But Third Day’s success wasn’t the biggest surprise of the night. Surely plenty of jaws dropped when both the Rap/Hip Hop/Dance Song of the Year and Rap/Hip Hop/Dance Album of the Year awards went to Raze. One of the leaders of that group, Ja’Marc Davis, is awaiting trial for rape, lewd molestation and sodomy. The Tulsa World had earlier reported that the voting deadline was one day before the arrest, quoting GMA president Frank Breeden as saying, “If they should win, it would go to them.” But Greg Hamm, president of ForeFront Records—not the three other members of the band—accepted the award for Raze. “It’s been a difficult eight weeks,” he said. “I just ask that you would continue to pray for Raze, and pray for everyone involved in the situation.”
The Associated Press also reports that plans to broadcast the awards on PAX fell through, though they will air next week on WGN. A full list of the winners is available at the Dove Awards site.
Too busy to pray? Fewer than half of clergy in the Lutheran Church of Norway pray daily, reports Oslo’s Aftenposten newspaper. The Rev. Eystein Norborg surveyed his fellow ministers in the church and found that, even though their ordination vows pledge daily reflection and prayer, most simply aren’t doing it. One problem, Norborg says, is that serving in the state church “has become more of a government job than a religious calling.”
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