Probably the single most important element to me is of course to have good songs. That includes not just strong lyrics and a catchy tune, but being original. The next most important element is then recording that music with a quality and professional result.

SA is an emerging band, full of talent and ideas. Our tunes are original and we've heard many a fan talk about how they stick in your head. It's awesome to go to a show and see the audience singing along with your songs. For that we couldn't be more proud. But we're first in line to complain about the quality of our recordings. We're in the studio now working on our Summer Release.

I believe it doesn't matter what you are, as long as you know what that is. Then you have the power to make changes. That's one of the great things about this CR community. I read another blog today saying if you want a review then we're happy to offer one, but be prepared for us to be honest.

That's the right approach I'll agree. But let's all remember not to get off into brutallity. Yesterday, I reviewed another band. Invisible Image I believe. And while I complimented them well, I also made clear that, to me, their sound was hot, but not at all original. That's being honest rather than rude.

In my last post I made the point that our mission as SA is not to reach out to the churched. That actually goes against OPSEC. What becomes even more evident as we move forward is that the churched tend to shun us. Which we honestly are not surprised to see.

We as a team, SA, have done our best to support CR as a community. The most recent front page comments make some very keen points that are well taken and certainly warranted. We support them whole heartedly. And we do believe that CR can be a very productive and rewarding community if we all work to be cooperative and helpful.

We review other bands, we post blogs and we like to participate in the growth of this community. We would like to see some better designation or separation of Genres, sub communities. The ratings are misleading because it isn't easy to see bands by genre. Praise, Contemporary, Rock and Metal all need sub categories for the purposes of rating as well as Inter-Communication and support.

We're hoping this site does well and that it gets the attention of some important people. Again, with the SA mission in mind, we've found that MySpace is a wonderful place to connect to Christian Bands. This author will be first to tell you that CR is a much better product than MS. We've been doing what we can to get some of those bands over here. It's something everyone here needs to do so that the site will grow. But haven't we all as "Churched" had plenty of experience in that area? (More on that thought next time.....)

We didn't expect it to be an easy topic to cover. And right out of the gate people need to understand, our commission is not to charm the ears and hearts of churched people.

Our music and our image is designed for secular outreach. The lyrics to our songs are powerful and  quite honestly, affronting.

We believe our mission is not to lead anyone to water. Our mission is not to make people drink. "Our Mission" is to tell those who have never heard that "There is water".

All that said, "Scratch" is a term once used to refer to Satan. Paul said, "we are all helplessly addicted to our sinful nature." Likewise, "all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

The common denominator among humans is this sinful nature. It makes us all the same. And it means we all need the same salvation. It isn't reserved for the cleregy or the "less" sinful.

We are often disgusted to see how many churches have become Country Clubs when they should be Hospitals. Our hearts writhe with pain when we watch those who truly need to find God turn away feeling unwelcome.

There is a chasm that exists between the church and the secular world. We are by no means worthy of the same great recognition as our savior, but we follow in His footsteps, living His example, to accept all men as they are, where they are.

We stand as defenders of the truth and purveyors of morality.