Jason Castro, the dreadlocked season 7 finalist of American Idol, released his first album geared to a Christian market earlier this week.

The new album, entitled Who I Am, features five Christian songs that he composed and five songs from his previous, self-titled secular album that was released last April, according to The Christian Post.

The five new songs are “What if I Fall,” “You Are,” “Changing Colors,” “Wait (For a Miracle),” and “Who I Really Am.” It will be released by Word Entertainment, The Christian Post reported.

According to USA Today, Who I Am is also being released as a five-song digital EP. Castro said that when he was on tour for his first album, which is secular, he realized that he wanted to have “more God in the music.” He calls his latest work his “love songs to God,” according to The Christian Post.

At the same time, he told USA Today that he wanted to offer more choices to the public saying, “These days in music, you want to leave as many options as possible for people. There are all sorts of music listeners. We really don’t want to miss out on somebody because they’re not a certain type.”

Presently, Castro is promoting his album at various Christian radio stations. On K-Love he said, “It’s kind of weird, because I was doing this exact same thing a year ago, just with all the pop stations,” according to The Christian Post.

He added, “The biggest difference is probably just the topics of conversation. On the pop side, they’re just trying to get something out of you, something bad. They want that one little secret. On the other side, I guess it’s kind of the same: They want that one little secret, but it’s that one little secret about you and God.”

Castro is a 22-year-old Rockwall, Texas native who grew up playing the drums, then took up the guitar in college. Contrary to common belief, he was never a worship leader in church, but has always been a songwriter, The Christian Post said.

On Nov. 9 Castro will also be releasing the digital EP Changing Colors: Live From Studio 1290, which he recorded last May with his band. The songs in the EP are “If I Were You,” “Love Uncompromised,” “Changing Colors,” “It Matters To Me,” and “Learning To Fly” (by Tom Petty), The Christian Post reported.

Castro told USA Today, “We wanted to record while I had the band. It’s real raw and organic. We’ve got five guys in there that are all singing and playing something acoustic.”

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Born Again, the latest album of the Newsboys, has made it to No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200, and ranked No. 3 on CCM Soundscan for 2010.

Upon its release on July 13, Born Again landed No. 4 on Billboard’s Overall Chart in its first week with 45,311 units sold. This placed it above new releases from M.I.A. and Sting, among others. Born Again also made it to Top 4 with iTunes’ Overall Chart, CBN News said.

The album, which is the band’s 15^th release, is produced by Inpop Records. It includes seven new songs co-written by new member and Grammy winner Michael Tait formerly of dc Talk. Potential hits include ‘On Your Knees,’ ‘Way Beyond Myself’ and ‘Build us Back,’ Canadian Christianity said.

Andrew Patton, general manager of Inpop Records cited the overwhelming support of radio stations, media outlets, retail and fans as some reasons behind the album’s outstanding sales on its first week of release, CBN News said.

Patton noted, “The record-setting number of sales today reflect the dedication and hard work of Newsboys to create another groundbreaking musical creation. The amazing support of Christian radio stations, festival promoters, our hard-working Inpop staff, and our partners at EMI CMG distribution have all earned our thanks today,” CBN News said.

Newsboys has throughout its long career done very well with Grammy nominations, Dove Awards, and some 6.5 million units sold, with 26 No. 1 hit songs and five Gold albums. They are particularly known for their live, foot-stomping performances, CBN News said.

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Faithful America claims that Fox News commentator Glenn Beck preaches a false, piecemeal gospel and has sponsored a radio ad to counter some of the claims Beck has claims made by about Christianity.

The ad says “Would you support a leader who said Jesus’ teachings can lead to Nazi

Glenn Beck / yournews.com

sm? Or who attacks Christian pastors for preaching the full gospel? Then why do so many Christians tune into Glenn Beck? By deriding pastors who preach the justice taught by Jesus and the prophets, Glenn Beck has urged listeners to follow his piecemeal gospel. Scripture teaches that the tongue can be like a small fire that sets a whole forest ablaze, and Christians are cautioned not to praise God in one breath while cursing those made in God’s likeness in the next,” The Atlantic reported.

Beck has spoken out against social justice ideology that is based on faith, urging his viewers to leave churches that preach liberal social justice views.

According to Beck social justice is akin to wealth redistribution and is not in the Bible. Beck said that such ideology is founded on communism and Naziism and dramatically raised up a hammer and sickle and a swastika to further enhance his point, The Atlantic said.

By contrast, Faithful America’s Beth Dahlman cites the prophets and Jesus saying, Beck “has gone after what’s at the heart of what we believe our faith tradition says. For people in our community there is just no way to read scripture and not think about social justice. It’s our obligation as people of faith to take that seriously and to do all we can to make that good news a reality,” Time reported.

The ad launches the organization’s “Driven by Faith, Not by Fear” campaign, according to Time.

The ad will be aired on local Christian radio stations and is scheduled to coincide with Beck’s scheduled appearances in South Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Washington DC.

Faithful America is connected to Faith in the Public Life, an advocacy group that often takes positions on issues such as poverty, health care and immigration.

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