This is a subject I’ve been discussing and debating for many years with friends and colleagues (and my wife).

I have a Shania Twain CD Maxi-Single that came out years ago. “From This Moment On” is the name of a song. What’s interesting to me about this single is that there’s two versions of the same song on the CD. It came out during the “crossover artist” boom in the mid-’90’s.

• “From This Moment On”
• “From This Moment On” [Country Version]

So, what makes the “country version” “country?” Answer: A steel guitar. The rest of the song is exactly the same. What makes a “rock song” “rock?” I’m sure most sensible folks would disagree with the following statements.

Rock music is sex. The big beat matches the body’s rhythms.Frank Zappa (Life, June 28, 1968)

That’s what rock is all about – sex with a 100 megaton bomb, the beat!Gene Simmons (Entertainment Tonight, ABC, Dec. 10, 1987)

Do folks at our church associate rock with sex? I doubt it. A hammer can be used to build a house for a family, or it can be used to kill someone and destroy a family.

I mention all of this, because I often say to myself, “Self, what makes a ‘Christian song’ ‘Christian?'” Is it the word “Jesus?” Is it the songwriter? Is it our perspective? If we were told that “My Father’s Eyes” was written by Chris Tomlin as opposed to Eric Clapton, would we have given it a second thought? If so, why? Most of the time we don’t know who the songwriter is. 9 out of 10 tunes these days, “secular” and “Christian” are written by union songwriters. Scan the credits. What do we know about those songwriters and their lives? Does it matter? “Third Day,” one of the top selling Christian-rock bands out there today, used to be a bar band called “Nuclear Hoedown.”

There are so many layers to this debate. I am also a secular artist and I think most responsible secular artists have an interesting take on this. I look forward to opportunities to bring my Christianity to a secular music situation and vice versa. My perspective is layered even further since I do a lot of weddings and wedding receptions as well. It never ceases to amaze me the different combinations of music folks involve in their ceremonies to represent their love and their vows before God. A recent wedding I performed involved the following in the ceremony.

• Prelude: “Braveheart Score”
• Processional: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz”/”What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
• Bridal March “Annie’s Song” by John Denver
• Recessional: “Everlong” by Foo Fighters

Kudos to this beautiful couple who used such a wide variety of music in such a spiritual, uplifting way!

A good friend of our once sang “Morning Has Broken” at a funeral. I’m fascinated by the journey this song has taken through sacred and secular circles, artists and attributions.

Morning Has Broken” is a favorite and well-known Christian hymn, especially popular in children’s services. Cat Stevens included an acoustic version on his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat. It became a signature song for Stevens when it reached number 9 in the charts in 1972.

The lyrics were written by Eleanor Farjeon in 1922 and are found in the hymnals of many denominations. The original poem can be found in the anthology “Children’s Bells” under Farjeon’s original title A Morning Song (For the First Day of Spring), published by Oxford University Press in 1957. The tune to which it is normally sung is called “Bunessan,” based upon a Scottish Gaelic traditional melody. Before Farjeon’s words, it was used as a Christmas carol which began “Child in the manger, Infant of Mary,” translated from the Gaelic lyrics written by Mary MacDonald. The English-language Roman Catholic hymnal also uses the tune for the hymn “This Day God Gives Me.”

Writing credit for “Morning Has Broken” has occasionally been erroneously attributed to Stevens, who popularized the song abroad. The familiar piano arrangement on Stevens’ album was performed by Rick Wakeman, a classically trained keyboardist with the English progressive rock band Yes. In 2000, Wakeman released an instrumental version of “Morning Has Broken” on an album of the same title.

The familiar piano intro and general structure of the piece may be attributed to Stevens or to Wakeman. Although some sources report that the song was released on Floyd Cramer’s 1961 album Last Date, discographies of the artist demonstrate that the song is not on that album. In fact, Cramer did not record the song until 1972, when he used the arrangement that he attributed to Cat Stevens.

The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, including Judy Collins, Floyd Cramer (twice), Dana, Neil Diamond, Art Garfunkel, Nana Mouskouri, Aaron Neville, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Sister Janet Mead, Roger Whittaker and Ellen Greene recently on Pushing Daisies.

Cat Stevens converted to the Islamic faith in 1977 after a near-death experience and officially took the name Yusuf Islam in 1978. “Morning Has Broken” continues to be attributed to Cat Stevens or “Yusuf Islam.”from Wikipedia

I appreciate but respectfully disagree to a certain degree with anti-secular music sermons regarding professed Christian artists who sing other lyrics that undermine Christian faith and values. My focus is mostly, and I believe has to be, on the message of a particular song, secular or religious, and less the artist or songwriter or the “label.” I believe God works through all folks whether they know or like it or not.

Here’s an interesting article on this subject by Pastor Tim Stevens.

pastors.com/RWMT/article.asp?ArtID=9948

My favorite part is “Paul did this when he quoted from a famous poet of his day (Acts 17:28). He wasn’t saying, ‘I agree with everything this poet wrote.’ He wasn’t saying, ‘Read all of his poems.’ He was just using a well-known secular poem to connect with his listeners in order to help make a change in their lives.”