Americans have it all wrong. This is the Christmas season — the time after Jesus Christ’s birth. A time to enjoy and rewind from all the hustle and bustle of the season of Advent.

Advent is a time of preparation for the birth of the Savior of the world, but after Dec. 25 we hurry to take down the lights that signify the shining star of Bethlehem, along with the evergreens and all the trimmings. Even my friends from England have told me that they were amazed that come Dec. 26  the majority of U.S. radio stations quit playing Christmas music.

So this year, I ask you to take in the time after Christmas. Listen to carols that recall the birth of Jesus, such as “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Joy to the World.”  Look at the lights on the tree, think of the shining star and the shepherds in the field that received a visit from the angels in heaven to sing the praises of the birth. Indulge in those “leftover” cookies, cakes and chocolates. Sweets to signify the sweet gift we received from God. Recall the reason we celebrate Christmas. You get the picture.

Being brought up Catholic, we did not take down the Christmas decorations until after Jan. 6, the day the three wise men came and paid homage to Jesus. My mom’s family did not exchange gifts until this day, also called the Epiphany.

It is a tradition that I still try to keep, and I find the Christmas season very peaceful, especially after all the stress of getting everything ready for Dec. 25. I find time to reflect and be grateful for what I have. It’s also a time to reflect on the past year and get ready for a new beginning.

So enjoy, find peace and comfort in knowing that the maker of universe loved us so much that he sent his only son to teach us how to live and to save us from sin.

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Switchfoot and frontman Jon Foreman perform at Red Rocks in Colorado.

Here’s a piece I wrote a few years  back about Switchfoot and how the band came about its name and why the band shuns labels, including “Christian rock band.”

Finding the right band name is paramount to musicians. A good moniker can draw listeners who are just curious or if the name hits the wrong chord it can turn off scores of people.

Just as crucial is being labeled — be it a hip-hop, rock, indie or rap band. These labels are why Switchfoot shuns the Christian rock tag.

“Christianity is faith, it’s not a genre of music,” said Switchfoot lead guitarist Drew Shirley. “We want to be music for all people. We’ve played, campuses, bars, clubs. … When you have this labeling it closes the doors to our music instead of people just listening to it to see if they like it.

“Yes, we all have a strong Christian faith,” Shirley added. “It influences everything we do, and our view of the world. And as musicians, we write about what we are dealing with — our experiences, what we are going through.”

Switchfoot, which got its name from the band members’ surfing background, scored new fans when its song “This is Home” was featured on the “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” soundtrack.

“It was such an honor to be picked,” Shirley said. “It opened so many doors.”

But the band’s success has not diminished its grassroots, “get your fingers dirty” work.
When Switchfoot ran out of T-shirts at a show in Texas, the members spent time in their hotel rooms making new schwag.

“We are a hands-on band. We like to get things done,” Shirley explained. “Plus we like to meet the people that we are around and involved with. And we are going to be an independent band in November. We’re building our own studio….”

When the band goes into its own studio it will take lessons learned from legendary producer Tim Palmer, who worked on Switchfoot’s latest CD “Oh! Gravity.” Palmer has worked with U2, Pearl Jam and the Cure, among others.

“It was amazing to work with Tim,” Shirley said. “He worked on our songs like he was a member of the band. He believed in the music and worked as if it was his own. We learned so much from him.”

And the “biggest” thing he learned from Palmer? “He’s such a humble man,” Shirley said. “That really struck me — how humble he was. I really loved working with him. Sometimes when you work with these big-name producers, they can be quite prideful.”

Being big U2 fans, there was plenty of time to pick Palmer’s brain on Bono and his music and religious convictions.

“It was really inspiring to hear these stories about U2,” Shirley said. “We’ve had people compare us to them. They are a deep band with a unique perspective on the world and their philanthropy work.”

Switchfoot signed on for the Music Builds Tour with Third Day, Jars of Clay and the Robert Randolph & the Family Band because of its association with Habitat for Humanity.

“This is such a great thing,” Shirley said. “The money goes back into the communities and cities we play in. And you get to see people building houses. Instead of just leaving a city after we play, we are helping the people in those cities.”

So if you are still reluctant to listen to Switchfoot, try this on — Indie band Switchfoot. And as Shirley said, listen and decide for yourself.

Mike Donehey, lead vocals of Tenth Avenue North, performs at Crossroads Church in Wheat Ridge, Colorado on Wednesday night. | Photo by Eliza Marie Somers

“The Struggle” is the third studio release from the band, which has been making music since its inception a dozen years ago when Mike Donehey and Jason Jamison were worship leaders at Palm Beach Atlantic College.

