The Christian legacy of "American Idol"
Kurt Neuswanger • April 30, 2021
If you’re like me, you have never watched “American Idol.” But this made-for-TV talent show has given us a long list of Christian artists.
In 2003, Joanna Beasley
(“This Same Love”) was the first Christian musician to emerge from American Idol during its second season. In 2008, she recorded her debut “This Same Love” with (then-unknown) worship leader Chris McClarney.
In 2006, Mandisa
(“Voice of a Savior”) was famously insulted by host Simon Cowell, who made rude comments about her weight. A week later, she returned and told him, “I want you to know I forgive you.
I figure if Jesus could die for all of my wrongs so I could be forgiven, I could certainly extend that same grace to you.” Her first album was titled “True Beauty.”
In 2007, Phil Stacey
(“Inside Out”) was a Top 5 finalist. His father and both grandfathers were Church of God pastors. Phil joined the Navy and was the lead vocalist for a Navy Band.
Also in 2007, Chris Sligh
(“One”) finished in 10th place behind Phil Stacey. In 2011, he had an acting part in the movie “October Baby” and was a worship leader in Niwot, Colorado.
In 2008, Jason Castro
(“Rise To You”) finished in fourth place. He is a first generation Columbian American from Texas.
Also in 2008, Jasmine Murray
(“While You Were Holding Me”) was a finalist. She was later named Miss Mississippi in 2014.
In 2009, Danny Gokey
(“Hope In Front Of Me”) was the third place finalist He had been a worship director at a church in Milwaukee, and also was an over-the-road truck driver.
Also in 2009, Scott MacIntyre
(“Fifty Second Chances”) (no relation to KJOL’s Scott McIntire) finished in eighth place. He was was the first visually impaired finalist, being blind from birth. In 2006, he received a kidney transplant, which failed in 2014. But in 2015, he underwent a second kidney transplant.
And in 2009, Shae Wilbur
(“Mercy Calling”) was also a contestant, although she did not make it on TV. Shae, aka Sharon, is the daughter-in-law of Messianic worship leader Paul Wilbur. She is also the daughter of Joel Chernoff, the founder of the 1970s Messianic band “Lamb.” In 2019, she recorded a duet with Danny Gokey (“Unmovable”).
In 2012, Colton Dixon
(“Through All Of It”) finished in the Top 7. The next year, he won a Dove Award for Best Contemporary Album.
Finally, Lauren Daigle
(“How Can It Be”) is one of the most successful Christian artist to date. Ironically, she never made it to the finals. In 2010 she was cut before the round of 24. In 2011, she failed to make it to the Hollywood round. In 2012, she reached Hollywood but was cut in the first Las Vegas round. Daigle has since gone on to set a record with “You Say” which has been the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 Christian singles for 145 weeks and counting.
Our August drawing is of course over, but congratulations to our three winners of couples registrations to the Weekend To Remember Conferences. If you missed out, I want to let you know, that underway through September 15th, the Family Life Today Weekend to Remember Getaways are half off…so be sure to use the group nam
Big Daddy Weave released their new album “Let It Begin” in May. It was their first album in six years. There’s a reason for that. Most bands release new albums every two or three years, but on January 2, 2022, Jay Weaver died from COVID. He was Mike Weaver’s younger brother (hence the “Weave” in the band’s name). They spent the next three years processing the loss and putting their grief into song. In 2023, they released the duet with Katy Nichole, “ God Is In This Story .” God is in this story, God is in the details Even in the broken parts, He holds my heart, He never fails Later that year, Big Daddy Weave released “ Heaven Changes Everything .” In the light of eternity I have this hope Thank You, Jesus, Heaven changes everything In 2024, they released “ Let It Begin .” Mike Weaver said he had been intensely grieving the death of his brother and would cry every time he told the story on stage, until one night the healing began. Meanwhile, Matt Maher had written this song without knowing that Weaver's healing that had started. Mike remembered, “He reached out to me and was just like, ‘Man, I’ve had this song that has been on my heart for you guys.’ I read the lyrics, and it’s what I couldn’t say.” If my wounds could tell one story, Let it be a testimony That You don’t leave me where I’ve been. If this is healing, let it begin Their new single is “ I’ve Just Seen Too Much .” Listen for it on KJOL. Some days it feels like I’ve been losing more than I have found I won’t tell you that I’ve got it all together, If you know me, then You know my faith has wavered If you ask me why I trust Him When it feels like everything has come undone All I can tell you is, I’ve just seen too much
