Flying Into Daybreak

The gotee guru himself, Charlie Hall, has just released his newest Worship album Flying into Daybreak (circa Jan, 2006) . Following up his 2003 On The Road to Beautiful, a studio crisp Flying into Day Break is a mix of sincerely personal ballads and Worship anthems. It's selling well on I-tunes (#27 in all sales).

A song that will find it's way into a Church near you: Center (a plea for help in re-aligning the position God has in our lives). For me the must hear track is Come For Me, a heart stirring song of personal Worship about waiting on the Lord for daily rescue which closes out the album with quiete awe.

**Side note: I can't help but notice how much Charlie Hall sounds like Peter Furler of Newsboys, especially on the track Your Glory Endures Forever. This is by no means takes away from the value of the album, just an observation.

More on Flying Into Daybreak

Open the Doors of Their Hearts

Evangelism has never been easy, and its certainly not getting any easier. This current western world has 'been there, heard that' when it comes to the message of accepting Jesus into thier heart. Either through the embarrassingly out-of-touch caricature of evangelicals in the media or the actual out-of-touch lifestyles of Christians, the ears of many have been closed to the message of Christ. For the most part it’s not this message that they are rejecting, but the messenger. Images of phony bologna televangelists and rabid street corner prophets demanding 'turn or burn' have become serious road blocks for spreading the word. However, with a renewal of creativity and emphasis on authenticity in the body of Christ there is once again hope for effectively communicating salvation.

At the forefront of this new evangelism is Worship Music. We live in a music obsessed society that has music universally available; the car, the office, the home, the gym, and everywhere else (thanks to the portability of Ipods). There have never been more musical artists then there are right now and there have never been more mediums through which to hear them. Music is everywhere and its influence is extensive.
In here new book Worship Evangelism, Sally Morgenthaler makes the case for how and why Worship music is opening the hearts and minds of the world to a simple message of salvation they would never otherwise hear.

Here is a review by the Publisher:

"In Worship Evangelism, Sally Morgenthaler calls the church to consider the remarkable, untapped potential of worship as an opportunity of those who aren't yet followers of Jesus Christ as well as those who are to encounter the presence of God. Combining the best of traditional and contemporary worship music and practices, Morgenthaler shows how to achieve worship that's both culturally relevant and authentic. She helps pastors, worship leaders, and musicians - Understand worship and its attraction for non-Christians - Tear down walls that keep unbelievers from meeting God in church worship - Make worship evangelism happen--in any culture Morgenthaler draws on sound research and her extensive experience as a worship leader to offer an energetic, hands-on approach. Now with a study guide that encourages group discussion and personal action, this timely book offers fresh vision for worship evangelism and provides the strategies to implement it."
More about this book

When Music Matters.

To say that Luke Quedenfeld, founder of Doxas.com , is on a spiritual journey would be an understatement. From his baptism as a Mormon and his Catholic upbringing to declaring himself an atheist and eventually returning to God as a born again Christian, Quedenfeld has taken a unique track to finding his faith.

Excelling in both sports and academics, few would have recognized Quedenfeld as a highly troubled youth. But, having closed the door to spirituality, he declared himself an atheist and quickly found himself immersed in a dark circle where drugs and alcohol were not only accepted, but a part of daily life. For years, Quedenfeld was heavily involved with the drug scene, making poor choices and speeding down a path of moral degradation and personal desperation.

Even as he continued to experiment with more dangerous substances, Quedenfeld longed to escape his downward spiral of self-destruction. He knew life was more meaningful and too precious to waste in a haze of drugs and alcohol. In a moment of clarity, Quedenfeld opened his heart to finding new purpose and began rediscovering his spiritual faith.

Accepting an invitation from a friend, Quedenfeld attended a meeting of his local church’s youth group. This was his awakening. For the first time, he heard praise and worship music and was deeply and profoundly touched.

“During my journey, worship music spoke to me as the lyrics pried into the depths of my soul,” said Quedenfeld. “It drove my heart to express the feelings I had buried inside. I was blown away; worshipping God was so powerful. It made such an impact on me that later I would experience worship music by myself at home, the music pounding through my body, with nobody around, and feeling God so near.”

Having rediscovered his faith, Luke redirected his life and joined Teen Mania, a traveling ministry that uses music and new media to spread the word of God. While with Teen Mania, Quedenfeld’s love for worship music was reaffirmed continually as he saw thousands of young people transformed by the hope and power of worship music. He knew that he had to be a part of promoting worship music as a vehicle to affect positive global change, but how he would do it remained unseen.

With the continued rise in popularity of online media and digital entertainment, Quedenfeld saw an opportunity to spread the word of God and promote worship music through the use of online music distribution. With this idea, he founded Doxas.com, the only online Christian worship music source to provide not only digital music downloads, but also sheet music, team management tools, industry news and commentary, blogs and more.

It is Quedenfeld’s hope that prayer and the positive life-affirming message of worship music can improve the lives of people around the world, just as it did for him.

“Doxas.com promotes worship and worship promotes God,” said Quedenfeld. “I cannot be more satisfied with that.”