K-Love Fan Awards This Weekend In Nashville, TN

It's almost that time again.  The 2014 K-Love Fan Awards are this weekend, May 30-June 1, coming to you from Nashville, TN.  The Grand Ole Opry will be the great host of this year's awards show.  If you missed last year's awards, you missed a real treat of a show.  I am saying that just by listening on the radio.  I can't imagine what it must have been like in person.  I so wish I could make it to Nashville for this year's awards but we have radio just like always.  The show will be hosted by Candace Cameron Bure and Matthew West and I think they will do an amazing job.  I'm a big Candace fan and I mean, really, who isn't?  Like the t-shirt says, my favorite DJ is Tanner.  LOL.  She will be a big blessing for this show and Matthew West is always awesome.  So, let's take a look at this year's nominees for the 2014 K-Love Fan Awards.

Male Artist Of The Year:
Chris Tomlin
Colton Dixon
Jeremy Camp
Matthew West
Steven Curtis Chapman
Tobymac

Female Artist Of The Year:
Britt Nicole
Francesca Battistelli
Jamie Grace
Mandisa
Natalie Grant
Plumb

Group/Duo Of The Year:
Building 429
Casting Crowns
MercyMe
Newsboys
Sidewalk Prophets
Tenth Avenue North

Worship Song Of The Year:
God's Great Dance Floor - Chris Tomlin
I Am - David Crowder
Oceans - Hillsong United
Your Grace Finds Me - Matt Redman
You Won't Let Go - Michael W. Smith
Never Once - One Sonic Society

Best Live Show:
For King & Country
NEEDTOBREATHE
Newsboys
Rend Collective
Switchfoot
TobyMac

First Christian Artist To Appear on a 7Up Can:
Hillsong Young & Free
Jamie Grace
Sidewalk Prophets
Tenth Avenue North

Artist Of The Year:
Casting Crowns
Chris Tomlin
Matthew West
MercyMe
TobyMac

Song Of The Year:
The Only Name - Big Daddy Weave
Overcomer - Mandisa
Lord, I Need You - Matt Maher
Hello, My Name Is - Matthew West
This Is Amazing Grace - Phil Wickham

Along with the awards, there will be PLENTY to do if you are attending.  Meet and greet sessions.  Fan Zone.  Worship service from the Opryland Resort led by Michael W. Smith.  Songwriters Spotlight led by Steven Curtis Chapman and Matthew West.  Kickoff Concert featuring Rend Collective, For King & Country, Tenth Avenue North, NEEDTOBREATHE, and Switchfoot.  A lot more going on as well.  Definitely going to be a fun weekend with the awards.  You still have time to vote for your favorites in all of those categories!  Head over to www.klovefanawards.com for more info on how to vote and for all of the must need information for this coming weekend in Nashville.

Don't Limit An Unlimited God

Don't limit an unlimited God.  Do you have a dream that you want to accomplish?  Does it seem unattainable?  Does it just seem too big?  Nothing is too big.  Why is that?  We have a God that is bigger than anything that you can possibly imagine.  When we have that, why do we worry over something so small?  I see a picture shared through social media a lot where it shows a night sky and the Earth where it says that God built all of this so for us to trust in Him that he can take care of all of our needs.  That is so true.  When we place limits on ourselves or our dreams, we're basically saying that it can't be reached.  God knows our hearts and our dreams.  He knows our desires and hopes.  We need to dream big and believe that we are going to reach our dreams.  Believe and even more so in those times when the world is beating you down into thinking that you can't get there.  You have an unlimited God that is working for all of us.  Never place limits on God cause God can make your dreams come true in just one moment.  That is a really awesome thought.  So today, just breathe and know that you have an awesome God that is working for us even when we may not even be able to see it.  That is when God is doing His best work when we don't even know what He is up to.  Believe and dream big.

Steven Curtis Chapman's Glorious Unfolding

I got the chance to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman's new song last night.  It is called "The Glorious Unfolding".  What an amazing song with such inspiring lyrics.  The song basically talks about how we should not quit.  Keep going.  God is unfolding his plan right in front of our eyes.  How this is only the beginning.  Just such a powerful song and lyrics.  I turned on K-Love last night and that was the first song that played.  Just really grabs you.  Here is a video to check out of Steven Curtis Chapman talking about his new album which is by the same name as the song.  He talks about the inspiration behind it.

