My little sister has turned me on to so much good music.

So much good music that also happens to be Christian music.

This guy, Chris Rice, is one of the best songwriters…who also happens to be a Christian…that I know of.

The real beauty of this stuff is that it’s good music whether it’s Christian or not…and that’s not always the case.  Some of the music in the Christian community isn’t really all that good. It doesn’t always stand on its own.

I guess it’s not fair to single out Christian music…bad country music is bad country music, bad rock is bad rock, folk music that’s lacking is always going to be bad, etc.  It’s just that within the Christian community I think sometimes that we feel like we have to like whatever comes down the pike…like it’s automatic that this music is supposed to be appreciated because of the motivation that should be behind it.

Chris Rice is just good ….across the board good.

Good, good stuff.

It’s not hard to appreciate Chris Rice.

I read an interview with Mark Heard a long time ago where he said that he was an artist who also was a Christian….not necessarily a “Christian Artist”.

I always appreciated that.

I have friends who would reject this music because of the spiritual aspects it holds.  Chris Rice doesn’t pull any punches…he loves Jesus and he’s not afraid to say it.  His affection isn’t masked…he’s pretty artfully blatant about his love for Christ.

There isn’t anything that I’ve heard that he’s done that wasn’t done artfully.

He’s an artist…and he’s a Christian.

That’s a combination I hope I get a chance to see more of.

I had a Christian music radio show when I was in college my first two years…played contemporary Christian music for an hour once a week that was sent over to a legitimate i.e. real station via telephone lines from a small studio in the basement of the Newberry College chapel.

I would have played the heck out of Chris Rice if he’d been recording back then.

Thanks for the “heads up” on Chris Rice, little sister!