At 87, the Rev. C.T. Vivian can still recall the moment, decades after the height of the civil rights movement.

As he stood to conclude a meeting in his Atlanta home, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. joined his activist colleagues in song, his eyes closed, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“There is a balm in Gilead,” they sang, “to make the wounded whole.”

As the nation pauses Monday (Jan. 16) to mark King’s birthday, those who knew him say hymns, spirituals and other religious songs helped carry him through troubled times.

The spiritual fit King’s unique circumstances, said Vivian, who recently was named vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization co-founded by King.

“The average Christian doesn’t have to pick up his phone when it rings and think about somebody killing him or his children,” said Vivian. “The average Christian didn’t have any of that.”

Although King had other favorites, his widow, Coretta Scott King, wrote in her autobiography that it was “Balm in Gilead” that “my husband quoted when he needed a lift.”

The first stanza she cited in “My Life With Martin Luther King Jr.” reads:

Sometimes I feel discouraged

And think my work’s in vain

But then the Holy Spirit

Revives my soul again.

King also was comforted by “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” a hymn sung by Mahalia Jackson at his 1968 funeral and by Aretha Franklin at the dedication of the new King memorial in Washington last year. “Through the storm, through the night,” it goes, “lead me on to the light.”

Accounts of King’s life say it was the last song he requested, moments before he was shot on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tenn.

Lewis Baldwin, a religious studies professor at Vanderbilt University who has written on King’s cultural roots and prayer life, said the song addressed some of the helplessness the Baptist minister must have felt as he constantly faced threats and attacks.

“I think that song spoke of that,” said Baldwin. “Give me courage, give me perseverance.”

Beyond music that encouraged him, Baldwin said King particularly appreciated songs such as “If I Can Help Somebody” that moved people toward the goal of creating King’s “beloved community.”

“He cherished the great hymns of the church, particularly those that spoke to the ethic of service,” he said, “and to be involved in changing the quality of life of human beings.”

Music such as the movement’s iconic theme song, “We Shall Overcome,” and others that King favored incorporate timeless values, Lewis said. “Those are not songs that have meaning confined to the 1950s and ‘60s,” he said.

King particularly enjoyed Jackson’s rendition of “Amazing Grace,” Vivian said. After she sang the spiritual “How I Got Over” at the 1963 March on Washington, Baldwin said, King later wrote her to say she set the tone for his “I Have a Dream” speech.

His love for a range of music was reflected in his sermons, where he sometimes recited lines or whole stanzas of sacred songs. In a 1957 sermon, he said the Easter message was reflected in such hymns as “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and “In Christ There is No East or West” as well as words from the “Hallelujah Chorus” of Handel’s “Messiah.”

In that way, lyrics became more important than the musical notes that accompanied them, helping King deliver his message, said James Abbington, who teaches church music and worship at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.

“King was a trained theologian,” he said. “Music becomes the platter or the handmaiden for theology.”

But in a life steeped in hymns, spirituals and other music of black culture, the question remains: Could King sing?

Friends and scholars say he often would sing with a group but seldom as a soloist. In her autobiography, his widow recalled that he once ended up singing “His Eye is on the Sparrow” as an unintentional solo and had to overcome “real stage fright” as he sang the whole song by himself.

“I never really told him he couldn’t sing,” wrote his widow, a trained classical vocalist, in her 1969 book. “He had a good voice for a choir.”

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King, laughed off the question.

“I refuse to comment on the grounds it might make me sound nasty,” he said. “His gift was speaking more than singing, but he loved music.”

Many who attended one of Michael W. Smith’s Christmas Concerts in December 2011 had a pleasant surprise. In addition to the fine presentation of Mr. Smith and full symphony orchestra, his special guests was the little known Louisiana quartet, L’angelus. Combining Cajun music with classical may seem like an add choice, but instead, it was brilliant. Good thing too as the group had to do some heavy lifting during some of the concerts as Michael battled with laryngitis.

Pronounced “Lawn-Jay-Loose,” the four siblings began performing in the mid ‘90s with the help of their mother, Linda Rees. Back then, Linda Lou and the Lucky Four, performed at hundreds of county fairs, rodeos, coffeehouses playing mostly country and popular tunes from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Today, the group has ventured on their own playing more Cajun fare. The four-piece band consists of Katie (27) playing the guitar, Paige (26) the bass, Johnny (24) the drums and Stephen (22), the fiddle, swamp pop saxophone and harmonica.

