GVB, Spiritual Emphasis, and Postmodernism

Well, post number two... let's see how it goes. I think I'm starting to get the hang of the blog. Before I start my discussions, notice the poll to the right of the page. I want to know what YOU want me to write about out of those choices. And I'll be nice and let you pick more than one at a time. Ok... show time... (And if you don't care about Southern Gospel music... then you may skip this next section)

Today I discovered something so drastic and shocking, that I felt the need to inform all of you... but it's in two parts. And I promise I won't write about Southern Gospel often, but I thought I would share this.

• First, the Gaither Vocal Band is coming out with two volumes of a reunion DVD (I did know of this before today) with all the previous members of GVB, including: David Phelps, Mark Lowry, Michael English, Guy Penrod, Steve Green, Larnelle Harris, Marshall Hall, and many others in a week. I am super excited about this DVD collection and will spend many hours geeking over some great Southern Gospel quartet music.

• Second (and this is the shocking part), the Gaither Vocal Band had a DRASTIC change in its line-up recently. Fellow Southern gospel fans should hold on to their seats.... but Guy Penrod and Marshall Hall are no longer part of the historic Gaither quartet. This is a huge shock because the power-house of a singer, Guy Penrod, has been with the group since 1995 and has been a favorite in the Gaither Homecoming line-up. Supposedly he is now pursuing a solo career.
  

But along with the heartache of losing one of the best singers in gospel music, the Gaither Vocal Band is now PACKED with an all-star crew of 5 singers. Yes, that's right.... 5. The new line-up is Bill Gaither singing bass, Mark Lowry is back singing baritone, Michael English returns as the lead, Wes Hampton remains the tenor, and (big surprise) David Phelps is back again singing tenor as well.

This is like Survivor: All-Star, but better!

Mark Lowry hasn't strayed too far from the Southern Gospel field after leaving the group doing his own concerts, but his humor and warm baritone sound will be welcomed back. Michael English left the vocal band originally on bad terms because of his adulterous affair in 1994, but after being fully restored and accepted by gospel music, his unique and powerful voice will fit well. David Phelps was a shocker to me because he just recently left the group in 2005 to pursue a rather successful solo career that stretched to a much farther fan base than his previous musical venture. But now he will join the group once more (with slightly curlier hair) and will continue his solo career as he sings next to the man who was once his replacement, Wes Hampton. I am greatly looking forward to seeing this group dominate the stage next time they come to Missouri.
Ok, enough Southern Gospel music!

So this week has been spiritual emphasis week at CBC. That basically means that we have shorter classes in the mornings and then night services on Wednesday and Thursday. And they are ALWAYS amazing. I had the privilege of playing bass for each service with the various worship teams, and it is great looking out and seeing my fellow students just worshiping with everything in them. And we only have one speaker that is doing each service, which is pretty sweet because he doesn't have to cram everything into one message. This week, the speaker is Mark Batterson. I also bought his two books.

Also, for my Sociology of American Youth class, we had to discuss our views on postmodernism and how we define it. I always laugh when I talk about postmodernism, because in a postmodern society, their viewpoint is that there is no absolute truth, but it's a contradiction because saying there is not an absolute truth is an absolute truth in itself! Get it? Confusing, I know. But I'm looking forward to this class because I do believe that it may be one of the most helpful classes out of all the ones I have to take.