Why I Love These Female Christian Music Artists

When I first started listening to Christian music about fourteen years ago, there were a ton of male artists and bands but it seemed the female Christian music artists were not so abundant. Of course there were a few, like Rebecca St. James and Crystal Lewis but it seemed for the most part, the males dominated.When I wrote the article, My Ten Favorite Christian Female Artists, three years ago it still seemed to be the case.

Nichole Nordeman via Flickr @ CM Central

Nowadays that doesn't seem to ring true anymore. Currently, there are many new female Christian music artists on the scene, many of them not even 30 years old! These are the kinds of gals that are true role models for young girls, very unlike the Katy Perry's and Miley Cyrus's of the world!

Something else that's different about modern-day Christian music is its new reliance on digital music and social media. No longer do artists have to rely on simply getting heard on the radio and selling albums to be deemed successful. In fact, one of my new favorite artists, Kim Walker-Smith, isn't heard on contemporary Christian radio at all.

I don't think she even sets out to be a "successful" Christian music artist, she simply uses the gift of worship God has given her. Through albums produced by Jesus Culture and through people sharing her music through video on YouTube, she has become very well-known. She often breaks out into spontaneous worship and can be heard praying and singing in tongues as she sings. Listen to her sing "Rooftops" in the video below.

Christian music artist Mandisa got her big break on the hit reality show, American Idol. Others like Moriah Peters auditioned but didn't get past the first round. Still, she didn't let their rejection deter her and thinks of her experience as a valuable life lesson. I write more about these artists and others in my article, Ten Amazing Female Christian Artists.

No matter how these young, talented ladies have made it, one thing they mostly likely all have in common is that they never gave up. I find this commendable considering how difficult and competitive the music industry appears to be.

Moriah Peters in Bismarck, ND Photo by Cari Bousfield

Another thing I applaud all of these female Christian artists for is their dedication to the Lord. Natalie Grant made a bold declaration of her faith by leaving the Grammy Awards early at the beginning of the year.

Some female secular artists like the late Whitney Houston and Jennifer Hudson got their start in the church but gave their gifts over to the world.

While I'm just stating a fact and not judging them for this, I often wonder what would have  happened if they continued in Gospel music.

For Jennifer Hudson, she seems to make it work but we all know what happened to Whitney. I truly believe she was a Christian who struggled and fought against the wiles of the enemy and in the end, the enemy won.

I can only pray she is at peace with her Heavenly Father as I do believe she had received Christ as her Savior. Some people might not agree with this and that's fine. I do believe if she would have stayed in the Gospel music scene, she would still be with us today. Hearing her sing, "I Love the Lord," brings tears to my eyes every time. 

For me, listening to my favorite female Christian artists and worship music is a great way to connect with my Heavenly Father. There is something about worship music that makes it easier to enter into His presence. This is true no matter where I am - driving around town, sitting at the office listening to Christian music on Pandora or at a Christian concert.

What about you? Who are some of your female Christian music artists and why do you like them? I would love to hear about it!

Remembering 9/11

It's impossible not to think about the events that took place 13 years ago today. I'm pretty sure every American steels themselves for another year of remembrance as the date September 11 approaches. It is still really unbelievable that such a horrific surprise attack happened after the turn of a new millennium.

On one of the websites I write for, one of the questions in the forum was "Where were you?" The question needed no further clarification. What sort of surprised me as I read through everyone's answers was the young age many of the writers were when it happened. A majority of them were in middle school and high school and a few were even in their elementary years.

I was older then them - 27 to be exact. I was working for the North Carolina Automobile Dealer's Association. I was taking a morning break checking e-mail when I noticed a message from my mom telling me to pray because a plane had gone down.

Not long after that, I received another e-mail telling me another plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I relayed the message to my co-workers and we were soon receiving news reports of what was happening. I remembered thinking to myself, "Raleigh is not all that far away from New York City."

All of us gathered in the conference room and turned on the television. Like all of the other millions of Americans watching, we couldn't believe our eyes and could only stare at the screen in stunned silence. After what seemed like hours, we finally turned off the TV set. The thought struck me that we needed to pray. We gathered together in a circle, held hands and prayed for our country and its leaders. For several days after 9/11, many churches throughout the country opened its doors for special times of prayer.

A Wendy's sign in Kentucky features a sign saying "Pray for America"

The tragedy affected my sister's wedding plans. She was getting married two weeks later back home in North Dakota. We decided instead of flying back home, we would drive instead. As we traveled the 1,800 miles we saw thousands of flags displayed in car windows with the red, white and blue flapping wildly but proudly. Many businesses had "God Bless America" and "Pray for America" displayed on their marquees.

Sadly, since the attack on U.S. soil, I'm not sure if Americans understand the magnitude of what happened that fateful day. While Congress seemed to unite for a little while after the terrorist attack, it certainly didn't last very long. Americans quickly stopped praying for their country and we are now more divisive than ever. I can only hope that as new terror groups threaten our country, we will get back on our knees and pray for God's mercy.