What's the story behind Keep the Change?

Obviously, "Keep the Change" isn't a phrase we coined ourselves, although looking at the CD cover, you could say we coined ourselves on "Keep the Change."  In general, "Keep the Change" is an expression people use about something that isn't worth much.  On this CD, however, "Keep the Change" connotes something that's priceless, not worthless -- the change that Christ makes in a person's life.  

It's both an exhortation and a guarantee.  The exhortation is exemplified by 2 Timothy 1:13-14 "What you have heard from me, keep as the sound pattern of teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you — guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."  We are to keep the change that Christ made in us, as it says in Romans 12:11: "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."  But the guarantee is that while we are doing our part, One who is far greater than us is doing His part to keep the change in us, as it says in 1 Corinthians 1:8 "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Of course, in ApologetiX, we change lyrics just as Christ changes lives.  And we think both changes are worth keeping.  Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that there are a plenty of lyrics on this CD about how Christ changes lives.  And what a change Christ makes.  "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)  That's a quantum leap that blows away anything the evolutionists propose.  The only difference is there's no real evidence for evolution, but there's plenty of evidence for both creation and the "new creation."  But we'll give you our two cents' worth about that on this CD.

And what is two cents worth, anyway?  Christ says in  Luke 12:6: "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  Two copper coins.  That's not worth much in our society, is it?  But Jesus said that a widow who gave her two copper coins into the offering box had contributed more than everybody else.  You may not feel like you're worth more than odd change to anybody, but you're priceless to God.  Jesus once took a coin and told the people to render unto Caesar what was Caesar's and to render unto God what was God's.  The coin was made in Caesar's image.  You're made in God's image.  That's why He's going to keep the change.  And that's why you're going to keep the change.

Speaking of changes, God has graciously used the last song on "Keep the Change" to change at least two lives that we know about. That song, "Life Restored," is a parody of Papa Roach's "Last Resort." The original advocated suicide ("cut my life into pieces -- this is my last resort -- and I'm contemplating suicide") and our advocates eternal life ("plug my life into Jesus -- this gets my life restored -- and I'm confident I'm doing fine")

That simple little Papa Roach parody has had some amazing effects (and anything good that happens with our tunes is attributed to the Holy Spirit and not to our persuasive speech). A Jewish twenty-something guy in Philadelphia became a Christian a couple of years ago and became a huge fan of ours, and he gives the credit to God working through that song. He is actually teased on the job for being such a big ApologetiX fan (they're not snobs; they just make fun of Christian music) and he recently finally confessed his faith to his very Jewish mother. We've met him at a number of concerts since then.

Another 20-something girl we met recently came to our concert in Nashville because her Christian Chick-Fil-A boss wanted her to. We assumed she was a Christian, and a mild-mannered one at that. Well, that night, we opened with "Life Restored," which is not the norm. And we gave the salvation message at the end, which IS the norm. We found out from her boss the next day (He called us in tears) that she had given her life to Christ and said it was the Papa Roach parody that did it for her. She emailed us herself and told us how she was from a Christian home but had always wanted nothing to do with Christianity and had heard the sinner's prayer many times before but refused to pray it until that night. She said she used to "contemplate suicide" while listening to Papa Roach's singer saying he was "contemplating suicide." She was so excited that she went and told her other friends, and she was shocked that some of them weren't more excited for her.

For a complete track listing, see the FAQ titled "What's on 'Keep the Change.'"