Author: Texas Gospel

Anthem Edition turns up the tempo with country-tinged gospel release

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Anthem Edition has released a new single that marks a noticeable shift in tone from the group’s previous work, trading reverence for momentum and leaning into country instrumentation to carry its message.

The track, “Something’s Going On ‘Round Here,” follows “In Christ Alone,” a more stately and reflective release. Where that song settled into solemnity, the new single opens with a guitar lick and builds through three verses, passing the vocal lead between members as the energy climbs.

The song is built around the figure of Jesus moving through Galilee, rendered not as a theological treatise but as word-of-mouth excitement, the kind of talk that spreads through a town before anyone fully understands what they are witnessing. Its chorus lands somewhere between storytelling and invitation: Something’s going, going on ’round here / Folks are gatherin’ in from far and near.

Much of the track’s texture comes from studio musician David Johnson, who plays both resonator guitar and fiddle. The instrumentation gives the song a country flavour that sets it apart from the smoother production often associated with Southern Gospel, and reportedly gives it a different kind of life in live performance. Tim Rackley, one of the group’s founding members, has said the song has already begun building energy at concerts where it has been tested.

The single was written by Kenna Turner West, Jason Cox, and Belinda Smith, three writers with established records in Gospel music. The song is available in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and TIDAL.

Anthem Edition has a longer history than its current name suggests. The group formed in 2003 as The Old Paths, founded by Rackley and Doug Roark. It operated as a trio before expanding to a quartet, eventually signing with Sonlite Records in 2012. That period produced two number-one hits and a Singing News Fan Award for Favourite New Quartet.

The group went on hiatus in 2015 and returned to touring in 2017. In late 2022, it rebranded as Anthem Edition and brought on Andrew Utech as bass vocalist. Tenor Cameron Edens joined in the fall of 2023, completing the current lineup.

Televangelist James Robison, founder of LIFE Outreach International, dies at 82

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Ronald Stone

James Robison, the Texas-born televangelist who spent more than five decades bringing his Christian message to stadiums, living rooms, and relief camps around the world, has died. He was 82.

LIFE Outreach International, the ministry Robison founded, announced his passing but did not release a cause of death.

Robison began his preaching career in 1968, and what followed was a ministry of remarkable reach. His organization says his message found its way to more than one billion people worldwide, delivered across more than 600 cities. For many of those years, he shared that platform with his wife Betty on the television program LIFE Today, a show the couple co-hosted together and that became a fixture in Christian broadcasting households.

Born in Pasadena, Texas, Robison channelled his faith into multiple ventures over the decades. He authored several Christian books and, in 2015, launched The Stream, a Christian news platform that added a digital dimension to a ministry already operating on multiple fronts. Together, he and Betty raised three children and were surrounded by 11 grandchildren.

In a statement posted to social media, the LIFE Outreach International board described a man defined by his sense of calling.

“James devoted his life to sharing the Gospel and bringing hope, help, and healing to those in need around the world,” the statement read, adding that the ministry he built “has touched countless lives and will continue impacting generations to come.”

The organization said it would carry on Robison’s core mission: delivering food, clean water, and what the ministry described as the hope of Christ to communities in need. It asked supporters to pray for Betty Robison and the broader ministry family in the days ahead.

The board closed its tribute with a verse from Matthew: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Understanding Pentecost and the Church today

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JEFF TURNER

In the account of the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, God sent His Spirit, the apostles spoke God’s message, and many people took notice of what was happening. This caused some believe that every church gathering today should aim to have the same kind of experience.

However, when the full context is considered, that expectation does not match the purpose of that event. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was not meant to be repeated in the same way at every meeting. It was a unique moment in history that marked the beginning of the church.

During that time, the Holy Spirit came in a visible and clear way, described as something like divided flames resting on each person. This was not a normal or ongoing event but a sign that something new had begun. The apostles also spoke in different languages, and these were real, known languages. People from various regions were able to hear the message in their own speech. The text in Acts 2 even lists these languages to show that this was not random or unclear speech.

