The Grammy Awards were announced yesterday (December 7, 2004), and Christian artists from several different styles made the list.

2005 will mark the first year for the "Best Gospel Performance". Nominees Shirley Caesar & Ann Nesby with "The Stone", Ray Charles & Gladys Knight with "Heaven Help Us All", Dr. John & Mavis Staples with "Lay My Burden Down", Fred Hammond with "Celebrate (He Lives)" and Ben Harper & The Blind Boys Of Alabama with "There Will Be A Light" will make it a tough race.

The biggest surprise of the year was Kanye West. His song "Jesus Walks" is up for "Song Of The Year", one of the 10 nods he received last night. Most people don't consider West to be a true Christian rapper because the other songs on College Dropout are 100% secular. In fact, his nomination for gospel music's prestigious Stellar Awards was withdrawn in mid-September of this year due to that fact and the curse words on the release. But the song hasn't gone away and people either love it or they hate it. While recording, West was told over and over that the song would "never make it on radio" because "you can't say Jesus on radio" by the secular crowd. That didn't stop him. Once it was released, some Christians were offended because "Jesus Walks" mixes the names of Jesus and God with curse words. But that didn't stop him either. When asked by CBS's Bob Simon, "The minute you use those (curse) words in a song, there's a whole evangelical crowd that isn't going to listen to you, right?", West's response was "Yeah, but the song is not for them.

It's speaking to the people that I think God is really trying to reach."

The very fact that the song is now in the running for "Song of the Year" at the Grammy's says a lot - whether you love the idea or whether you hate it. Kayne West took a risk by recording the song and by releasing it to radio as the first single off of the album. How many other secular rappers, or for that matter, secular mainstream artists, have released anything about Jesus lately? There are even some Christian artists out there who are recording songs that are more "mainstream" and don't mention Jesus. (See Crossing Over - Christian Bands Shooting For Mainstream Audiences). American popular culture isn't exactly "Jesus Friendly". As you read this, a teacher in California is fighting for his right to hand out the Declaration of Independence to his students because it contains the name of the Lord! Let's face it ... Jesus just isn't politically correct these days. While some might disagree, I applaud Kayne West. As a parent, I don't care for his use of curse words, but as a Christian I have to give him his props, because he took a step out of the box to bring Christianity to the streets. I would much rather have my teens listening to "Jesus Walks (See Lyrics), than Green Day's "Jesus Of Suburbia" (See Lyrics), which is a song off of their release American Idiot.

The categories of "Best Rock Gospel Album", "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album", "Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album", "Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album", "Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album" and "Best Gospel Choir Or Chorus Album" were all well represented by names we've come to know and love, such as TobyMac, Nicole C. Mullen, Randy Travis, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Smokie Norful and The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. See the complete list of Christian categories and my picks on page 2.

The 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 13, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS from 8 ? 11:30 p.m. (EST/PST). Best of luck to all of the artists.