Christian Music Online

My Soul Tour concert

May 2, 2006 – 6:46 am

Lakelands-area youths rock out to Inhabited guitarist Chad Carouthers at the Hero of My Soul Tour concert Sunday at Grace Community Church in Greenwood. Inhabited was one of three Christian rock groups who played at the concert, which was organized to give youth exposure to the genre and give them an alternative to today’s secular music.

The green and blue spiked hair might have fooled you at first glance.
But the masses of teens who packed Greenwood’s Grace Community Church on Sunday weren’t there to hear a punk rock concert.
They were there to hear the message of God.

And that message was delivered through three Christian rock music groups on a stop of the Hero of My Soul Tour.

The event, featuring groups By the Tree, Jonah 33 and Inhabited, was organized as an attempt to reach youths, said Allen Bishop, director of Greenwood Youth Ministries, which partnered with Greenwood First Baptist Church, Grace Community Church, Faith Family Harvest Church, South Main Street Baptist Church, Woodfields Baptist Church, The Shepherd’s Shoppe and Quick Copies to bring the concert to Greenwood.

“We are really trying to educate Greenwood County on Christian rock — that it is a viable form of music and it is as good as its secular counterparts,” he said.

Chris Fox, youth pastor at First Baptist Church, said that music saturates the lives of teenagers, and can be a powerful medium through which they express themselves.
“What it boils down to is that this generation uses music both as an in and an out. It gets them into a world and it allows them to escape. Music can change an outlook on life and can change how you view life,” Fox said, adding that current music trends in country, rock and rap have brought racier lyrics and videos. “We wanted to provide music that was a positive alternative — great sound and lyrics and very positive.”
Bishop said the positive alternative was one he wanted for his own children, who were among the about 400 people filling the church Sunday.

“As a parent, do I want my kids driving down the road singing praises to God, or do I want my kids driving down the road singing about sex, drugs and rock and roll?” he said. “If I can find music that they will listen to with vocals that I don’t object to, then I feel like, as a parent, I’m fulfilling my responsibility.”

For the teens who attended, the music was more than just something their parents wanted them to hear — it was something they enjoy.

“I love Christian music,” said 14-year-old Wright Middle School student Alyssa Wyatt, of Abbeville. “It’s fun to sing to and it has a good beat … and it doesn’t have any cuss words.”

Aaron Chapman, 17, an Emerald High School student, said the concert was an opportunity for him to spread God’s word.

“I feel like God called me here tonight so that I can lead someone to Him and share what I believe,” he said.

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