This moment shows that God was at work in a new way and that the church had been established. There are a few other moments in Acts where similar signs appear. These happen when new groups of people are brought into the church, such as the Gentiles and followers connected to John the Baptist. In each case, the signs confirm that they are included in the same body of believers as those at Pentecost. Even so, these events are limited and serve a clear purpose in the early history of the church.

The events in Acts 2 were meant to mark the start of something important, not to set a standard for every gathering that follows.

 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

The Cathedrals’ Interwoven streams for the first time, decades after the group’s farewell

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

For more than two decades, a particular recording by The Cathedrals sat largely beyond reach for most gospel music fans, available only to those lucky enough to own the original physical release. That changes now. Interwoven, one of the beloved quartet’s most cherished albums, has made its debut on digital streaming platforms for the first time, released through StowTown Records with the support of the families of founding members Glen Payne and George Younce.

It is, by any measure, a long time coming.

The Cathedrals were active from 1964 to 1999, rising from their origins as the house group for the Cathedral of Tomorrow church to become what many consider the most popular gospel quartet of their era. Payne and Younce were the heart of that sound, their voices and ministries inseparable from the group’s identity. When the quartet retired in December 1999, they left behind not just recordings but a generation of artists they had mentored, including Ernie Haase, Scott Fowler, Roger Bennett, Gerald Wolfe, Mark Trammell and Kirk Talley.

Interwoven captures the quartet at the height of that artistry. The album is a collection of standards and hymns, rich in harmony and deliberate in its emotional weight, featuring Payne and Younce alongside Kirk Talley and Steve Lee, with Roger Bennett’s piano work anchoring the arrangements throughout. A song like “No Tears In Heaven” illustrates what made the group so enduring: voices in service of something larger than performance, delivering a message of hope that still registers decades after the recording was made.

For Darla Payne, daughter of the late Glen Payne, the release carries a weight that goes well beyond nostalgia. “Interwoven is more than a re-release,” she said. “For our family, it is the continuation of a ministry that meant everything to Dad and to George. These songs brought hope, encouragement and joy to so many people through the years, and we are grateful that listeners can now experience this music again in a new way through streaming platforms.”

That gratitude is not simply sentimental. The Cathedrals have never entirely faded from cultural memory, sustained by devoted fan communities, tribute pages and listeners who have continued passing the recordings along for years. But streaming opens a different kind of door, one that allows a younger audience to encounter the music without needing to track down a physical copy or inherit it from a grandparent’s collection. It is the difference between preservation and genuine accessibility.

StowTown Records, which distributes through Sony/Provident, has positioned the release as both a celebration of what The Cathedrals built and an opportunity for the music to find a wider audience than it has reached in years. Whether that audience arrives already familiar with gospel quartets or entirely new to the form, Interwoven makes a convincing case for why The Cathedrals still matter. The harmonies are tight, the arrangements are confident, and the sense of conviction behind the performances is unmistakable.

Twenty-five years after the group sang their last notes together, it turns out there was still something waiting to be heard.

Courage to speak the truth

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JEFF TURNER

The idea of sharing one’s faith can make people feel eager, while others feel uneasy or even afraid. These reactions are not unusual. The New Testament speaks to these feelings and addresses them directly. In Romans 1, Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel.

While some believers would agree with Paul, they also admit that speaking about their faith can make them nervous. There is an important difference between feeling anxious and feeling ashamed. Anxiety can come from the difficulty of the message itself. When speaking to someone who is trying to feel good about their life, the message of the gospel brings a hard truth. It tells them that they are sinful and stand guilty before God, facing judgment. This is not an easy way to begin a conversation, and it can make anyone feel uneasy.

When talking about salvation, there must be an understanding of what a person is being saved from. It is not about finding meaning or purpose. It is about rescue from eternal judgment because of sin. .

One helpful way to begin may be to focus first on that good news. A simple opening, such as telling someone that you have something important and good to share, can make the first step easier. From there, the deeper parts of the message can follow. In the end, the call is to move past fear and speak with honesty.

The message is serious, but it also carries hope, and that is worth sharing.

For God has not given us a spirit of [a]timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

2 Timothy 1:7–8