Happy Anniversary to me!

Twelve years ago, January 1, 2013, I officially started as pastor at Milford First Brethren Church. 

If my memory serves me correctly, I did go into the office that New Year's Day. A few days later, I started this blog. As you can see from that link, I was much more active back then with my blog posts.

Many things have changed with me, my family, and our church for sure. Through it all, God has been faithful and good. We have seen him at work in some special ways here in Milford. 

Today, I thought I'd share some reflections that have been sitting in the back of my mind for quite awhile but have only probably recently thought about connecting all the dots.

And they truly are reflections - looking back at God's hand in guiding and preparing me for these last 12 years. See, if you've ever read this blog before, you know the influence Christian music has had on my life. It's a favorite subject of mine - and while I am no longer someone who is on top of every new act or group, it is still an interest of mine.

And as I've reflected on God's guidance on my life to this point, I've realized that there were some particular songs that prepared me, almost subconsciously, for serving here in Milford. I was thinking about this awhile ago and realized there were 3-4 songs (plus one honorable mention) that were not big hits, but caught my attention in my college and seminary years where I was studying for pastoral ministry. Several months ago I wrote out my list and subsequently lost it but I rewrote it and will share it below. I feel compelled to say that I think my original list included another song that I just can recall.

But here are some Christian pop/rock songs that honor small-town ministry and being faithful in relative obscurity. These have always encouraged me lest I get envious or coveting greener pastures.

Obscure CCM Bands - Vo. 4

I really thought I was done with this little series. I had a couple others I thought I might share but nothing really stood out to me. 

Then three weeks later I remembers this band. They are a group that represents one of the rare times where CCM was ahead of the cultural wave instead of following it's wake. 

The band - AVB. Acappella Vocal Band (or is it "All Vocal Band", this website makes me wonder if I've been mistaken for 30 years).

You must understand, long before the Pitch Perfect movie franchise and even before Glee became a cultural phenomenon, CCM was featuring acapella groups all over the place. Now this isn't to say that acapella music was totally absent in mainstream culture, it wasn't. In fact I remember Rockapella being ever-present on one of my favorite tv shows, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

AVB was actually an off-shoot from the original group named Acappella, a vocal group founded in the early 80's. Both groups had their 15 minutes of CCM fame for sure. But it is AVB that made an impression on me. 

Their 1989 album Song in My Soul put them on my musical radar thanks to a couple songs that got radio play. Before I looked it up, I was sure this was the early 90's. As I look back though, they were probably my gateway-drug to the emerging pop-rock CCM acts that followed - ie, Newsboys, dc Talk. Their style had great vocal harmony but also featured an up-beat, almost hip-hop sound. 

The song that hooked me, for at least this one album, was "The Victim". Here's a version they did at what is an apparent reunion appearance 10 years ago. 

The group had many iterations, normally made up of 4-5 members at a time. I will never be confused with being a judge on any singing competition, yet they seem to still have a lot of talent and skill. And by combining into a larger group, they are able to do a nice job layering their sound.

I could not have told you that when I was a pre-teen though. All I knew then was, they had a unique sound and catchy lyrics. In this case, convicting-ly catchy lyrics. I gave my life to Christ at an early age, but I remember this song in particular being one of the first times I really learned that Jesus' death gave me the key to "stop doing those things" I knew were wrong. It was more than knowing right from wrong, but knowing how to live accordingly.

And as we consider anew the incredible truths of this Holy Week, the one Truth that stands above all is that when he "died upon the cross, the wage of sin was then made free". He truly took the torture and the punishment that was mine, that was ours. He became the victim of our crime. What a sacrifice and what a wonderful Risen Savior we serve!

Obscure CCM Bands Vol. 3

There was a particular experience common to many of us who grew up around CCM in the mid to late 90's. It felt like the CCM market was flooded with all kinds of bands as labels tried to see which ones would 'stick'. Thus, there is this whole pool of "obscure" bands from which to pick from for these last several blog posts. Some emerged as real heavyweights - Switchfoot, Third Day come to mind. Others never got traction for whatever reason.

