I also watched "idol gives back", and was REALLY impressed with the show, until the end! Having family who live in the appilachia mountains, I was loving the fact that they highlighted that region. As a christian, I was so surprised and delighted when it was announced the contestents were going to sing "shout to the Lord!) I admit, I watched looking for cbs to pull a fast one. In the past, there have been a few things that were njot christian friendly. The latest being, that boy being ridiculed by the judges and the host for standing up for virginity. That is what the good Lord teaches us all, after all. For the most part, I like the show. I was apauled that they put in the word shepherd in the place of Jesus! I do give the show kudos for fixing the problem, and choosing the sond in the first place!

This means that the producers of the show are pathetically weak.
If the do not want to include the word Jesus then pick secular humanist agnostic song, but do not do it halfway, changing some wording which irritates people.
Christians in American is not in fact free to express their voice, we call them dhimmi.
Laugh

Thanks for your comment trenfro2.

There are certain sermons and statements that stick. I heard such a statement years ago by Mario Murillo in a sermon that went something like this, when God gives us a platform to use, we should use it for His glory.

I watch approximately one hour of TV per month on average. I have never paid any attention to A.I. until I was at a friend’s house over this past weekend and watched a recording of the previous broadcast. I was at first in complete shock as I immediately recognized the song of Darlene Zscheck only to be quickly affronted with the reality of it having been neutered. Steve Camp wrote an interesting critique on the issue:

http://stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/2008/04/american-idol-shouts-to-who-jesus-is.html

Please remember to stand up for what we believe with grace. As a minister to people in the Industry in Hollywood, I am aware how easily we can win small battles and lose great opportunities for deeper and more significant influence in the lives of people in the Industry and as a result, the entire world! If we present meanness, that is the Jesus they see. Please remember to thank the producers for their choice and their work among the poor, not just ridicule! I'm going to look up the contact info now to send my thanks. Hope some of you will too.

DARWINISM and ATHEISM: UNSCIENTIFIC & MYTHICAL

http://www.evolutionfacts.blogspot.com

It was great to see IDOL and its contestants sign Christian songs...... Shout to the Lord and by contestants. The producers should be thanked for recognizing Christian music as a valuable contribution to our culture and a major part of American society. and yes, the word Jesus should not have been dropped on Wednesday.....but great that the song was chosen at all !

It's "DUH" time again!!! Think about it. A song praising Jesus as the LORD with whom nothing compares is being sung on a program called "American IDOL"! Jesus is not just another one of America's IDOLS! He is the GOD of the universe!

To Danny Poo I did not say it was sacriligious, but rather that it borders on being sacriligious because it gives a cheap grace presentation of the Gospel as if just having warm fuzzy feelings is enough to get a person saved.

They are only using the name of the Lord in vain.

And so now we really know how many Christians are watching and will continue to watch.

Controversy means ratings and talk, and more ratings and more talk.
This is why the judges always seem to be at each others throats.
And Ryan Seacrest has become more controversial.

We're such a good audience. Fox is loving all of it.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I find it so sad that some of those who are objecting so strongly to the name of Jesus being mentioned in a song of praise on national TV, are also those who readily accept the name of Jesus being used in profanity in movies and cable TV programs.

ESTOY MUY FELIZ!!! I'M VERY HAPPY!!! QUE EL NOMBRE DE NUESTRO SENOR SEA GLORIFICADO! NO SOMOS NADA SIN EL! BLESS BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!

I am very very conservative, very pro-jesus in our culture, so don't mistake this comment for liberal-ness.

It was not appropriate to have non-Christian, non-believers sing this song if they don't agree with the lyrics. It is perfectly fine to have people who believe in Jesus sing this song. But if they made people who don't believe in him sing it. That is wrong.

I want a culture that is both ok with Believers singing about Jesus on a popular TV show, and have believes make sure non-believers don't have to sing about Jesus, unless they choose to or are ok with it. I would expect the same thing back if a group wanted to sing about Buddha or etc.

I believe they were trying to do both by replacing Jesus with "shepard" but that is not appropriate either.

Also a message to the poster "believer" who believes it was sacriligious to allow non-believers to sing about Jesus. I would respectfully disagree.

Luke 9:49-50
"Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

JESUS IS GLORIFIED! All the earth and heavens declare HIS GLORY!

I am so glad that the LORD was so honored and JESUS is offensive to people, HE said the world hates Him and it will hate us, His followers. Whosoever calls upon the Name of Jesus shall be saved!!!

What is sad is that many songs glorifying JESUS have been sung on the networks in the PAST, and now people are amazed that American IDOL sings "Shout to the LORD"

HE IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

JESUS JESUS, SHEPHERD, REDEEMER, LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS!

We love You Lord and You are worthy of ALL PRAISE!

Even the ROCKS wil praise HIM if we do NOT!

Glory to YOU LORD JESUS!

It is rather odd that there was a change in the lyrics, but what else should we expect from non-believers? Oh how I long for the days when everyone, including believers and non-believers had thicker skins and took less 'offense' at the beliefs of others. We really live in such intolerant times. Christians should not censor but have a ready answer.

BTW, the song is a good song from a contemporary point of view. It has a catchy tune, lots of room for solo crescendos, and has emotional highs and lows. We need to remember, though, that it only becomes worship when it is from the heart to God, not singer's lips to audience ear.

Let us do all for the Glory of God.

They should never change the wording of a song to be politically correct. They should also not have those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior sing this type of song. It makes the song less authentic.

Also, Glitz has a point but there are many more Catholics who love this song and many other Evangelical type songs. Many Evangelical Catholics like myself love praise and worship music. It is great to hear it outside of church, but most of it is just fluffy good feeling music that generally doesn't have any theological merit. Praise and worship is great to lift one's spirit. So, I love listening to this music when its on the radio, but this music has no place in Church unless of course your church has a motivational speaker as a pastor. Then you are not going to a Church to praise God, you are going to an arena to get entertained.

Jesus is the Savior, the only Savior and the Only Way, the Only Truth and the Only Life! Glitz may be a more traditional Catholic and loves his Gregorian Chant, but he needs to be more welcoming of other types of music especially when people get to sing about JESUS on World wide TV.

I have a new song...how about this Glitz...how about we just sing the name of Jesus?! JESUS JESUS JESUS. Any God fearing Christian should love shouting His name from the rooftops!

Praise his name!!!!

I tend to agree with Mr. Giltz only for a different reason. I agree it was a huge mistake to change the wording of the song, but an even bigger mistake to have people who have not accepted Jesus as their personal Savior perform it in front of millions of people. It's kind of like the boxer who comes out after a victory and thanks God for allowing him to beat the snot out of his opponent or the music performer whose songs include foul and demeaning language who after winning an award thanks Jesus and calls Him their Savior and Lord. To me the performance of a truly Christian song by non-believers borders on being sacriligious and is a form of cheap grace as well as a gimmick to help their ratings among the Christian community.

Correction: I said, "The non-Christian believers", I meant "The non-Christian listeners". My bad

And BTW, my little sister is Catholic and she loves that song!

<<<The religious song, however, continued to irk others who did not find it appealing to a wide audience.>>>
I'm not quite sure I understand this. The non-Christian believers are irked about one religious song, yet the Christians have listened to them sing how many non-Christian songs that may "IRK" some of us. Yet the Christians don't say a word. People still tend to forget that the vast MAJORITY of people in the US claim to be Christians. We have a very small minority of people who are making it impossible for anyone to enjoy life in the US anymore.