WILLOW Magazine, Volume 15, Issue 1 From the Frontlines Queen For a Day As reported here in the past, Renaissance Church, located in the affluent Wall Street commuter town of Summit, New Jersey, started a message series called “Finding Faith in Rock-n-Roll.” The idea was to gather people based on their love for great music and use the songs they love to illustrate truth from Scripture. Five years later, no other message series has been more of a catalyst for growth (numerically and spiritually) than this. This year, for the final week of the series, the sermon theme was: “Is there anything I can do to make God turn His back on me?” In the past, songs like “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Live and Let Die,” and “More Than a Feeling” were all featured. But this year the church wanted a song that was more than just a toe-tapper; they wanted “shock and awe.” So they decided on Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, a song so complex that even Queen never performed it in its entirety in a live setting! The song tells the story of a young man who commits murder, and now believes his life is over — even cursed. Is there redemption for someone like that? What about us? Multilayered vocals and operatic nuances aside, Queen’s vocalist, the late Freddie Mercury has a one-of-a-kind voice that is virtually essential in pulling off a song like Bohemian Rhapsody. Who would sing the song? Enter Marc Martel, lead singer of the best-selling, Dove Award-nominated band Downhere, who sounds incredibly like Mercury. Martel accepted the invitation, treating the stunned congregation to an electrifying version of the classic song. Martel even sat in on the church’s opening number, Queen’s We Will Rock You, as well as Downhere’s current hit song, The Real Jesus. Churches Dive in to Southern California Fires While portions of Southern California burned before our eyes a couple of months ago, churches were once again at the forefront of aid and recovery efforts. New Song Church, in Oceanside, Calif., opened their doors to more than 250 evacuees. The church provided them with meals, water, and cots. The local congressman told New Song that they were the best-run site in the county. Because the church saw this as an opportunity not only for compassion but for outreach, they put on services each day — and 59 people made decisions for Christ. Meanwhile, about 100 miles north in the exclusive Malibu area, out-of-control fires were destroying everything in their path, including Malibu Presbyterian Church, a beacon in that community for decades. The church burned to the ground and all that was contained in the structure was lost. According to Senior Pastor Greg Hughes, the church is now meeting in a local school and has its eye set on rebuilding. The process, however, is estimated to take at least three years, and because of the age of the old structure and its outdated infrastructure, there will be a shortfall of at least $10 million that the church is trusting God to provide. “We’ve already received donations from churches all over the country,” Hughes said. “It’s been incredible.” If you’d like to help the church in any way, log on to their Web site at www.malibupres.org. Top