“Shout To The Lord” on American Idol

Wow..it's a funny picture!

Ooh gosh i just typed a big comment and when i submitted it it came up blank! Please please tell me it worked right? I dont want to write it again if i dont have to! Either the blog bugged out or i am an idiot, the latter doesnt surprise me lol.

Chris, You need to check out an interview I recently had with Phil Stacey, contestant on American Idol season 6. We asked him about his opinion on the whole Shout to the Lord "controversy." He has some great insight that I thought you might participate. Also, did you happen to get my email the other day? Bo- www.wannabeblog.com

Alex - Good call on David Cook! Your points - 1. Agreed - it was a trainwreck 2. They DID sing Jesus on the studio version and also the next night, so there was definitely something going on 3. If they were trying to be "contemporary," yeah. Actually I saw on Crowder's blog that someone may have wanted to do one of his tunes. 4. Yeah I'm still not sure on that one but not really spending much time on it, either. Ronnye Jo - I was for sure surprised to see them do it again the next night with the original lyrics. Bo - Interesting, indeed. I'd love to hear the whole story from people on the inside. Faith - I'm not sure who you're addressing so I don't really have much to add to your comment.

Jesus says that He will raise even Rocks to praise Him. So who are you to determine who has a right to sing about the Lord? for soon every tounge shall confess that Jesus is Lord. its just starting

Little update from the "evil guy" who started www.idolgivesin.com. Now to continue to stir the pot or beat a dead horse, but I assume you heard that the didn't get permission to change the words. If not, then you just did. Josh Harris, pastor/author, wrote this on his blog: "I know the people from Hillsong who negotiated this deal thru Integrity Music, and the word change wasn’t approved, but while they deal with that, they are quite happy the song was song used." Just thought I'd pass it along brothers and sisters.

There is such power in just hearing the name JESUS. I'm so glad the next night the idols sang "Shout to the Lord" using the name Jesus even though we as Christians know that He is our Shephard. I love it that so many Americans heard the song. Some may have heard it for the first time and heard how Jesus is our Savior. That song paints such a beautiful picture of who our Lord truly is. He is our Shepherd, comforter, tower of refuge and strength and we should never cease to worship Him. So many people in our world today believe there isn't a God or think there has to be more than one way to God besides Jesus (as Oprah claims). But it does not matter what the world believes. The truth is that Jesus is the only way to God. He is the way, the truth and the life and no man can come to the Father but through Jesus. So, whether they believe it or not "One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" . And those who have confessed their sin and have come to God through Jesus and His shed blood for us on the cross will be singing together "Shout to the Lord". I pray the idols felt the Spirit of God and that a convicting of their hearts took place as they sang that song because there is power in Jesus' name.

Throwing into the mix (and yes I posted the same thing at other blogs - sue me)... Well, first off - we are HUGE AI fans (David Cook’s gonna win it). 1. Musically, I thought they destroyed the song - no good. 2. Leaving out Jesus - eh, what did you expect? 3. Just the fact that they chose it? Well, they are about 15 years behind (they should have chosen a United, Tomlin, DCB, or Hall song). 4. Was it worship? Who are we to judge? God was surely glorified even if it was indirectly. HE gave the song, HE gave talent to sing/play/produce, HE gave the ears to hear, HE allowed it to happen. Even if the 61 million viewers weren’t worshipping the one true God - he was glorified. So for that, I am thankful and excited… even if it wasn’t that great.

Alastair - Bonus points to anyone who writes a song using lyrics found only in the comments on this page.

"Kudos to You Lord" There's a line I haven't seen in worship song yet! I'll have the notebook out tonight and see what I can do. Alastair.

No one can say Jesus be praised except by the Spirit of God. This was essentially God's idea. I love how He loves the world so much as to reveal Himself where the people hang out. Tonight is was on American Idol. Not surprising to me that the Giver of all givers shows up on a show that is talking about giving. He is full of great ideas. If you are a member of His body I encourage you to rejoice because He is hard at work to love those He died and rose for. Kudos to you Lord!!!!!

I have spent some time reading these comments - and shame on us "Christians" - no wonder we are so ineffective in this world. We can't agree on anything. Its a good thing God doesn't have to get our permission before He steps outside OUR box! That amazing song speaks of the One & Only True God - Jesus, Shepherd, Saviour, Tower of Refuge & Strength, Lord, Comfort, Shelter, King! God is sovereign. He does work in mysterious & surprising ways & the message of that song will hit its mark. You have His Word on that!

