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Billboard Names Switch No. 1 New Christian Artist of the Year
Life.Church’s group, Switch, has had a blessed year as a breakout group in the Christian music industry. The group debuted their first album on DREAM Records in February 2019 and immediately saw their single, “Symphony (feat. Dillon Chase)” make an impact in radio. Now, with a national audience of over 300 million and nearly 30 million streams, Switch has been named Billboard’s No. 1 New Christian Artist of the Year for 2019. “This honor is incredibly humbling and unexpected,” said JT Murrell, who oversees worship and album production at Life.Church. “We never could have imagined what God would do through Switch this year, but we’re so grateful to be a…
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for KING & COUNTRY’s ‘Little Drummer Boy’ is #1 on Billboard Charts
Two-time GRAMMY® Award winning duo for KING & COUNTRY continue to see an unprecedented reaction from their performance of “Little Drummer Boy” on CMA Country Christmas, which aired on Dec. 3rd on ABC. According to Billboard, the duo’s take on the Christmas classic has seen a 1,338% increase in downloads, a 60% increase in on-demand streams, and sits atop Billboard’s Christian Digital Songs chart along with three more songs reaching the Top 15. They entered Billboard’s Holiday Digital Songs chart at #2, reached Top 10 in all three iTunes All Genre chart categories, and currently hold the No. 1 position in all three iTunes Christian chart categories. The video of…
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Nashville Label Group Celebrates Banner Year
Culminating its first full year of operations, Nashville Label Group–the multi-genre, multi-imprint conglomerate founded and helmed by Seventh Day Slumber’s Joseph Rojas–celebrated a number of key milestones in 2019. Leading the accolades is RockFest Records’ flagship artist, Seventh Day Slumber, whose May 31 critically-acclaimed set, Closer To Chaos, garnered the biggest release week sales for the label since its formation. Produced by Seventh Day Slumber’s Jeremy Holderfield as well as Disciple’s Josiah Prince, Closer To Chaos debuted on multiple Christian and mainstream sales charts while its lead single, “Alive Again,” was a #1 hit on Christian rock radio. The project tackles a range of timely issues, including emotional trauma, self-worth…
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A Better Broken
Messy Endings When songwriters are trying to figure something out, they often write a song about it. The song I wrote was called “I Can Just Be Me.” The lyrics begin with me trying to do everything but not measuring up. Then in the chorus I ask God to be everything that I can’t be. … The post A Better Broken appeared first on FaithGateway.
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3-Step Decision Making
My husband said to me, “Kelly, you need to be more straightforward with people. Answer with an outright ‘no’ when you know you need to say ‘no.’ I mulled over his words, considering them. He had a good point. I have a hard time saying no. I want to make everyone happy. I don’t want to let people down. My central goal is to leave them encouraged. And to avoid feeling unlikable. To avoid dealing with those awful residual icky feelings of knowing a person may not want me anymore, think highly of me, or desire to be my friend. Or worst yet, they talk behind my back and form…
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*John Ronald’s Dragons: The Story of J. R. R. Tolkien by Caroline McAlister
Lovely illustrations and beautiful narrative prose tell the story of Tolkien, from boyhood to The Hobbit. *John Ronald’s Dragons: The Story of J. R. R. Tolkien by Caroline McAlister, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. Roaring Brook, 2017, 48 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: all ages, especially Tolkien fans Once upon a time there was a boy who loved words. He loved stories too, first stories read by his mother and later stories read at school. Dragons featured in some of his favorite stories. But once he grew up, the boy would create a dragon of his own who is remembered to this day. For the boy is J.…
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*Finding Narnia by Caroline McAlister
Finding Narnia takes us into the lives of two brothers whose childhood inspired one of the world’s greatest fantasy series. *Finding Narnia: the Story of C. S. Lewis and His Brother by Caroline McAlister, illustrated by Jessica Lanan. Roaring Brook, 2019, 39 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8 Recommended for: all ages, especially Narnia fans Jack and Warnie weren’t just brothers; they were best friends. But they were very different. From the beginning, it was Jack who dreamed up stories of other worlds. Warren Hamilton Lewis, three years older, had the practical, analytical mind. From childhood he was obsessed with railway lines, ships, and schedules. Clive Staples Lewis (Jack)…
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How to Lose Everything and Find Peace
Austin Carlile walked into our interview owning exactly three suitcases worth of belongings. He had lost everything else, even his mother’s ashes. Before this, he had risen to fame as the lead vocalist of the hit band Of Mice & Men. But he soon found only God could give him peace. And that is worth… The post How to Lose Everything and Find Peace appeared first on FaithGateway.
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Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys by Mike Unwin
Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys features well-known migration patterns as well as surprising facts, in a readable picture-book format. Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys by Mike Unwin, illustrated by Jenni Desmond. Bloomsbury, 2019, 47 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 8-10 Recommended for: Ages 6-12 Migration is one of the great mysteries of science: we know why most animals migrate but can’t fully explain the instinct that guides them unerringly to their destination. This book doesn’t attempt to explain, but it calls attention to the wonder—as all good science books should. Each double-page spread summons an outstanding example of migration. We’ve seen many of them before, such as the epic flights of…
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Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island by Jennifer Thermes
This oversize, intricately-illustrated picture book relates the story of Manhattan in a series of maps. Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island by Jennifer Thermes. Abrams, 2019, 64 pages Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-14 The story begins “millions of years ago” (give or take a few million) at the end of the Ice Age, when a glacier slowly melted over the Northeastern coast. In time people we call the Lanape settled on an island they called Manhanna, meaning “many hills.” A few hundred years later the Dutch staked a claim on it, and the history of New Amsterdam, later New York, began. If you love…
