You can take this view, but then ask yourself if you would still obey authority if they said that Christianity was illegal.

No, because that would be in direct contrast to what God says. God doesnt say that we have to download songs off the net. He says to sing and worship him with instruments and songs, but we can easily do this within the bounds of the authority that God has put in place over us.

P.S. If you are looking for "meaningful" lyrics, you are looking at the wrong STYLE, bro. The whole idea behind punk is that things need to be taken less seriously. Punk is immature and crazy by nature, it is just the style of music. You can’t play it and be deep and meaningful all the time.

Disagree. I agree that punk is immature and crazy, but it can definitely be used for meaningful messages. Im not expecting full albums of punk praise and worship, but fun, fast songs can still have a point. If you still enjoy the genre even a little bit, have a listen to Relient K's "The Anatmony Of The Tongue In Cheek". Pretty much every song on that album discusses some aspect of Christian living, and there are a few quality straight-up praise songs there too.

I am a big fan of ska, too - Insyderz albums "Skalleluia" and "Skalleluia II" as well as anything put out by the OC Supertones demonstrate how another light, boppy, fun style can be used in a meaningful way.

Thanks for your other help tho. Have got a couple of Tooth and Nail sampler CD's (they are now called "The Nail"), but I dont like to buy a whole album of a band I have only heard 1 song of.

When Morpheous first came out, Record sells INCREASED! Most people DO NOT have CD burner, MP# players, and the patience/bandwidth to Download all the songs on one album. People just prefer to buy the CD, it is easier. On top of that, there is no logical reason then geed for someone to charge 20 bucks for 10 songs on a plastic disc that gets damages extremely easy. Is it stealing? Good question. How can you “steal” a song? Recording it off the radio, is that stealing? Especially with that new XM radio. What about when you pick up your guitar, and tab out the song from memory? Is that stealing? Music is such an abstract thing, I don’t think we can use words we describe physical object with to classify it. Money, clothing, jewels, these are things we steal. Music can just be grabbed out of the air, it can flow off the top of your head, out of your mouth, or through your fingers! It just isn’t the same.

What about the biblical idea of submitting to those in authority? The law says it is stealing to share music in this way. So that means we shouldnt do it. They dont say it is stealing to tape them off the radio or play them on guitar. So that's fine.

It seems pretty clear to me.

What are your favourite song lyrics?

My two favourites are Shane Barnard - Breath Of God and Jars Of Clay - Worlds Apart

Shane Barnard - Breath Of God:
A life you cannot define
A purpose that's benign
They need to see and believe
Be lead to the rugged tree

The one on which He cried
not for His pain but for our debt
The very same tree that He conquered death
It was an unfair deal on the part of Christ
He got my sin I got eternal life

Make me the breath of God
And I'll show them the One
that means the most to me
They'll see the face of love
Be touched by the very One
that died upon the tree

Small talk is a better choice..
A way to avoid Your voice
I need to feel the dust on my knees
And lead them to the tree

The one on which He cried
not for His pain but for our debt
The very same tree that He conquered death
It was an unfair deal on the part of Christ
He got my sin I got eternal life

Make me the breath of God
And I'll show them the One
that means the most to me
They'll see the face of love
Be touched by the very One
that died upon the tree

Will you follow me?
Lead them to the tree?
Can't you just believe?
Will you take a knee?
For eternity?
For eternity?

Make me the breath of God
And I'll show them the One
that means the most to me
They'll see the face of love
Be touched by the very One
that died upon the tree

Oh, I'll be the breath of God

------

Jars of Clay - Worlds Apart
I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all ends up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love
to give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves
more deeply than the oceans,
more abundant than the tears
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love you - take my world apart
To need you - I am on my knees
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did you really have to die for me?
All I am for all you are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
and wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
the battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
my sin soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart
take it now, take it now
and serve the ones that I despise
speak the words I can't deny
watch the world I used to love
fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
so wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
so steal my heart and take the pain
take the selfish, take the weak
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
take my world apart
halleluia (repeated)

#2: CCM - Phillips, Craig and Dean, Big Daddy Weave

What is CCM?

oh wow... i guess i'm showing MY age here... I like stuff like BLEACH, The Benjamin Gate, Relient K, Philmore, Dogwood, The Elms, Dead Poetic, Blindside, Sanctus Real, Audio Adrenaline, Ace Troubleshooter, Stavesacre... I've actually never heard any Petra or anything.... but hey I'm just 18!  

I think you and I are on the same page, Kristen!
Can you give a bit of a run down of what kind of style Philmore, Blindside, Dead Poetic and Bleach are? Heard of them, but never actually heard them.

But Relient K are by far the best!!

Anyone out there into punk?

My absolute favourite band is Relient K (I suppose they are really pop-punk, but close enough), but I am also into Slick Shoes, Craig's Brother, Wishful Thinking, Rookie, Seraph's Coal, Antiskeptic and MxPx. Anyone else into this kind of music that can recommend some others like them? Perferrably ones with meaningful lyrics, can't stand the way some bands seem to forget that they are Christians when it comes to songwriting and just talk about nothing for 12 of the 14 tracks on their CDs...

In my B.C. days, I used to be right into Millencolin, Bodyjar, early Blink 182, early Unwritten Law, A New Found Glory... can anyone recommend Christian bands with similar sounds?

I would be glad to argue hermeneutics with you any time as I see it as one of the great stumbling blocks that separate Protestants from Catholics.  The whole process most Protestants use to interpret scripture is logically flawed and I think that accounts for a vast majority of the errors you see in their doctrines.

I'll bite - what is your opinion on the Protestant flaw in this?