Taking A Look At The Inspiring Movie, Soul Surfer

Francesca Battistelli's song "It's Your Life" was the anthem and theme song for the 2011 hit movie, Soul Surfer.  The song was such a perfect one for that movie.  The song talks about living your life and being the person that you want to be.  Not letting yourself get held back and pushing forward to do what you want in your life.  Not backing down to fear.  Going for it.  Soul Surfer was a movie based on the story of surfer, Bethany Hamilton.  As a teenager, she was attacked by a shark while in the water back in 2003.  She lost her arm in the attack and her life completely changed.  Things that were just routine for her was suddenly very difficult.  Things that we all take for granted were things that she was having learn to overcome.  Not only did she overcome just her normal everyday routines but she chased her dream by getting back out into the water.  Doing what she loves and that is surfing.  Her story of battling back and her strong faith in doing so is so inspirational.  When you watch the movie, Soul Surfer, which is based on her story, you just get so inspired.  Feeling like you can do anything.  Seeing what she went through and how her faith and strength carried her through.  The support of her family, friends, and her faith in God will inspire anyone watching.  There are many scenes that will just pull you in with one of my favorites being the mission trip that she goes on.  She had just quit competition surfing after trying to compete again.  She joins the youth trip to Thailand and there had just been a tsunami there and they were helping with the recovery.  There is a scene with a little girl that is afraid of the water and she also hadn't talked since the tragedy happened.  Bethany roams out on her surf board and encourages this little girl to get in the water as the youth leader watches on.  She keeps showing that it is ok out there and you just see how much inspiration she is able to bring to this little girl's fears.  I just love that scene.  It is so powerful.  Bethany struggled for a while on why this happened to her and there is a powerful scene where she questions everything.  After the struggle of quitting, you see just how this mission trip got her turned back around.  She was helping others but God was using that trip to help her at the same time.  We then see her get her motivation back and get back on her feet.  Not just her feet but on the board.  Jeremiah 29:11 was quoted saying "'For I know the plans that I have for you' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".  That song of "It's Your Life" is a great theme song to show just what Bethany had been through and how she was going to overcome it.  Take this bad and turn it into good and be able to motivate countless others as well through her story.  If you have never seen Soul Surfer, I highly recommend it.  It is so powerful.  AnnaSophia Robb plays the role of Bethany Hamilton in the movie and she is an absolute star.  She just does such an amazing job of putting this story on the movie screen.  When you get to the end of the movie, make sure to watch the credits.  You'll see the home videos of Bethany through her story and all the things you have seen recreated in this movie.  It is such a great finish to see the home videos of Bethany's and see what you have just been watching in her own videos.  Speaking of Bethany, she just recently announced that she is getting married so a big congratulations to her on her engagement!  You can check out more of Bethany on her website at: bethanyhamilton.com or follow her on Twitter @bethanyhamilton

You can check out more about Soul Surfer at this link: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/soulsurfer/home/

The Bible Son Of God Tour Online Broadcast

If you missed the epic Son of God tour like I did, we're all in luck.  The Bible Son of God concert brings the TV series, The Bible, and the movie, Son Of God, together as they are brought to life for you visually and through music including many artists, Francesca Battistelli, Sidewalk Prophets, Natalie Grant, Meredith Andrews, Chris August, and Jason Gray.  The concert will be available online for viewing and you can buy a ticket to be a part of it.  Beginning June 3rd, you can watch the concert as it was recorded earlier this year in Nashville, TN.  There are three different tickets of ways to buy into watching this event.  For more information and how to buy tickets, here is the link: http://www.stagehop.com/event/20140603-sonofgodtour/

A Guideline For Christian Singles

This is something that I wrote several years ago and thought I would post it on here.  Hopefully, it will be an encouragement to someone out there!  :)

A guideline to the single life.  Being a Christian single in the world can be really tough.  It is interesting to read Christian singles forums and just see what people are dealing with.  Being single can especially be tough when you’re around a lot of people that aren’t singles.  It can feel like you don’t fit in anywhere and can turn into a very isolating feeling.  I really feel for singles that are having a tough time battling against it.  I thought it would be fun to type up a guideline to the single life.  Maybe some of these tips will help out some of you singles out there.  Some of this is things that I’ve learned from personal experience while also adding what I’ve learned from seeing others’ experiences. 

