For everyone out there that don't have a typical bible belt view on Christianity, (daniel if you read this i believe you will really appreciate it) check out some music by folk artist Derek Webb. Derek was originally with the band Caedmon's Call but broke off to do solo work becuase he believed that was God's will for him. His lyrics and the thought that is put into them are on a level with Bob Dylan in my opinion. He is very passionate about Christ and inspires me to challenge the way I think about spiritual matters. If you go to www.derekwebb.net and click on "songs" there are lyrics and explanations to what the songs mean to him. Also his official website where you can order his music and whatnot is www.derekwebb.com. A good album to check out is "She Must and Shall Go Free", his first solo album.
Anyway, I hope someone enjoys this and gets as much of a spiritual kick in the rear out of it as I have. Thanks for taking the time to read all this, God Bless,
Devon

He came to my school and sang some songs off his Mockingbird album; very good singer/songwriter.

I like more than half of the songs on said cd, which gets it a 8 out of 10.

yeah, i haven't got to listen to mockingbird yet, but I really like how open he is with his views on politics in it

I have no problem with Christian music or any such peaceful expression of faith. But phrases like that are why many religious endeavours, particularly Christian Music, is given so little respect. Do people really believe that God spoke to this guy and told him not only to make Christian music, but that it wasn't sufficient to do so with his fellow worshippers, and that he had to perform solo. and coincidentally receive all the profits himself.

Even God must be laughing at this statement.

I'm glad you like this guy's music and it speaks to you...but...wow.

YES!

And what about all those people who once believed in god, decided to cut that relationship, and went on to do very inspiring/great things? Did god "unspeak" to them?

To clarify, I am only referring to Dylan's, um... spiritual phase. There was a period in Dylan's career that consisted of him writing songs mostly about spiritual matters and am not comparing Webb's work to Dylan's before and after, because Webb doesn't delve into other area's frequently, usually dealing with the church and the church's involvement in right wing politics at the current time, as well as his relationship with God. I hold by my statement that in that area he is on Dylan's level. Check some of his stuff out speedz, or we can just agree to disagree. All the same

Um... A couple of facts i would like to point out... The band Webb left to go solo was a group called Caedmon's Call, one of the more successful Christian bands out there with somewhere around 5 albums released to critical and financial success. It is very doubtfull that anything Webb could do after he left Caedmon's would ever financially surpass what he was already doing, especially since a lot of Christian radio stations refused to play his "controversial" album. The band and Webb are still on very good terms and he even still occasionally records with them.
On the topic of finances, I know from trying to book Webb personally for a show that he would play for as little as 200 dollars as of about a year ago. Which if any of you have ever had any experience booking musical acts that is dirt cheap...
There are, I know, many artists in the Christian market that are fake or simply in it for the money. One I feel that strives to really serve the God he believes in the way God wants him to is Webb.