Interview with former CCM Magazine Editor Matthew Turner
Moderated by Victoria Snyder for 30-CC
Victoria - What are some of the current trends in contemporary christian music?
Matthew - I think some of the coolest things I see going on are the different worship styles that are happening. Everything from the singer-songwriter style of Matt Redman to more of a hip-hop gospel style of things and there's even Rap worship now. I also think that it's neat to see some of the harder rock bands getting a lot of mainstream attention. You have bands like Chevelle and POD and other bands like that. They have been on christian labels before but are now being sought out by mainstream labels and their doing very well.
It's a really fun time to be in christian music because for the first time in a long time it's very well respected outside of the church walls. You see songs like Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine" doing really well on Pop AC radio. That's really important to getting the message out. People that do not know Christ are hearing the music for the first time.
Victoria - You're here at Lifest as a speaker. What are you talking about?
Matthew - One of the things I have seen in Christian culture is that we've thrown the word relevant around. All of us want to be relevant or significant in today's culture when were sharing Jesus. I think we've kind of misused the word. I'm talking about what it means to be relevant and to be christian. That true relevance is found in Jesus and not in the things we do, wear, or say. It's about having your relationship with Jesus defined and knowing where you stand.
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