Should Christians Honor Barack Obama?

Ok, so I'm not really happy about the election results. I'm sure there are a few of you who feel the same way... BUT I've been trying to figure out how I should approach this in my own mind... How do I deal with this and what stance should I take as a Christian?

I just finished reading an article that has a lot of good thoughts in it. I'm not 100% sure I agree with everything, but it does seem like a balanced way of looking at things. So I thought I'd share it with you, dear choir. :)

DISCLAIMER------ This was not written by me and there are some terms/statements I might not use when addressing you as a group. Please don't allow these statements to offend you. Take this as it is... something I read that rang true to me. If you're offended by any of the language in this article (there are no curse words, but a few slang terms), please forgive me.

NOW, I hope you find this article as enjoyable and informational to read as I did.

God bless!

Richie Allen

Read the article HERE.

So I'm not telling you who to vote for, but...

Next Tuesday is the day we vote for the next President/Vice President of the United States of America. We've got quite a heavy responsibility on our shoulders. We're blessed to live in a land where we have the freedom to vote for who we want to lead our country.

We also have the freedom NOT to vote. But before you decide not to go to the polls on election day, remember the sacrifices of our veterans and those who lost their lives in protecting our freedoms. I personally think it's a travesty if we don't exercise our God-given, military-blood-bought right to vote.

Oh, and take a look at this video. Remember, I'm not telling you who to vote for, but I found this to be particularly moving...

We need to move a little more in service...

Ladies and Gentlemen-

I've decided that we're not really moving with the music as well as I think we should. We all know the importance of using our whole bodies when singing to really connect to the audience.

Here's a perfect example of what we need to strive for.

EDIT: They took it off of YouTube, so I'm attempting to upload it from my own server.

Here's a link to it...

Video

(Now if you don't understand my humor and think I'm being serious, you need your head examined! :) In all reality, I feel like this is disturbing on some deep level. But that's just me...)

New song for Friend Day...

I would like to introduce you to a new song we're going to do for Friend Day on September 28. It's called "Jesus Is My Friend". Hope you like it!

New choir member...

I want to introduce all of you to our newest choir member. His name is John Daker and he's amazingly talented. Great to have a new tenor with us.

Here's his audition, just so you all can see what a great talent he has.

Week of Anointing preparations

It's time to start preparing for Week of Anointing Accelerate 2008! I'm really excited about the conference this year. It's going to be powerful!

The songs are going to be a lot of fun and really not too difficult. Start listening to them now, so you can be comfortable in rehearsal.

Tentative schedule of songs for the next couple of weeks....

Tuesday, July 22
Open Up The Sky
That's Who You Are
Watch Me Praise Him

Tuesday, July 29
Bless the Lord
I Give You Worship
Magnify

LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN!!!!

Love y'all!

Richie

Some absolutely GREAT pictures from Steven Myers...

Here are some AWESOME galleries of pics that our resident GENIUS PHOTOGRAPHER, Steven Myers, has posted online for us. They are all downloadable and if you had a solo or were in the choir or frontline (or a musician) during these events, it's very likely that there are some good ones of you in one of the galleries, especially the WOA 07 or Christmas 07 galleries.

Check 'em out!

http://gallery.mac.com/stevenmyersphoto#100141&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=136

Site updated for January and February

The site has been updated with the new songs for the next few months. Be sure to listen as much as possible to make the songs easy in rehearsal.

Looking forward to this coming year! This will be a year of growth and excitement! We're blessed to be a part of this church and blessed to work with all of you.

God bless!
Richie