“I saw this look of absolute confusion on her face, and my first instinct was to scoff and say ‘Whatever!’” Norman says. “But as I saw that brokenness in her, I started to think about how this girl was created by God just like I was created by God. It was a strange moment, instead of wanting to spew judgment and anger, I thought ‘What would Jesus say to me in a dark moment like that?’ He would probably say I’m sorry for this world being so hard, and I’m here. Hope is here.”

Penning the song, aptly titled “Britney,” in about 15 minutes, Norman is still surprised that it’s the first single (it’s currently in the Top 30 on Christian AC charts). But he’s excited that the song encourages culturally relevant dialogue. “As the Body of Christ, we often to fail to dig into cultural things. We should be writing songs that force people to talk about these issues,” Norman adds. “What our culture says to young girls about what’s beautiful, is horrible. As a believer, it’s my responsibility to say there’s a better way.”

To support his new project, Norman will be hitting the road with MercyMe. In addition to playing a set, he’ll introduce MercyMe and later serve as the emcee for an audience question and answer time.

Still Going Strong

Big Daddy Weave’s front man Mike Weaver had an interesting wake-up call when one of his Rush of Fools' tour mates recently told him he loved listening to Big Daddy Weave’s songs in youth group.
 
“Man, I felt old in that moment!” Weaver says. “But I guess it was a reminder of how really blessed I feel to be still ministering through music.”
 
Now on the eve of the band’s 10th anniversary, Big Daddy Weave has released its fifth album, What Life Would Be Like (Fervent), a treatise on “getting to a place where they could receive the heart of God” and “normal life” as husbands and fathers.

“With our music, we’re not to trying to be anybody else but who we are,” Weaver says. “We’re okay with not being the artiste; we definitely wear our influences on our sleeves. But we know exactly why we do what we do, and that’s to share a message of hope and encouragement to people who need it the most.”
  
Also reigniting their passion for making music was a life-changing trip to Ecuador. “We haven’t been the same since we got back,” Weaver shares. “There is a passion that hasn’t been there before, and we know we will never see the potential unleashed as long as we hang on to our old ideas of what life and ministry and being the church is, rather than letting God just come and ‘be’ in us. It’s kind of like somebody put resuscitator paddles on our hearts. I think the Lord really broke our hearts over who He loves, and that’s everybody.”
 
Catch the band on the “What Life Would Be Like” tour, which runs through November, with Rush of Fools and Jason Gray.

About the Writer
After graduating with a B.S. in Journalism from North Central University in 1998, Christa Banister moved to Nashville, Tenn. and eventually started working at CCM Magazine/Salem Publishing in various editorial capacities (including managing editor) for five and a half years. After that, she launched her own freelance writing company and writes for numerous clients including CCM Magazine, Crosswalk.com (she reviews movies for them each week), Christian Single, Christianity Today, Threads Media, Songs4Worship.com, BurnLounge, PassAlong.com and helped kick-start the first Christian music blog for MTV. She also writes bios for professional recording artists and authors and penned her first two fiction novels for NavPress in 2007.

© 2008 GospelMusicChannel.com.  All rights reserved.  Used with permission. 

**This column first published on October 24, 2008.

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