Why Christian music? What's wrong with my regular secular music? I pondered this, along with Revelation 3:16 and thermo-Christianity (hot/cold/lukewarmness). A hot Christian strives to follow Christ in thought, word, and deed. A cold Christian has backslid and makes no pretense of following Christ. A lukewarm Christian looks like a follower of Christ, and sometimes even acts like it. A lukewarm Christian says, "Oh, I always try to follow the Ten Commandments," then eagerly reads, watches, or listens to tales about people who openly do the stuff God hates. A lukewarm Christian is the kind who gets Christians branded as "hypocrites." They're stumbling blocks to those who might otherwise be saved. Jesus likes the lukewarm Christians only as far as He can vomit them (KJV).

Listen to the message of your secular music. Does it glorify God? Does it sing of the wonders of Earth-religions (Age of Aquarius), the wonders of drug abuse (Black Sabbath), the pleasures of immorality (nearly any mainstream pop band)? Does listening to this stuff make you lukewarm? I pondered this, and still don't really have a firm answer, but I know Christian music DOES glorify God. Christian music sings of the wonders of God, and the great joy to be found in life in Him.

I used to resort to the excuse that that evil image of lots of secular hard rock and heavy metal is only for show. Whose image are these evil-imaged in? It's Satan's image. We're made in God's image, not Satan's. Shouldn't our music reflect that? I don't think secular music is gonna make me a murderer/rapist/wife-beater/drug-addict or even suicidal -BUT: Every un-Godly message softens us to future messages until we accept anything we hear or see with a shrug, or even less. There's Christian music to suit any musical taste, from light children's songs to guttural-vocalled, pounding-bassed heavy-metal rock! Sometimes, the hard part is finding it. That's the purpose of this writing.

Almost any Gospel radio station will regularly play music which appeals to Gospel and Country and Western fans. Those stations are easy to find. Contemporary Christian music radio stations usually play drippy-sweet pop, boy-bands, girl-groups and other light or soft stuff. Unless you tune into the right station, at the right little timeslot during the week, you're unlikely to hear anything else. I think that's why contemporary Christian music has its elevator/sleepy-time music stereotype. Soft pop and country has its place, but not in my CD player or on my radio. Larry Norman sang, "Why should the Devil have all the good music?" He doesn't.

Lately, I've been encountering many people who don't listen to Christian music because it's that yawner stuff. They know the stereotype! I aim, with these pages, to break that stereotype and publicize that there IS good stuff out there -and the Devil doesn't have it!

Quite a few years back, my sister was given a bunch of Christian music cassettes. She gave me the ones she felt were too hard for her taste. She knew I liked Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, ZZ Top and the like. Most of the tapes she gave me were 80s or thrash/speed metal, --OK, but not what I call really good. I wasn't quite impressed enough to search aggressively, but, they did alert me to the fact that there must be more good stuff out there. I eventually made my musical-switch from secular to Christian.

Back in 2001, I drove along my library courier route, listening to Q-96, Adult Rock & Roll (out of Clinton, MO). My ears perked up and I listened more carefully when I heard some band singing, "...What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak... I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak. There ain't no disguising the truth." I listened carefully for quite some time. The DJ must've announced what the song was before he played it.

A few days later, another band sang how they "could be just like the Beatles, melodic rockin' heavyweights." Then the vocalist went on to sing, "I could be anything I wanted to. I could do anything but one thing's true. Never gonna be as big as Jesus. Never gonna hold the world in my hand. Never gonna be as big as Jesus. Never gonna build a promised land, but, hey, that's alright. It's OK with me." That song did it! Coupled with the Jesus-freak song, and with their "adult" rock and roll style, these two songs broke my secular music habit. I got home and found Q-96's website and got into their chat-room. I got to talk with DJ, Mike Diamond. I asked him about those songs. I gave him approximate times, and he proudly said that was his show, and that he tries to squeeze in a few Christian songs on his show. He told me the Jesus freak song was D.C. Talk's "Jesus Freak" and the never gonna be as big as Jesus song was Audio Adrenaline's "Never Gonna Be as Big as Jesus" (obvious titles, but one can't really be too sure). My quest for the good stuff began.

I've been converted, but I'm finding that the stuff I enjoy is worth little unless I share it. Whenever I can, I try to listen to Christian music so I can communicate an opinion. Radio, Internet, friends and family are all sources for Christian music. Though I don't like to admit it, I'm finding, as I listen to CCM radio for this document, it's becoming more and more tolerable. What follows are my findings, laced with personal comments. Since I'm not an expert on music, this'll be in language most anyone can understand. There are some terms I've heard or made up to help define a sound. These can be found in the glossary.

Proceed to Christian Music Artists

If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to contact me:

Paul Landkamer
ognyen@yahoo.com

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