SAMSON BRINGS 'NEW SONG' TO AREA TEENS

"Sing to him a new song, play skillfully on the strings, with loudshouts."-- Psalms 33:3 (RSV)

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- No one alive today knows exactly what King David or other Psalmists would have thought of Christian rock or heavy metal music.

No one can deny that Contemporary Christian groups have become a huge hit with today's teen and younger adult audience, though. Anyone familiar with the music also cannot deny that many of the rock and metal bands seem to take the instructions of Psalms 33:3 to heart.

When Bethany Baptist Church launched its current youth program in 1998, leaders Bruce Aden and Billy Garner decided to go for a fresh angle. A special Wednesday night youth worship service was organized. Now called the CRUZ service, it evolves around the church's rock/metal group, Samson.

Comprised of Jackson High School students Jason and Adam Huskey and Matt Wiethop, Samson is beginning to gain a reputation outside of the confines of its own church as a crowd-pleasing praise and rock band with solid Biblical undertones."They're awesome," said Keith Fischer, a freshman at Cape Central. "They rock."Samson rocks the Bethany sanctuary with such rock/metal tunes as "I Can Sing Your Love Forever" (MercyMe), "Jesus Freak" (D.C. Talk), "Sweet Home Up in Heaven" (a Christian version of Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home, Alabama") and "Lean on Me" (Bill Weathers/Club Nouveaux) and praise songs such as "Mercy is Falling," "Shine," "Let the River Flow," and others. Much of the band's original repertoire came from MercyMe, a praise/rock band that travels with Shepherd Ministries.

The group has appeared at several other churches and special events, going as far away as Bourbon (where Aden became youth minister in July). It has its own web site and hopes to expand to four or five members in the near future."Our philosophy is that a lot of times youth come to church for different reasons than adults," said Garner, who replaced Aden as youth minister after his departure. "A lot of them don't like the idea of sitting through a traditional church service. The band is the focal point of the night. Then they stay around and hear a verbal presentation of the Gospel. Lots of kids come back because they like the music.""I definitely recommend people coming to hear Samson," said Erika Beasley, a junior at JHS. "They won't be disappointed.""We wanted to start a new service. I kind of got the idea to play bass and we learned that Matt could pay the guitar," Jason said. "Then we got a drum set for Adam and he started practicing. He did pretty good with that. It just kind of came along.""Came along" is an understatement of the band's progress. With Jason -- who has never sung in church -- doing vocals and bass guitar, Wiethop doing electric guitar (on which he had only about three months experience) and Adam learning the drums, the teens were all venturing into new areas. In just under a year the group has gelled into a band that is beginning to get frequent invitations to appear at other churches throughout the region."They couldn't find a drummer, so I just thought I'd do it," said Adam, who has played tenor sax in the JHS band." I took a lesson and practiced for a while. Then I started taking lessons again this summer.""Adam always liked to beat on things as a kid," quipped Jerry Huskey, Adam and Jason's father. "The drums were a natural.""We played a concert or two and got more confidence," Jason said. "We found out how much fun it was.""I think it's fun," Adam agreed.." At first I was concerned. I was really kind of nervous. I didn't know how well we'd do. After that first concert (at Peaceful Valley Camp) I got pretty confident."Jerry Huskey, a CPA in Jackson, and Bethany Baptist's music director the past seven years, has been an unofficial manager of sorts for the group. He has been impressed with Samson's progress."It's amazing how fast they're learned," he said. "They've been to a lot of concerts and have seen a lot of kids touched through their music. "I would like to see them learn 40-50 songs, so that they'll have a nice repertoire."The CRUZ (Spanish for "cross") youth service began in January. The band -- not named Samson until early in the summer -- began with just three songs, and with Garner filling in on guitar."These boys just took it from there," Garner said. "They picked up their instruments and started practicing. The boys' maturity and walk with Christ of all three have increased to levels they never expected. They're quick to give thanks to God for opening doors for them.""We want to bring people to the services," Wiethop said. "Whatever comes, comes. We just try our best to follow God's will and make good music.""Every song they play is always Gospel-oriented," Garner said. "I realize it's loud and has a rock and roll tune to it, but they all definitely have Christian themes and lyrics.""We can learn songs pretty quick," Adam said, when asked to assess the group's strengths and weaknesses, "but we need to get more songs.""I think our strength is playing rock and roll," Wiethop said. "We do a good job on the praise songs, but right now I'd say our rock and roll songs are better.""Matt has a real talent for the guitar," Jason said, noting that overcoming on-stage shyness has been an obstacle for him. "I can sing fine, but saying stuff in front of them makes me nervous."Garner believes the Lord's hand has been upon the band, as new doors continue to open."Something neat happened about four months ago," he related. "We were practicing in Fellowship Hall and came across a complete sound system we'd forgotten we had. That took the band to a different level. I feel like God brought them our way. It was an answered prayer. We're adding equipment here and there."As a unit, we'd like to continue praising God and glorifying God in a way that's appealing to people their age."Samson is currently looking for a keyboard player and a rhythm guitar player. Upcoming appearances for the group include an association youth rally at First Baptist Church of Advance, Nov. 13 and a True Love Waits concert at Bethany in February. Bookings may be made by calling 243-7953 or by visiting the CRUZ web site at http://members.truepath.com/CRUZcontrol/index.html."They're mission-oriented and are excited about traveling to other churches," Garner said. "If the Lord is willing to take them to a different level, they'll ride it out. We've never asked for money. That's never a deciding factor in whether we'll play anywhere."If people are looking for a contemporary style band that is sold out to Jesus Christ and has good musical taste, with a strong message, they should come see Samson at a CRUZ service. I think they're the best worship band in the area, for the experience they have."The teens who have heard Samson play seem to agree."Whenever most teenagers think of Christian music, they think of country-style Gospel music," Beasley said. "But the rock music Samson plays allows teenagers to worship God in a new way. I strongly recommend them.""They're great kids," Garner said. "They're high school kids that are trying to improve their community by spreading the god news of Jesus Christ."