The four are incredibly fun to watch play. Katie has a smile that won’t quit. She steps back a bit from Paige, who tends to whip her hair in all directions. Stephen makes it clear that he doesn’t play a violin – he plays the fiddle. And Johnny, the quiet one, hides behind his drums set, but plays like a mad man. In addition to the instrumentation, they harmonize their voices beautifully. They play “Ca C’est Bon,” one of their most popular hits, with delight as if they are playing it for the very first time and they alternate between English and French seamlessly.

In 2006 L’angelus was selected by Billboard Magazine as one of the six finalists in the Independent Music World Series and the group has been gaining international attention ever since. Before they embarked on the Christmas tour, the group was a featured guest at the World Youth Day with the Pope in August 2011.

L’angelus’ next performance will be at the New Year’s Cajun Party at St. Peter’s Church Hall in Carencro, LA this weekend. In July, they will team up again with Michael W. Smith and Laura Story for the 2012 Cruise of Canada trip.

To learn more about L’anglus and sample their music, visit their website.

Originally posted at Examiner.com.

Lemonade stands, neon sunglasses, pop music blaring from the speakers and dancing around in the car with the top down.

Don’t all these things remind you of those good ol’ summer days, when the atmosphere was always fresh and buoyant?

Unfortunately, some types of music nowadays and the angst that they try to put across make you feel like it’s anything but summer.

However, with original songs, such as Hugspiration, Candy is Dandy, and Chocolate Lipbomb,  indie band, Summers, aims to be different with their optimistically energetic pop music. They actually want try to recapture some of that summer nostalgia.

Summers is a Philippines-based trio composed of Angela Muñoz, vocalist; her older brother, Alan Muñoz, lead guitarist and Allen Nabablit, the band’s drummer.

Summers started out as a four-piece band, with the name Paynes Grey. They formed the band to join a battle of the bands competition and decided to continue as a band even after the competition.

Unfortunately, they had to let go of their bassist due to creative differences, and ended up changing switching from a heavier rock tune to progressive indie pop. This also led to a new band name, which eventually became Summers.
It seems like fate led them to being in a band together because of their background and common interests. Angela has always loved performing since she was a kid. She had a lot of creative training too, such as voice, piano, theatre, and even painting lessons.

Alan, has always had a passion for music. Not only can he play almost all kinds of instruments in a band, but he is also a gifted songwriter. Angela said that she has always been amazed at how Alan can produce great music using just a laptop.

On the other hand, besides being a great drummer, Allen, is an exceedingly creative artist not only in music, but in drawing and designing, as well. Both Alan and Allen are also vocally capable of producing a good tune, which allows them to add harmony and balance to their songs.

Just like their music, Summers has a distinct vibe.  When you see them perform live, you can’t help but catch their enthusiasm and bliss.

Alan said, “We feel like we’re having a huge house party with the crowd, so we make sure we give them the most fun and energetic show they’ve ever experienced. It’s basically half an hour of the crowd feeding off the band’s energy and us feeding off the energy they give back. Also, every time we’re up on a stage, we feel like we’re living our dream right then and there even for just 30 minutes or so.”

Angela and Alan Muñoz are both Christians, which is why their faith and positivity always shines through their songs, even if they aren’t solely Christian songs.

“We like playing music that’s compact yet, fun. We also don’t write songs with pessimistic, negative, or sad lyrics. Again, our band’s about having fun and being happy,” said Alan.

Sometimes it’s hard to introduce secular music to a group of Christian people, because of all the negativity it endows nowadays. Fortunately, for Christians who are looking for secular songs with a positive vibe, they will definitely discover that vibe by listening to Summers.

Check out Summer’s music on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wearesummers

Many music bands have interesting stories on how they came up with their band’s name. This is not one of those stories. Beginning in 2002, three musicians from Ontario, Canada, (Jason Dunn, Davin Clark and Matt Paige), formed a pop punk band called SWISH.

A little later they changed it to Reason Being briefly before landing on the name, Hawk Nelson. To the un-initiated, one would think that with a name like that, someone in the band would actually be named, “Hawk” or “Nelson.” But you would be wrong.

Turns out, frontman Dunn was playing a video game and he named his avatar character, Hawk Nelson and the name just sort of stuck. So, if you’re trying to find a spiritual meaning behind the name, look no further.

A younger bunch of Carlos Santana fans will recall his massive 1999 hit, Smooth, from his Supernatural album, or his latest work, Guitar Heaven. But those who have grown up with the music legend will always have Evil Ways, Oye Como Va, and Black Magic Woman running in the back of their heads.

