A Night At The Dove Awards

Last night my wife and I had the honor of attending the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards. This was a very good time in that we got to see some live performances by some artists that we really like. It was really cool to see the set changes during commercials and how they must have worked on the choreography for many hours so that the needed equipment and props would be ready in a matter of minutes. I was impressed.

The night did have a few notable moments. One being Carrie Prejean’s introduction of Mercy Me. She received sustained applause for her recent answer during the 2009 Miss USA Pageant. The pageant judge, Perez Hilton whom is gay, asked her about her opinion on states permitting gay marriage. Also a notable moment for me was the performance by The Blind Boys of Alabama with Mac Powel. This was a great performance by one of today’s top Christian artists and a legendary gospel group.

One thing that was highly noticeable was the attire of some those attending, or lack thereof. This was a Christian event, but if you stood the attendees next to those that attend any other awards show – you wouldn’t be able to tell some of them apart. It really makes me wonder if this same revealing attire is worn to these people’s church services. I constantly had to turn my head to avoid being shocked by what the person heading my way was wearing. I had to alter my route back to my car so I would not be walking behind this one young lady that looked like she had taken the dress off of her Barbie doll and put it on herself. It was so high cut that it would have been short on a toddler. Sadly that is the state of what “Christian America” looks like and shows a lot of their values and blindness to what is acceptable and what is not.

I had already read that Paducah native, Steven Curtis Chapman, was going to perform his song “Cinderella”. This was because the song received increase airplay as it took on new meaning after the untimely death of his daughter. This song I have always had issues with being played on Christian radio. This is in the same vein as “Butterfly Kisses” and “Letters From War”, they are NOT Christian songs, they may be meaningful songs but they do not belong on Christian radio that should be playing music that exalts the Lord. That is a big issue with me, so much that if I am listening to the radio and that kind of song comes on I will change the station or switch to a CD. My wife, who is well versed on my stance to these kinds of songs, said “Ha! Now you HAVE to listen to it.” What a joker she is. Admittedly it was a touching performance and I did get a little soggy eyed. But it still is not a Christian song; I am just compassionate about the Chapman’s situation and cannot imagine what they have gone through.

There was one moment that really put a screeching halt to the evening for me. It was when GRITS and AJ Styles came out to present the Short Form Music Video. I have heard of Styles, but honestly did not know that he was a Christian. GRITS on the other hand I knew professed Christ and had seen them during Shoutfest one year. I had some red flags thrown back then during their performance and last night was more or less the final nail in the coffin. The lead rapper (is that a real term?), Coffee, made an off color remark, no pun intended. Styles was acting as if he could not get he envelope open when Bonafide (the second in charge of droppin’ a rhyme) took the envelope to open it. Coffee then said “Once again – black man savin’ a white man – shout out to Obama.” He had previously told Styles “You black by association man, you black by association” as a joke about the way Styles was talking. First of all these were very racist remarks. I was very taken back that a professing Christian makes a race division, especially a former backup dancer (GRITS were former dancers) for dcTalk, the Christian group that really broke down barriers. The Obama remark just really put the exclamation point on his words. I wonder what part of Obama’s values he holds closest to. Killing babies in the womb or those that have made it through the birth canal and are then brutally murdered out of convenience? Or maybe it’s the fact that Obama himself attended a racist church for 20+ years and he feels a special kinship with him. Or maybe it was just a vain attempt for Coffee to reach out for an invitation to the White House. Who knows? I just know that politics and racism hold no place in a Christian event.

There were a few winners that did truly glorify God in their acceptance speeches, one being Steven Curtis Chapman for the Artist of the Year. He said (paraphrase alert) that his family were thrown into a situation they never would have signed up for, but has been an opportunity to share their hope in Christ to many more people than would have been possible otherwise. It was very well handled and I appreciated the fact that he did glorify God through his words and through this tragedy.

Overall it was a good time, all except the drive back and getting up at 5:30 this morning for work. God was good today and allowed me to not feel tired and have an eventless day at work. God is so good and I deserve it so little, actually I do not deserve any of His grace, but He saw fit to extend that saving grace upon me. Please pray for the people that claim to be Christian but live like the world, dress like the world and hold the world closer than they do their relationship with Christ. I was reminded of that large piece of the population last night. Please pray that God will open their eyes to what a real relationship with Him is and not this false hope they have in a savior they created in their own image.