Those Southern rockers from Edmonton, Kentucky are back with their sophomore release “Folklore and 
Superstition“. The latest album from Black Stone Cherry was released by Roadrunner Records on August 18th, 2008. Straight from the back roads and hills of Kentucky, these guys know how to bring the rock with a Southern flare and a little spice of invention. As mentioned in a previous review, these guys formed a band out of the boredom of growing up in a small town. The hard Southern sound and attitude emanate from the pores of these guys with potency reminiscent of the edginess of Molly Hatchet and the down home mythical folklore of Lynyrd Skynyrd. This is my second helping of this Kentucky concoction of simmering rock hooks, classic rock riffs, and blues tinted solos, and it feels more their own than their debut release. Black Stone Cherry is still Chris Robertson on lead vocals and guitar, Ben Wells on guitar, Jon Lawhon on bass, and John Fred Young on drums.
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Black Stone Cherry – Folklore and Superstition
Puritans and preaching – Part 2
I am continuing through my reading / study of “Light and Heat : the Puritans View of Preaching” by R. Bruce 
Bickel. While reading through the chapter titled “The Direction of Preaching” I found some more gems that I wanted to share.
In order to understand the direction the Puritan view had for preaching Bickel brings to light the view the Puritan preachers had of themselves. Taken from the Horton Davies book “The Worship of the English Puritans“,
They viewed themselves as men sovereignly appointed by God to declare a message that was not their own, but a message that had already been given by God Himself in the pages of sacred writ.
Under such conviction, no wonder a Puritan preacher mounted the steps of his pulpit as if he were Moses ascending the mountain of Sinai.
Now that is what I call a high view of preaching. Not that they highly viewed themselves but their calling.
Queen + Paul Rodgers – The Cosmos Rocks
What do you do if you are one of the most popular and unique rock bands in history and your popular and influential 
singer Freddie Mercury dies from the AIDS virus? If you are as talented as Brian May and Roger Taylor you continue to perform, and write your music. If you are new to this planet you can read about this influential rock band known as Queen here. The two remaining members of the legendary rock group Queen (original bassist John Deacon retired in the nineties) have continued to perform at fund raisers and benefits over the years. In 2004 the time came for Queen to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame so the two remaining members invited one of the best voices in rock music to come perform with them. The voice was Paul Rodgers. So much energy and excitement surrounded that performance that the musicians announced a world tour for the year 2005. With the success of that 2005 world tour, including dates in Japan and North America, the newly created band Queen + Paul Rodgers scheduled another tour for the spring of 2006 which included 23 dates in North America. Throughout these tours and time off from them the members continued to write and record new music. On December 1st, 2007 the first brand new song was released for World AIDS Day. The song is called “Say It’s Not True” and was written by Roger Taylor. The song was also simultaneously released as a free download through a number of the band related web sites.
What should Christians do with Halloween?
Halloween is almost here. This day has become a very popular one in our national culture. Our family has taken a stand of sorts over the years when it comes to celebrating the popular day recognized 
as Halloween. We basically recognize the day as Fall Harvest day and shy away of the pagan depiction of the day. We have handed out candy at times and have included some juvenile themed tracks as well during trick or treat. I found a Q&A link from the Bible Bulletin Board which is affiliated with Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California and it’s pastor John MacArthur that addresses this issue. What is your response? Please comment and check out my related new poll in the side bar.
Short selling the righteousness of Christ
While studying through Romans chapter 3 in our Sunday morning sermon yesterday, Pastor Pat reminds us 
what justification is and is not. I think many of us who have been a teacher or learner through any evangelical church has heard the phrase definition offered for the justification believers receive at salvation. The phrase I am referring to is justification = just as if I had never sinned. But when we provide this definition we are in fact selling short, and I mean way short, the righteousness of Christ in our justification. You see, when we are saved by God’s grace, we are declared righteous by God. The only way a righteous and just God can declare the sinner righteous is by imputing the righteousness of Christ on the sinner. In other words, the sinless and righteous life Christ lived for us on this earth was imputed, or attached to the sinner when by God’s grace he believes. That, my friend, is the only justification that satisfies a righteous God. So when we say that justification means that it’s as if we hadn’t sinned, that only gives us a clean slate and short sells the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But when we look at the correct meaning for righteous justification we again are focused on Christ and his righteousness and what he accomplished on the cross. Amen?
Soli Deo Gloria!
Divine Righteousness and the Cross (Romans 3:21-31)
Puritans and preaching
I am currently reading through a couple of books. One of them is titled “Light and Heat: The Puritan View of the Pulpit” by Dr. R. Bruce Bickel. If you have visited this blog site before you might observe that I love to quote the Puritans. Today I found a wonderful quote by the Puritan Thomas Watson about the importance of hearing God’s word. Here it is:
it was by the ear, by our first parents listening to the serpent, that we lost paradise; and it is by the ear, by hearing of the Word, that we get to heaven. ‘Hear, and your souls shall live.’ (Isaiah 55:3)
This book has everything to do with the importance given by the Puitans to the preaching of God’s word and it’s centrality for worship. I’m sure this is only the beginning of a series of posts related to this book. You may want to check back and see more nuggets from the Puritans.
Soli Deo Gloria
Alter Bridge – Watch Over You
It’s here! It’s here! As promised, the new Alter Bridge video for “Watch Over You” on their album “Blackbird“. The video was released September 13th and will premiere here in the blogosphere. The video is very well made. It’s nothing fancy just Miles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, and the rest of the guys playing the song. Be sure to check out the sunset at the end. First the lyrics in case you want to sing along, then the video to follow.
Leaves are on the ground
Fall has come
Blue skies turning grey
Like my loveI tried to carry you
And make you whole
But it was never enough
I must go[Chorus:]
Who is gonna save you
When I’m gone?
And who’ll watch over you
When I’m gone?You say you care for me
But hide it well
How can you love someone
And not yourself?[Chorus]
And when I’m gone
Who will break your fall?
Who will you blame?I can’t go on
And let you lose it all
It’s more than I can take
Who’ll ease your pain?
Ease your pain[Chorus:]
Who is gonna save you
When I’m gone?
Who’ll watch over you?
Who will give you strength
When you’re not strong?
Who’ll watch over you
When I’ve gone away?Snow is on the ground
Winters come
You long to hear my voice
But I’m long gone
Demon Hunter – Storm the Gates of Hell
The very first time I heard this band was through their video for “Infected” on TVU the Christian rock 24 hour 
music video channel. I had heard other “screamo” bands before but Demon Hunter was different. Their genre of music is actually called Metalcore which is a hybrid of Metal and Hardcore or Screamo. At first glance Demon Hunter sound like other Metalcore bands with the harsh screaming vocals, thrashing guitars, and heavy pounding drums. But Demon Hunter created has created a mix of melodic choruses with almost ballad like song structure and hardcore guttural scream vocals. Demon Hunter is designated as a Christian Heavy Metal band, but unlike Petra and Stryper of old, some would say this band is scarier. With their symbolic demon skull with bullet hole album covers, to their hardcore metal sound and gutteral screams they have staved off the mainstream metal label. The band was formed by brothers Don and Ryan Clark in Seattle, Washington and release their first album “Demon Hunter” in October of 2002. The current lineup is Ryan Clark on vocals, Don Clark on rhythm guitar, Jon Dunn on bass guitar, Timothy “Yodi” Watts on drums, and Ethan Luck on lead guitar, and backing vocals. Luck is a very busy musician because he is also currently playing drums for the Christian rock band Relient K. Luck was also a member of the ska band The O.C. Supertones.
Upon This Rawk 