El Shaddai - Amy Grant

I am conflicted by this recording. The song as written is spectacular. It was one of the first contemporary Christian recordings that I fell in love with, and I still love the recording today. The lyrics are simple, powerful, and praise God unabashedly with zero "I"s.

My problem is that I love the song, and I love this recording, but Amy Grant is still unqualified to be in a public leadership roll as a Christian. I don't object to her "going pop"; she's free to sing what she wants and is lead to do. However, she is still unrepentant about divorcing Gary Chapman and marrying a divorced Vince Gill. Her divorce may have been unavoidable; I will not claim to know the details enough to make an opinion. I do know that doesn't excuse a marriage to Gill, who probably wasn't eligible to remarry himself either.

This all can be repented from, and I wouldn't dare judge Ms. Grant's salvation. However, IMHO it does disqualify her from any form of leadership in Christian ministry, and that includes gospel music. I won't listen to her new albums or buy anything she participates in otherwise.

However, there are no alternatives IMHO. Michael Card is an incredible songwriter, but he's not in Amy Grant's league as a singer. The cover by Eden's Bridge is just not the same, and I can't bare to even try to find the Pat Boone version. Most non-commercial covers on YouTube have mediocre recording qualities (one exception is below). Therefore, I present the original version of El Shaddai by Amy Grant:

As a bonus, the one non-commercial version I've found that I liked, by a musician named Hannah Milchak. I can't put this in the favorites playlist because she doesn't sell her music or give it away for downloads. Here it is on YouTube though: