CBN News anchor Efrem Graham discusses trending topics with 700 Club Interactive’s Gordon Robertson.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: At Number
Five this week.
(SINGING) Spirit lead me where
my trust is without borders.
NARRATOR: "Oceans"-- it's a
Hillsong United hit visitors
to the Australia-based
church won't hear.
Speaking in Atlanta,
Pastor Brian Houston
said, "When it comes to
influence, predictability
is our enemy, because
you never get influence
from doing things the way
they've always been done."
You'd get tired of
singing "Oceans"?
No, because I'm
a lyrics person.
NARRATOR: The church also no
longer sings this mega-hit.
(SINGING) Shout to the Lord,
all the earth, let us sing.
NARRATOR: On to Number Four.
(RAPPING) Super
echo, [INAUDIBLE]
NARRATOR: The Energizer Bunny
of gospel music, Tye Tribbett,
is now a television host.
His "Joyful Noise" show
premiered Sunday morning
on BET, filling the time slot
of "Bobby Jones Gospel," which
filled that slot for
more than 30 years.
Now, to Number Three.
BOTH: (SINGING) Yeah,
this is who you are.
Yeah, this is who you are.
NARRATOR: Grammy-winning duo For
King & Country moved from music
to movies with "Priceless,"
a dramatic thriller
about human trafficking
starring Joel Smallbone.
North Beach.
What are you haulin'?
Oh, nothin', really.
Now, why would you have to go
through all that if you're just
haulin' nothin'?
It's a pretty gritty
role for you too.
Yeah.
It was.
Very, very different to
obviously, our life story.
At Number Two.
Can I get your
head or anything?
Do you feel
light-headed or dizzy?
NARRATOR: This
video of Tim Tebow
has sparked a
social media frenzy.
It shows the new
baseball player rushing
to the side of a fan who
had suffered a seizure,
standing by his side
and praying for him.
The former NFL quarterback
was signing autographs
after his first minor
league baseball game.
You remember,
people are important,
and what you can do for
people and loving people.
Yeah, baseball's
awesome, it's something
that I'm so excited I
get a chance to pursue.
But what's important is
lives matter, people matter,
and this young man, he matters.
NARRATOR: Now, to number one.
(SINGING) I love you, Jesus.
I worship and I know you well.
NARRATOR: This is what it
looks like to praise God
through the storm.
Despite devastating damage
from Hurricane Matthew, members
of Dominion Fellowship
Church in Palm City,
Florida still held services.
"Studio 5" met Pastor Washington
doing dishes at a local shelter
just the day before.
One of the things
that we're always
able to do and have
the opportunity
to do as Christians and
as the body of Christ
is to take advantage
of the opportunities
that God gives us to
connect with people that we
would normally not be
able to connect with.
Well, it's Wednesday,
and Efrem is back with us.
Good to be with you.
I should say it's
Thursday, that's when
this one will be broadcast.
You were just down in Florida.
Tell us about your
experiences there.
I'm a producer there, and
number one, devastation's
horrible to see.
We travel often with
Operation Blessing.
It's nice to see that,
because we're not just
coming to cover your
story, but we're
coming to watch and document
relief being delivered to you.
But to find that pastor
washing dishes and serving
despite having
suffered loss, saying,
this is an opportunity
for me to show
the hands and feet of Christ.
These are people who I
probably would not meet,
they probably wouldn't
cross the door of my church.
But this is an opportunity for
us to take the church to them.
And it's beautiful to see that.
We know it plays out in Haiti
because we're there as well.
And it's just
wonderful to see that
in times of disaster, that's a
time for the church to rise up.
Absolutely.
It's the time to strike back.
You got that right.
Disaster has struck.
It's time to strike back.
Amen.
Let's show people we love
them, that God loves them,
and let's praise them
in the middle of--
In the middle of--
In everything, in fact.
That's what makes it different.
Well, Tim Tebow,
he's back in the news.
And here he is, his
first minor league game.
First at-bat, he
hits a home run.
The legend grows, and then
after, he's signing autographs,
somebody collapses,
he prays for them.
And the seizures stop.
Lays hands on him, and
I heard several media
reports on this story.
And one of the commentators
reports on one.
This is a Tebow fan.
So you have a seizure,
and you wake up
to Tim Tebow laying hands
on you, kind of figure, wow,
I had a seizure.
But his heart, it's
just so amazing.
God's hand is definitely on him.
We see it time and time
again from birth to now.
It's amazing, to him to have
a shot at a baseball career
after a football career doesn't
pan out, he's an amazing man.
He's got a book coming out
too, I know in the near future.
Yeah, did the fan
get the autograph?
I don't know if he
got the autograph.
[LAUGHTER]
But that prayer was good.
Something to
memorialize, that prayer.
You got that right,
I'll tell you.
We need to follow up on that
fan and see what happens.
Absolutely.
All right, we've
got King & Country.
They came out with
the movie "Priceless."
And you've seen it?
I have not seen it yet.
This is one unfortunately
that I have not seen.
I've seen clips of it, I've
interviewed them extensively
about it, and I'm very
excited to see it.
What I love about
the story is it's all
inspired by real, true events.
And it's actually a
story that their brother
Ben, who is a filmmaker,
discovered 10 years ago.
He was doing a documentary
on this gentleman's life.
And the gentleman essentially
decides, he's a crime boss.
What would happen
if I take my skills
that I apply to major
crimes, and use it for good?
And the human
trafficking element
is a big part of the
story, and it's really
a man who suffers tragedy and
then is on this great adventure
to try and make things right.
You've got me hooked
just with that storyline.
This crime boss says, what
if I use my skills for good.
Yes, can you imagine?
And you go, that's
a great idea.
I'd like to see that movie.
What got them interested in it?
I find it fascinating somebody
going from a music career,
they're winning awards,
they're doing great,
and suddenly they want to
take on human trafficking
in a movie.
What started it all is
early in their career,
they started as part of their
ministry trying to make men
realize the value and
worth of women-- thus
the song, "Priceless"
being written.
And in doing that, they
said that literally when
they would make the call
or do things at concerts,
they were always
amazed at the response
but also a bit saddened to
say this generation has lost
this element of valuing
women and men treating women
with respect and valuing
them as the prize
that God has made them,
and them being priceless.
So that started it.
And then after the
song, they went
to their brother who is
the filmmaker and said,
what if we tried to
make a movie about this?
And then some days later,
Ben comes to them and says,
you know what, there
was this documentary
I was working on 10 years ago
that I think will be perfect.
So it just continues
with their message
that's I think going to
go on for a long time.
Both of them married men,
value their wives and families,
want to see that spread abroad.
Well, that rape culture has
certainly been in the news
recently.
And you look at the
actions within our culture,
the sexualization of all women.
And you go, how can we
come back from this?
Absolutely.
And we've seen
things-- it's sad,
but even as we prepare as
journalists to go and cover
big events, sporting events,
the Olympics, that we now
have to think, well, what
sex trafficking is going
on at these sporting events
that is attracting men
from all over the world?
What sex trafficking
can we fight?
Because that's what
happens very often,
and on an even larger scale.
It's sad that we're
at this point.
It is sad.
And I actually worry, can
our culture be redeemed?
We've turned into
a hookup culture.
It's not a dating, it's
certainly not a courting scene.
We've gone from
courting to dating
to these meaningless encounters.
And you go, how
can we come back?
We do need to pray.
Absolutely.
Got to ask you this.
Hillsong says they don't
want to sing their favorites.
And I'm responding to it,
it's like, are you kidding?
It's like saying,
we're not going
to sing the Psalms anymore.
I felt the exact same way.
Brian Houston, the
pastor of the Sydney,
Australia-based
megachurch, there
are campuses all
over the world now,
was at the Catalyst Conference
in Atlanta last Friday.
And he was speaking of the
church being innovative
and making sure that
it stays with the times
so that it can continue
to have influence.
And he said the enemy of
influence is predictability.
And in saying that, he
goes, you'll probably
be surprised to know,
we don't sing "Oceans,"
because it's what
you expect from us.
It's predictable.
As much as people love it,
we don't sing it very often.
And can you believe that--
I think "Shout to the Lord"
was 1993-- they don't
sing that at all anymore.
And it's because
he wants to push
the songwriters to
continue to be innovative
and to write things for today.
The new songs.
Absolutely.
Psalms, hymns, spiritual
songs, the new ones,
but boy, I like the old ones.
I do too, and I play
them over and over again.
I heard a musician at one
time say, well, nobody ever
asked Vincent van Gogh to
paint "Starry Night" again.
Yeah, that's true.
And in an art form,
you want to constantly
be pressing and doing the new.
But at the same time.
I know.
The blessing is that Hillsong
has been at doing the new
and doing it well for years.
So we can prayerfully
depend on that.
All right, well if you
want to mourn Hillsong.
Yes, we do.
You can go to Efrem's
Top Five, you'll
catch his show, "Studio 5."
It's available on Roku,
Apple TV on our app,
or you can go to CBN.com/Studio5
and you can catch all
the latest.
Efrem, thank you for being here.
Pleasure.