When singer Anthony Evans went into the studio to record his ninth album he didn’t know his mother would be battling cancer when it was released.
But for Evans it simply means the album’s message now has a deeper meaning.
Evans’ new full-length worship album “Altared” released May 17, barely a month after his mother learned her rare gallbladder cancer had returned. Well-known pastor and author Tony Evans — Anthony’s father — made the announcement about Lois Evans health in early April.
Anthony Evans calls it “one of the biggest trials our family has faced.”
“God has altered the circumstances of my family’s life,” he said. “But within that there is beauty, and we are experiencing Him in a different way.”
“Altared” is a collection of originals tunes (“Hope Is Alive” and “Fighting For Us”) mixed with re-creations of the most popular worship songs in the church today.
The album gets its name by combining two words: “altar,” as in a traditional place of worship, and “altered,” as a reference to the way God changes the Christian’s life for the better.
‘New vantage point’
“I believe God uses circumstances — unexpected circumstances a lot of the time — for us to get a new vantage point of His grace and His mercy,” Evans said, describing the message behind the album. “And sometimes those circumstances are hard. … ‘Altared’ is about that. We can all have a divine encounter with our God who wants to continually kind of metamorphosize the way we view His grace so that we see all aspects of it.”
It’s been a busy year for Evans. Earlier this year he was featured in a movie documentary, “Kingdom Men Rising,” spotlighting biblical manhood. Starting in May he will tour with his sister, speaker and author Priscilla Shirer.
Of course some Christians know him as the always-smiling Christian contestant in the second season of NBC’s “The Voice” (2012). Evans says the appearance changed his career and gave him a unique opportunity to be a witness for Christ.
“I was in front of people that I never would have been in front of in a church,” he said. “It broadened my scope and it reminded me that my faith is not made for just the inside of four walls. It helped me understand that I’m the salt of the earth, not the salt of the shaker.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Michael Foust covers the intersection of faith and entertainment as a media reviewer for The Alabama Baptist. He also is the husband of an amazing wife and the father of four young children.
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