Pray, pray, pray.  That is obviously the answer to everything in general cause you should pray about everything anyway.  God wants to know what you’re thinking and feeling.  It definitely ties into this as well.   If your heart is desiring someone, you aren’t going to be able to hide it from God.  He knows your heart.  Talk to God about your feelings.  Know that God hasn’t forgotten about you.  It can be very hard when you see things going on all around you and you just sit there continuously waiting.  You must trust God completely and know that he has plans for you.  What you want and what he wants for you right now may be very different.  Just because it isn’t happening for you right now doesn’t mean that it won’t happen for you in the future.  Maybe God’s plans for you right now that involve being single are going to lead you somewhere down the line which will involve meeting someone.  Sadly, it could be possible that God just means for you to be single period.  That could be it but I just really feel that if God puts that desire in your heart to find someone, he isn’t going to leave you alone.  That is my personal belief.  Bottom line.  You must trust God.  He isn’t going to lead you wrong. 

Friends.  Talk to them.  Find friends that you trust and talk to them about things.  Regardless of whether you are single or not, everyone needs to vent about things from time to time.  Friends will hang in there with you and help.  They care.  That is why they are your friends.  Don’t be afraid to lean on them. 

Find something for you.  Sometimes you look at couples and it is this feeling of that they have their own thing going cause they are together.   I know for me that church has been that thing for “me”.  Everyone needs to feel like they have something that is their own.  

Don’t beat yourself up.  It is easy to go down the road of “what is wrong with me?” and “why me?" attitude.   It isn’t you!  You just haven’t met the right person yet.  Don’t even go there with the beating yourself up. 

Be careful of what situations that you put yourself in that might make you feel awkward or make you feel bad as a single.  This is a big one for me.  I am very big on praying about that and figuring out whether going to something will be a good thing or a bad thing for me as a single.  You obviously don’t want to put yourself at a couples night get together or something obvious like that.  This does require being a bit selfish at times but the bottom line is that you have to take care of yourself.  If you’re bailing out on something socially that you might think will be a bad thing for you as a single, people should understand your reasoning.  Yeah, this is a tough one to find a balance on.  Just pray about it. 

Find ways to occupy your time. Find some hobbies that you enjoy.  Get more involved in the church.  The more that you find to do that you enjoy, the less alone time that you are going to have.  Plus, you’ll be having fun and not thinking about how alone you might be feeling at the time.

Talk to other Christian singles and find out what they are dealing with and how they combat it.  Each person has a way of dealing with it and you might find some tips that might make it easier.  Plus, you’ll get to talk to people that understand when at times, you may feel like no one understands. 

Don’t compare yourself to others.  Just don’t even go there either.  Everyone’s lives are different.   I’m talking about, for instance, how you might meet up with old friends and they talk of five million things that they have going on.  Then, you start to talk and think, wow, I can’t even compete with that.   It’s the feeling of that you can’t compete.  Just don’t go there.  Not healthy.  :)

Enjoy life.  Don’t let loneliness steal your joy.  Don’t sit around in life and wait for this to happen for you.   Be thankful for all the blessings that you have in life.  Just because you are feeling alone, don’t let it take away from all the great blessings that God has brought you.  There are so many great things in life that you can enjoy and you don’t need to let your joy of enjoying everyday things be taken away. 

Bottom line.  It is tough.  Some people don’t mind being single at all and prefer it.  Others it can bother right down to their core.  One plea that I have to every church out there is to include your singles.  Church can be an intimidating place at times cause it is a very family type environment.  Many singles desire to have their own family and it can trigger that weakness that they have.  Singles can feel very isolated and not included in life at times.  Come up with activities that everyone can enjoy and have a great time.   Sadly, there are just going to be times where the singleness is just going to bother you.  It is your feelings and God knows that.  It really is just a matter of how you deal with it.  You have to trust God.  God has a plan and he’s going to keep revealing that plan to you.  You just have to hang in there until that plan is shown.

Looking Back At The 2013 K-Love Fan Awards

Looking back at last year's K-Love Fan Awards.  We're not far off from the 2014 awards and I thought it would be fitting to go back and look at what I typed up last year.  

If you weren't able to be there like myself, you had a great option and that was to listen to K-LOVE as they broadcast all the events this weekend.  That included the Songwriter's Showcase on Friday night, the awards on Saturday night, and then the worship service on Sunday morning.

