60 (Christian) Songs That Explain the '90s

Substack • December 24 2024

What makes a Christmas song a Christmas song?

Labor Day weekend is when it starts. A time that signifies the closing of summer, which is sad, but also the beginning of fall. Leaves are slowly beginning to change from green to orange. The temperature, depending on where you live, is dropping. Not a drastic drop, mind you. But if you’re going from 90 degrees to 79, it feels precipitous. Labor Day weekend is also when college football truly kicks off. There are big games. Big teams. Big multi-million dollar brands marching out to play other mu...

Substack • October 8 2024

The Songs That Make Grown Men Cry

The tradition is several years old now. Every Friday night, our family has plans. It’s pizza and movie night. Every single Friday. Some Fridays it’s frozen pizza. Sometimes it’s homemade. Sometimes it’s Dominos. Some nights it’s a comedy. Sometimes an inspirational movie. Sometimes it’s a few reruns of an old ‘90s sitcom. Some nights we go out to get pizza somewhere we’ve never been. I’ve learned when it comes to the movies we watch as a family, certain considerations must be made. Of course, it...

Substack • August 16 2024

Is Jesus Hanging Out At a Punk Rock Show?

This is the time of year teenagers dread and parents love. It’s back-to-school time, and it’s a big bag of mixed emotions for parents and children across the country. Depending on your age, it’s a time you’re either ecstatic about or annoyed by. For example, a kindergartner might be excited to go play all day with friends. But mom stands at the door of the classroom, realizing this is a day for growing up, transitions, for moving on. Years later and it’s time for the first day of middle school a...

Substack • August 9 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Home Run" by Geoff Moore and The Distance

So it’s August now. And if you’re in the United States, specifically the southeastern United States, it’s miserable outside. If you’re familiar with the South at all, I don’t have to explain the humidity to you. It’s unbearable. You can’t even walk to the mailbox without your shirt clinging to you from the sweat. This means we can’t walk our dog at lunchtime like I prefer. The road is just too hot. So we walk in the evening, typically around 8:00 when the sun has finished roasting all living thi...

Substack • August 2 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Window" by Out Of Eden

Few things can be as jarring as realizing a song you loved as a teenager was just a ripoff. When you find out that the artist was just crafting a rendition of an old song, it throws you. That doesn’t mean you disrespect an artist. But it feels a bit like you’ve been duped. But really, it’s all just an issue of youth. When you’re young, you’re not privy to all the older songs that your parents listened to long before you were born. So in 1998 when this song came on the radio, I believed it was or...

Substack • July 26 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Big House" by Audio Adrenaline

What's in a name? What's in a band name? Does a band name dictate the quality of a band's music? Do the weirder band names imply weirder music? And does any of this even matter?On the surface, probably not. Good music is good music, regardless of the band's name. The Eagles isn't a particularly interesting band name, but I enjoy listening to "Desperado" on occasion. Hootie and The Blowfish is a goofy name, but as far as '90s albums go, you might not find a better one from start to finish than Cr...

Substack • July 19 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Seize The Day" by Carolyn Arends

Even if you’re not familiar with football, the name John Madden rings a bell. You may not even remember him as being a coach, but a color commentator on Monday Night Football broadcasts. And if you’re still too young to remember that, you know the name Madden because every year in late summer a football video game bearing that name is released. Even now, millions around the globe are salivating at the August 16 release date for the newest version.John Madden is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame....

Substack • July 5 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Prophet, Priest and King" by Smalltown Poets

The world needs better icebreakers. It needs questions that go deeper than the "What do you do?' and the "How long have you lived here?" questions. We need questions that get to the heart of people's lives. One way I enjoy getting to know people best is by exploring their bookshelves. They can say they're into classic literature, but if their bookshelves are full of Sarah Maas books and you know the truth. That's not to dog Sarah Maas, but a Bronte sister she is not. But back to the dilemma at han...

Substack • June 28 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Another Time, Another Place" by Sandi Patty and Wayne Watson

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or so the saying goes. Anyone taking the time to playfully mock you means that person finds you interesting enough to mock. Right? Take "The Rock" and Kevin Hart for example. True celebrity friends who have a great time impersonating each other. See? Flattery. Kevin Hart and The Rock love each other. They've worked on movies together and seem to really be friends. They can wisecrack and laugh off the impersonations. But let's not let this go without Dwa...

Substack • June 21 2024

60 Christian Songs That Explain the '90s: "Shout To The Lord" by Darlene Zschech

So it’s somewhere around, say, 1988 and you’re sitting on a hard, wooden pew in the small sanctuary of a Baptist church. On stage, you have the pastor, the music minister, and the choir. If it helps with the visualization, the choir is mostly men and women, all 65 or older, standing dutifully in pea-green robes. The music minister, or choir director, or worship pastor, or whatever mix of titles works for you, moves to the pulpit and faces you and the few hundred others in the congregation. He or...