Pastor Gabe's Old Blog

Above All is a popular praise and worship song made most famous by Michael W. Smith, released on his album Worship (which came out on September 11, 2001). Smith first came across the song, written by Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche, when he was going through material to sing at George W. Bush's inaugural prayer service. Smith said President Bush was so receptive of the song, he asked Smith to play it every time he saw him. Said Baloche, "I'm humbled and blown away that a simple prayer of worship, started at my little piano, found its way to the President of the United States. The possibility that this song could be an encouragement to him is such an honor." CCM Magazine later included Above All in their list of the 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music . Lenny LeBlanc talked with CCM about why he thought the song had been so meaningful to many Christians: "I think because it's such a beautiful picture of how a God that is above everything would become ...

From Walden Media, Vertical Films, and ... the WWE? comes the Christian-themed movie The Resurrection of Gavin Stone , hitting theaters January 20. Because wrestler Shawn Michaels plays a minor role in the movie, apparently that makes it the property of WWE Studios. Which means you'll find it in the library of WWE greats like See No Evil , Leprechaun: Origins , and Queens of the Ring . Please understand I'm being wildly sarcastic. The story is set in the present-day fictional town of Masonville, a suburb of Chicago. It involves a washed-up actor and former child-star Gavin Stone (played by Brett Walton of Agents of SHIELD fame), who gets arrested for disorderly conduct and is forced to do community service at, of all places, a church. After not having much success with a mop, he figures out he can join their production of a Jesus play entitled Crown of Thorns  and work out his community hours doing what he loves to do the most. Since Masonville is conveniently Gavin...

The annual Passion conference was held last week at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, headed up by Passion City Church pastor Louie Giglio and featuring speakers like John Piper, Beth Moore, Christine Caine, and Francis Chan. The conference targets mainly young adults. In addition to preaching and music, there's a big push for ending the evil of human trafficking. I've never attended, but my sister has. The year that she did, I watched the entire thing online. This year's conference caused a stir making even  the pages of Rolling Stone when pop star Carrie Underwood took the stage with David Crowder to sing her song about baptismal regeneration,  Something In the Water . Underwood claims to be a Christian, known for another Christian-esque hit,  Jesus Take the Wheel . However, the often scantily-clad performer came out in support of same-sex marriage years ago . She has no business having a platform at a Christian conference, let alone being invited to sing a song about bap...