“You wouldn’t want to hear the stuff we did 12 years ago,” said Jamison, who along with Donehey are the two remaining original members. “Like anything else the longer you do it the better you get at it. We’ve all have gotten older and experienced life. We are married with kids. And we base our lyrics and music off of life and what we are going through. We want to be honest with what we’ve been going through. And as Christians we are trying to wrestle with what God’s word says is truth and what I feel. God’s word is truth, and we have to bend ourselves around that.

“Our content is more mature as we have grown as believers and have experienced the Gospel.”

Singer/songwriter and producer Jason Ingram once again joined the band in making the record, but this time he is the sole producer.

“On the first two records we also worked with Phil Larue and Rusty Varenkemp, so we already had five cooks in the kitchen,” Jamison explained. “This time we decided to try one producer to have him 100 percent committed to the project. Somewhere down the line you have to let someone else take the reins. … Jason wrote three songs on record, so it’s just as much a part of him as it is us.”

Many pastors and their flocks embrace a prosperity-based message, but Tenth Avenue North is bursting their bubbles with its newest CD release, “The Struggle.”

“The prosperity Gospel teaches us if we do the right thing God will bless you, but God also promises us trouble and trials,” Tenth Avenue North drummer James Jamison said. “In our lives, every day there is something to struggle through.”

The first release off the album, “Losing” is a prime example of life’s struggles and was composed after a station asked the band to write a song from stories provided by its listeners.

• Fans can experience the band Wednesday, Oct. 17 at Crossroads Church in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Tickets can be purchased on the band’s website.
• Find out how fans got a voice on Tenth Avenue North’s new CD, “The Struggle”

“The station sent us the top-10 stories, and they were all very grandiose stories, but they all had this one common thread — difficult times and of letting go and forgiving something or someone in your past, “ Jameson said. “Well, when you forgive someone you feel like you are losing, and that you should seeking revenge instead. But God doesn’t call us to seek justice, we are called to forgive. And that is a struggle of letting go, but ultimately a weight is lifted off your shoulders.”

Jamison’s favorite song on the CD is “Don’t Stop the Madness,” which asks God. “Don’t be afraid Lord to break my heart if it brings me down to my knees.”

“It slaps the prosperity Gospel in the face,” he said. “Sometimes difficulties draw us closer to Him. During struggles, at times you don’t have an answer. Did I so something wrong to deserve this? What is God teaching me, and do I need to be here? Why do I want to rush through this? If God promised us pain then it can’t be meaningless. Sometimes we bring glory to Him by falling on our knees. The song shows that we need to be dependent on God and to lose sight of our comfort and put our eyes on Jesus.”

As Jamison puts it the band fell into this “music thing” as worship leaders at Palm Beach Atlantic College 12 years ago, just “living and loving life, and the music just took off. I never thought I would be doing this full time. We just keep riding the train, and it has taken us here.”

“But at the end of the day it’s not about making music it’s about living in community and faith, and making songs to get through situations with a eye fixed on Jesus. And how to foster community on the road. Our best memories on the road are the people. … God is using the music to touch people and to help. And this is my job to reach out and touch everyone at that concert — and God I need your help.

“If our identity was wrapped up in the music, and it all fell apart so would we. But I know Christ, and I want to share the Gospel. And I’ll keep doing that. I’ll ride that to the horizon.”

Third Day lead singer Mac Powell is releasing a solo country CD, but the band is not breaking up. The band entertained a Faith Day crowd of 25,000 after a Rockies’ game in August. | Photos by Eliza Marie Somers

With Third Day lead singer Mac Powell set to release his first solo project, a self-titled country CD, many fans might be wondering if the four-time Grammy-winning band is breaking up. Well, don’t fret. Third Day is alive and well, and putting the finishing touches on the group’s newest release, “Miracle.”

The band teamed with legendary rock producer Brendan O’Brien, who has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Denver’s The Fray, to cull a new vibe from the Atlanta-based band.

“I thought with us working with Brendan O’Brien, this rock producer, that (the new record) would be more of a rock sound,” Third Day guitarist Mark Lee explained, “And we are a rock band, so there are those kind of elements, but I think Brendan really helped pull out some more pop sensibilities that we haven’t really tapped into lot … more hooky background vocals, keyboards and different things like that.

Third Day’s Mark Lee says the band’s new CD gives listeners “new textures” under producer Brendan O’Brien.

“It totally sounds like us, but there’s just some textures that you haven’t heard from Third Day before. It’s very fresh sounding.”

With O’Brien’s help, fans will recognize Third Day in “Miracle,” but as bassist Tai Anderson explains, it’s a new chapter to the band’s story as the guys try to keep things fresh.

“That’s the biggest thing, it doesn’t sound like any of our earlier records,” Anderson said, “and to normally pull that off people go to a gimmick … it’s a country record or it’s electronic record. They are doing something totally outside their genre. For us, we’re playing our instruments, we’re being Third Day, but we made a record that sounds fresh. And it doesn’t sound like we are covering earlier Third Day music.