Looking back, Santana has done well musically, including 10 Grammy awards, Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and being tagged number 15 out of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. But Santana says what really got his life together was having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It was a long voyage to home. He was traumatized when his father left his family, was sexually molested by the father of a friend when he was 10 years old, was exploited by Indian guru Sri Chinmoy when he was a young married musician, and went through a tremendous life as a rock star, with the drugs and women that came with it.

All that, plus the breakup of a 34-year marriage and seven – yes, seven suicide attempts, helped him to realize that “the only thing that we need to do is first accept that the only reality is God’s love. Everything else is an illusion,” The Plain Truth magazine reported.

Part of his journey involved going through the stranglehold that his past held over him, acknowledging it and learning to forgive; and then accepting the grace of healing. He told The Plain Truth, “You have to go through the darkest night of the soul to get to the brightest light of day.”

Music mentor

The son of a mariachi violinist, Santana’s father was also his music mentor. Even after the separation of his parents, when Santana began to earn money as a street musician to help pay the bills of his mother, it was his dad who bought him his first electric guitar.

That electric guitar, a gift for his 15^th birthday, helped him earn as a club musician, in this way contributing to the bills that can be accumulated by a single mother of six children.

Ironically, some of what many should consider the high points in one’s career were, for him, simply spaced out events. Take the historic 1969 Woodstock concert, where he emerged as the festival’s surprise star.

Of the event, he simply recalls that he was totally addled with drugs. He told The Plain Truth that he was dealing with frightening hallucinations at the time, and instinctively praying, “God, please help me. I’ll never do this again.”

Of his time with Indian Guru Sri Chinmoy, whom he and former wife Deborah followed from 1972-1981, he recalls feeling they had to “prove” they were devoted, all the time. In a Rolling Stone interview, Deborah recalled contests Chinmoy would devise, such as seeing who could go with the least amount of sleep, and who would run a 47-mile race for him.

When Santana left Chinmoy, the guru did what most cult leaders do—tried to destroy the musician. Chinmoy told his followers to cut ties with Santana but in the end, the guru gained a notorious reputation for using his women followers for sex, and for unethically making his followers generate funds for himself.

Santana and Deborah were baptized as Christians in 1994, but the growth in faith was slow and gradual, with, sometimes, steps backwards including infidelity which ended up ruining his 34-year marriage.

Part of the reason why he was able to revisit the traumatic incidents of his past was because he felt that God was helping him to go through it and lending strength through his grace.

He learned to forgive the man who molested him and was surprised to find out that this could be a personally freeing experience. He realized, through God’s grace, that “God made me worth something,” The Plain Truth reported.

He has said in the past that by the year 2015 he might completely retire from music and become a minister. But he adds that no one really knows if this will ever truly happen, except God.

He adds that he knows that his story is not yet over. He told The Plain Truth, “I am a child of God, and God is not done with me.”

Steven Curtis Chapman has gone through some hard times since he lost his five-year-old daughter in a tragic accident in 2008.

Still, he has kept the faith and in his newest offering, re: creation, wants people to know that he believes God creates wonderful things for the Chapman family, even after such a terrible loss.

Chapman also takes a look back and tries to re-imagine a hopeful future with his newest offering, re: creation.

The Christian music star has been the author of some of the greatest hits in Christian music including Heaven in the Real World, The Great Adventure, More to This Life and For the Sake of the Call.

It all began when he first entered the music scene in 1987, and there has been no turning back. Today, he has accumulated eight certified gold albums, two platinum albums, an American Music Award, five Grammys and 56 Dove Awards, making him the most awarded artist in Christian music.

In so doing his fans have grown up with him and in many ways, experienced the difficulties he has experienced in his life. Chapman and wife Mary Beth have long advocated adoption, and even started the charity organization, Show Hope, which urges people and communities, through international efforts, to care for orphans.

Show Hope also sought to help more orphaned children to find loving homes in the U.S. by facilitating adoption grants. Three children from China, in fact, became part of the Chapman family, along with three biological children.

On May 21, 2008, one of Chapman’s children, five-year-old Maria Sue Chunxi Chapman, died in a tragic accident in the family driveway when she was hit by the SUV driven by son Will Franklin. She died that same day due to her injuries and loss of blood.

A year later, the Christian songwriter released the album, Beauty Will Rise, which in many ways told the story of the emotions that came amid the tragedy. Now Chapman is back with his 17^th album, re: creation under Sparrow Records.

