Candi’s Catch-ups: Jason Crabb Takes a Leap of Faith

By Candace Combs

Jason Crabb certainly took a leap, and it worked! This leap was an unusual set on the Friday night of the National Quartet Convention. Following Crabb’s performance, the rest of the night was different. Crabb had brought those in attendance back to their roots. And from there, the other stage artists were able to build on sharing a deeper faith. Certainly innovative, creative and very gutsy, but Crabb pulled it off!

The National Quartet Convention’s inaugural move to Pigeon Forge, TN is complete. As the week progressed, adjustments were made to the minutest details. Traditionally, Friday night is the NQC shining moment. However in 2014, Friday was the culmination of an army of coordination efforts and proved to be the highlight of a week of special moments. But, something extraordinary happened when Jason Crabb and company took center stage.

There was great anticipation in the room as the Crabb team took time to set up a very different scene.   Jason Crabb entered the stage with a large team of band members dressed in Derby hats, suspenders, and girls dressed in vintage dresses, wearing gloves. This was definitely not going to be an ordinary set for Crabb. This was also one situation where the pictures truly tell the tale.

As the lights went up, the multiple screens in the room went to scratchy black and white. An accordion player began this unusual set while Jason began singing very traditional gospel tunes, 40’s style around a big old style silver microphone. The backup singers swooned with harmony to Jason’s smooth sounds.

His eldest daughter joined Crabb on stage, singing the answer lines to “This Little Light of Mine” while sharing the microphone with her dad. No special arrangement, just pure classic Sunday School style innocence of an era gone by.

The “concept style” production was totally outside the box for this NQC crowd who has grown accustomed to groups singing their most current radio releases. Crabb sang nothing that was flashy, until the group sang “America the Beautiful”. During the bridge, Crabb saluted the veteran’s in attendance. All eyes were focused on the stage when the understated set came to a conclusion.

Do not be deceived; something very special happened in that 20 minutes. The atmosphere in the room of over 12,000 completely changed. The air was no longer charged with hype. It had been replaced with simplicity.   Sometimes, simple is the easiest form of communication.

Congratulations to the entire Jason Crabb Ministries team for thinking outside the ordinary and bringing a simple faith in God to the heart of the stage!

Concert Review: Charles Billingsley – Only Jesus

Charles Billingsley

By Candace Combs

Christian people everywhere, in every culture, need to worship the Creator. Worship comes in many forms, music perhaps being one of the greatest. Charles Billingsley, Worship leader at Thomas Road Church and Artist-in-residence at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, presented to a full house the release of his new project, Only Jesus.

Billingsley, formerly the lead singer with NewSong, has continuously dedicated his ministry and teaching to the art of worship.   This latest edition is completely engrossed in leading listeners to forget about the stage, forget the instruments and completely focus on worship of Jesus. Thus the title: Only Jesus.

The title track is completely titled, “Jesus, Only Jesus” and features the familiar voices of Travis Cottrell, Michael O’Brien, and Southern Gospel favorite, Guy Penrod. This collaboration with these voices features the best of each genre of Christian music today. Hopefully, this won’t be the last!

Children Of The World

Thomas Road Church dedicated the evening to the ministry of an international humanitarian relief organization named World Help (worldhelp.net). The evening opened with a bouncy children’s choir representing every corner of the world. The group performs nationally as Children of the World. They were a special treat with their culturally inspired clothing representing the nations of their origin.

When Billingsley took the stage, he had a full compliment of stage band and the worship choir from Thomas Road Church.   The program opened with traditional worship songs that was joined with the over 5,000 in attendance.   Billingsley communicated that he would be leading us from early traditional songs of the faith, leading from the great sacrifice of the Cross, to the glorious Resurrection.

“Great is Thy Faithfulness” was performed with a contemporary yet traditional arrangement. Billingsley sang the familiar, “It is Well,” with a full force of power. While the arrangement is the same sung for years in churches, Billingsley’s rendition exudes great power from his smooth voice, into an offering of faith.

Once the audience was assured that worship was the focus of the event, Billingsley and the worship team broke into “Jesus, Only Jesus.” This song was followed by dialogue that “Jesus is the only way, the only hope.” Billingsley continued to invite any non-believers to a relationship with Jesus.

A crowd favorite at the Virginia church, “Only Boast” was performed next. Having brought a history of worship, the program moved into a section of songs of the Cross. “Mercy Tree” is a song that portrays the great cost of salvation. The song was accompanied with a video presentation pronouncing the truth that worship is about a relationship. The Christian deserves nothing, yet on that tree God revealed just how holy He is!

Worship was brought full circle as the entire room was filled with the melody of “Gloria” in a modern arrangement. A sign language interpretation of the lyrics was presented during the performance. Billingsley held nothing back as he brought the evening of worship to a full crescendo.

Prayer, in addition to music, is another of the Christian’s arsenal of worship. Billingsley next took the opportunity to lead in prayer asking “God to help us worship you, to give you all we have.” He further asked God for help in capturing scripture in music. This request was natural segue into “Ten Thousand Reasons.”

Quietly and joyfully, in closing, the congregation joined in a chorus of “Bless His Holy Name.” Concluding in such a simple way was Billingsley’s way of keeping the nights focus on Jesus, only Jesus!

For an inside look at the production, go to Charles Billingsley YouTube, Behind the Scenes recording: “Jesus, Only Jesus.” The CD is now available. This music should be just what you need to get your worship on! For more information, visit http://charlesbillingsley.com/

For more concert reviews in the latest SGN Scoops visit https://www.sgnscoops.com/