“I think the longer you are around as a band that it’s harder to do that. Everything becomes… like it sounds like that song. This is something new. We are starting a whole new chapter. It’s definitely fun.

“This is the first time Brendan has worked with a Christian band, and I’m really excited,” Anderson continued. “I think he pushed us. We have music that speaks to people of faith, but also does it in a way that anybody can listen to it and get where we are coming from. I think it will be real well received outside the walls of the church as well.”

And breaking down some of those walls might just be what propels Third Day into the realm that Switchfoot and The Fray have crossed.

“Sometimes as Christians we can be guilty of speaking our own language. It’s like being like a country club,” Anderson said. “It’s like that Bible verse: Let your light shine. I think that it’s important that we are out in the community. With this band we see it when it’s hard times and in tragedy … as Denver well knows. Faith is such a healing thing. It’s something that people really rely on. It’s important to be there for the community showing, ‘We care about you. We are all in this together.’”

Mark Lee, left, and Tai Anderson clearly enjoy playing at Coors Field during Faith Day 2012.

While his bandmates take a touring break, Powell will embark on a new chapter while breaking down some walls with a short 15-date tour to promote his CD. (The first date is Sept 14 at Joe’s Bar in Chicago and ending in November right around the time of the release of “Miracle.”)

“With Mac, he’s in a season where he wanted to have some fun and play some music that didn’t fit with Third Day,” Anderson said. “Mac is such a sports guy, for him it’s like a challenge. Can I do this? Can I go couple of rounds in this other world? We are really proud of Mac. It’s really hard to just go out and make a record. He has written all these song and they are really great songs, but I don’t think any of them would fit on a Third Day record, because they don’t fall under our mission statement. But they are all great, fun songs. He’s going to have a blast out there. It’s a both an  ‘and situation’ not an either/or. Third Day is going strong, and Mac is doing his thing.“
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Joel Osteen’s Night of Hope opens with a rendition of the national anthem. | Photo by Eliza Marie somers

You’ve heard the saying: Good enough for government work. You’ve probably even said it a few times. Well, “good enough” might just be the reason for this country’s current state of affairs andyour current state of affairs. Well, enough of that.

That was the central theme of Joel Osteen’s message when he was in Denver this summer for A Night of Hope at the Pepsi Center –Don’t settle for good enough.

“Good enough” is only a “C” – that’s just average, but God did not put you here to live a “C” life. God has plans for you, and they are “A” plans. You don’t have to scourer the Bible to find that God wants you to live an abundant life. But it’s not going to fall from the sky like manna, you have to work for it and not settle for “C” or get too comfortable with “C.” (Interesting how comfort starts with a C.) That’s a quick synopsis of Osteen’s message.

Joel Osteen says settling for C’s in life is not what God has planned for you. | Photo courtesy of Joel Osteen Ministires

John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance. – Amplified Bible

“The most powerful source in the universe is with you,” Osteen said. “Stir up your greatness.”

Osteen cited the story of Abram and how his father, Terah, stopped short of the land of Canaan and settled in Haran. (Genesis 11:31) Terah settled for comfort. He did not want to keep on going to the promised land. He was tired. He had lots of animals and family to keep moving. God had great plans for Abram’s father, but Terah settled for a “C,” because it was too hard to keep striving for what God had in store for him. What was promised to Terah went to his son Abram, because Abram kept striving for that “A” life.

Joel Osteen’s children, Alexandra and Jonathan, entertain during A Night of Hope in Denver. | Photo by Eliza Marie Somers

Many of us have settled for a “C” and “good enough.” Osteen wants to set a fire to your passion by encouraging you to strive for greatness, not just average. “God has planted seeds of greatness in us. He created us to excel … to succeed in life,” Osteen said.

It’s time to change your attitude and take on this motto: I’ve let good enough be good enough long enough.

Osteen cited Deuteronomy 1:6: “You have stayed long enough on this mountain.” It’s time to pull up stakes and head toward your promise land. Start dreaming again, start striving… God has it all figured out. He will make a way where you don’t see a way. He will connect you with the right people. He will open doors for you.

“God didn’t give up on your dreams, just because you did. Get in agreement with God,” Osteen said. Do the natural, and God will do the supernatural. Do what you can, and God will do what you cannot.

But– and it’s a big but – you have to get out of your own way. If you think you will never overcome that addiction, or meet the right person, or gained that big promotion, you will never succeed. It’s what Joyce Meyer calls “stinkin’ thinkin’.” If you don’t think you will be successful, you will get stuck where you are.

Get rid of that negative mentality and make room in your thinking for God’s promise. God has an “A” in store for you if you don’t settle for a “C.” And don’t get comfortable with a “B” life either, just image what God has in store in you strive for his promises.