Shaded Red was a band that landed squarely in this latter category. I can't remember how I stumbled upon their first album. Probably either my friends Jason Zaugg or Dave Robertson - shout out to those guys. It may have been from hearing the single below in its brief run on the radio. The band actually did make its mark on the CCM world with its second album Red Revolution. "Revolution" and a cover of "When God Ran" drew praise from critics and fans. But even with some modest success, this second album would be there last. 

It's my personal theory that this band's trajectory was permanently altered by the tragedy that befell them before their last album was even released. They were in a car accident that killed their drummer and I can only imagine how hard this was to process, let alone continue as a group. 

But I will always appreciate the art they produced. In the vein of Jars of Clay, they mixed acoustic and electric guitars along with piano, and later horns to produce a classic "Christian grunge" sound. Their first self-titled album became a rarity - due to their original label closing up shop if I remember correctly. In fact, in the early 2000's, I remember shelling out at least $30 to help my friend Dave's girlfriend purchase it as a birthday present for him. We were all at a Christian rock festival and randomly came across it in a vendor's collection. 

Thankfully, someone's uploaded the entire album to Youtube. "Caught" and "Found Someone" are the favorites I always gravitate towards. Shoutout to Jamie and Jonathan Roberts and the rest of their crew who created some really good music in a really short period of time.

Tuesday Tunes - Obscure CCM bands Vol. 2

Music has this incredible effect of burning lyrics and melodies into our brains. Those things may lay dormant for years until a random trigger may cause them all to come flooding back into our heads.

Today's obscure CCM band is a perfect example of that for me. 

The Waiting had a signature style, a signature sound, and a signature way of conveying their message lyrically. 

They started to make a name for themselves with Blue Belly Sky in 1995. Their peak was in the late 90's, particularly with the release of their self-titled third album. 

For me, they were an example of a consumer-formula that made me a fan. They had some songs on some "sampler" CD's that labels put out to promote their newer bands. Those singles convinced me to shell out my hard-earned cash to get the full album. 

The aforementioned third album, The Waiting, is a solid effort top to bottom. At some points they remind me of R.E.M. but that's the closest I can come to a comparison. They had a way of hitting you upside the head with their challenging and perspective-questioning lyrics that you couldn't see coming. 

From my own memory, songs like, "Never Dim", "How Do You Do That?", and "Hands in the Air" got a lot of attention. But for me it was the second layer of songs like "Number 9", "Pride", and "Better off as Friends" that kept me coming back. The latter especially turned what would become trope on its head. Instead of writing a song that could be vaguely descriptive of Jesus or a boyfriend, this one intentionally used that relational category to expose how we often flippantly treat our Savior. 

In a similar vein, I must mention one verse from "My Pride" that stopped me dead in my tracks the first time I heard it and still convicts:

I've wandered like an orphan

Down every dirty street

Till I stood before the Man

Who bent down to wash my feet

It's easy to wallow in nostalgia and opine about how no one really writes like this anymore in the CCM world. I think it may be true in this case, especially when you digest their full catalog. 

According to their Wiki page, they haven't retired as a band, but the members have generally gone their separate ways and more or less faded into the obscurity of their local lives. They made a mark on this young listener however, and I am grateful for both their creative music and their creative songwriting.

Friday Fun

I've been so sporadic with my posts, I'm inventing a title for this Friday edition. We have Wednesday Wisdom, Thursday Thoughts, and now Friday Fun. They are all one and the same really...just a matter of when I get around to writing.

The subject of this week's blog stems from a Twitter thread I saw a few weeks back. @drleahpayne asked "Looking for very weird, very obscure Christian rock bands...any ideas?" It currently has received 249 replies which is great as many of them name bands I'd never heard of. 

But inspired by Dr. Payne, I'll take the next few weeks to highlight a few of my favorite long-forgotten and obscure CCM bands.

First up, let me offer you a Reality Check. 

They are characteristically 90's CCM in so many ways. Stylistically similar to dc Talk, they even had relational connections with Michael Tait of that band.

