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My (Mostly) Christian Music Collection
- 01/26/04
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I have a large collection of Christian music. I received my introduction to Christian music in 1990 when my friend had me listen to a Petra tape. Just for historical purposes, that album was Beyond Belief. I was intrigued by the music and shortly after purchased Beyond Belief and Petrafied (a Petra compilation). That was the beginning of something of an obsession with Christian music. Though I cannot afford to buy as much as I might like, I have managed to amass a decent collection over the past 13 years. I first posted the collection on the Internet as part of a learning project (teaching myself PHP and MYSQL). My friends soon found it handy so they could browse the collection and tell me which albums they wanted to borrow. And so I have continued to update the database for the past two years. As time goes on I try to add value to the collection by adding more information to the records. It is a slow and time-consuming process and on that is on-going.
Please contact me if you have any burning questions about any of this!
And so I present to you, the Music Collection.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (33)
I stumbled on your site recently and have taken an interest in it. Maybe you can give me some advice. You seem to be a “born again” Christian with respect to John 3. But have you actually SEEN or ENTERED the kingdom of heaven? Is collecting music, etc. a heavenly kingdom activity for you? I don’t mean to be discourteous, but I am struggling with Christianity because I just don’t “get it.” I attend a Lutheran church and I’m afraid to ask dumb questions in Bible study or plainly tell the pastor how I feel. John 14:21 says, “He who has My orders observes them and loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I, too, shall love him and show Myself to him.” I don’t want to just go through the motions. I’m trying to figure out how to feel the love that others seem to have. I tried giving up my wealth by being homeless for five years and following Christ, but I still feel that there’s something that I lack. I hope you don’t think this is stupid.
Thanks for the comment.
For me collecting Christian music is an enjoyable pasttime. It really has nothing to do with my faith and my walk with God. It is just a form of recreation. I collect music and my favorite theme is Christ, so it makes sense that I collect Christian music. I have been challenged and built up by this music, but that does not make it an activity I do as part of my Christian walk. Reading good books, attending church, reading the Bible, praying…those are things that are the foundation of my Christian walk.
I believe that we “feel” more by knowing more. The more we know about God the more love we feel for him. It’s like a marriage. When I married my wife I knew her pretty well and loved her a lot. But now, after 5 years of marriage, I know her more deeply and, therefore, love her more deeply. The more I learn about God and what He has done the more I am drawn to Him and the more I love Him.
So my challenge is to know God. Know Him fully and deeply. Know Him as He has revealed Himself in the Bible. When you know Him you won’t be able to help but love Him.
As for asking questions, I do believe that there are no dumb questions - there are only dumb answers. If you ask a question that others regard as being dumb the fault lies with them and not you. We are not to be judgemental about where someone else is in his spiritual journey.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
Ah some of my faves … Blackball (I always forget how much I love superheavydreamscape); Plankeye; Pete Stewart (I want another album) and Grammatrain, of course; Sarah Masen’s Dreamlife of Angels is worth getting in addition to the other two. SNTR’s This Beautiful Mess is their best album. Smalltown Poets and Between Thieves are great. Jars, Third Day, and Caedmon’s are favorites as well. The first Seven Day Jesus and second Nouveaux albums I don’t want to do without in my collection. Same with the first Skillet album (the techno stuff doesn’t do much for me) She Must and Shall Go Free knocks my socks off every hearing. I’d highly recommend Stavesacre (Absolutes is a fabulous album) and Fleming and John as great additions to your collection. Oh! And Dimestore Prophets if you can find either of them.
(I’m typing as I listen to Jenn Knapp’s Kansas album, her best IMO)
If you like Blackball you should check out Precious Death. Same band, basically. Good Reformed theology, too.
Smalltown Poets has a new album on the way which is very exciting. They are one of my all-time favorites.
And yes, Christian music doesn’t get much better than Derek Webb.
By the way, I agree that Kansas is Jennifer Knapp’s best album. Her others are good but somehow lost the rootsy feel of the first one.
Pete Stewart has started a new mainstream band with Marcos (formerly of POD). Their album will be releasing later this year.
I also have the (a?) Precious Death Album … good stuff, I agree. I really liked them before I knew I was Reformed [grin] Oh, and I simply love the goldfish in the blender on the cover of hope … such a funny cover!
I hadn’t heard that Marcos had left POD did they break up entirely? … I pretty much found my way out of the Christian music ghetto (and almost all pop music for that matter) a few years ago and only pick up an album here and there of bands that really mean something to me or come highly recommended by people I respect. All that Michael W Smith in your collection is a bit disconcerting, though [g,d&r]
There are some artists I buy because I like them, and others just because I need them in the collection. Smitty and Steven Curtis Chapman fall into the latter category.
