Newsboys holds at No. 1 on the Soundscan Christian albums chart a second consecutive week.  Critics are calling In The Hands Of God the band’s best disc to date: “…Boasts some of their most contagious and memorably fresh melodies to date… In the Hands of God makes a fitting transition into a new phase of musical ingenuity for one of Christian music’s iconic bands.” -GospelMusicChannel.com “…A batch of tunes that assimilate the finer aspects of th....... Read more

Tags: classic rock n roll, hands of god, www myspace, driving drums, christian albums, denver post

It’s a good week to be Mandisa! After being featured on Entertainment Tonight on Wed., Mandisa landed a spot in US Weekly’s “Hot Bodies” issue out on newsstands now. The Freedom singer also attended the highly anticipated season eight finale of American Idol held on Wed. May 20 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Mandisa spoke with US Weekly while in New York in detail about her 85 pound weight loss. Entertainment Tonight also came to capture the Idol alum’s photo shoot and t....... Read more

Tags: fox news, women of faith, fox affiliate, americanidol, american idol finale

The all-star lineup on The Rock & Worship Roadshow recently wrapped having stationed in 20 cities before a total of 170,000 screaming fans. Sharing the stage on the Roadshow were multi-platinum selling and GRAMMY ® nominated, Dove and AMA winning band MercyMe along with gold selling and multiple Dove award winner Jeremy Camp, Hawk Nelson, 2009 Dove Award winner for New Artist of the Year Tenth Avenue North and Addison Road. The Roadshow celebrated a sold out crowd of 18,000 in Dallas, TX al....... Read more

Tags: camp hawk, third world countries, compassion international, dove award winner, addison road

Belfast, Ireland-based modern worship band Bluetree, whose acclaimed album, God Of This City, has become one the best selling Christian recordings this year, receives a boost this week from American Idol winner Kris Allen. Allen has been performing the title track to Bluetree’s album, “God Of This City,” a song birthed by the band in a brothel in Thailand. See video of Allen performing the song at http://blog.givmusic.com/. An anthem being sung worldwide, “God Of This City” was w....... Read more

Tags: rock the desert midland tx, pattaya thailand, lifest oshkosh wi, willow creek association, kris allen, bluetree, god of this city, american idol winner

The following is a letter from Cross Movement Records addressing the recent dropping of The Ambassador from the label… Dear Body of Christ, It is with much grief, severe disappointment and an overwhelming fear of the Lord that Cross Movement Records is sad to announce that we will be discontinuing the forwarding and promotion of the Artist and Minister, The Ambassador AKA William “Duce” Branch, due to recent findings of moral failure in his marriage. It is CMR’s past, current....... Read more

Tags: overwhelming fear, galatians 6, hebrews 12, moral compromise, cross movement records

Behind-the-scenes photos, interviews with winners available online CCMmagazine.com readers named Jeremy Camp their favorite artist and Family Force 5 their favorite band in the 2009 Readers’ Choice Awards, announced today by Christian music’s premier fan-site. Past winner and consistent fan favorite Camp was named Best Songwriter in addition to the Best Artist honor.  Family Force 5 came out a big winner once again this year, taking home Best Band, Best Album for Dance or Die (Tooth & N....... Read more

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