1 of 8

On a hill overlooking Nashville, Tennessee, sits what used to be a quaint and spired church, designed to draw eyes and thoughts heavenward. Now, done up in Goth black, the building houses a bar and music club. One night not long ago, however, it became a church again, as the band Sonicflood filled it with worship music. The packed crowd alternately raised their voices in praise and lowered their heads in long, silent prayer.

A twentysomething man with spiky hair and metal-studded nose, lip and eyebrow, looked around at the amalgam of ages and personalities. "The music drew me back," he said, meaning back to the Christianity of his youth. "Now I'm attending church again and talking to God all the time."

Worship music will do that. It turns you to God, draws you closer to him.

"More people than ever seem to be hearing it and participating in it," says Jeff Deyo, Sonicflood's former lead singer. "It's amazing, the movement of God through music right now."

Of course, God's people have always sung his praises. Psalm 100 tells us to "worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." Martin Luther, in addition to launching the Protestant Reformation, penned the triumphant anthem "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Most of Johann Sebastian Bach's music was written for the church. And it's no coincidence that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the hymn "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" share a melody line. Then in the late 1960s, the hippie-style worship of the "Jesus People" movement birthed what would become contemporary Christian music (CCM).

"What we're seeing today is a revival of praise and worship music," says Mac Powell, lead singer of the Christian rock band Third Day. In 2000, the ten-year-old band released Offerings, their first worship album. "We recorded it to honor God, to thank him for everything he's done," says Powell. "We would have been happy if it sold just half of what our albums normally sell." Turns out, it became Third Day's best-selling album, with consumers scarfing up a million copies.

Already one of Christendom's top stars, Michael W. Smith scored his biggest record when he released Worship two years ago (it sold over a million copies in its first nine months and inspired a sequel, 2002's Worship Again). "Its success is both surprising and gratifying," says Smith. "I've led worship in church for 20 years but always released contemporary music. So I finally cut an album of the music that's closest to my heart—and boom!"

Boom is right, and not just for Smith and Third Day. Worship music is thriving, whether it's in church or on CDs. With a whopping 5.7 million albums sold, Songs 4 Worship: Shout to the Lord from longtime worship label Integrity Music and late-night TV hawker Time-Life Music became each company's best-selling double-disc set. According to the Gospel Music Association (GMA), for each of the past two years, consumers purchased 50 million Christian recordings—double the number from 2000. This figure comprises all genres—rock, country, pop, gospel—but worship accounts for about a quarter of it.

next page... |  1 of 8

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Order a gift subscription!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help