Friday night kicked off with the Songwriter's Showcase which was hosted by Steven Curtis Chapman and Matthew West.  How much fun were these two?  I laughed so much at them.  They played really well off of each other.  Lots of great acts on this show.  I absolutely loved these acoustic versions of so many of the songs that we are used to hearing on K-Love.  It just kept getting better and better with the songs and talent that kept getting up there and performing.  I laughed so hard at the moment where Matthew West told MIKESCHAIR that they had to follow Amy Grant and Vince Gill.  They found humor in the moment by getting on stage and saying "I'd like to thank Vince and Amy for opening for us".  That was a great line!!!  As you can see this was such a fun and laid back atmosphere for this showcase.  Fun with a lot of great music and worship.  If you got the pleasure of listening to this live, you got a big blessing from it.  I loved it!

The Awards themselves were a lot of fun.  Fun to see who would win what award.  How the fan voting would go.  The performances were amazing.  Countless great performances through the night.  Things really picked up with Natalie Grant and Kari Jobe singing together!!  How awesome was that??!!  That kicked the worship into big time overdrive and set the stage for the rest of the night.  Tenth Avenue North was amazing as well!  That was one of my favorites. 

So, what were the award winner results?  Well, here you go.

Artist of the Year: TobyMac

Song of the Year: "Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave

Male Artist of the Year: Chris Tomlin

Female Artist of the Year: Kari Jobe

Group/Duo of the Year: Casting Crowns

Breakthrough Artist of the Year: For King & Country

Book Impact of the Year: The Love Dare by Alex and Stephen Kendrick

Sports Impact of the Year: Mike Fisher

Movie Impact of the Year: Courageous

These categories were so packed with such amazing talent and regardless of who won, it was a celebration of all these great and talented performers.  TobyMac as artist of the year did not surprise me at all.  He has had an amazing year.  Kari Jobe posted this on Twitter following her win: "LOOK what you guys did!!  I have the best fans!! I love loving Jesus with U all! Thank you! ahh!!!!" For King and Country had an amazing speech that summarized the whole weekend.  They talked about a testimony they had heard with their music.  A fan told them a story of a friend who was already in the motions of taking their life.  The fan listened to the song on the radio and had this urge through that song that they needed to call their friend and check on them.  They were able to get help for the friend before it was too late.  This was such a powerful speech with them saying "what we're doing here is impacting lives, and it's got power".  It goes to show the strength of these songs.  How God can use these songs to that person out there that is listening.  It might have the most perfect lyrics for them that can help them through a situation.  That song might be the understanding for them that they aren't feeling like they are getting anywhere else.  How many times do you hear that perfect song come on at the most perfect time?  God uses this music and uses K-LOVE. 

There was also a special award presented at the K-LOVE Awards with the Unsung Hero award. It was for the Cochran family.  You can see more with this video of their story with this brother and sister combo that will inspire a lot of people!

Sunday morning had me excited to get the radio turned on and listen to the worship service which was being led by Meredith Andrews and Matt Maher.  They did such a great job of leading the service. I knew we were in big time business when it opened with Meredith's "Open Up The Heavens" as I've said that is such a great song to open up her new album.  It gets you praising immediately and it did during this service as well.  Then, we had them combining together on Matt's great song, "Your Grace Is Enough", which sounded great.  I loved Meredith's quote during this service where she said "God needs us to be right where we are".  That is such a true statement and one that puts a lot of perspective on everyone.  God has a purpose and has all of us right where we are supposed to be.

So to summarize the weekend, just amazing.  I wasn't even there and I felt like I had such an incredible K-LOVE Fan Awards experience.  I can't even imagine what it must have been like there in person.  I know I got spoiled with all the great music and worship this weekend so it will be hard to be back to normal this week.  It definitely felt like a revival event and I can't wait to see what they put together for next year.  Thank you to K-Love, all the artists, fans, and just everyone who had any part in this amazing weekend.  Thank you for all of your hard work that you do every single day.  If you want to see a highlight reel of this amazing weekend, here you go.  Have a great rest of the day!  Take care and God bless!!