After their debut independent album, they put out two records on the Star Song label. It was their second that briefly put them on the CCM map. 

I recall they had a single that received Christian-pop airplay, "Know You Better". That song was a bit of an anomaly as far as their sound was concerned. Though they certainly had things in common with dc Talk, they had a unique "funkiness" and "edge" that made them distinct.

You can find a Jesus Freak Hideout Review that gives it 4 out of 5 stars. I may need to relisten to it in its entirety again, but I'd be hard pressed to give it anything less than 4.5 or 5 stars. It was on regular rotation in my late high school and college years at the turn of the millennium. 

The band faded from existence shortly after reaching their peak with this album. They made quite the impression, at least on this CCM connoisseur. 

Personally, I really loved the entire album, start to finish. But it is the first three songs that really draw you in, plunging you headfirst into their up-tempo, in-your-face rap/rock energy. "The Way I Am", "Plastic", and "Masquerade" set the tone for the 10 song set that never really lags but never exhausts your ears either.

Music Mondays

Back when this Music Monday series idea popped in my head, it was this week's song that inspired it all. In the weeks since then, it hasn't continued to run in a loop like it had briefly back in June and for that I am thankful. 

Or am I? It is actually one of my favorite songs from "back in the day". Third Day released their second studio album Conspiracy No. 5 in 1997 which included the song below. The album itself feels like an intentional mirroring of Pearl Jam. It is a natural comparison some made after their first album mostly due to lead singer Mac Powell's vocals. In this album, the music itself seems to copy the popular 90's grunge band's style. 

As I remember it, this album was not as well received by the CCM world but that was not an opinion I or my buddies shared. I could still jam to this song if I still had the cassette and still owned a cassette player (yes I am old). 

Anyway, "Gomer's Theme" is still a jam and I don't mind all that much when it does get stuck in my head.

Music Mondays: God or Girlfriend?

There is a built-in tension with Christian music. It seeks to express all the facets of our relationship with our Creator - a relationship based on love and intimacy that is very much true, genuine, and amazing. But depending on how it is expressed, it can easily venture into sappy love-song stuff. 

I'm certainly not the first to point this out, but often times CCM can turn out a product that is eerily similar to secular songs that croon superficially about romance. And every once in awhile, the opposite can be true - a surface-level love song can seem to be speaking of the spiritual. 

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to feature some songs that I've always been confused or conflicted by - songs that teeter on the edge of young-love-sappiness instead of theological wonder.

But to start things off, I want to zig instead of zag. Here are a couple songs from my college days-era that go the opposite direction. These are pop music hits that hint at something deeper if you think real hard.

"Hanging by a Moment" - Lifehouse

A band that has Christian roots, it struck it big with this their first single. It feels like the first hundred times I heard it, I only heard the "love song" part of it. And then when you think of their roots, the rest of their catalog that seems to have spiritual overtones, and then realize the chorus goes: 

Now I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Huh. Makes you wonder...

For the record, the lead singer keeps it ambiguous as well.

"Everywhere" - Michelle Branch

Another single from the early 2000's that launched a career, "Everywhere" was part of Branch's album The Spirit Room. By her own admission, this is a straightforward love song, but Christian detectives all over the U.S. bought into a deeper meaning. And it's easy to see why: 

'Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes, it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
I'm not alone

[Verse 2]
I recognize the way you make me feel
It's hard to think that you might not be real
I sense it now, the water's getting deep
I try to wash the pain away from me
Away from me

I'm an authorial-intent kind of guy, not a reader-response interpreter. I embrace the meaning as intended by the author. Sometimes it's easy to cheat and re-interpret a song based on what I feel, know, or have experienced. Probably not much harm in doing that with something like this.

Music Mondays: When CCM gets serious

I fully realize it is Wednesday and also it's been almost an exact month since I last posted for Music Monday or anything. But here we are.

I was listening to a podcast earlier this summer that takes a look back at various pieces of Christian culture. This particular episode was analyzing the Newsboys album "Step up to the Microphone". For me, it was a trip back through memory lane to my later high school years of the late 90's. 

There were a number of radio hits from that CD, but the song that I most appreciated remembering was one not featured as a single - the last track, "Always".

That song had always resonated with me, probably because of it's chorus highlighting God being our "Father in my fatherless days". This song reflects a story of fatherly abandonment and finding God's healing help in the aftermath of that. My story is about a father who died - so it is different, but the truth still resounds in a powerful way.

So for the next few weeks, I'll be highlighting songs that tackled serious subjects. CCM often retreats into clichés and bland theology, that while usually true, doesn't connect to real life. But every so often, an artist or artists will break the mold and venture into the challenges of reality. And as we'll see, the result is often some of the best work they do, even if it's not the most popular.

Music Mondays - Can a heretic still teach (or sing ) God's truth?

I came across this article over the weekend and there were parts I liked and others I didn't like. I agreed with some of it and disagreed with enough of it that I began formulating a response in my head that I realized would make a good Music Monday post.

Now I fully admit critiquing another's critique may be a low-brow approach in a form (blogging) that is already low-brow. But my aim is not to trash anyone's opinion. only to critically think through this issue - and do so within the parameters the author himself sets. Let me also admit at the top that I own 1 song by Bethel on iTunes ("You Make Me Brave") and I'm not sure our church has ever used their music.

To sum the article up, or just give you a TL;DR version, the author uses the following four questions to ultimately conclude that churches shouldn't use Bethel Music's worship songs*:

1. Are you examining everything you consume through the lens of God’s Word?
2. Does the song stand on its own, proclaiming the truth of God’s Word without explanation?
3. Is it possible to separate the truth being sung from the error of its associations?
4. Would using the song cause us to actively support an errant ministry?

*To be fair, the author doesn't explicitly write that Bethel Music should be avoided. But it is clearly implied.

I completely agree with the first two standards the author provides. It would be accurate to say that they are biblical criteria even. 

Here's why I believe the article fails to fully make it's point. The author provides no evidence that Bethel's music fails to meet the biblical standards in either of the first two areas. One would expect each of those four criteria to shed negative light on Bethel's worship music. Yet under the first two questions, no particular lyric and no songs are given to demonstrate the problematic nature of their worship music. There are nods towards questionable teachings in Bethel's church ministry but the author doesn't even hint that any particular song fails to line up with God's Word.

I am not convinced by the case the author makes for the third and fourth standards either. I believe they are worthy questions. But I am not sure they have as strong of a biblical basis, nor does the article convince me that Bethel Music disqualifies itself in these areas. 

The last question is the easiest for me. Someone can show me the CCLI receipts and prove me wrong, but if an individual church sings one or two of their songs a month, that is 12-24 a year. I doubt the royalties are very significant at that level. I'm sure there would be more egregious examples of this kind of "bad support" if we scrutinized the list of corporations that our retirement plans are invested in or if we evaluated moral quality of the Hollywood production studios we support when we go to the movies. 

With the case of question #3, the author actually makes a good argument for embracing music from Bethel earlier in the article. He cites three classic hymns from three different writers who each had problematic views on various doctrinal issues. Are we sure Bethel is more erroneous than those examples? We aren't advocating Luther's anti-Semitism when we sing "A Mighty Fortress" nor are we affirming all of Bethel's theology by singing their version of "It is Well". And how realistic is it for our people to leave our ministries to embrace with Bethel's questionable doctrinal beliefs as the author implies? What does that say about my church's ministry if my people are so easily swayed by a doctrinally-sound song authored by a theologically-questionable church? 

This gets us to a larger question. Can a heretic ever teach God's truth? Could they author a song that is truthful? 

I'm of the persuasion that all truth is God's truth. I will not seek out secular psychologists for discipleship principles, but I might seek out their observations for how to best deal with addicts or those dealing with mental health issues. A con man who leads revival services so he can fill his pockets rather than save souls can still be a vehicle through which the Spirit convicts hearts. The Bible is full of examples of less-than-worthy vessels being used to further God's Kingdom. He even uses a donkey to prophesy at one point!

In the end, I wonder if this concern over Bethel Music could be an example more like Mark 9:38-41 than Arius. Yes, I find the reports of their theological drifting to be troubling. Yes, I think some of their "spontaneous worship" tacked on the end of their live performances is likely planned and it is certainly not my style. But if there are no glaring doctrinal problems with their worship music and if their music library instead has Christ-honoring qualities - what is specifically wrong with using it for your own God-glorifying purpose? 

Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy

Well, it's been a few weeks and I can't even get around to posting on a Monday. But I did want to move this little series along. 

Of all the controversial songs in CCM's history, "Cartoons" by Chris Rice may be one of the most interesting. 

It was criticized for being anti-worship, misusing the Lord's name, and being borderline obscene (it references Beavis and Butthead!). 
It was also a chart-topper and one of Rice's most popular songs in a career that contained a lot of radio hits. 

Ultimately, I think it proves that many Christians don't get satire and can't laugh at themselves very easily. Too many of us take things like this too seriously. 

Rice's music resume reflects an incredibly profound heart for God and uniquely humble appraoch to worship. Why go crazy over a hidden track of a song he wrote for a youth group event?

I could conjure up more thoughts and arguments in his defense, but this article does it for me: https://www.crosswalk.com/culture/music/chris-rice-and-the-great-cartoons-controversy-1383756.html.

Meanwhile, let's allow ourselves a little fun, ok?

Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy over a "Baby"

The 80's and 90's were curious times in the Christian music world.  Legitimate stars were being made. Some were even gaining larger audiences, beyond just the Church.

Yet, for those first mega-stars of the CCM world, any hint of "going secular" was met with automatic backlash.  One of those trailblazers was the queen of CCM, Amy Grant. Looking back, it's apparent her albums were less and less overtly Christian but it was "Heart in Motion" that was her pop music breakthrough. And it was the the #1 single "Baby Baby" that catapulted her to superstardom and put a target on her back for some.

This song made her the first Christian artist to record number one hit on the US pop charts. But not only did she get flack for selling out to the world, her video received criticism because it showed her interacting with a guy who wasn't her husband. 
Despite her assertions that her newborn was the inspiration for the song, some Christians tuned her out and dismissed the idea that a Christian could make quality 'worldly' music without morally compromising.

I personally think she handled herself pretty well through it all. Yes, her personal story would include a divorce that brought out a lot of critics. And while some of these criticisms might be justifiable, for me, this is all about what happens when we put our Christian heroes on pedestals and expect perfection.

She might be a cautionary-tale, but she's definitely a trail-blazer and an artist who's established an excellent career - both in the secular and sacred music realms.

Music Mondays

As I was trying to come up with a selection for this week, I couldn't even settle on a topic. 

Should I go with Christmas music? 
I did that last year and my friend Amy is doing a real good job on her blog on that anyway.

Should I go with the current Top 40 hit that has a lot of backstory but also some depth when you consider its message?

Maybe another day.

Well, what about something related to my sermon, which was on prayer?
There's not a whole lot that comes to mind (at least my mind), at least currently.

Sidetrack - I find it very fascinating how some old-school artists often made prayer a topic. 
Petra, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman...probably not a statement against current artists, just interesting.

Anyway, instead of going all-in about those old-school artists of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, I came across the selection below from a classic Christian artist and I knew this was it. 

To my chagrin, Keith Green hasn't been featured on this blog. Green was a force of nature in the early days as Christian music was becoming an industry. You can read his story here, but he was a prophetic voice who was passionate about waking up the church and calling people to Jesus. He was a talented artist with a litany of great songs despite having a short career. 

Technically though, this song was written by his wife. And it is a beautiful song of dedication and prayer:

Keith Green was cut from a different cloth than what you'll find these days. A man who had a different perspective and who passionately was calling us all to something better.

OMG (?) - Music Mondays

We like our pop music simple. Give us a snappy chorus, a memorable beat, fun lyrics and we're good to go. Most of the time, we like our music to give us an escape.

The above is true of both secular and Christian music. CCM can venture into serious subjects and tackle hard questions, but it is still more peppy than profound.

