christian music?

I found this article today, and I really agreed with what he said. It makes quite a bit of sense. Even though I don't take part in the "Christian Music Scene" anymore, I did for a really long time. And I was always struck by how annoying and repetitive it must be to write songs about the same subject over and over again. It makes you so limited. Like if a christian artist writes or sings about any subject other than god, they must not really be a christian.
Oh you wrote about your relationship? Wrong.
You wrote about buying a toaster? Terrible.
Why are you singing about flowers and sunshine? That's not okay.
I still find value in christian music. I guess I should say, I find value in the music that I grew up listening to. But it has nothing to do with the religious aspect of it. Jars of Clay will forever be one of my favorite bands. I associate them with some really important events.
My family was kind of pseudo-strict about the music that my brother and I listened to when we were younger. They pretty much said that we could listen to whatever we want as long as the bands were "Christian". So I didn't get to listen to all of the boy bands of the 90s even though I drooled over pictures of them in magazines. My friends got to listen to whatever they wanted and I was so jealous. I remember I went to a birthday party when I was 10, and the girl got the Shakira CD as a present. She played it on repeat for the whole rest of the day and I felt so guilty because I "wasn't allowed" to hear it. Of course I didn't say anything to her mom because nothing would have happened. She probably would have looked at me like, "what do you mean you're not allowed, that's silly". Of course as I got older, I listened to whatever I wanted. Especially when I went to BMA. Then I didn't have any restrictions. And I was quickly neck deep in music. I wasn't really very picky about my music back then. It was so different, like i was listening to music for the first time.
My dad had one of those subscriptions to the christian music magazine. Like the scholastic magazine for music. There were tons of CD's in there, and you could get 5 for $20. So every month or so when he got it, my brother and I would look over what was available and circle the one's we wanted. Then like two weeks later, we would have all of this new music to listen to. I really loved Plus One and Stacie Orrico. She was actually the first person I saw in concert. By "in concert" I mean, she was singing at the mall, and was an hour and a half late. She sang for 30 minutes.
The first CD that I bought that wasn't christian was Damien Rice's 9. I got it at circuit city, and I was SO excited. I played it really loud in my room (at home) but I had a panic moment when he started screaming "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU" on one of the songs. I was rearranging my walls at the time, and I had to jump off of my desk and turn the volume down so that no one would hear it.
Of course I went through those phases where I would go through my music library and delete the music that I thought wasn't bringing me close to god. There was a point when I wouldn't have songs on my computer if they had curse words in them. It never lasted for very long, there was always a way to justify getting it back. Oh we are such silly people...
I guess I still try to be selective about the music that I listen to. I have music that I listen to specifically when I'm sad, or when I'm happy. But I try not to have music that makes me feel bad about myself. I try not to keep music around if it makes me feel angry, or scared.
I think it's good to have standards. Especially about the things that have an influence over you. I do my best. I've come a long way though. And I bet that I'll change as I get older. But this is how it is right now.