The album features six new songs, and new recordings of his eight biggest hits, refashioned with an acoustic sound that is fresh and new. It is also Chapman’s way of telling his fans that he believes that God continues to recreate wonderful things for his family, even after having lost their daughter.

When asked why he chose this unique approach on his 17^th album, which includes new takes on his hits, Live Out Loud, Dive and Speechless, Chapman told Billboard, “When I look back on singing The Great Adventure, it meant something to me when I wrote it and I had some understanding of it, but there’s so much more now.”

Chapman told Billboard, “All those songs are rooted in life experience. They are all songs about my journey in faith … Three years ago, when Maria Sue went to heaven, all of my songs took on a much, much deeper meaning. I found myself singing these songs with a different passion and different purpose. I wanted to reinvent them in a way that they really represent what they mean to me now.”

“Over the course of his nearly 25-year career, Steven Curtis Chapman has chronicled his own journey through song while creating a soundtrack for our lives,” Wendy Lee Nentwig, Christian editor, Rhapsody, said. “We’ve watched him grow from a baby-faced Kentucky boy … His new album, re:creation, finds Steven Curtis emerging from a family tragedy to revisit some of his classic tunes, giving them a creative overhaul. Time and experience gives these songs new meaning, while Chapman delivers six brand-new tracks.”

At this year’s Creation Northwest Festival in July, I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes with Christian singer and songwriter, Chris August.

The festival is just one stop on a long tour of concerts for August. From Enumclaw, Wash., (the home of Creation NW), his next stop was Lake Stevens, Wash., then down to Santa Ana, Calif. then over to Overland Park, Kansas and on it goes. He’s busy, but it doesn’t seem to faze him.

Chris August

Despite the intellectual-looking glasses, the 29-year-old isn’t the least bit pretentious. He’s artsy and smiles more than he shows in his professional photos.

On his left arm is a tattoo of a Celtic symbol meaning “no beginning, no end.” On his right, is an illustration of God’s hands coming from the clouds and grabbing a pile of dirt. It’s inspired by The David Crowder Band’s song, “Wholly Yours.” The lyrics of that song read:

I am full of earth, you are heaven’s worth. I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity.

You are everything that is bright and clean, the antonym of me.

The final line of the song is, “I am full of earth and dirt and You.”

In April of this year, August was the recipient of three awards from the 42nd Annual Dove Awards. He won “New Artist of the Year” and “Male Vocalist of the Year” as well as one in the category for “Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year” for his debut album, No Far Away. Not bad for a guy with no formal musical training.

I ask him how a guy with no training can go on to win awards. He shakes his head and says that he doesn’t really know, but he tries to explain anyway.

For his 15th birthday, Chris was given the choice to pick out a small, cheap keyboard from which he taught himself how to play. That, and the little book, “You Can Play Piano,” that came with it. This was also the same year that he dedicated his life to Christ.

So, this was the start of big changes for August. In addition to learning more about being a Christian, he also learned how to be a musician and songwriter. He began to help lead worship with his youth group and picked up guitar playing as well.

By age 22, Chris released his first self-produced independent album. Only months later, singer/songwriter Ryan Cabrera had received a copy of it and decided that he wanted to work with Chris.

Within two weeks August had signed a contract with Geffen Records and moved from Garland, Texas to Los Angeles, Calif. Soon, he went on tour opening for Ashlee Simpson.

“What is the difference performing for a secular concert versus a Christian concert?” I ask. “The fan interaction,” he says. “At a secular concert, the fans are focused on you only. At a Christian concert, the focus is more on God.”

Chris’ biography explains that while on the road, he missed being involved in a church and playing Christian songs. “I had been back for a year when I realized how long it had been since Ihad written a Christian song. Sure I had worked on some inspiring type of music whileon Geffen, but nothing overtly Christian. I wanted to write a song that was a rededicationof my music and my life to Jesus. On January 18, 2009 I wrote ‘Starry Night.’ Little did Iknow this song would change my life.”

His indie release of that song got the attention of Word Records and the start of the studio release of No Far Away began. He began to write about 60 songs in 3 months and was teamed up with Ed Cash. Ed liked his music, but one day, he told August that he thought the album needed a personal song. That night, Chris wrote the first lines of 7×70 which is about his parents’ divorce and family break up.

“As the lyrics started to come to mind, so did all the memories of my past that I hadn’t thought about in years. Some lines bringing smiles and some bringing another set of pains that I needed to forgive. It was through this song that I was able to forgive and be healed of that pain.”

Sample lyrics of 7×70:

I’ve been living in this house here since the day that I was born.

