A multiple Dove Award winner, including for Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year, Brandon Heath releases his third album, Leaving Eden, Jan. 18 on Reunion Records.

Was having written the Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for 2009 (“Give Me Your Eyes”) added pressure when it came to the next recording?
A little bit. I remember the first day going in to write for the new record, I wrote with Jason Ingram, the guy that I wrote “Give Me Your Eyes” with. There was pressure for both of us, I think, because we have a big song (and) it kind of feels like everyone is just expecting you to write another one. And for me, I hate writing under pressure. So we sat down in a studio and prayed and thought, well, whatever the message is on this next song should be simple. We don’t need to embellish anything, let’s just tell the truth.

What’s your writing process?
Life on the road can be a little draining and not inspiring, honestly, so I don’t do a lot of writing on the road. But when I get home I just try to catch up with my friends and my family and the people that have the biggest influence and impact on me. I really quietly pay attention to them and I take a lot of notes and put a lot of stuff on my iPhone that I want to write about.

There seems to be a strong theme of redemption running through this album.

I’m glad you caught that because a title like Leaving Eden can sound a little depressing, you know? (The title track) came from a counseling session with this guy (who) said if we are going to really work on your life, we need to go back to the beginning ... back to Eden and mourn what actually happened there. ... It was the loss of our innocence and it’s really affected all of us. 
But then all the songs thereafter ... there’s a few pieces of Eden. I just picture this really lush green space in my heart that hasn’t been touched yet—and I really want to protect those things. I believe that a lot of the songs are talking about that a little bit. ... I do want to take you on a journey in redemption a little bit because I do feel redeemed.

Many of your songs seem to wrestle with some kind of dissatisfaction.
I just like writing about what I see and I think that’s my job as an artist, to just observe and to interpret. A lot of times the world leaves us longing for something else. ... It’s that we are looking for the right thing in the wrong places. A lot of times that brings a dissatisfaction, so that’s why it’s a recurring topic for me: I know the right answer, but I don’t know why it is that it’s so hard for me to go after that. And I think a lot of people are asking the same question. It’s a great universal topic.

What if..., starring Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) as a successful businessmen who awakens to an alternative life as a pastor, released on DVD last month from PureFlix Entertainment. We asked Producer and Director Dallas Jenkins:

How did the theatrical run go?

The theatrical did well. Our plan was to focus on a conservative budget, so weunderstood the reality of numbers againstblockbuster releases, but surprisinglythere were some markets where the film played for over two months because of good word-of-mouth.What if… hasbeen moving around markets for five months now. And that's the deal—theaters will keep a movie as long as it sells tickets, stores will keep a DVD as long as it sells copies.

Four-piece Dove Award-winning hard rock band Red’s third album, Until We Have Faces, is released Feb. 1 on Essential Records.

What’s the inspiration behind the new record?
Anthony Armstrong (guitar): We are all fans of C.S. Lewis and his book Till We Have Faces. The record is not really about the book, but there was a phrase (there) that we all kind of gravitated towards, and it talks about that no human being could ever receive messages from the divine until they find their true identity. That’s the most relevant thing that stuck out to us in the last record cycle ... meeting a lot of kids and a lot of people who are kind of searching (for) who they really are. ... This record—that’s the anthem for those people.

How has Red’s music changed since the last album?
Michael Barnes (vocals): We combined some of the elements that we loved about the first record, End of Silence, and the inspiration that had, and Innocence and Instinct, some of the heaviness and the drive that record had. Until We Have Faces is those two records on steroids.

As an unapologetically Christian band, how has it been playing on the road with leading secular bands (Papa Roach, Godsmack)?
Randy Armstrong (bass): There’s obvious differences in the content, but at the end of the day, we are all musicians just trying to do the same thing, make a living doing music.  ... We really try to find people where they are at and inspire them and really brand sort of a lifestyle change through our music.

How has the digital revolution impacted Red?
Randy Armstrong: The digital age has leveled the playing field for a lot of music because bands don’t sell records anymore. It all comes down to, are you going to earn it on the road by playing live shows?
Anthony Armstrong: It’s also a place for our fans to find out, to gather and talk about the music.

What does 2011 hold for Red?
Anthony Armstrong: We are going out on Winter Jam (through) March.

Few lines in a store have the potential to impact the lives of thousands of children in the community for the kingdom of Christ like Sunday school. It is the primary program in the church that builds a solid spiritual foundation week after week, all year long.
Many Christian stores carry Sunday school curriculum or related resource product—with varying degrees of success. Economic pressures have forced staff and inventory reductions, which consequently reduce the impact of this important category. In spite of these factors, Sunday school is  too critical a category for a store to neglect.
Here are three tips to grow Sunday school business:

Promote your service
When you fill orders, insert the teacher guides with a store flyer promoting your related resource books and thank the teachers for their dedication and service. List your location and store hours—this is virtually free advertising.

