Download Good Christian Music
Jacalyn Loston
I know these threads come up with some regularity, so I'm sorry if people are sick of this. But I'm struggling a bit to find music which has artistic integrity while also being spiritually edifying.
Just trying to talk about "Christian music" puts you in sort of a tough spot from the get-go, as it's not really a genre at all. [Although there are definitely some tendencies where the guitar starts strumming and you practically know it's a worship singalong, or the piano starts and you know it's a hymn, even if you don't know them.]
If it makes sense, I'm looking for musicians who happen to be Christians, or even just Christ-curious, rather than Christians who are trying to use music to spread the gospel; I'm interested in music which simply expresses the artist, done by artists who take their relationship to Christ seriously.
The band which best exemplifies this, for me, is mewithoutYou. Hard band to compare to, but the songs deal with themes like doubt, despair, hope, joy, love, worship, awe, and others in ways which feel relateable on an everyday, real-life level. They don't really feel like songs which would go very well in a church service, but I feel like I am in a place of worship when I listen to them. I think the frankness about feeling confusion and smallness before God is something they do really well but is also really rare in music.
Sufjan Stevens is another obvious example of music which deals with overtly Christian themes through music that isn't limited to Christian themes, just like even inasmuch as we are Christians ourselves, we also do things like fall in love by accident, and sin, and randomly wake up feeling weird sometimes, or see something unexpectedly beautiful in a way which changes our outlook, and without necessarily filtering all that through Christian terminology, but perhaps recognizing its significance in an ineffable way which still resonates with our deepest convictions about the way things are.
I guess that last bit is part of the issue I'm having. Believers with a lot of lyrical and artistic skill don't employ cliches or other ordinary figures of speech to get their meaning across; they convey it in a way which resonates with me because I see things the same way [or am able to see something new because of their music], but not because I say things the same way.
Now I understand that you have a lot on your plate and that playing music store may not be very high on your list. But I just want to share a couple of really good reasons with you to give recommending Christian music to your teens some thought:
I believe that Christian music is often misunderstood, as many people tend to automatically associate it solely with singing hymns in a church setting. When I was younger, I too used to think that Christian music was limited to that particular style. However, in reality, Christian music has a wide range of genres, including contemporary, rock, pop, hip-hop, gospel, and more, and has experienced a surge in popularity, captivating audiences worldwide with its powerful messages and diverse musical styles.
Christian music creates an incredible ability to uplift, infuse positivity, provide motivation, inspire, and evoke a wonderful sense of well-being, and beautifully captures and shares the love of God.
That said, my CCM (contemporary Christian music) roots are still alive, and there really is some good music out there. Recently I went through and added several Christian songs to my playlists on Spotify, and I found myself listening to them more often than I expected. The music was quality, but more importantly, I found myself latching onto the words more than I do with poppy stuff on secular radio.
Christian music spans decades of time. It includes many genres from gospel to contemporary to metal. All forms have different sounds for sure, but they all proclaim the same message, Jesus is real and He is the Savior of mankind through His death on the cross for the atonement of our sins.
Bible Truth - (1 Samuel 18:6) As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all of the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
This is the song of songs for the man/woman who realizes who they are and who God is for the very first time. It is filled with truth and emotion that we can all relate with. The grace of God is the ultimate gift to receive. His gift of grace gave us salvation through Christ on the cross. This song will be a staple in Christian music forever.
This gospel standard, which was written by the influential gospel composer Thomas Andrew Dorsey, has been covered by numerous leading musicians, including Little Richard and Elvis Presley. In 1960, country music singer Tennessee Ernie Ford had a hit with it for Capitol Records.
Louis Armstrong brought emotion and depth to this powerful spiritual song, written during the period of slavery and published in 1867. The song has been popular with other jazz musicians, and among noted cover versions are those by Harry James and, more recently, Dr. John, in his tribute album to Satchmo.
Robert Plant and Randy Travis have both sung versions of this traditional spiritual, but the finest version is the tour-de-force live one by Ry Cooder And The Chicken Skin Band. A haunting example of roots music gospel.
Also feel strongly Australian Artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu is one of the greatest ever singer/songwriter guitarist to play deeply soulful gospel emotional beautiful songs. Many in his own Yolnu language being various dialect via Australian North East Armhem land. Talented on so many levels, Gurrumul resonates deep with music lovers the world over.
This separation of worship songs from Christian songs also transcends into the hymnals. I challenge you to go dust off the church hymnal next time you find one and read through the lyrics of the songs. Many of them fall into the category of Christian music rather than worship songs.
At the time, I was using an app that both tracked my pace and played my music. I had cued it up the exact same way that I had done for every single training run before that (there were a lot of them).
The Recording Academy decided to make a distinction between Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and Gospel music after determining that there were "two distinct wings to the gospel house: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and Urban or Soul Gospel. Additionally, it was determined that the word "Gospel" tends to conjure up the images and sounds of traditional soul gospel and not CCM. With this in mind, it was decided not only to rename each of the categories but also the entire [genre] field. [It] was determined that album and songwriting categories are of highest importance; Gospel and CCM each now have one category for each".[4] As a result, the previous gospel album categories were combined into the Best Gospel Album (for soul and urban contemporary gospel music) and Best Contemporary Christian Music Album categories.
This is only a small taste of the state of contemporary Christian music. Time and space would fail me to discuss Bethel, Elevation Worship, Passion, etc. (I encourage you to do your own research regarding the theology of these churches and their bands) Granted, no one band or artist is perfect but I believe most of these modern Christian bands have allowed the world to seep into their ministries. A lot of this music is no longer holy as it has been infected with worldliness.
Visit a church website and you might find a photo of there worship band. The photo will contain bright multicolored spotlights , fog, smoke, or a dark low light setting. The musicians probably have a heart for Jesus. But it looks like a secular rock concert. This is a plan to appeal to the younger generation of Christians. If the worship music is so loud and by chance you cannot understand the words how do you worship and glorify God? Psalms were used to glorify God as well as some instruments. All of the glory goes to God.
The books of Esther and SOS have nothing to do with music, so comparing both to modern music is like comparing apples and oranges. Biblical times were not tainted by the worldliness that we deal with now. David and the writers of Psalms were not exposed to demonic and worldly music we are exposed to now so we can hardly say that they were tempted and/or influenced by the kind of music that we are now.
Really, my whole article, if read carefully, makes the case for God-centered, theologically sound music, free from human focus and emotional exploitation. Sadly, when studied carefully, CCM does both and lacks God-centeredness. CCM has shifted their focused to money and big business which is only successful when appealing to the human flesh.
Second, your whole point about CCM confiscating worldly type music is flawed since you DO listen to hymns. The whole reason hymns (which I thoroughly love) came into existence was because Luther wanted congregations to be able to sing songs of worship in their own language instead of Latin chants-which back in the day were considered the ONLY acceptable form of musical worship. (sound familiar) Many of our old hymns use the same chord structure, meter, and rhythm as the the SECULAR folk tunes of that day.
If you like CCM, you should listen to Rich Mullins! No has ever written more powerful contemporary lyrics than his! You also need to stop Catholic bashing. The liturgical music of the Catholic church includes some of the music beautiful hymns and music ever written!
As we enter into this new season, we know God is constant. He never changes, and being reminded of His truths through Christain music is one of my favorite ways to do that. I am so excited to share this playlist for Fall with you today.
One of my favorite ways to tackle anxiety in my own life is through worship music! Here is a list of 20 worship songs (plus a few extra) that have helped me turn my eyes to Jesus and brought me so much peace when I have been in my darkest moments. I hope you can use these as a tool to calm your anxiety and focus on Jesus.
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