These walls have seen me happy, but most of all they’ve seen me torn.

They’ve heard the screaming matches that made a family fall apart.

They’ve had a front row seat to the breaking of my heart.

7 times 70 times, I’ll do what it takes to make it right

I thought the pain was here to stay, but forgiveness made a way.

So, August is a deep thinker. But he isn’t all-serious. “What makes you different from other artists?” I ask. “I’m non-preachy and I’m kinda goofy. I love sports and candy.” He isn’t kidding either. In fact, he treated the Creation folks to a live version of his “Candy Wrap” song that tells about his love for sweets. His website features a new video of the song with August decked out with candy necklaces and rings and he literally steals an all-day sucker from a baby.

On Chris’ official website, you can sample the songs Starry Nights, 7×70, You and I, and Battle. The lyrics to all the songs on the album are listed there as well. If you like what you hear, you can purchase the songs at the same site.

Originally posted here.

Janice and Sonia Lee, or “Jayesslee,” have a total YouTube upload view of 30 million. For them, music is the medium of choice for evangelism.

The online popularity of the Korean-Australian twin sisters has resulted in performances in their home country, Australia, as well as in China, across the U.S., and other countries.

On July 29, they will visit Washington D.C. to perform in Fresh Concert with the Korean Church Coalition for North Korea Freedom. They hope that through their music, more prayer warriors can be raised for the North.

The sisters said, “North Korea is a nation that God is highlighting to our church. We have had numerous mission groups visit our church with presentations of the persecution in that nation. We have watched documentaries and read testimonial books written by people who have escaped the country after being interrogated for years. Time and time again, we have been challenged by their faith. There is no doubt that God is stirring a revival in that nation and we pray for it to be soon.”

Singing for Jesus

Janice and Sonia uploaded their first YouTube video in 2008. Since then they have gained millions of fans, with a total upload view of some 30 million. Among the tours and concerts they’ve done, they say China is very memorable.

“[The] producers allowed us to sing Amazing Grace live on set. We were able to worship on national television in China.  What an unforgettable experience.”

But Jayesslee say their most memorable concert was in their hometown in Sydney, Australia. “[Our] closest friends and family heard us play live for the first time. We were on stage with YouTube celebrities such as KevJumba, RyanHiga and Andrew Garcia.”

Knowing Jesus

Although they were raised as Christians, Janice and Sonia say that they came to know Jesus in a personal way when they were in high school. At the time, their mother had been afflicted with cancer for seven years.

“[It] was difficult for us to understand the goodness of God for most of our lives. However, it was the way that God radically changed our mum through her sickness that sparked a curiosity to know who Jesus really was. In year 9, God met us during a time of prayer at a church camp and we’ve had a relationship with Him ever since,” they said.

At the time, they recall how their father stood by their mother. “For years, he gave up his job and hobbies to be next to our mum. He nursed her and did his best to fulfill his role as a husband and a dad.”

Today their father is remarried. “[We] now live with our dad, step mum and step brother. They are both amazing people and we are so thankful and blessed to be a family.”

Secular songs

Jayesslee sings both Christian and secular songs online. They have gotten some flack for this, but they say that when they choose secular songs they make sure the lyrics are wholesome and not explicit.

“By singing only Christian songs, our influence is limited to listeners who are Christians. As much as we love to empower fellow believers, our aim is to relate to our non-believing audience as well. We sing every song as worship to God.”

They have, because of this, had the experience where non-Christians have approached them to ask about their faith. This is because they first established common ground through carefully chosen secular songs.

Encounter with God

The Lee sisters say they aren’t sure how long they’ll be singing, but hope to do so for as long as possible. More important for them, however, is being able to share the gospel with “as many people as possible.”

They said they hope someday that they can hold concerts at stadiums, “where people would come to experience more than just a performance but an encounter with God. We’d like to leave an impact upon this generation that keeps them talking about the goodness of God, like the legacy that our mum has left behind.”

Popular Jayeslee songs

Secrets

Dare You To Move

Breakeven

The Christmas Song

Don’t put Katelynne Cox, 16, in a box just because her debut album, “One Girl,” displays her Christianity.

She has had a textured life as the child of separated teen parents, with one side fully agnostic and the other Christian.

She went to nine different schools, was bullied, and at one point considered suicide.

But the tracks on her album have surprising things to say. “Ordinary Day” is about how God can make the most ordinary things extraordinary.

And “Me” is about surrendering to God—not just in parts, but completely.

