segment of evangelicals would have no doubt picketed their appearance.

i cannot decide which feature of these "believers" scares me most today: their increasingly graceless, legalistic Christianity, or their repeatedly infantile, blatant stupidity.

mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com

Christinewjc said...

Anonymous,

Are you on medication or something?

*******

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing that insight about changing lyrics. In all of the hubbub over this controversy, it is important to get some facts to back up our argument.

You wrote: Anyway, I'm glad AI did the right thing the following night.

No matter the purpose or plan, good or bad, the name of Jesus Christ was exalted!

As our friend Susan would say, "Praise His Name!"


I wholeheartedly agree!

God bless!

*******

Mike,

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?

I think that my position on this issue is crystal clear.

Your last sentence is a bit over the top...don't you think?

Guess you don't - think, that is - before you type.

There is also a secular reason why the lyrics should not have been altered.

(Hint - read Steve's comment!)

spud tooley said...

every side of my bed lately is the wrong side. my motto is, if you can't say something good about something, go ahead.

i think my last sentence was well-worded, had nice parallelism with the adjectives and nouns, and expressed my thoughts exactly.

yes, my THOUGHTS, which require thinking, except in some areas of w's and al's internets. :)

i suppose most of you would have been arguing at the foot of the cross that the soldiers were using the wrong hammer for the job or the wrong penny-size nails, too.

"you really should be toenailing there - otherwise he's gonna pull right out."

grouchfully yours,
mike rucker
not-so-fair-burn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com

Christinewjc said...

What a terrible thing to say about our Lord Jesus' crucifixion.

I wasn't going to post your comment, then thought that perhaps I should so that people can see your lack of honor, worship and sensitivity towards Christ's longsuffering for our sakes.

You're not just grouchy...you are disgustingly dishonoring towards the Lord. Shame on you!

spud tooley said...

you misunderstood my comment. it wasn't from my mouth, it was from all the people complaining about american idol's misuse of the song, and how they know better than anyone what is of God and what isn't.

you stand corrected. now please apologize.

mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com

Christinewjc said...

Mike,

People have a right to debate.

Not everyone complaining about AI's misuse of the song are saying disparaging comments about Jesus' crucifixion.

If you copied and pasted that last sentence from some other blog or chat room, there was no need to do such a thing to get your point across.

I don't know what's worse. The original writer who, apparently, chose to mock and disparage the Lord regarding his crucifixion; or you, who purposefully chose to think that repeating such an ugly statement here was in any way necessary.

It was entirely inappropriate!!

It had nothing to do with the post or subject matter in this thread!

It now appears to me that you repeated it here for effect - to achieve some sort of reaction. That is very odd. That is what the haters of God and haters/skeptics of our Lord Jesus Christ typically do. Their reasons for hating and mocking God vary, but most of the time they usually do it to hurt and anger Christians.

I'm not sure what type of effect you were aiming for, but nonetheless, repeating it here makes you a party to such a terrible statement. Therefore, I see no need to apologize to you for anything.

You need to confess and ask forgiveness from the Lord. That's what you need to do.

spud tooley said...

having thought about it a day, i will apologize.

forgive me for saying it.

i did not copy it from another site - i was imagining an outlandish comment from the mouths of those who were critical of american idol and their use of the song.

i did not mean it to be offensive.

you have every right to remove it from your blog if you wish.

mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com

Christinewjc said...

Thanks for your apology, Mike.

You can remove your own comment if you want to.