You love it. You hate it. You want to like it. You don't want anyone to hear you listening to it.

I am, of course, talking about Contemporary Christian Music, known in the music biz as CCR. I don't know about the Christian station in your town, but in Austin we've got the Candle--KNLE 88.1. Because it's the only game in town, they play the entire gamut of modern Christian music, from the schmaltz-laden croonings of Michael W. Smith and his ilk to the pseudo-punk thrashlets like Reliant K, to the soul-pop divettes like Stacie Orrico and Jaci Velasquez, to the endless teeming multitude of acts that sound like the misbegotten offspring of Creed and matchbox twenty (Third Day, Casting Crowns, Across the Sky, etc.). It's difficult to imagine the person--and what a sad, confused wreck of a Christian this person would be--that would actually enjoy listening to all of it. I usually listen for two or three songs before giving up.

And yet--just as I was about to give up hope on the whole Christian music thing, I discovered a couple of acts that renewed my faith, as it were, in Christian music. They are:

Nichole Nordeman: Allmusic.com calls her the Sarah McLachlan of the parallel Christian music universe, but that's not really a fair comparison. Nichole is a brilliant songwriter who really delves into the meat of what it means to lead a Christian life. She doesn't write "Jesus is my boyfriend" music, as a pastor friend once referred to such stuff. She struggles with her faith, with her walk, but she also expresses her faith beautifully and simply. Here's one of my favorite verses of hers from the song "Healed": 

Oh, we stutter and we stammer 'til You say us
A symphony of chaos 'til You play us
Phrases on the pages of unknown
'Til You read us into poetry and prose

She's teh rock. Recommended album: Woven and Spun.

Eden's Bridge: Real Live Preacher turned me onto them, writing so poignantly about their version of "Be Thou My Vision." I bought their Celtic Worship CD, and just fell in love. Under their loving care, even a brick of a tune like "Awesome God" becomes magical, with bagpipes and pan flutes and the whole deal. For whatever reason, the record company doesn't put the band's name on the CD--you have to look for the "Celtic This" or "Celtic That" titles that make them appear to be collections. Recommended album: Celtic Worship.

Caedmon's Call: To be honest, I never would have listened to this band, having mentally filed them under the same label as Jars of Clay et al. But since the bass player's wife is in our Sunday School class, I decided I'd feel like a schmuck if I didn't at least try to like them. So I bought a couple of their albums from iTunes. And was I ever glad I did; despite the fact that they sound a little on the surface like a lot of other bands, scratch the surface and there's much depth there: fun instrumentation, clever lyrics, and two separate lead singers--one male and one female--make a nifty dynamic. Worth a listen, definitely. Recommended album: Back Home.

I know there must be others. There have to be others. So tell me: who are they?