Author: Texas Gospel

The Office of prophet in the early church

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JEFF TURNER

Among the leadership roles Paul describes in Ephesians, prophets occupy a distinct place alongside apostles, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. Understanding this role requires distinguishing between a general sense of speaking truth and a specific, recognized office within the early Christian community.

While anyone preaching or teaching could loosely be described as prophesying, the formal office of prophet referred to specially appointed individuals serving within local congregations, distinct from the apostles who travelled to plant new churches. These prophets appear to have received direct revelation intended for their specific community, though their messages still required validation from fellow prophets and had to align with established apostolic teaching.

In essence, the apostles functioned somewhat like the early evangelists of their day, spreading the gospel across new territory, while the prophets functioned more like resident teaching pastors, instructing and guiding congregations already established.

Doesn’t this explain why, once the apostolic era concluded, the offices naturally transitioned into the ongoing roles of evangelists and teaching pastors that continue within churches today.

But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation.

1 Corinthians 14:3

Triumphant Quartet teams up with Gordon Mote on new project

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TEXAS GOSPEL CANADA VOLUNTEER

The Triumphant Quartet plans to release new music in 2027, according to a social media post from the group.

The band said it has been working in the studio and is partnering with Gordon Mote on the upcoming project. Details about the songs and their release date have not been announced.

Triumphant thanked the musicians, writers and others involved in creating the new music.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the songs, the musicians, the writers, and every person who has helped bring this new music to life,” the group said in the post.

The band did not say when in 2027 the music would be released.

We’ll let you know when we learn more.

11th Hour finds gratitude in a new day with “Today is the day”

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TEXAS GOSPEL CANADA VOLUNTEER

Southern gospel trio 11th Hour is leaning into gratitude with their new single “Today Is The Day,” a song built on a simple but stubborn idea, that mercy resets every morning, whether you feel like accepting it or not.

Amber Eppinette Saunders points to scripture as the spark. “His mercies are new every morning,” she says, citing the familiar verse that anchors the song’s message. She and her bandmates, Garrett Saunders and Victoria Bowlin, wrote the track from a place of plain gratitude, the kind that comes from simply waking up and getting another day.

Eppinette Saunders penned the song alongside Kenna Turner West and Jason Cox, the same team behind the group’s previous release, “Just Keep the Faith.” Musically, “Today Is The Day” borrows a page from mid-60s Beatles records, favoring off-kilter phrasing over anything predictable. Producer Roger Talley builds the arrangement around staccato piano, a rhythmic backbone that pushes the song through its shifting tonal centers without ever losing the thread of its central message.

For Eppinette Saunders, the daily decision behind the song matters more than the music itself. “It’s about starting fresh,” she says, “trusting God a little more, and making the choice every day to be more like Him.”

11th Hour has built a decade-plus career on that same instinct toward renewal, adapting their sound while staying rooted in worship music. The group has landed multiple Top 10 hits on the Singing News charts and picked up award nominations across Southern Gospel music, including a Singing News Trio of the Year nod and an AGM Album of the Year nomination, with Eppinette Saunders herself nominated for Soprano of the Year.

“There is nothing more fulfilling than ministering to the body of Christ and sharing the gospel,” Eppinette Saunders says. “Every dream we have ever had, God has already fulfilled. He never ceases to amaze us.”

The trio shows no signs of slowing. Eppinette Saunders, Garrett Saunders and Bowlin say they intend to keep singing wherever the opportunity leads, treating each new stage as another chance to spread their message.

Daryl Mosley sings about sobriety and faith on new single “I Won’t Drink To That”

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TEXAS GOSPEL CANADA VOLUNTEER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Daryl Mosley has built a career on songs that feel like they were pulled straight from a small-town front porch, and his newest single continues that tradition, especially those walking their own road to recovery. “I Won’t Drink To That,” out now on all digital and streaming platforms, tells the story of a man who found something worth more than the bottle: a relationship with God that gave him the strength to walk away from addiction for good.

