PFR's new album Target and the Arrow is excellent. Here's one of the best tracks. youtube.com/watch?v=kjrRaJBt…

A good friend died last week. Here's my tribute: chrisbolinger.com/be-like-ma…

Get him a Father's Day gift that he'll use and love for a year.

a different kind of men's devotional 52weeksofstrength.com

a different kind of men's devotional 52weeksofstrength.com

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my #1 CCM song Susan Ashton, "No Remedy for Love" youtube.com/watch?v=TzTSd317… I miss Wayne Kirkpatrick. He’s still alive and kicking. Just not in CCM. In 2010, after decades of writing, producing, and playing on songs, mostly for CCM artists, Wayne started writing a musical with his brother Karey. Five years later, Something Rotten! premiered on Broadway to rave reviews and sold-out theaters. Nominated for 10 Tony Awards, the show had 708 performances on Broadway and toured the U.S. for three years. The brothers had a second hit with the musical adaptation of the film Mrs. Doubtfire, and Wayne currently is co-writing Bluebird, a musical inspired by Nashville’s Bluebird Café. Wayne has no plans to return to CCM. In a 2021 interview, he said that, in addition to moving away from the Christian music business, he no longer identifies as a Christian. Wayne wrote, produced, and played an amazing piano part on my favorite CCM song. I can enjoy that song, and his many other contributions to CCM, anytime I want. But I miss him, not just from the CCM world but, more importantly, from the Church.

my #2 CCM song Michael W. Smith, "I'll Wait for You" music video: youtube.com/watch?v=tPwhLQfE… album version: youtube.com/watch?v=WCurV1eW… I never bought Smitty’s Wonder album or heard anyone play it. The second single from that album, “I’ll Wait for You,” never charted and got no airplay in northeast Ohio. I heard the song only because I, quite by accident, encountered its music video on YouTube. I’m a visual person. One glimpse of a scene from a favorite film can bring a flood of emotions that are difficult to explain. A good music video amplifies the emotional impact of its song and draws me into it. When I first saw the “I’ll Wait for You” video, I was drawn in by the emphasis on something that, for me, seems impossible: waiting, patiently and confidently, on God. And then, I got an unexpected payoff: a full choir singing Smitty’s best chorus, based on one of my favorite Bible passages – the end of Isaiah 40. My thanks to the (uncredited) producer of the video that introduced me to my favorite Smitty song.

my #3 CCM song Chris Rice, "Life Means So Much" youtube.com/watch?v=OAMaFPYv… “Don't you just love New Year’s? You can start all over. Everybody gets a second chance.” So says Lenore, a “friend” of Lieutenant Dan, in the waning seconds of 1971 in the film Forrest Gump. Her statement foreshadows a fresh start for Lieutenant Dan in 1974. The man who had become a bitter alcoholic after losing his legs in Vietnam decides to follow Forrest to Louisiana and become his first mate on a shrimp boat. When Hurricane Carmen destroys all shrimp boats except Forrest’s, the pair makes a fortune, and Dan makes his peace with God. Many of us can’t wait a few years, or even a year, for a fresh start. But we don’t have to. God offers us the opportunity for one every morning, as Chris Rice reminds us in his song “Life Means So Much.” God is faithful. His love is steadfast. He offers us unending mercies, including new mercies – and a fresh start – every morning. Every day of your life is a gift. Make the most of it, starting today. – from Daily Strength for Men

my #5 CCM song Bryan Duncan, "Love Takes Time" live: youtube.com/watch?v=JcDsqgPq… music video (HD): youtube.com/watch?v=U_yqqVMn… The first version of my “monster” CCM playlist didn’t include any Bryan Duncan (BD) songs. I heard BD on CCM radio in the 1990s, and I liked some of his songs, but I never bought a BD album. I didn’t hear him on the radio after that and, frankly, I forgot about him. Then in 2022, when I was looking to expand my playlist for a long road trip, I remembered his name and went hunting. I ended up with three BD songs on my 231-song playlist. “Love Takes Time” is the only soul song on that playlist. By “soul” song, I don’t just mean the genre or style. In the first 20 seconds, the drums, bass, and organ drill into the center of your soul and take up residence there. Then BD joins in with heartfelt vocals on how people hurt, betray, and otherwise wound our hearts, and we do exactly the same thing to them. Will we love the way we want to be loved? Will we take the risk of being hurt again? What’s it really like to love like Jesus loves us? It’s strong stuff that feeds your soul.

