The Winans: Time to Make a Change
By Editorial Staff
Published September 1990
“Growing up in Detroit, we as brothers were taught the importance of family by our parents (who, by the way, were teenagers when they married). We were also taught the importance of God, good work ethics and education.
“Our parents having been thrust into the duties of adulthood at such an early age meant that sacrifices had to be made. As we look back over our shoulders in retrospect, we realize that we were poor, if you measure wealth by material acquisition, but rich if you measure it by LOVE.
“Staring coldly into the face of the present, we see many of the values that we held dear as children discarded and considered a philosophy whose time has come and gone. God has been snatched out of the conscience of our youth, family ties have been severed, good work habits exchanged for “get rich quick” schemes and our public school systems have been reduced to detention centers.
“As a psalmist once penned, ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to a people.’ The hope in this very bleak and dismal picture is that we can make a difference.
“If we return to what made us secure as individuals, return to what made us whole as families, if we return to what made us strong as a people and return to what made us great as a nation … then we have reason to sing!
“We urge you to return with us. For it is time to make a change.”
- The Winans
Appearing recently on the “Arsenio Hall Show,” one of the highest rated shows in the nation, host Arsenio Hall asked the Winans why their albums didn’t include love songs or pure pop music.
Pastor and group leader Marvin Winans responded, “People say ‘if you would change (to pop music) you would sell millions of albums,’ and maybe we could, but our conviction is that the reason we’re here is that we have a message to deliver … that you can be young and enjoy Jesus and go to church and do the right thing.”
“What you’re saying,” Hall summarized, “is that everything has to be lyrically sound in the Word?’
“Exactly!” replied the Winans.
Return is the Winans’ new recording which focuses on the problems of modern society and our need to return to God. Musically, the recording combines elements of pop, jazz, rap, and classic Motown.
Return is a highly successful attempt at “crossover” music, an effort to appeal to secular radio listeners with a Christian message by using contemporary styles without compromising a clear gospel message.
“It’s Time,” the first single from Return reached No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles Chart, and the album soon became commercially successful selling over 300,000 units in the first two months after its release.
Stevie Wonder, who has told of his recent conversion, is featured in a solo vocal on “Everyday’s the Same.” The phenomenal radio success with both Christian and secular Urban Contemporary stations confirms the broad appeal of this recording.
Yet lyrically, the Winans keep far from compromise singing about the joy of being “free from a life of sin,” and about the need of prayer, walking through the tough times and keeping strong in faith. This is a recording that is having a positive effect on the culture of our nation.
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Martin Luther (DVD) 1953 Classic
Niall MacGinnis – Digitally Remastered
The dramatic classic film of Martin Luther’s life was released in theaters worldwide in the 1950s and was nominated for two Oscars. A magnificent depiction of Luther and the forces at work in the surrounding society that resulted in his historic reforming efforts, this film traces Luther’s life from a guilt-burdened monk to his eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church.
In spite of its age, this film continues to be a popular resource to introduce Luther’s life. This historical epic captures the life and times of the greatest figure of the Protestant Reformation with depth and clarity, while giving a glimpse at the private man in the eye of the storm. Luther’s protest against the established order of the Church gave birth to one of the largest religious and cultural movements history and serves as a prime example of how one man’s spiritual convictions can change the course of human events.
Running Time: 105 minutes
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Exposes the Dangers of Abortion to Women!
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Although the content is emotionally gut-wrenching, these videos have been used in church seminars and small groups to educate Christians on the abortion issue and to lead people toward a pro-life position.
Watch these pro-life videos on-line.
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Special Two-Disc Set!
After 40 years of intense study and world-wide ministry, Dr. Francis Schaeffer completed his crowning work of scholarship – to present profound truths in simple film language. Dr. Schaeffer’s brilliant analysis of the past and predictions for current trends have proven so uncannily accurate that this amazing series still feels contemporary almost three decades after its initial release. Ultimately, Schaeffer concludes that man’s only hope is a return to God’s Biblical absolute, the truth revealed in Christ through the Scriptures.
Available for the first time on DVD, this documentary spectacular also includes intimate in-depth conversations with Francis and Edith Schaeffer. With the on-disc study guide, this presentation forms a unique course of comprehensive study. While this series forms an innovative analysis of the past, this outstanding work is more than history. Each episode focuses on a significant era, yet speaks clearly to 21st-century man with answers for modern problems.
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Discover the answer in this eyewitness account by Dennis Kinlaw, President of Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, who recounts the story of a visitation of the Holy Spirit in 1970. This is the presentation that has continued to spark the flames of Revival in the hearts of people around the world. Contains eyewitness footage from the Revival at Asbury College in 1970 in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Certain to challenge you to greater holiness and a deeper commitment to full-scale revival. Original news and private footage has been included. If you are a student who longs to see a spiritual awakening at your school, you must see this video!
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By Jay Rogers, Larry Waugh, Rodney Stortz, Joseph Meiring. High quality paperback, 167 pages.
All Christians believe that their great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will one day return. Although we cannot know the exact time of His return, what exactly did Jesus mean when he spoke of the “sign of His coming” (Mat. 24)? How are we to interpret the prophecies in Isaiah regarding the time when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:19)? Should we expect a time of great tribulation or reformation and revival before the Lord returns? Is the devil bound now, and are the saints reigning with Christ? Did you know that there are four hermeneutical approaches to the book of Daniel and Revelation? These, and more questions, are dealt with by four authors as they present the four views on the millennium. Each view is then critiqued by the other three authors.
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