Since at least the mid-'90s, singer-songwriter Ben Harper has attracted the ear of certain church folk due to his spiritually-tinged (though sometimes ambiguous and other times profane) lyrics. The ever-present -- and often pointless -- question of the artist's true standing with the Creator of the universe was posed, and merit could be found on either side of it. But not until Harper recorded an album with legendary gospel group The Blind Boys of Alabama in 2004 had his affiliation with architects of Jesus music been so close.