my #6 CCM song Nichole Nordeman, "Legacy" acoustic: youtube.com/watch?v=Ah1COE39… Nichole Nordeman’s first hit, “To Know You,” caught my attention with a topic that you rarely hear in CCM: doubt. A decade before that song came out, I had a crisis of faith. I had always believed that Jesus’s death on the cross saved me from my sins but, one evening, I realized that I didn’t know how or why. And that scared me. When a friend told me about a young adult Sunday School at a big church in a nearby suburb of D.C., I decided to check it out. The class had just started a study of Romans, and my first Sunday there was Romans 3. After a few months, I felt comfortable, and confident, with my understanding of my faith. “Legacy” did more than catch my attention. It stopped me in my tracks. My life was insanely busy – working hard, trying to be a good husband and father, being active in a local church, etc. – but was I focusing too much on the “temporary trappings of this world”? If I got hit by a bus, how would people remember me? 23 years after its release, Nordeman’s song still challenges and inspires me to depart this terrestrial ball as a faithful servant.

my #7 CCM song Randy Stonehill, "I Turn to You" youtube.com/watch?v=-rLrsyza… I missed over 20 years of Randy Stonehill’s music. His first album came out in 1971, but I didn’t get into CCM until 1990, and I never heard his early stuff on the radio. Even his first three albums in the 1990s went under my radar. I was introduced to him in 1994 when his song “I Turn to You” got some airplay. Sales of the album were poor; the CD soon hit the cutout bin, and I bought it for a few bucks. Jimmy Lee Sloas produced it; guests on it include Michael W. Smith, Gary Chapman, Bob Carlisle, Phil Keaggy, and Christine Denté, who backs Stonehill on “I Turn to You.” Being a former software engineer, I like to (over)analyze the decisions I make. Why did I put this pleasant but simple song – off a forgotten album from a forgotten artist – at #7? It’s Denté’s part. On the first chorus, she provides pretty standard backing vocals. But when she rejoins Stonehill in the middle of the second verse, the magic starts. Sometimes she harmonizes; sometimes she responds to his call. It’s mesmerizing, and it’s over all too soon. Fortunately, there’s the Replay button, so Randy and Christine can remind me, again and again, that God is there when I turn to Him.

my #8 CCM song Josh Wilson, "Dream Small" lyric video: youtube.com/watch?v=dOBaLrIt… Josh Wilson wrote “Dream Small” as a tribute to people who change the world through simple acts of kindness. “If you’re like me,” he said, “maybe you get overwhelmed with the great need you see in the world. But all we have to do is open our eyes to the opportunities that are right in front of us.” Those opportunities may include helping people like Josh Wilson, who struggles with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. For years, he tried to handle his mental health issues on his own. He self-medicated with alcohol, and eventually he became addicted. On a winter tour stop in Montana, Josh did a concert, went to his hotel room, and broke down. He called his wife and said he needed to come home. The next day, she joined him on tour and stayed with him until he finished. Once home, Josh got the help he needed to overcome his addiction. In 2024, he reached a milestone of seven years sober and released an EP called Mental Help. It was a simple act of kindness from an artist who dreams small.

my #9 CCM song PFR, "Wait for the Sun" youtube.com/watch?v=i65-vBpK… My kids attended Christian schools. They took the bus to the K-6 school; I drove them to the 7-12 school. (It was on my way to the office.) When I drove, we listened to my CCM CDs or the local CCM station. When my oldest started driving her siblings – in a beat-up Ford Escort – their musical selections broadened to include secular songs, including songs with lyrics that were not terribly wholesome. So she “redeemed” the songs by changing the lyrics, and the three of them sang the “better” version. “Wait for the Sun” redeems a secular song not by changing the lyrics but by rescuing it from the dreadful musical Hair. I saw Hair on stage when I knew nothing about the show, so I was surprised – and not pleasantly – by what happens just before intermission. To this day, I am thankful that I was seated in the mezzanine and not near the stage. The first song in Hair has the lovely title of “Sodomy.” The last song is “The Flesh Failures.” It ends with, “Let the Sunshine In.” I took that advice and raced for the exit. “Let the Sunshine In” also is the end of “Wait for the Sun” but, with PFR, it’s a hope-filled ending to an inspiring, uplifting song. It’s redemption at its finest.