I love music and hope to pass that love on to my children. Tracy and I don’t share musical tastes at all, so I try to cram as much in when I’m alone with the girls.

I’ve been fairly vocal that I’m not a big fan of much Contemporary Christian Music. The reasons for that are plentiful. I tend to lean more toward folky-singer/songwriter type stuff. My first criteria for a good song is lyrical.

A lot of the music I like has a social conscience, so spiritual themes abound even if it is not explicity “Christian.”

The other night I was listening to a song by Carrie Newcomer while taking Chloe to basketball practice.

Chloe said, “Daddy, I like this song. Is it a Jesus song?”

I thought about it for a minute and told her that yes, it is a Jesus song. That conversation got me to thinking about the number of songs that have been recorded by secular artists that capture the spirit of Christ, often more profoundly than what is in CCM.

From time to time, I would like to share those songs with you and my thoughts. Take time. Absorb these lyrics. Find this song and download it (it’s available on iTunes and all other sites). It will bless you.

I Heard an Owl

I heard an owl call last night homeless and confused

I stood naked and bewildered By the evil people do

Up upon a hill there is a terrible sign

That tells the story of what darkness waits when we leave the light behind.

Chorus: So, Don’t tell me hate is ever right or God’s will

These are the wheels we put in motion ourselves

The whole world weeps and is weeping still

Though shaken I still believe the best of what we all can be

The only peace this world will know can only come from love.

Verse: I am a voice calling out Across the great divide

I am only one person That feels they have to try

The questions fall like trees or dust Rise like prayers above

But the only word is “Courage” And the only answer “ Love”

Chorus

Light ever candle that you can For we need some light to see

In the face of deepest loss, Treat each other tenderly

The arms of God will gather in Every sparrow that falls

And makes no separation Just fiercely loves us all.

Chorus

Carrie Newcomer 2001

This song resonates within me for I have often tried to reconcile hatred with the designs of God. As if the pithy aphorism to “hate the sin and love the sinner” is sufficient cover to mask my animosity toward those who have been created in His image.

I think many of us harbor hatreds that we have reclassified as something more benign. That way we can continue to harbor our prejudices and our intolerance without confronting the insidious blackness in our hearts.

But that’s not of God. As she sings, “these are the wheels we put in motion ourselves.”

Our propensity for hatred, for de-valuing others causes the world to weep. It is tragic by-product of our fallen state. Children in Lebanon, Darfur, Inner-City America mourn the loss of hope because of a world so torn by hatred.

And so, the only answer is for the church to live the presence of Christ. To be the in-breaking of the Kingdom. No government, no empire, no nation, no administration can be the incarnation of Christ in this fallen world. It is our job.

We must light the candle for we are the light of the world.

We must learn to treat all people with love, tenderness and respect.

We must understand that God loves all people, hoping that all would come to repentance.

In the first verse when she talks about the terrible sign on the hill I can’t help put picture the crucified Savior on Mount Calvary. When we turn our backs on the One all that waits for us is darkness. And hate.

Chloe asks for this song whenever we are in the car together now.

She says, “Daddy, will you play that songs that says “don’t call me hate?”

Of course, I play it for her. My prayer is that no one would ever equate my sweet and precious daughter with the hatred that is far too prevalent among us.

Yes, that’s a Jesus song, honey.

What secular “Jesus” songs have impacted you?