With 50 issues under its belt, CROSS RHYTHMS magazine took the opportunity to reflect where it had been and pondered where it may be going.

Cross Rhythms 11, July/August 1992
Vision - David's Generation

Chris Cole

Chris Cole wrote about the painful decision to twice postpone the printing of the issue because of the lack of money coming in. "1 have a strong conviction that this process of adversity is producing 'gold'. God is more interested in prospering our souls than he is our bank balances. The gold' that God is interested in is eternal in quality. Many of us in Cross Rhythms/Cornerstone House have experienced a gentle breaking' in the past few weeks. But through the pressure we are able to understand our own motives and why we are doing what we're doing... The Cross Rhythms team live and work, often sacrificially, but not because we have collective bees in our bonnets about Art or Music. Although we're committed to Cross Rhythms magazine, the radio broadcasts and the festival and we are striving to build an infrastructure to support all forms of Christian music, our vision isn't directed towards Cross Rhythms or Christian music but is, I believe, directed towards Jesus Christ himself. The spiritual foundation of all that we are trying to do with music has got to be built on what the Bible calls 'a true faith'. True faith is experienced when our security as creative people is in him and not what we do, achieve or create."

The Scene - The Rise Of Roots And Dance
CCM was at long, long last growing in Britain and it was coming through the grassroots. A folk roots band, unnoticed by the major Christian labels but raved over by Cross Rhythms from their first independent cassette only release had risen to become Britain's most popular Christian band. They were called Eden Burning. Meanwhile, after reading the rave review in CR and sending for the tape, Scott Blackwell's N-Soul Records had signed Manchester's schools workers the World Wide Message Tribe.

The Bottom Line - Burglary Low Point
Paying Cross Rhythms print bill made every issue a spiritual adventure. In October a burglary of the temporary editorial office brought new crisis. Tony Cummings and his family decided to relocate to Tavistock. near Plymouth, where a church, The Kings, offered them spiritual and practical support.

Cross Rhythms 17, October/November 1993
Vision - Cassette Experiences
With the announcement of the plan of The Cross Rhythms Experience cassette as an integral part of the magazine. Tony Cummings wrote, "The uses leaders can put to Cross Rhythms' bi-monthly radio programme-on-cassette are numerous. As well as the already mentioned resource to HEAR some of the choice cuts reviewed in the pages of the magazine, the Cross Rhythms tapes can be used by loyal Cross Rhythms readers to catch AM -a vision of what could be achieved in bringing a creative message of hope in a secular age if only the Church will move away from its lethargic insularity and take the astonishing message of the Gospel out to the tens of thousands who listen daily to a diet of Madonna. Michael Jackson and Prince who have never heard of a mighty God who inspires music, crafts words and sent his Son to save mankind.
"It is in the area of evangelism and pre-evangelism that the Cross Rhythms radio programme - on cassette as on air - has the most exciting potential. A week before I was writing this, a young man walked into a Devon church - which he'd heard about through an advert on the Cross Rhythms Experience on Plymouth Sound - having just given his life to Christ. Radio programmes will never take over from the preaching of the Gospel, of course. And not all artistic expression should be packed with John 3:16s to make it fit a mistaken utilitarianism of over zealous evangelicals. But what we can say is that in numerous ways there is a growing sense that the Church is finally coming out of its cultural shell and going on the attack in 20th century culture with radical Christian truth."

The Scene - Smilingly Home
Eden Burning, still on the tiny indie label FFG but now distributed by Kingsway, had the number one selling CCM album in the UK, 'Smilingly Home', along with the Live Worship 1993 Spring Harvest' release.

The Bottom Line - Stabilisation
Cross Rhythms magazine still needed heavy financial subsidy to break even (it was only the launch of the cassette which significantly reduced the size of the financial losses) but had at least established a circulation figure of 3,000. The 1993 Festival, having found a new home at Risdon Farm, the Christian rehabilitation centre of which Chris Cole was (and still is) a director, seemed to be stabilising with most acts coming for petrol money meaning that even with a 3,000 attendance it was possible to break even and the Cross Rhythms Experience, now a syndicated radio programme, had launched the Friends Of Cross Rhythms, where concerned Christians with a vision for Christian radio could give to help financially support its operation and expansion.