Therefore, it is not surprising then that one of the deepest songs of the new millennium never got popular traction even within CCM circles.

When Jars of Clay released their final big-label album "Good Monsters" over 11 years ago, it was met with critical praise and had decent commercial success. Re-listening to it recently, it's a solid album beginning to end. The fanfare it received was deserved, but the best song, "Oh My God", was overlooked. 

Here's a non-official music video:

It is a song that has stops and starts with emotions varying from melancholy to desperation. It observes how "oh my God!" is found on the lips of many people in many different situations - both in sincere pleas and in crassness. It agonizes over the really discouraging aspects of life and crescendos to urgent cries of "oh my God!"

This interview captures the artist's story behind the song. It confirms what we would suspect, that this song is about wrestling with tough questions of faith and life. 

In the interest of space, I'm giving a link to the lyrics, rather than copy them all here. They are abundant but startling in their depth.

One more thought though. In the 11 years since this was written, I find it interesting how much more prevalent "Oh my God" has become in our cultural vocabulary. It's abbreviation - OMG! - is everywhere now that texting and messaging are the main methods of communication for our younger generations. 

I do find it gratifying to return to this song because it takes a flippant, second-commandment-breaking phrase and turns it back on us. I rediscover the heart of this song all over the Bible, like in passages such as James 5:7-12. Maybe I'm giving to much weight to one song, but maybe this one song has prophetic value. I can say that seeing and/or hearing OMG (or one of the variations) just won't sit right with me anymore, thanks in large part to this song. 

And I think that's good. I'll listen to the peppy, snappy songs that give me some escape. But give me more of this - deep theology and deep questions.

Music Mondays - Thanksgiving Edition

I was well on my way to post a fairly pedestrian video of a fairly pedestrian song that expresses the admirable quality of biblical thanksgiving. There's nothing wrong with the song and it can be utilized in a very worshipful way in the right context.

Then I came upon another song on youtube that emphasizes a similar heart with a  little more musical and lyrical variety. It still is not the most exciting song in the world and it does go on for 7 minutes...but the main reason it caught my eye and made me decide to include it this week was the advertisement before the actual video. 

I'm not sure if the ad will be permanently be the same, but when I looked it up, it was a movie trailer for an upcoming comedy. A very crass comedy - to the extent that the trailer had several swear words and off-color jokes. 

The contrast between the two couldn't have been more stark. A serene yet sincere song expressing gratitude to God vs. a worldly and vulgar movie. 

My wife will tell you, I often let this kind of thing slide, consuming it without much conviction. Maybe my conscience was stirred because we are entering the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Hopefully it is because the Spirit is working on my heart and mind to not be so tolerant of what God deems as sinful. 

Maybe that's not where you are at. But maybe this can provoke us to consider these things a little bit more during this holiday season.

 

Music Monday

It's been awhile, but we are done with vacations and holidays for the time being, so on to Music Monday!

I'm a sucker for songs that incorporate classic hymns and put a new spin on them. This song does that, actually alluding to two traditional songs: 

Big Daddy Weave - "My Story"

Can you name the two songs it references?

Music Mondays

I can't honestly say these songs are contemporary worship classics that have unfairly been forgotten over time like the others over the past several weeks. But I'm featuring two songs this week that were fun mainstays in my youth group days. Both were catchy and simple songs that featured MOTIONS to the lyrics. Sure by the time I was an upperclassman, they various hand and arm movements seemed hokey, but they were a fun kind of hokey.

(Editors Note: I picked two of the sort-of/totally awkward-to-watch videos because they had motions. These aren't the motions I learned, but it seems that those fluctuated greatly from church to church and state to state. But be forewarned, these aren't videos of the highest quality.)

Music Mondays - Worst Christian Music Videos of All-Time

There are plenty of things within Christian culture that make me shake my head. Along with lame t-shirts and self-help books disguised as spirituality, Christian Music Videos have to be right up there.

There are good Christian music videos out there, and soon I will do a top 10 best list. But when you combine the comparitive lack of money invested with the generally lower quality of production and music (both in comparision to the music industry at-large), often the results are cringe-worthy.

