Halloween or Praise and Worship?

The U.S. Gov Info/Resources Guide, Robert Longley, reports that there were 41.0 million trick-or-treaters in 2002, ages 5 to 14. Many Christian families don't celebrate Halloween, choosing to have fall celebration type parties instead. While church fall festivals generally have live bands, families generally don't have the money to hire a band in the budget. So what are some good suggestions for music to play at a fall party you ask. If general praise and worship styled music is your preference, then you're in luck because there are five new CDs that have been released recently to choose from.

• Recorded live on May 23-27, at OneDay03, in Sherman, TX, Passion has 13 songs. With nearly one million Passion records sold, this unstoppable force returned with Live From OneDay '03 (Compare Prices on DVD). Under the leadership of Charlie Hall, Chris Tomlin and David Crowder Band, this CD is more than just new worship music, it's a new experience and it's perfect listening for Halloween parties where you want the focus to be on the Lord instead of tricks or treats.

• You can experience the passionate, relevant and authentic worship that happened at the Industrial Revolution youth conference held near Toronto, Canada. Wash Over Me features 8 classic Vineyard worship songs and 5 new songs and worship leaders David Ruis, Chris Janzen, lain Lovatt and Erica Sorensen.

• Lord Reign In Me (Compare Prices) is a definitive collection of Vineyard songs that have come out of the UK in the past five years. You'll find 13 songs and one bonus track from worship leaders Brian Doerksen, Brenton Brown and several others.

• Worship Together - The Heart of Worship, from Time Life Music is the third release in the set (Compare Prices). Twenty-two songs on two CDs gives you a ton of music to enjoy.

• A collection of some of the best duets and collaborations in Christian music is offered on It Takes Two (Compare Prices). Fifteen songs from some of the most popular names in Christian music make for a great CD.

• City on a Hill - The Gathering (Compare Prices) is the final installment in the City on a Hill series. Released in late September, 2003, this CD captures the talents of such greats as Cliff and Danielle Young from Caedmon's Call and Bebo Norman, among others. 14 songs give you plenty of music to choose from.

Each CD mentioned has some great songs. Old standards and new favorites make up a huge list of titles. This is perfect music for worship rather than tricks or treats.