POD did not break up altogether, but Marcos and the rest had a bit of a nasty fallout. If you do a Google search you shouldn’t have trouble coming up with the story.
I understand … I have all the older Amy Grant for just that reason.
Your collection is huge! If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to make a couple of suggestions.
First, my favorite band of all time — U2. A great starting point would be The Joshua Tree.
My second suggestion is Over the Rhine. They aren’t that well known, but they’ve been around for 10 years and have some amazing albums. Their most recent is Ohio, and Films for Radio is also a good introduction to their sound. Sixpence has named them as an influence, and they seem to have fans in common.
A good music site is tedeum.com
I am familiar with U2 (of course) but for some reason have never enjoyed them much. It may just be that I see them as something of a Christian bandwagon. Sooner or later I’ll add them to my collection.
I have heard good things about Over the Rhine and will check them out.
Hey all—I’d like to add my two cents. I really like the Passion music, even the older stuff. Lately, though, I’ve been listening to the new Brave Saint Saturn CD—the techno-ish space rock is really appealing.
Wow… You have tons of Petra.
What can I say? Petra is my band. They were the first band I was introduced to in Christian music. They were the first concert I saw, the first video I bought and the first concert I promoted. They’ll always have a special place…and I’ll buy every album they come out with, though I’m guessing there won’t be many more.
I haven’t bought the new Brave Saint Saturn as I’m waiting to find it on sale. I may sign up with Columbia House (again) in the near future to fill out the collection some. Maybe I’ll even try out some U2 at that time!
Have you ever listened to Kelly Willard? She’s an older artist but I really enjoyed her in my day. Very spiritual and biblical in her lyrics.
Good collection by the way! I don’t see anything by the Imperials or Truth or Dallas Holmes or Tim Sheppard.
Am I giving away my age?
I suspect you’re giving away your age. Most of those bands predated by Christian music days. :) And no, I’ve never knowingly heard Kelly Willard.
The first concert I went to was a Petra concert, too, Tim. And the second tape I ever owned happened to be the very same Beyond Belief tape. Gosh I still love that music
Christian bandwagon? No no no no no. They’ve been around and writing faith-inspiried music since 1980. Most CCM bands would kill to be U2.
Heck, I even think Bono is the Pope.
That’s funny, Karl. Beyond Belief is the first Christian CD I ever bought, too!
Well that makes three of us that had Beyond Belief as our first album. Gotta love Petra!
As for the comments about the “U2 Bandwagon” I just said that because I know it bothers the U2 fans. No other reason at all…
Nice collection. I must be old. I see Beyond Belief as a “recent” Petra project since it’s from the John Schlitt era. The new Jekyll & Hyde seriously rocks, but you do need to add Come & Join Us to your Petra collection. It was the “great leap forward” from the first album.
Room Full of Walters rock! Jeffrey Dahmer Went to Heaven is the greatest “unknown” Christian song.
Also, no Christian music collection is complete without something by Larry Norman. I’d suggest Only Visiting This Planet or In Another Land. Throw in Stryper’s Soldiers Under Command, Glass Harp Live at Carnegie Hall and anything by Glenn Kaiser Band and I’ll respect your collection more. ;-)
I’ve got somewhere around 1500 CCM CDs and write reviews on the web at http://almenconi.com/topics/chr_music/brandt.html.
Ah yes, I have seen some of your reviews on that site.
Did you know that Room Full of Walters is giving away the MP3s for all their albums (including some you didn’t know they had)? That’s right…every song from every album for free download. You can check it out at their site.
Nice collection. The system is kinda cool but needs a bit of work though - eg. some albums are missing images and other info. It would be good if you hid fields/images if the info does not existed instead of displaying broken images and links… (I’m such a geek =P) I want to build something similar, that’s how I came across your site.
Here are some more, in my opinion, must-at-least-check-out artists from the old days to go with Tim’s Kelly Willard…Phil McHugh, Don Francisco,Lamb, Honeytree, Daniel Amos. Do you know Keith Green? All legendary in the 70’s!
Where’s Larry Norman?! It’s not a Christian music collection without his stuff in my opinion!
Wow…Larry Norman, Kelly Willard, Lamb, Daniel Amos…those are some names I haven’t heard in a while. Good stuff we had back when. The first Christian artist I ever listened to was Phil Keaggy in 1972. Shortly after that, it was Larry Norman, followed by LoveSong. Later in the 70s was Bob Bennett…a great acoustic player with some excellent lyrical content. But I’m not lost in the 70s…love the new stuff too, especially acoustic guitar worship stuff.