Drive related resources
Keep the Top 10 or Top 20 resource-related books well merchandised. Many teachers look for “lesson enhancement” materials like word-search puzzles or fun crafts. These are great add-on sales.

Encourage the users
Customers must see that you appreciate the role teachers have in the lives of children. Get involved—consider promoting the Sunday School Teacher of the Year Award, sponsored by Gospel Light, which takes place each October.
Budgets at most churches have been cut, and many committed teachers are buying the material they need for their students out of their own pockets. They come into a store to see what choices there are for the specific age they teach. Make sure you have sample packs available for teachers to review during their decision-making process.
Help customers reorder their material each quarter. A reorder or standing-order service will build loyalty with customers because they sincerely appreciate you taking the time to make their lives easier. For each customer, maintain a reorder form in Excel—I can send you a sample—to provide the past two quarters’ ordered quantities. This alone will reap great rewards.
Selling Sunday school curriculum takes time, effort and a good plan. But invest in all three ingredients and you will succeed.

President and general manager of Valley Book & Bible Stores for 34 years, Dave Wilke is now marketing manager for Sunday school at Gospel Light. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

It’s OK to admit it. Each of us has been in a checkout line in the grocery store, glanced at the array of mints, candies and nail clippers next to us and bought something we had no intention of purchasing when we came into the store.
Those impulse sales are important enough to grocery stores that they allocate space for them right in high-traffic areas, easily within reach of customers, and positioned to allow a touch-and-take impulse purchase. Impulse sales should be that important to your store as well.
There are two kinds of impulse purchases. First is the “out-of-the-blue” purchase. Your customer had no intention of buying anything at all in that category. But—when she saw it, she liked it.
The second kind of impulse sale is the “something-but-I-don’t-know-what” purchase. The customer comes into the store for a primary purchase such as a book, CD or significant gift purchase. But, in the back of her mind, she is also thinking that if just the right “little something” appealed to her, she would pick it up for the women in her Sunday school class or for a neighbor or co-worker.
Are little purchases like this important to your store? Suppose your average purchase transaction is $20, a sale consisting generally of one to two items. If your customer picks up impulse items totaling just $3, that transaction has just increased by 15%. In a time when every sales dollar is precious, that can be a significant boost to a store’s bottom line.

Impulse areas
Return now to your experience in the grocery checkout line. What made you buy mints or candy or nail clippers when you had not intended to? Smart retailers know that all of these generate impulse sales:

 High-traffic areas
 Close-at-hand displays
 Touch-and-feel product merchandising
 Grouped, low-cost items
 Colorful, clean displays with clearly marked prices
Finally—and most importantly—well-trained store employees generate impulse sales: “Did you see that we have bookmarks to go with that book purchase?” “Did you see the little message cards we have that you can tuck inside that greeting card?”
Take a critical look at the spaces that lead customers to your checkout counter.
Are you merchandising impulse products there effectively? Would some rearrangement of product or displays help to catch the customer’s attention? Is the counter space at your register being used to generate sales?
If your counter is already well used, can you do something else—like add a table next to where customers stand—to generate more sales?
The little things are important to your customers—and they are important to your store’s sales, too.

Bobbi Baugh is president of Universal Designs, manufacturers of Pass-It-On Message cards, one of the top-selling impulse products in the Christian market.

GRAMMY- and GMA Dove Award-winning band Third Day sees the release of Move (Essential Records/Provident Label Group/Provident-Integrity Distribution) on Oct. 19. Frontman Mac Powell, bass player Tai Anderson, drummer David Carr and guitarist Mark Lee talked with Christian Retailing about the latest recording.

Your new album is simply titled—Move. How did you come up with the name?
(Tai Anderson) We were answering the question from “Revelation” (the title track from our last album), which says, “Tell me, should I stay here or do I need to move?” and we really liked the idea of go, move—put your faith into action.

What are some of the album’s other highlights?
(Mark Lee) “Children of God” is a powerful song with a great message that we’re excited about sharing with our fans. “Surrender” is another fun one. It never fails to get a reaction when we play it for our friends.

If you had to pick a favorite song on the album, which would it be?
(Anderson) “Surrender.”?It starts so small with just a single slide guitar. By the end of the song, the band is rocking, accompanied by a huge string section. The song is just epic, and made more so because we allow it time to develop.

What is special to you about the sound or the lyrics of this album?
(Mac Powell) This album somehow has this mix of a sound that you haven’t quite heard from Third Day before and yet there’s a familiar sound as well.

Has Third Day developed through the years?
(Lee) When the band started out, we were all single, high school and college students. Now we’re all married and have school-aged kids. But we’re still the same guys.

Any message for stores?
(Anderson) Crank it up! I think this is a project that even passive Christian music fans will respond to if they hear it.
(Powell) When you have been around for as long as we have, you come to realize very quickly that we don’t achieve success on our own. There are so many people behind the scenes sharing our music with others and getting our music out to the masses. Christian retail has been a key element in the success of Third Day, and if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t still be here doing this.