Power of Music

Most sung artist on the Planet: Chris Tomlin (CNN blog article) 

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/09/the-most-sung-artist-on-the-planet/

I'm a fan of Chris Tomlin, but I didn't realize REALLY how popular is until I came across this article. 

One of the most widely sung artists is Chris Tomlin. But what owes to his success? This article presents it's due to a few factors. One of these factors is contributed to the genre. He is notoriously known for producing Christian worship songs. What's unique about this style is that "unlike those who've enjoyed performances by Beyonce, Johnny Cash and a host of others who've played this Baltimore hall, after these fans stream out the doors they will have ample opportunity to sing Tomlin's songs again, as one.That is the secret to Tomlin’s success – the stage, the lights, the band - aren’t about him. As lively as his shows are, the point is not to get you inside the doors. The point is to get you singing in church."

Interestingly, another factor Tomlin attributes is due to his background. He grew up listening to country music. I listen to some country but what I keep hearing is that country music is about telling a story. Overall, "His goal is to write songs that communicate what people would like to say to God." His songs are communicated and presented as something personal and story-like. 

How often are his songs sung?

* "CCLI estimates that every Sunday in the United States, between 60,000 and 120,000 churches are singing Tomlin’s songs."

* “our best guess would be in the United States on any given Sunday, 20 to 30 million people would be singing Chris Tomlin's songs.”

Lastly, a quote I liked from Tomlin in this article was: "“I'm thinking as that comes out of my heart as a song of response, I'm trying to think, how can I form this so that everybody, people who are tone deaf, who can't clap on two and four, how can I form this song so they can sing it, so that it is singable?”

A new perspective of martyrdom

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/30/christ-was-persecuted-but-what-about-christians/?hpt=hp_c2

This article starts off with a story we heard in class: The martyr Perpetua. In case you forgot "she was just 22, a young mother singing hymns as the crowd jeered and a lion, leopard and wild cow encircled her." She was one of the earliest martyrs and has one of the most extensive records (her diary). 

A question we've explored in class was how did the church grow? In our Chidester book, it states martyr's as the seeds of the church. However this article presents a different perspective of martyrdom. Some of their interesting claims include: 

1. "More people read about martyrs than ever saw one.”

2. "Church leaders began to embellish and invent stories of martyrdom to inspire the faithful but also to settle theological feuds, Moss says. If, say, a bishop wanted to denounce a rivals’ theology, he spun a story in which a martyr denounced the same doctrine with his last breath, Moss says."

3. “Martyrs were like the action heroes of the ancient world,” Moss says. “It was like getting your favorite athlete endorsing your favorite brand of soda.”

This article continues on to say that historical analysis has underplayed a large component that also contributed to the growth of the church. "Christians stood out because they created a “miniature welfare state" to help the less fortunate, Stark says. They took in infant girls routinely left for dead by their parents. They risked their lives to tend the sick when plagues hit and others fled in terror. They gave positions of leadership to women when many women had no rights, and girls as young as 12 were often married off to middle-aged men, he says."

Even if martyrdom may not have happened as often as we are led to believe, the life and death of a martyr were still impressive feats that led others  something to aspire to. Perpetua is one example. Another interesting perspective this article presents was how vicious martyrdom was when it happened. "When Roman persecution did occur, though, it was vicious. The Emperor Nero covered fully conscious Christians with wax and used them as human torches. Other Christians were skinned alive and covered with salt, while others were slowly roasted above a pit until they died."