It seems so often that these two
disparate views are in conflict. Being an adolescent and becoming a
Christian in the Nineties seemed to come with an inherent conflict
between popular music and "Christian" music. This was way
worse than it sounds now. First, there was very little "good"
Christian music. Second, this was a time when "Alternative"
as a genre began. There were many talented and gifted artists that
"good Christians" were warned away from listening to. I
bring this up to remind us of the bigger picture of change that has
come through the years. There is still a tension between "Christian"
music and other stuff, including within my iTunes (Ani DiFranco
cusses a lot and her frank sexuality can be a challenge). However,
the overly legalistic discussion, about "secular vs. christian"
artists seems to have passed. The condemnations of unfaithfulness
for "listening to the Devil music" have moved appropriately
to the fringe. I think this is healthy and right. Certain music,
like all art, is not appropriate for children, but the discerning
adult (and appropriate adolescent) should be able to "separate
the wheat from the chaff" (to use a Biblical metaphor).

We recently celebrated Passover and
Easter. These are celebrations of remembering. For Jews it is the
remembrance that they were slaves, freed, and chosen to be the people
of God. For Christians it is the remembrance that God has again
freed us, this time from the slavery of our selves, and chosen us to
be His children at great cost. I have been known to rant on occasion
about the "church". As I reflect on the past and the
present, I am thankful for this change and reminded that such changes
can continue to happen.

Thanks for playing

Ani Di Franco

Ani DiFranco
(born Angela Maria DiFranco
on September 23, 1970) is a Grammy
Award-winning singer,
guitarist, and
songwriter. She
is a prolific artist, having released over twenty albums and is
widely celebrated as a feminist
icon. Although much of DiFranco's material is autobiographical, it is
often also strongly political. Many of her songs are concerned with
contemporary social issues such as racism,
sexism, sexual
abuse, homophobia,
reproductive
rights, poverty,
and war. The
combination of personal and political is partially responsible for
DiFranco's early popularity among politically active college
students, some of whom set up fan pages on the web
to document DiFranco's career as early as 1994

On the subject of religion, DiFranco has stated:

"Well, I'm not a religious person
myself. I'm an atheist.
I think religion serves a lot of different purposes in people's
lives, and I can recognize the value of that, you know, the value of
ceremony, the value of community, or even just having a forum to get
together and talk about ideas, about morals — that's a cool
concept. But then, of course, institutional religions are so
problematic."

Antioch Worship Band

This is the worship team
for Antioch church a blurb about them on their facebook page:

Antioch Church is a
thriving community of real people; with a sincere desire to
authentically connect with God and find answers for life’s many
issues. Our services are designed to be relevant for your life today;
thus allowing you to build healthy, lasting relationships. From the
opening note of worship, to the last word spoken from the pulpit, we
desire to help you wherever you are in the process of life. We
believe that healthy families are vital for the success of any
church. With this in mind, we offer services and events for every
member of your family. We offer a great location, with easy access
from I-35. We hope you and your family will join us soon!

Links to myspace for music
is: http://www.myspace.com/antiochworship