The song arrives as the third release from Mosley’s upcoming album, Little Moments, due out September 18. It follows “She Knew It All” and “One Screen Movie House,” two tracks that already showcased the songwriter’s gift for turning ordinary life into something worth singing about.

Written solely by Mosley, “I Won’t Drink To That” is delivered in his signature laid-back baritone, a voice that has carried more than twenty #1 hits over a career spanning three decades. What sets this song apart is its honesty. Rather than shying away from the struggle of addiction, Mosley leans into it, framing sobriety not as a burden but as a gift, one made possible through faith. For listeners who have walked away from their own battles with the bottle, or who are praying for someone still in the fight, the song offers both comfort and testimony.

The recording features Mosley on lead vocals and bass, joined by a lineup of respected Bluegrass musicians: Danny Roberts on mandolin, Jaelee Roberts on harmony vocals, Jamie Harper on fiddle, Tony Wray on guitar, and Justin Moses on dobro. That instrumentation gives the song a warmth and rootedness that fits its message, faith and healing set against the familiar sounds of home.

Mosley, a native of Waverly, Tennessee, has spent his career writing about small-town life, family, and faith. A four-time Songwriter of the Year, he has performed with groups including New Tradition, The Osborne Brothers, and The Farm Hands. Little Moments, a ten-track collection written or co-written entirely by Mosley (the title track alongside Rick Lang), continues that legacy, pairing modern Bluegrass instrumentation with lyrics that speak plainly to the everyday moments of grace that shape a life.

“I Won’t Drink To That” is streaming now, and Little Moments can be pre-ordered ahead of its September 18 release.

Anthem Edition finds its voice on Something’s Goin’ On

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Anthem Edition didn’t set out to make a survival record, but that’s kind of what “Something’s Goin’ On” turned into. The Southern Gospel quartet’s new EP, out now on Sonlite Records, catches four singers at different points in their own lives and lets that tension become the whole point of the project.

“When we started searching for songs to record, each member of the group had songs that truly spoke to where they are in life right now,” says Tim Rackley, who co-founded the group back in 2003. “We knew, if the songs moved us in a powerful way, they would move the listeners as well.”

Artists may say this kind of thing without a lot of thought, but Rackley backs it up with a simple production philosophy: match the singer to the song’s emotional center, not the other way around. “You cannot deliver a song fully if you don’t feel it yourself,” he says, and it shows in how the EP moves. The record opens and closes with its two most energetic cuts, “He Is Who He Is” and the title track, but the real character lives in between, in the hushed intimacy of “He Still Washed His Feet,” the front-porch warmth of “Land Of Joy Untold,” and the full-throated testimony of “I’m Another Lazarus.”

The focus track, “I Am Saved,” is where producer Roger Talley leans hardest into a more contemporary sound, building a quartet chorus around a message of grace and redemption that Rackley calls the emotional anchor of the whole project.

“Filled with strong songs, great harmonies, and messages that point people to Christ, this project blends the best of Southern Gospel tradition with a fresh sound for today’s listeners,” Rackley says. “From start to finish, these songs encourage, inspire, and remind us of God’s faithfulness. Something’s Goin’ On shows just how far this lineup has come.”

What started in 2003 as a trio called The Old Paths, founded by Doug Roark and Tim Rackley, grew into a quartet and eventually landed a deal with Crossroad Music’s Sonlite Records in 2012. Their breakout album, ‘Right Now,’ produced two number one hits and a Singing News Fan Award for Favorite New Quartet, a strong start that was followed, in 2015, by a hiatus. The group came back to touring in 2017, rebranded as Anthem Edition in late 2022 with bass vocalist Andrew Utech joining the lineup, and added tenor Cameron Edens in the fall of 2023.

Listen for songs from Something’s Goin’ On throughout the day on Texas Gospel Canada!