You can watch Osteen’s June 24 message from this Lakewood Church in Houston on his website.

A Night of Hope also includes music ministry, a message from Osteen’s wife, Victoria, and his mother, who has overcome cancer.

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If you’re a Queen fan then check out this video by Marc Martel, the lead singer of Downhere. And fans recognize it also as he was voted the winner of Best Fan Cover at the MTV 02 Awards this week.

Here’s a link to Downhere’s website

Funny, I’ve written in the past that he reminds me of Freddie Mercury and sure enuff here’s proof. Amazing. Here he is on Ellen.

Jason Crabb, who recently won male vocalist of the year and artist of the year at The Dove Awards, will be at the Ridgway Christian Center in September. There’s not much more information about this event on the Ridgway website or on Crabb’s site, but keep checking back and I will post the information as I am aware of it.

I’ve enjoyed my time at The Post as a sports copy editor and the opportunity the company gave me to expand my horizons by covering Christian music.

I can now spend 40 hours a week in this new venture and I hope you will follow me at my website on Twitter.

Osteen will be in Denver for a “Night of Hope” on June 1 at the Pepsi Center, but you can meet the “Smiling Preacher” on Thursday, May 31 at the Tattered Cover in LoDo starting at 7 p.m. Osteen will be signing his book, “Every Day a Friday.”

If you want to experience his positive message at the Pepsi Center, you better hurry up because tickets are going fast.

Third Day is currently working with veteran rock producer Brendan O’Brien at the band’s studio — The Quarry. O’Brien has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Denver’s The Fray.

“Our time with Brendan has been nothing less than an amazing experience,” said Mac Powell, Third Day’s lead singer. “Brendan has definitely stretched me as a songwriter and vocalist more than any other producer ever has.”

Faith Day will be a treat for Third Day fans as the band is on  limited tour schedule this summer with the album in the works and fans can expect to hear some new songs at Coors Field.

The major-league baseball team has been hosting Faith Day for seven years and each year the event grows. Last year, Rockies’ fans were treated to a concert by Casting Crowns.

Third Day is currently working with veteran rock producer Brendan O’Brien at the band’s studio — The Quarry. O’Brien has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Denver’s The Fray.

“Our time with Brendan has been nothing less than an amazing experience,” said Mac Powell, Third Day’s lead singer. “Brendan has definitely stretched me as a songwriter and vocalist more than any other producer ever has.”

Faith Day will be a treat for Third Day fans as the band is on limited tour schedule this summer with the album in the works and fans can expect to hear some new songs at Coors Field.

The major-league baseball team has been hosting Faith Day for seven years and each year the event grows. Last year, Rockies’ fans were treated to a concert by Casting Crowns.
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Dove Award winner and Grammy nominee Brandon Heath shares his favorite stories about his songs while recording “Give Me Your Eyes — The Acoustic Sessions.”

One story includes a woman, who lost her daughter in a car accident after a drunken driver hit her, and after hearing “I’m Not who I Was” went to the prison to forgive the person who caused the accident. Another story is about a blind boy who typed the words to “Give Me Your Eyes” on a Braille typewriter and sent it to Heath, who has it framed in his house.

Check out the video. It reveals what an impact Heath has on his listeners.

It is not known if he was wearing a helmet. Keep up to date by following him on Twitter

Most people snub the Dove Awards because they hear “Christian music,” but the industry has changed dramatically in the past decade. Major record labels have subsidiaries that focus just on Christian music, thus bringing in top producers and musicians, and ultimately raising the bar — and that’s a synopsis from a legendary Christian musician. And it’s the only music awards that includes all genres of music from traditional Gospel to hip-hop, bluegrass, heavy metal to alternative rock.

If you like music, I dare you to watch the Dove Awards on the Gospel Music Channel, which is re-airing the event Saturday, April 28 at 9 p.m. MDT.

Former Denver resident and hip-hop artist LeCrae performs along with Tedashii, another rapper. LeCrae, who has become friends with mainstream rappers, won a Dove Award for his song “Hallelujah.”

Rocker Michael Tait, a former member of DCTalk –the band that changed the face of Christian music, sings a duet with Group 1 Crew’s Blanca Callahan. There’s even a set by former “American Idol” finalists, Ruben Studdard, Phil Stacey, Mandisa and Danny Gokey. And then there is Natalie Grant, who won Female Vocalist of the Year for the fifth time.

Bluegrass fans will get a treat when The Isaacs perform “Walk On” and traditional Gospel fans have Jason Crabb, who won Male Vocalist and Artist of the Year Awards this year, and a tribute to legend Russ Taff.

Below is a taste of The Isaacs, but this video doesn’t compare to the band’s Dove appearance. And there’s a video from Grant and Crabb.