Her album took two years before it was completed. It was supposed to be secular, but midway Cox encountered Christ and figured that Christian music was the way for her to go.

“[We] were about a year into it when I became a Christian. From everything I had gone through, and all the experience over those two years, I became a Christian and I realized halfway through the project that God didn’t want me to go that route — that His plan for me was to be a Christian artist. I really felt called to do Christian music and positive music,” she told BREATHEcast.

Cox describes her album, produced by Red Hammer Records, as “positive pop with some throwback 80s guitars.” She told Cross Rhythms, “I chose songs that I feel I can relate to and things I’ve experienced and that other people have gone through too. Every song is a little piece of Katelynne. I want my audience to get a feel for who I am through my music and be able to relate to me and my life.”

By everyone, she doesn’t just mean Christian music lovers. She has kept secular pop songs in the album as well, which she hopes can be a way to reach out to a wider crowd. But the focus is God.

Born in Portland, Ore.  and now based in Camas, Wash. , Cox told BREATHEcast that her parents were teenagers when they divorced, and while one side was agnostic, the other was Christian. She started out being agnostic.

She says middle and high school were especially difficult. She had changed schools nine times, and switched from private to public schools. She told Cross Rhythms, “[In public school] I got called words that I didn’t even know, that I didn’t even understand. I had to look them up or ask my parents what they meant. I had threats to kill me. I had people stalking my house and people got arrested for some of the stuff that they were doing to me.”

She remembers being tackled to the ground and getting sprayed with foul smelling men’s cologne. She also remembered feeling suicidal. “It took a big chunk out of my life,” she told BREATHEcast. “I really let it control everything that I went through…people don’t realize how much it affects you, not only personally but spiritually, and kind of how you view yourself…”

But now she tells BREATHEcast that God allowed her to be bullied so that she could share her experience with other kids and inspire them to move forward. Her title song, One Girl, talks of “being one girl in a huge crowd and making a difference, making your voice heard.”

A young Christian man who impressed the judges of the television show, Britain’s Got Talent, said recently that he used to be bullied at school because he read the bible.

Paul Gbegje, 19, was taunted by classmates because he would bring his bible with him to school while his classmates were reading Playboy magazines, according to The Christian Institute.

Gbegje said, “I was different because of what I believed in. In year eight I would bring my Bible for reading time and they would bring Playboy and stuff like that. They would call me Jesus Freak,” The Christian Institute reported.

Gbegje told The Christian Institute, “I didn’t swear, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t bunk. They were listening to things in the charts, whereas me I was listening to piano.”

He spent most of his lunch breaks in the music room, where he would play the piano and experimented with composing music. He said, “I’m not a good talker, but I do it through music. What I like from playing the piano is the feeling you get from it. It’s like a high. As soon as I got a piano, I’m just happy,” The Christian Post reported.

He also practiced on the church piano, sometimes for up to 10 hours straight. He had to make up for lost time, having only gotten started on the piano when he was 14 years old, The Christian Post said.

Gbegjo has received basic formal training but largely his output is the work of creativity and personal passion. Even before he had a piano, he used to think about music in his head, and he would play the tune on a ‘keyboard’ that he drew on a piece of paper, according to The Christian Institute.

Gbegjo said to The Christian Institute, “People didn’t understand my passion and they saw it as strange and weird. But now I am so glad I stayed true to myself.” He impressed the judges with his performance, and afterwards, some of the bullies contacted him and congratulated him.

Gbegjo told The Sun, “Some of them even emailed me on Facebook saying, ‘Well done.’ I feel like I’ve had some form of victory. I had the last laugh.”

Gbegjo is the son of preachers, and he hails from Dagenham, East London. Before performing in front of the judges he prayed backstage. When the judges gave him accolades he said, “I knew God was with me. He really came through for me,” The Sun reported.

Gbegjo’s piano performance was partly original, with the first and last portions composed by himself, and the middle being Bella’s lullaby from the movie, “Twilight,” The Christian Post said.

All three judges passed Gbegjo into the next round. Amanda Holden told him, “I just think you did an amazing job today.” Michael MacIntyre told Paul, “You were sensational,” according to The Christian Institute.

The show’s hosts, Ant and Dec were also impressed and lauded the young musician, The Christian Institute said.

A survey last year showed that Christians feel uncomfortable reading the bible at work in their free time. However, the same survey showed that most of their colleagues would not be bothered by it, The Christian Institute said.

In 2008, a report that was submitted by a charity on anti-bullying, which indicated that one out of every fourth child is bullied for their religion, The Christian Institute said.