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<p><a href="http://www.fotopedia.com/users/80n3pj2502nc9"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-228" title="Electric_guitar" src="http://toddkmarsha.com/s/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/07/Electric_guitar-e13428821262061.jpg" alt="Electric Guitar by Feliciano Guimaraes" width="250" height="183" /></a>God knows how to reach me right where I live. He communicates to me through that which I enjoy most. When I’m feeling most alive, his message comes through loud and clear.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I&#8217;ve not been always been receptive to His message. However, God is the ultimate model of persistence. He extends his love over and over again, no matter how many times we turn away.</p>
<p>This story is about how I finally answered His call and opened my heart and mind to a type of music I’d rejected all my life.</p>
<h3>A Music Lover Transformed</h3>
<p>It’s safe to say, I love music. I’m always singing a tune around the house or in the car and sometimes at work. I played saxophone and trumpet in grade school and junior high and was heavily involved in my college radio station as a DJ and officer. My cousin Jeff is an accomplished trombone player, performing arts center manager, and member of the band <a title="JJ Swing - Don't Let The Name Fool You" href="http://jjswing.com/joom15/" target="_blank">JJ Swing</a>. Obviously, music is in my blood</p>
<p>Still, I’ve always steered clear of contemporary Christian music. I remember walking into a concert at college, listening for 10 minutes then walking out because the band just wasn’t that good. Although I knew who Steven Curtis Chapman was, you wouldn’t catch me dead listening to him. Even after becoming Catholic I stayed true to the music I’d always loved – hard rock and metal from bands like Rush, King’s X and Metallica.</p>
<p>What changed</p>
<p>Well, I’d have to say my experience at Holy Trinity opened me up to the possibility of listening to CCM. Our 5pm Sunday “LifeTeen” mass features a contemporary worship band that rocks! Christ Renews His Parish features music prominently from a song at the end of each witness, to a song we sing when processing to and from the chapel. There was one song, though, that was the catalyst for me finally deciding to see what CCM was all about.</p>
<p>That song was “To Hell with the Devil” by <a title="Daily Dose of Musical Good News Part One" href="http://www.witnesspath.com/2012/07/02/musical-good-news-part-one/" target="_blank">Stryper</a>. I’d heard it on regular radio and one night I went searching for it on YouTube. I found an amazing live version that turned into a song I played every day. I’d load it up on my phone as I was leaving for the gym and listen to it on the way home from work, sometimes sitting in the driveway until it ended.</p>
<h3>K-Love or Nothing</h3>
<p>One morning, after a visit from the Holy Spirit, I switched the radio dial to K-Love. I quickly fell in love with “God’s Not Dead” by Newsboys, “The Hurt and Healer” from MercyMe and “Proof of Your Love” by For King and Country. I overcame my preconceived notions about CCM artists being less talented or too straitlaced. Now I hold MercyMe, For King and Country and <a title="Casting Crowns - Until the Whole World Hears" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qi2KlUffs" target="_blank">Casting Crowns</a> in the same regard as I do my favorite secular acts.</p>
<p>I never thought I’d spontaneously start singing “<a title="Citizen Way" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YYdqXE_4sE" target="_blank">Should’ve Been Me</a>,” or “<a title="Sidewalk Prophets" href="http://www.klove.com/music/artists/sidewalk-prophets/songs/live-like-that-lyrics.aspx" target="_blank">Live Like That</a>” but then again, God’s had many surprises for me lately. It’s part of who I am now. This is no passing fad.</p>
<p>Wonder when I’ll attend my first CCM concert?</p>
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<p><strong><em>Question: How did you first discover CCM and how has it made a difference in your life? I’d love to read your thoughts in the form of a comment below…</em></strong></p>
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