"The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." Philippians 1:17-18

I'm confused. I watched the beginning of the show when they opened with Shout to the Lord. I clearly heard "My Jesus, My Savior"...I DVR'd it. I'm going to have to listen to it again tonight.

The version the top 8 did earlier in the show named `Jesus' quite clearly. They substituted `Shepherd' during the finale/reprise.

Man, I can't believe someone has actually gone a set up a web site dedicated to it. You're one quick off the mark web developer Mr Bo Lane.

Just thought I'd check out what all the fuss is about! ;-)

Any news on how and why the decision was made to sing the song again on Thursday's results show with the name of Jesus? This gets curiouser and cursiouser.

Buy this song from iTunes to tell American Idol that you enjoyed Shout To The Lord! Your money goes to charity!

I was absolutely blessed to hear this song performed on American Idol. I was even more blessed to hear the song performed on the show again (4/10) with Jesus' name put back into the song. What a bold move by American Idol. I pray that eyes would be opened to God's love because of it. I also pray that the Lord would bless those involved with putting the song on the show.

I guess I missed the preformance on Wed night - my dvr cut it out... so tonight when the show began I heard the "Shout to the Lord" for the 1st time. (The UN-edited version) My mom and I just looked at each other in shock.... but in a good way. I mean christians are always being told to shut up and get out of the way for the most part when it comes to media outlets. I think this was an AMAZING step for christians to be able to get the name of Jesus out there!!! Over 31 million people watched this week in which all 31 million have now heard the name of Jesus... and to be honest with you I noticed that a few of the contestants were really singing it from the heart and it did mean something to them. For a christian to say that they are now going to boycott the show due to a christian song about Jesus and who He is being sung is absolutely ridiculous to me.... what a huge step back if we all had that attitude. Again I was very impressed that they were allowed and had the nerve to sing such a song on a show that is the MOST popular show in America right now... I could go on and on but I would encourage those whose christian to support this and to pray about it if they took offense to the preformance - in the last days it is important that Jesus use every avenue possible to reach those who need Him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NQu4PhhmEI My Jesus, My Savior !!!!!

do me really understand what has happened this past week? with the uproar of the oprah "megachurch" flooding the airways, we have thus seen the spiritual battle of "good vs evil" right before our eyes. tonight they sang the song correctly and millions of viewers are now downloading the song. those that might not realize the power behind the name of Jesus will be singing along to the song. maybe, just maybe, Christians were tested. Sitting back and accepting the way it was (Wednesday). whatever the reason, He Wins !!!!! SHOUT TO THE LORD !!!!!!

You know, God will find a way to get his message out. If American Idol did this song because of Jesus, The Lord, or God, or not, why does it matter? If they did it for any other reason than glorifying God, he will deal with those people. God still got his message to the world last night. I'm know it touched the hearts of those watching all over the world, maybe those who has long lost the feeling of his glory. So whether the people's hearts that made this happened, was in it for the right reason or not, God still slipped in and blessed people all over the world. And who are we to Judge the condition or the intent of the people's hearts who sang the song or made it possible to air, it's not our place to judge them, because we just don't know the true intents of their hearts. Leave that part up to God as he will Judge these people in due time. You can't disagree with the song being aired as it was, then turn around and Judge the people, because that in itself, is wrong. Praise God because he always finds a way to sneak in, even if the people that made it possible, did it for the wrong reasons. I am Amazed and Blessed that it aired and I know that God had everything to do with that. He's sneaky, and he is Awesome.

Thank God. They are finally showing something on TV that is inspiring and a positive influence! Absolutley awesome. Thank you Jesus :)

Personally when it's all over....I'm just glad somebody finally changed something with that song...

I think if there was a candiate for a song to move from the christian sub-culture into what I'll call the comfort songs of the world genre...Shout to the Lord is up there at the top of the list. Songs like Amazing Grace, I'll Fly Away, How Great Thou Art... As for changing the lyrics up...I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say artistic expression is a good thing...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't (I personally think it didn't work too well this time)...of course there could be some other reason they were changed...but that's kinda the network execs jobs...they always change stuff around (Christian and non)...Elvis couldn't shake his hips, American Idols can't say Jesus...(although of course they can...see previous posts)... Anyways...I guess I'd put this in the "maybe we're all getting a little older and the networks have caught on that we sit around and watch American Idol every night" file and AI's job is to give us what we like...so they chose this...no big deal... G

More like ... "Shout to the WHO?" Apparently I am not the only one that finds this absolutely intolerant. There is no excuse about removing the name of Jesus, the One who is only capable of true salvation and redemption. You can find out more on my website www.idolgivesin.com

What really matters? Close your eyes and listen. God’s Word says in Psalm 46:10 “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD” God knows AI’s intentions, WHY? He created each and every soul. It’s not about a song. It’s not about what they did or didn’t do, it’s ALL about JESUS! Let it go and LET GOD! His Answer is the only one that matters.

