Though he’s spent 19 albums and 25 years singing love songs to God, Grammy, Dove and Stellar award winner Fred Hammond has decided to shift gears and sing romantic love songs on his next project.
God, Love and Romance, slated to release Jan. 31, gives an honest perspective on love and marriage. Hammond says more Christians should explore this topic when singing, preaching or teaching.
“One of the things that I scratch my head over is why do we go to Psalms and Proverbs, skip over [Song of Solomon], and go to Ecclesiastes?” he said in a YouTube interview. “We act like it doesn’t exist, but God thought it was important enough to say it.”
The album features love songs that run the gamut of relational experiences. Hammond is currently unmarried after his 2004 divorce to his wife of 17 years. Songs on the album speak of Hammond’s personal experiences in love, addressing topics such as falling head-over-heels, emotional pain of a broken relationship and going on a first date—again.
Hammond insists the album is not your traditional gospel album and may make some uncomfortable, but it does deal with the practical human side of life and love.
“What should a Christian man say to a woman when he sees her,” Hammond posed. “Are we just supposed to talk in tongues every time we talk, naw.”’
Though the album’s first single, “I Feel Good,” released early this month, some detractors have said that Hammond is slipping down a slippery slope with this “controversial” album.
Ex-ministries founder G. Craige Lewis—known for speaking out against Christian rap—questioned in his blog: “What is an unmarried Christian man doing writing love songs to get married, unmarried, saved and unsaved couples in the mood?”
But Hammond says that God speaks of love in the Bible and Christians shouldn’t be afraid to either. “God ain’t ashamed but we as church folk are scared,” he said. “I’m not scared and I’m talking from a love perspective not a lust perspective.
“I’m just going to talk about what I feel about love from a God perspective.”
Listen to Fred Hammond’s upcoming album God, Love and Romance‘s first single below.
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