Nice to read some of the comments here. Good job, Tim.
Hey question guys (and girls),does anyone have a site with blackball lyrics on them. i need to reorder the cd (superheavydreamscape) of metro1music. but until then i want to get the lyrics for the songs. anyways, thank you.
-Brad
Brad - Good question. I looked around and did not find anything. If you have any specific questions I can transcribe some of the lyrics if you’d like me to.
Bob Bennett trivia: He got saved listening to his roommate’s copy of Phil Keaggy’s What a Day.
That is probably my all-time favorite Phil Keaggy song.
That is probably my all-time favorite Phil Keaggy song.
I would like to respond to the question posted by ‘pedestrian’ on Jan 26 and the response given by ‘Tim’.The challenge posed by ‘pedestian’ is a very valid one - “Is collecting music, etc. a heavenly kingdom activity for you?” It is a question that all Christians need to answer, and study through, not just in the context of music, but in all use of the material things that God has given us.To me (and I don’t mean to sound judgemental, just being honest) it seems that collecting music (or anything else for that matter), just for the sake of collecting it, is pretty much what Jesus was speaking agains when he said … not to store up treasures on earth … but to store up treasures in heaven.As Christians (those who are true disciples of Christ) we are soldiers, following the commands of out Captain (Christ) - we are slaves doing the will of our Master (Christ) - we are subjects serving our King (Christ) - we are sons (and daughters) lovingly obeying our Father. In any case we are not free to use the things He (Christ) has given us simply for our own pleasure or recreation. We are obliged - out of love and devotion to our Captain, Master, King…Christ to invest everything we have and all that we are in His service, holding nothing back. I found an excellent article on John Piper’s site that sums up my point nicely - here’s the link to that article: (I don’t agree we everything on his site but this article is really good) - http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/money/carnal_cash.html
I hope none of us will be content to go through the motions or live a lukewarm Christian life, but rather to live a radically committed life of service to our King where we are in the trenches getting dirty doing His work - to my understanding that is what true Christianity is all about.
And Tim, in response to what you said in response to what ‘pedetrian’ asked - “For me collecting Christian music is an enjoyable pasttime. It really has nothing to do with my faith and my walk with God. It is just a form of recreation.”I think you should be careful. The way I read the New Testement it seems pretty clear that when we become a Christian, we surrender all to Christ - we kneel at the foot of the cross and and say Lord, I’m yours, everything I have and all of me - do as you will. The means that nothing we do is beyond the reach of our Christianity - even our recreational activities become surrendered to Him and his will and need to be examined in the light of eternity.
Again please don’t take this as me being judgemental, I’m just a brother offering my two cents. I’m not saying that having a music collection is sin (although it might be) - I have a small collection too. But think of it this way. On judgement day how will we respond when Jesus asks us (particularly us ‘wealthy’ North American Christians) “So how did you handle the resources I trusted you with” “Did you use what I entrusted to you to serve my church and reach out to those in sin around you, or did you use it to make your own life a little nicer or more comfortable”This is not about legalism though, it’s about our hearts and about our love for Christ and for those He came to save (ie. the lost world)
Lately, I’ve been thinking lots about Matt 25:31-46 and I’ve been really influenced by Richard Wurmbrand’s book “Torturerd For Christ”
I suppose everyone needs to be convinced in their own mind (Rom 14:5). However, assaulting collections is pretty risky business. How about a collection of silverware? Plasticware? Everyone owns a collection if they have more than one pair of socks or underwear.
Anything can distract us from God if it is an obsession, but as a big fan of John Piper, I’m also confident he would not want to give up his collection of theology books, especially those by Jonathan Edwards.
I don’t want to give up my collection of Christian music (although as a teen struggling with this issue I did tell the Lord I was willing to trash all of my “evil” Christian rock if He so led—He never did) because I see it ministering to my kids and to friends that I share it with. Getting my autographed Larry Norman album stolen from my Christian college dorm was probably God’s way of telling me not to attach too much importance to my collection. Ultimately it is His, and just on loan to me.
Steve, I’m not being facetious here, just trying to understand. Do you think that if your heart is right, maybe you should own only one CD at a time? Or none at all? Can you justify owning a computer, or using someone else’s to browse the web? Where do you draw the line? I loved Keith Green, but I thought his giveway program was kind of funny. If you can’t afford to buy a record, how are you going to play it?
I think CCM is something God has provided for our enjoyment—and that’s a Biblical sentiment.
1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
I just came across your article while searching for a Christian group from either the late 70’s or early 80’s. Have you heard of Zoe? They sound a bit like Silverwind. If you have, do you know of any place to still buy their music? Sure would appreciate any info. Thanks.