29 January 2025
Today I wanted to review a few items from the church news outlets. This won't be a link-fest because it's not that kind of review. Hang with me here; I really need to write this.
CBN claims that a significant portion of Iranians are converting from Islam to Christ. If you know CBN, they've been a front for the CIA and other clandestine US government agencies from time to time. Thus, you would not be surprised by this propaganda piece. Now, it's likely true that there is some kind of movement like that in Iran; that would not surprise me at all. It comes in surges all over the Islamic Crescent (countries dominated by Islam). Still, as you might expect, CBN is spinning this as something as much about "democracy" as religion. They act like western styled democracy is somehow sacred.
Much more believable are the reports (Charisma News among them) that the fires in LA area are sparking a sort of revival of interest in going to church. Indeed, you should be surprised when disasters don't increase church attendance. Here's hoping some folks out there start to find real faith in Christ.
We are also not surprised at just how much political fluff shows up on church news outlets. One pro-Trump site says that the question about the drones clustering in the skies over the US in general, and the East Coast in particular, were authorized by the FAA -- as if that answers the question. Of course they were authorized; we knew that. The whole question was not whether they had the authority to fly like that, but what they were actually doing. Trump's Press Secretary was saying, in effect, "We aren't going to tell you."
And then there's all the hand-wringing about the ICE raids grabbing undocumented folks here in the US. Liberal church sites are particularly upset, while the more conservative ones are trying to sound "balanced" in their articles. Folks, we knew this was going to be messy. Indeed, our community prophesied the Trump would return to power and that everything would be messy. Given the context of how our federal government works, we would never expect things to be clean and competent. You can bet a lot of immigrants who are already working on citizenship would be expelled. Meanwhile, a lot of folks who are quite legal will be arrested. Yes, the expulsions are absolutely good for the country, but it cannot be done cleanly. Good people will get hurt. God help us.
Way back when I was in college, the Imperials Quartet came to perform for our concert series. It was in the days when Terry Blackwood and Sherman Andrus were involved. I'm that old. For the longest time the bass (Armond Morales) and tenor (Jim Murray) stayed with the group while the lead and baritone kept changing every few years. Eventually Murray left and the baritone position stabilized, but still the pattern was that two voices kept coming and going while Morales and someone else stayed with it. Eventually, most the people I associated with group died, mostly of old age. Oddly enough, some church folks I know locally have kept in touch with the former members.
One of their best lead singers, Jonathan Hildreth (Pierce), quit music and went into interior decorating, and then died of a heart attack while recovering from surgery for something else at a surprisingly young age. Morales had his sister with the group for a while and she died in a car wreck. I really miss the voice of Armond Morales; the current members just don't sound the same.
For the longest time I was quite ignorant of the business side of such music. Some of the best songwriters and voices didn't stay with the group and it was so frustrating for me. I never knew if the next album would introduce strangers to me. Then I started listening to interviews with some of the folks who had the shortest time with the Imperials. The singers loved each other, but it was the business management part that killed their enthusiasm. For example, they toured incessantly and were never home except brief periods. Time in the recording studio could be downright painful because their management was trapped under record producers who were real jerks. I still play back copies of their music, but a lot of projects I used to really like with other recording acts turned out to be hideous examples of human frailty behind the scenes. I don't buy the music any more.
People's taste in music is all over the map. There's a new generation of voices and sometimes it's just not my style. Just as a treat, let me recommend this one: Brandon Lake -- "Hard Fought Hallelujah". I think someone named Jelly Roll is involved. I'm not a fan, but this song touched a nerve in me.
There's an awful lot of dirty stories in Christian music because there have always been dirty people who got their hands on the controls, in churches and in church music. Lord, have mercy.
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