It was definitely a bit shocking for a show like American Idol to include what's essentially a "church worship song." The song's from 1993 and it took 15 years before the mainstream ever heard it, so I am glad they did. I think that song will become as ubiquitously common as "Amazing Grace," sung in a variety of places, Christian or otherwise.

Absolutely! Thank you, Paul! That was my point...... you said it in fewer words.

Hey, what say we all relax a bit?

Why are some so offended that the name Jesus was left out? HE IS our Shepherd, HE IS our Father, HE IS our Lord, HE has many names. How AWESOME that HE was praised, worshipped, glorified, and sung about on a secular program where millions of people watched and heard these wonderful words of rejoicing! This was definitely a miracle! PRAISE GOD!!!!! Please Christians be thankful & joyful that you had the eyes to see and the ears to hear the performance last night. Go out and love and serve the Lord, spread THE WORD by your Godly example and not by your human attitudes.

I think it was a poor rendition musically. Good song choice though. I don't necessarily applaud AI for including the song however, they should have been tapping the "religious market" long ago. You know, inclusion and all that.

What kind of a line is "my jesus" anyway... i think the change made for a much more meaningful lyric. If i'm talking to my wife I don't call her "my Amy". I'll call her my darling or something..., well, descriptive! i feel kind of dirty commenting about this, but thems my thoughts

“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” Philippians 1:17-19

Great dialogue, everyone. Just an fyi, the word is spelled "Shepherd". I just read Greg's comment that the downloadable version of the song mentions the name Jesus. That's amazing! I'm curious as to whether Darlene Zschech made that one of the conditions. After reading through all of the comments I've come to this conclusion now: let's not throw out the baby with the bath water! As most have commented, whether or not they mentioned the name Jesus should not be the main focus; what matters is that they even sang such a popular worship song like that to a WORLD-WIDE viewing audience of over 30 million people. Either way you look at it, God will use this to draw more people into His kingdom. We shouldn't let it divide us; this is a great opportunity for the world to see the Christian community respond in love and kindness. We can all start by making large donations to the charity fund that was set up and put actions behind our words. Faith without works is dead! Thanks Chris in Canada for setting up the blog, it's been great!

I found the choice of song very interesting indeed. Yeah, taking out the name Jesus was a little frustrating, but with the way that our society censors Church and State, I wouldn't be surprised if FOX made the call that the name Jesus was too much. But honestly, they used Shepherd, Comfort, Lord, Tower of Refuge, etc...Those are pretty brazen confessions to make on national television. Are all the Idol hopefuls believers? I doubt it. But I think some legitimately are. And who knows how that song could have impacted people watching. Let's give God some credit here! He can reach His people with or without the name Jesus. I am praying that despite that lyric change, people were impacted by the song.

What courage it took to perform that song last night. Shout to the Lord, regardless of the change in words was still an inspiration to all. Maybe those that had problems with it, need to take a long hard look at the words. And then they can Shout to the Lord. Thank you American Idol. You went up a notch in my book.

I guess whatever the motivation for concluding “Idol Gives Back” with “Shout to the Lord,” God can use it. Perhaps I should go even further to say that it definitely opens a door or provides a springboard for a God-centered conversation with friends and family who aren’t Christians.

I have to admit I'm really suprise at some of the opinions that are posted. We all know as Christians when God wants our attention he does in ways that we may not expect. This week little David sang a song that no doubt was spiritual. Tuesday, Dolly sang of Jesus and Gravity. Then last night's performance was amazing. Yes they took out Jesus' most precious name which saddens me, but I'm sure that was done not to offend other religions and not to sound to "preachie." But with that said I know in my heart God's presence was there I could fill him reaching to all of us. I for one cried and began to pray for forgiveness of my sins and for all the unsaved people that were watching this week. Hey, God is good and he is even cool. It's okay for us to share him on primetime and on the most popular tv show ever. After all what better place for him to get the attention of the saved and unsaved all at once!