Chuck Girard of Love Song dies Chuck Girard , the co-founder of the band Love Song, died on Monday, August 11. He had been diagnosed with cancer which spread to his lungs. He was 81. Chuck Girard was one of the founding members of the iconic Jesus music band Love Song , which had its birth at Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa in 1970. (The band was briefly featured in Greg Laurie’s movie “The Jesus Revolution.”) After Love Song, Chuck had a solo career marked by his worship anthem, “ Sometimes Alleluia .” He gave concerts several times in western Colorado during the 1990s. Around 1976, Girard gave his testimony of how he and his friends had formed Love Song around 1968, before any of them actually knew Jesus. “We felt that drugs and psychedelics were part of God’s plan to reach men who could be reached by no other means. We thought that LSD was the key to spiritual knowledge. I thought the Beatles were Second Messiahs. I really thought they had discovered something and they were trying to convey it to us in little doses. “And when their White Album came out, I felt ripped off. I felt the Beatles had copped out, that if they did know anything spiritual, they were afraid to tell it, and perhaps they didn’t know. “So we got obsessed with this idea of having a band that could communicate God to people. And we started--in the middle of our psychedelic period--a God band that was called Love Song, and we would go into nightclubs and throw in our God songs in the middle of our music, and a lot of the songs would have Jesus’ name in it, and people were just not used to hearing Jesus’ name in a rock ‘n’ roll band in a bar! “And we would go out and evangelize people on our breaks. We would go out and say, ‘Hey why don’t you come out with us on Sunday. We’re gonna drop acid and get into God.’ It’s a classic example of the blind leaving the blind, of people who were sincerely deceived, sincerely wrong. “And 2½ years later, after we started that first band, the Lord was faithful to draw us up to a place called Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, and for the first time in my life, the gospel was communicated to me. And for the first time in my life, lights went off and I went: That’s what it’s all about! And I really discovered that what I’d been looking for my whole life was Jesus Christ, the victorious Son of God who died on a cross and three days later, rose again from the dead!” ( transcribed from audio of an unknown source. Here is a similar testimony from 1971 at Calvary Chapel, when Chuck was just 28 .) Postscript: in 1971, a copy of the original Love Song record made its way to a small Colorado town called Wray, where a 14 year old boy listened to that album over and over after becoming a Christian. It was the first, and only, contemporary Christian music we had ever heard. And 54 years later, that boy is still playing Christian music for anyone who will listen!
Just two weeks after breaking his back in a skateboarding accident, Forrest Frank says God miraculously healed him . "So I broke my back exactly two weeks ago," he said . "I got an X-ray and a CAT scan. It showed I had multiple fractures. I wake up today, forget to put on my back brace, I pick Bodie up, and I realize, Wait, I'm not wearing my brace! What is going on? I order an urgent X-ray. I have complete healing in my back. I have no fractures in my back!" Frank says he believes God would have healed him the first day, but God wanted his songs and testimony to come to life first. While being confined to his bed, Frank wrote a song called " God's Got My Back " which he released a few days later. (You can hear it daily on KJOL.) Frank made his announcement of his healing on Saturday, August 2, giving him just a few days to prepare to perform at the Iowa State Fair on August 7!
Lauren Daigle has released her first new song in two years, “ Let It Be A Hallelujah .” The first verse borrows from the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” by Frances Havergal in 1874. Take my life and let it be My soul devoted Lord to Thee Take my moments and all my days Make them endless praise Take my heart and let it move In spirit and in truth For the glory of Your name Daigle says she actually wrote this song eight years ago . "Years ago, in the writing cycle between 'How Can It Be' and 'Look Up Child,' I remember this gem, 'Let It Be a Hallelujah,' landing in the land of Dropbox and never making its way to my record," Daigle shares . "Fast forward years and years later, I truly believe that God had an incredible design filled with intention behind why this song wasn't brought forth into the world in the season in which we wrote it. This song was savored and salvaged for a time when my life needed to intersect with it."
Musician Forrest Frank--who had the hit song Good Day--had what surely could be called a “bad day” on July 18 th . He broke his back! Frank was playing with his two year old daughter in the driveway when he crashed his skateboard and hit the side of the house. He broke his L3 and L4 lumbar vertebrae. You can see the video on his TikTok page . So while he was confined to lying on his back, what did he do? He wrote a song! What’s more, he recorded and produced it on his laptop while lying on his bed! He released the finished version of the song a few days later. It’s called “ God’s Got My Back .” God’s got my back Even when I fall or get attacked God’s got my back Even when I’m low and full of lack God’s got my back Even when my soul is full of sorrow I don’t have to worry about tomorrow Why’s that? ‘Cause God’s got my back!
