I think the worst thing about the Christian entertainment industry is that it’s created a false division between "Christian" and "Secular" art, as if music that is not sold in a Christian bookstore has nothing to offer us. In the last several years I’ve become more sensitive to what spiritual lessons I can learn from unlikely sources. I’ve discovered that there are a lot more Christian musicians in the "secular" world than most people realize. I find that the music these people make is often more honest, personal, and uplifting than a lot of the music I hear from artists marketed as Christian. A few months ago I began putting together a playlist of music I dub "Jesus Songs," from musicians the Christian entertainment industry has traditionally overlooked. Here are my five favorites:

5. Violent Femmes – Jesus Walking On the Water
I wasn’t sure what to think if this song the first time I heard it. Nobody who has heard the Violent Femmes’ other music would mistake them for a "Christian" band. Then there’s this song they recorded that sounds like a very straightforward and sincere spiritual. Given the source, I at first wondered if the song is ironic or sarcastic, but there’s nothing in it that would suggest as much. Later, as I took more of an interest in folk music, I realized how closely American folk is linked to Christian spiritual music. I figured this was what the Violent Femmes had in mind when they recorded the song. More importantly, though, I realized that when it comes to Christian art, the source doesn’t matter nearly as much as the message. To say that the Violent Femmes have no right to sing a song about our Savior is a narrow-minded and self-righteous view; we’re all sinners, after all, and none of us is better than anyone else. "Jesus Walking On the Water" is just a fun and inspirational song about Jesus, and that’s all that matters.

4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – There Is a Kingdom
Nick Cave’s music expresses the tenuous spirituality of a man who struggles with the same human failings as the rest of us. In "Into My Arms," he confesses, "I don’t believe in an interventionist God, but I know, darling, that you do. But if I did, I would kneel down and ask Him not to intervene when it came to you." This openness about his doubts and skepticism makes his music feel sincere, so that when the does confess his faith, it’s all the more powerful, like on "There Is a Kingdom."

3. Neutral Milk Hotel – The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. Two
I only discovered this song last week. I’m not sure what the lead singer’s personal life and beliefs are like, but again, I don’t think it matters. Most of the lyrics on the album In the Aeoroplane Over the Sea are very surreal and dreamlike, but the opening lines of "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. Two" are surprisingly unambiguous. Over a gentle acoustic guitar Jeff Mangum belts out, "I LOOOVE YOU, JESUUS CHARIIIIIIIST, JESUS CHRIST, I LOOVE YOOOUUU, YES I DOOOOOOOOOO..." Then an energetic, heavily distorted guitar and drums comes in, upon which Mangum repeats the lines. He sings the way children sing: loud, sometimes off-key, but with the kind of enthusiasm that doesn’t care what other people think. It’s the most worshipful kind of singing I can imagine. Hearing him sing like this over the frenzied background music fills me with a joy and energy that makes me want to let go of all inhibitions and belt out the words with him.

2. U2 – Wake Up Dead Man
This is the kind of song that I think would offend a lot of Christians who don’t understand it. For one thing, it’s the only song in my list that contains a swear word; it also speaks to God in an accusing tone that suggests He is absent from the singer’s life. However, the song only says these things because Bono is being so honest about his own frustration and sorrow. I like to think that Christ would be no more offended by these words than he was by the psalmist who wrote, "Why O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" Most people who suffer tragedies go through phases in which they angrily or sorrowfully question God. It’s more honest (and more edifying) to acknowledge these painful sentiments than to gloss over them. But even amid the expressions of doubt and frustration in this song, there is a message of faith. Bono is crying out for help, for reassurance of his salvation.

1. Johnny Cash – Redemption
Somehow Christ’s sacrifice seems for vivid and meaningful when described by a man like Johnny Cash. He recorded this late in his life, and you can hear some fragility beginning to creep into his voice. This is the voice of a man who’s known hardship, who’s known sin, and knows redemption. I think this is the spirit of folk spiritual music: it’s music that’s utterly human and flawed, but looks toward the divine. I don’t think I can explain it more than that, but I see it in all of the songs I’ve just described. But none do it as well as Johnny Cash.

Apparently if you don't agree with someone 100% you have betrayed them and you are a horrible backstabbing person. I must have missed that somewhere. I don't have any hard feelings about anyone, except George Lucas. You guys are all my friends. Sorry if I don't live up to your standards all the time. I suck too, just like we all do at times. But I'm really damn tired of being stuck in the middle of all this drama between various people, being forced to choose sides, blah blah blah. As a person who hates pretty much all conflict, it's been driving me insane. So yeah, I haven't been responding to all your comments and jabs at me or things like that because I'm tired of it. And this doesn't go for just one specific person. I guess I've decided that if I don't say anything to anyone who I think might get pissed off at me for some random reason, then fine. And I'll stick with the folks who aren't always getting pissed off at me for random reasons. And I still love you guys, but I'm going to end up shooting myself in the head because you make me feel like crap. And that isn't good.

If none of this made sense, then it probably wasn't directed at you.