Cross Rhythms 21, June/July 1994
Vision - Religion Versus Relationship
With the 1994 'Touching Glory' Cross Rhythms Festival about to begin, Chris Cole wrote. "Why should the world sit up and take notice of a message of salvation (healing) when many church goers seemingly refuse to accept this life giving medicine and experience its full benefits? Mere religion will not take us into the spiritual dynamic where genuinely, profoundly, 'all things have become new.' Religion shows no respect or understanding to the deeper pilgrimage of the individual's pain. Who was it in God's word who did more to aggravate Jesus than any other group of people? It was the religious Pharisees into control, manipulation and power. A group of people who were more interested in the legalism than the healing of a man's withered hand. More interested in the law than in love... The relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit isn't some intangible, mystical experience. Neither is it a 'power trip' to inflate our egos or bolster our immaturity. The work of the Holy Spirit is to incarnate the attitude and character of Jesus Christ within the Church. The work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the healing nature of Jesus Christ who always respects the dignity of our humanity and the pain of sin which we've all been born into."

The Scene - Prophet Musician
A major new player had emerged in the British CCM industry. Alliance Music, who launched with a huge catalogue of top CCM acts. Meanwhile a Croyden born muso with an Australian accent called Stephen Bennett spoke about the need for the "prophet musician". Dance DJ Scott Blackwell played his first UK gig at the Cross Rhythms Festival.

The Bottom Line - Advertising Support
The advertising support for Cross Rhythms was still patchy and we could still drop a thousand or more an issue.

Cross Rhythms 30, December 1995/January 1996
Vision - The Militant Chequebook
In the light of an unsuccessful effort by Cross Rhythms to rescue Liverpool's Crossfire Festival which stopped operating owing £20,000, Chris Cole wrote, "In the past Cross Rhythms has commented that the British CCM scene has been for so long starved of cash that it has ensured instances of dishonesty and large financial mishandling are rare. And so they are. But you can be within the law and/or dealing with pounds rather than tens of thousands yet still demonstrate a woeful, and unbiblical, lack of financial accountability. This is helped by British financial legislation that enables a limited company to declare bankruptcy leaving creditors with little or nothing by way of payment and no comeback on the directors of the company, who in some cases soon start up again trading with a new company.

"In the last two years the UK Christian music business has seen promoters going bust owing large sums of money and at the same time putting major pressures on other ministries whom they can't pay. The ends do not justify the means. What's the sense in promoting a concert or festival to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and leave a wake of hurting people in the process? Why am I majoring on finance in terms of 'spiritual militancy"? The reason is that it is in the area of finance that I've seen the body of Christ carve itself up most effectively. My wife Kerry and I undergird Cross Rhythms financially through our business at Cornerstone House. Our property is always on the line to underwrite our debts. That is the way it should be. If you're not prepared to pay for what you believe God has told you to do why should somebody else suffer and pick up the burden because you've heard incorrectly, or initiated something prematurely?"

The Scene - The Day Of Favour
Anointed were huge pop but worrying some Christians, the Sunday Express apologised to Greenbelt and the first Christian TV channel, the Christian Channel Europe, was successfully launched. The Day Of Favour' Stoneleigh album was the bookshops' bestseller.

The Bottom Line - Breaking Even
Cross Rhythms magazine, Devon festival and syndicated radio programmes all barely broke even.

Cross Rhythms 34,
Vision - An Ad-Mission Statement
Chris Cole wrote about his recent meeting with a UK record company executive. "To their credit this man and his record company colleagues genuinely believe in marketing contemporary Christian music in a professional manner in a still perilously small market and have been instrumental in keeping the fledgling CCM industry alive in Britain for many a long year. Now, of course, the CCM marketplace is at last experiencing growth. But according to this executive. Cross Rhythms is failing to maximise ITS potential sales base. In his opinion. Cross Rhythms magazine is too wordy, heavy and musically diverse, resembling possibly Q magazine rather than the secular market leader Smash Hits. In the opinion of this executive. Cross Rhythms needs to be more gloss}', lightweight and youth based. Leaving aside the commercial reality that a frothy, teen-based Cross Rhythms would be a mighty hard animal to sell at British CCM outlets in view of the fad that there is ahead) a quality monthly glossy with lightweight coverage available FOR FREE in the UK. I think it is understandable that this executive wants a mag full of unchallenging teen-based coverage of CCM stars. Big names sell magazines. Articles about grassroots ministries, articles on music history, readers' testimonies, features on 'minority' musics and theological think pieces don't shift product'. But it is Cross Rhythms' depth of coverage which makes it unique in the world of Christian music magazines (for evidence of this see our growing number of US subscribers). And more importantly. Cross Rhythms' editorial coverage reveals the heart of the magazine. To explore spiritual implications at a deeper level... Sure, CCM is fun and we all need entertainment. But we have to be careful that we don't entertain to death ourselves and our friends in the Church. For alongside the sanctified dancing, roots music jigs and Christian headbanging there is also a pivotal need to maintain a vibrant, balanced and radical walk with God."