Christian music helped me through some of the hard times when I was mentally ill back in 1996 and 2000 but then I couldn’t listen to it when I became an atheist.
Now I’m able to listen to it again and have been posting individual favorite songs on Facebook recently. Here I’ll do my best to assemble youtube links for some of my favorites. By the way, I think it’s awesome how so much music is available these days on youtube without extra cost! If you have a spotify subscription I expect they are all on there too.
In general I like slower contemplative music with well-chosen words. My top two choices of artists are Ferdinand Ortega and Michael Card. I probably discovered them listening to Christian radio, which I used to listen to a lot, in my pre-atheist days.
Michael Card has an amazing way of summarizing Bible stories and concepts in his own words with beautiful musical accompaniments. I particularly like his double album, The Promise, about Jesus’ life and his album The Way of Wisdom. Here are some particular favorite songs of his I like:
- El-Shaddai – a well-known older song by Michael Card, which might be best-known in the recording by Amy Grant
- God’s Own Fool (from The Promise) – I like this because it’s about Jesus being thought insane
- Why, a very beautiful song about Judas betraying Jesus
- The Job Suite – a wonderfully expressed summary of Job’s story
- That’s what faith must be – a simple song about faith with beautiful words as always
Here’s a recent live concert of his. Those are fun because the artist generally shares heart a little between some of the songs.
Ferdinand Ortega also has a beautiful voice and has incredible renderings of some well-known hymns as well as his own thoughtfully worded songs. Sometimes I find hymns in church sung in a way it’s hard for me to enjoy. But each one Ferdinand Ortega sings is beautiful to me. For example
- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
- What Wondrous Love Is This?
- O Sacred Head Now Wounded
- I Will Sing of My Redeemer
- Give Me Jesus
Here’s a recent live concert of his.
Actually I do like Keith Green a lot too, although his songs sound very 70s these days. Sadly his life was cut short so he never had a chance to update them musically. I love the commitent to God and dedication which shines out of all his songs. I like many of them including these:
- There is a Redeemer – one of the first of his songs I ever learned, actually written by him and his wife, I think?
- Create in me a clean heart – a simple expression of Psalm 51
- The Lord Is My Shepherd – Psalm 23
I have an Annie Herring album I really like. Here are a few of the songs –
- Stay True
- Miracles
- All That I Am
- – see if you can find the whole album, seems like I like all of it
I have particular favorite songs of other artists; here are some –
- Wounded by Jamie Slocum
- Your Kindness (from Romans 2:4b) by Leslie Phillips (also another version here but I like the – rawness? – of the original)
- If I Stand by Rich Mullins (also sadly deceased at a young age)
I expect there are more but, these are the ones on my mind & heart today, or that I could easily find.