Meredith Andrews - Worth It All

My first music review is fittingly enough to my favorite Christian artist and that is Meredith Andrews.  Meredith Andrews released her third album, “Worth It All”, last year.  I became a fan of Meredith’s several years ago upon hearing her first album.  I was listening to the one of the Christian radio stations just hoping to hear something that really just grabbed me.  They played Meredith Andrews and I immediately went to the computer looking to see if she had a website where I could hear more of her music.  That followed by hearing the perfect song of hers that almost felt written for me.  That was a “that’s God” moment.  Needless to say, I went shopping the next day with one goal in mind and that was coming home with that album.  LOL.  I have gotten the pleasure of seeing her in concert on one occasion and getting to meet her as well.  Her first single off the album “Not For A Moment” has been a mainstay on K-Love Radio since its release.  The song focuses on how when you’re going through those tough times that you are not alone.  God is right there with you.  He will not leave you, nor forsake you.  He is always there and is that constant in life.  The song has already brought forth so many testimonies among listeners of it.  Meredith is originally from North Carolina and started singing in church at the age of six.  She is now a resident of Chicago where she leads worship at Harvest Bible Church.  She and her husband recently welcomed their second child.  Her second album, “As Long As It Takes” was named Worship Album of the Year at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards.  The album wasn’t the only winner as her song, “How Great Is The Love” was given an award for “Worship Song Of The Year”.

The new album will hook you right from the beginning with “Open Up The Heaven” which has such a great world anthem sound to it.  It will get you fired up as the album starts.  When you listen to her music, she has such a great mix of uptempo and slow songs.  Just feels like praise music and it would make sense that she is a worship leader. :)  My favorite song on the album is probably “Pieces”.  It just has such a great message to it about how God can take all of our pieces and make them for good.  “He can make your pieces fit” is the lyric in the song and God has a purpose for everyone’s life.  “The Gospel Changes Everything” is a huge worship song with the title saying it all.  The word is what can change the world.  When I listen to her music, I just see this image of her on stage singing with a church full of people raising their hands.  When I see videos of her online, that image comes true.  LOL.  She does a great job as worship leader and she is a very talented singer.  I am looking forward to a lot more music out of Meredith Andrews. 

Favorite Songs: Not For A Moment, Open Up The Heavens, Pieces, Strong God, Start With Me, Worth It All, The Gospel Changes Everything.

You can check out more on Meredith Andrews at her website: www.meredithandrews.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @MereMusic  

That is it for today.  Take care and God bless!!

Welcome To The Hallway of Faith

Welcome to the Hallway of Faith website.  The plan for this website is for it to be pretty much just like the name says and that is a hallway with several doors of rooms that you can go into.  Encouragement, music, movies, entertainment, and whatever else.  A little bit of everything.  I often see that picture of a hallway that says “while you are waiting on God to open the next door, praise him in the hallway”.  I love that saying and am a big believer in it.  Life is a lot about waiting for God to open doors in our lives.  Have you ever just thought of your life as a hallway full of doors?  Maybe you tried one door and are walking out of it tired.  You are thinking, oh, that was not the right place for me.  Maybe you are looking at one door and thinking that door is for me.  However, it seems to be locked or just completely sealed.  God saying no, that door isn’t for you or maybe it isn’t just for you yet.  I have had many times where I have thought of life as this hallway full of doors and I have just pictured myself sitting down in the hallway not having any clue what door is mine and seeing no signs of a door opening soon.  LOL.  Might as well get comfy cause it is going to be a while with the waiting.  Then, that door just pops open.  Maybe we have doors that we are knocking on seeing if we can get in.  Nobody is answering it.  What about this door over here?  Hmm, that one is just not right.  Not for me.  Maybe one door opens for you and God is saying “look in here and get a peak” just to show you, oh, definitely not.  God will move us room to room sometimes in our lives where it is time to step into this other room and see what it is has to offer.  Sometimes, just like the name says, we are just standing in the hallway.  Waiting on God to show the next move and when.  Make no mistake.  Your door will open just in the right time and place.  God will see fit to open that door just for you.  The key to it all.  Faith.  Trust God to open doors.  Trust God on those doors that he keeps closed.  Trust that there is a reason that God has for opening doors and also keeping doors closed and it is for our own good.  In the meantime, you might as well have fun in the hallway.  Praise God for God is good.  This website can be a hallway of sorts for any of us.  Maybe one of these doors will provide some encouragement and some of these doors will just be some fun.  I hope to just make it a wide variety of things in God.  Welcome to Hallway of Faith.