I thought it was awesome!!!!!!!! We must infiltrate the main stream media, try not to pick it apart people. Its a start. :)

Consider this: American Idol is the number 1 show in the country if not the world. Last nights episode was watch by how many people? All of my kids go to public schools where they discuss what happened on American Idol the night before. Ryan Seacrest mentioned that the song can be bought on iTunes. Well I bought it today and the Idols sing the original song with the precious name of JESUS in it. What a huge impact for not only our kids, but everyone who downloads the original version. As Christians we are called to be "Christ" like. Nobody has reached the level of compassion that Jesus had while He walked this Earth. We should all be ready to use this as a blessing and opportunity to share how we have been saved. We are all tools of Jesus and are called to be "Sheperds of Men" How many of us are even brave enough to sing the chorus on national t.v. We need to be strong and praise God everyday, not just on Sunday. Use this. Jesus has just given you a door to use.

All I'm saying is....be it the way we sing it at church, or whether we felt like shouting to their version or not. God was broadcasted on national tv and we ought to be thanking Him that they even tried the watered down version that they did. We don't always understand how God works, but he will use this for His glory whether we want to admit it or not. We sometimes put God in a box and think He can't work outside our comfort zone, BUT HE CAN!!!

Oh man - this is fun. Suzanne - great point on AI not wanting their brand to be tied to the Jesus brand. I totally agree with that obvservation.

I was pretty amazed that they substituted the name of Jesus, when they've allowed at least four songs in the last three or four weeks on the show with His Name. Mariah Carey's gospel song even ended with the name of Jesus last night. Maybe they're comfortable with it when an individual artist uses it (like those disclaimers on DVDs about commentaries not necessarily reflecting the views of the parent company), but don't want to commit the whole franchise to being labeled as religious. Anyway, they had to get permission from CCLI or Darlene Zschech to use the song, so it wasn't used without someone's knowledge or blessing. The performance of the song wasn't moving, so I don't know what it did to promote the Lord, especially since the contestants (David A, Christy Lee, Brooke, and Jason) who may have actually been able to pull off a sincere, heartfelt solo were passed over for Carly (normally love her voice, but she was REALLY shouting her solo), David Cook (who believes we're all innocent), and Syesha (who prefers to sing songs about extramarital affairs). Hopefully, those who have never been exposed to the song will seek out the original version. Chris, you said the studio version leaves in Jesus' name. Is that version any more powerful than the live one? Thanks for this blog. It is just what I needed this morning! God bless you! Suzanne in Arkansas

I personally wouldn't have changed any words, but weather anyone wants to admit it or not, Jesus was glorified in that song. There are many names for Jesus, and at least they used them!!! My thanks goes out to them who put it on the show, just so Christ could be mentioned to so many. The whole song glorifies Christ, and if they couldn't recognize that, then I don't know if putting the word Jesus in there, would've made it any clearer. He is our Shepherd also! I'm so thankful that maybe my friends or family who aren't saved, who don't go to church, could hear that last night, and possibly be reminded of how great God is, and the power and majesty he deserves. Why would we want to "quit" watching the show, when Christ was introduced last night? Maybe if they see reviews or numbers go up they'll realize it was when the "Christian" song was sang, and maybe they would be more apt to use a Christian song again! Come on!!!!

I wonder if perhaps one or more of the singers didn't want to sing about "Jesus" because they didn't want to explicitly endorse Christianity for whatever reason, so they compromised on something less blatant. We can only suppose at this point, but I think if some sort of scenario such as that were the case, I'm sure most Christians would rather have seen the song there with the words as they were aired as opposed to not at all.

Bass ackwords is what I think you were going for there. (and a big AMEN while I'm at it).

To be honest I didn't watch the show. I hate American Idol. I did however watch the video that Chris and Russ posted. My honest opinion----What harm did it cause? I doubt anyone lost their soul from watching it! Sure is was a musical train wreck but what song wouldn't be, being done like that? As Christians we get soooo hyper sensitive over things that are supposedly "our thing" Like getting all hot and bothered over the changing of Jesus to Shepard? Wasn't one of the many metaphors for Jesus Shepherd? Are you kidding me? We should be pleased as punch they actually sang a song with the word Lord in it, on national TV! Who knows what their motives were? The point is we should take the good out of this situation in that a WORSHIP SONG (no matter how awkwardly done) was sung on one of the biggest nationally televised shows in the world. It kills me that Christians would sit back and demand to see everyone on that shows Christian membership card along with a record of their tithe for the last 10 years in order to give praise to "Their" God. Come on guys! For whatever reason AI chose to do a worship song on TV. If you "Boycott" (which is really lame and the typical knee jerk reaction Christians aways give to something that rubs them the wrong way) shows when they do stuff like this, it will send the message to the networks that anything religious should be kept out of TV because people stop watching when they do. It's kind of funny that Christians will watch a show religiously (no pun intended) without it ever mentioning anything about God or His Son, but when they do, they stop watching the show? Somethings backwards.