So with this post, I will be ranking the worst, most cringe-worthy Christian Music Videos of all time. Here, in short, is my criteria:

Each video had to be from a well-known Christian artist. After that, I ranked each video based off of four categories, dated fashion (out of style haircuts, clothes), annoyance level of the song, strange-ness of the video concept, and how irrelevant the artist or group is now. Fashion (Fash.), Annoyance (Annoy.), and Video Concept (VC) were all ranked 1-10, with the higher the number, the worse it is. Artist Irrelevance (Art.Irr.) was on a scale of 1-5. This had a smaller scale because I felt like the more 'dated' a video, the more likely the artist is no longer popular and I didn't want to double-penalize some nominees. So each total score is based off of a range between 1-35.

So below is my countdown with scores and a brief explanation.

Honorable Mention:

Jesus is a Friend of Mine by Sonseed.

This doesn't make it because the cut because this group was never a well-known Christian artist in their time. But had they been, this would have scored a perfect 35. When I say "cringe-worthy" this really defines the term.

10. Jesus Will Still Be There by Point of Grace

Admittedly, this is a biased pick. I had to have a P.O.G. song on this list because they were the bane of my existence in high school, thanks to Word of Life Summer Camps constantly playing their music and the girls in our youth group celebrating them like the Beatles.
Their major infractions come with the areas of fashion and video concept. Are these women trapped in dungeon somewhere - is that the subliminal message being communicated here? Because it would really fit the theme of the song and the director should be considered a genius.
Total Score = 17 (Fash.- 5, Annoy.- 3, VC- 5, Art.Irr.- 4)

Music Monday

Ever have a song totally grow on you?

You hear it once and don't really like it, then after a couple plays later, you wholeheartedly are singing along to it. It happened to me. Yesterday.

I heard this song twice before church. I think I may have heard it another time earlier in the weekend too. I'm not a fan of Matthew West, he's always struck me as a little to Christian-Pop or too radio-friendly.

But wouldn't you know that this song and it's message didn't get stuck in my head and grow on me. It focuses on our identity in Christ, which just happens to be one of my 'pet issues' that I find under-appreciated in Christians and under-preached in churches.

So with out any further ado, here's a video for "Hello My Name is" by Matthew West.

Note: Acoustic Version was the only official kind I was able to locate on the interwebs this morning.

Music Mondays

If I were to create a Wikipedia page on "Underrated Christian Rock Bands", I'm pretty sure I would put Bleach's picture front and center.
I always found them similar to Weezer, a somewhat underrated secular band of comparable sound and style. Their greatest hits CD is one of my favorite albums, but to further confirm their status as underrated, you'll have a hard time doing a Google search for them without running into pages for an anime show, a laundry ingredient, and a Nirvana album.

But I hope you enjoy this video for a song I'd rank as my favorite of theirs:

Music Mondays

The Smalltown Poets were part of the mid-90's generation of Christian musicians who were rising up to replace the old guard. Their self-titled first album garnered them two Grammy and multiple Dove award nominations. It was packed with quality songs and a few radio hits, like "Prophet, Priest, and King."

This was the first album I remember having additional features on it. When you popped it into your computer, it had some behind-the-scenes movies on it that seemed high-tech at the time. It also had a hidden track at the end, which became all the rage, at least in Christian music circles. Unfortunately, it appears as if no music videos were made of any of those first album songs.

This video is from their second album, Listen Closely. While they apparently have continued to exist as a band, the height of their success came at the beginning of their careers. Their work has always struck me as being underrated. While in high school, they came and played at Grace College and I had a second row seat at their concert that was essentially an 'Unplugged' event. I remember their keyboardist had a hand keyboard that you had to blow into to play. I remember they seemed like pretty cool people and included a question-and-answer session too.

Weird personal note, on the ride home from attending dc Talk's Supernatural concert in Ft. Wayne in May of 1999, this song got stuck in my head and I remember even singing it to myself. The concert had a great worship aspect to it, and after that personally exhilarating experience, this song felt like it just fit.