Amanda Cook began playing piano at a young age and was participating in music competitions by age six. She didn’t know that her interest in music would lead her to the place where she is now and that she would touch many of God’s creatures.
She is undoubtedly a great singer, but since the moment she decided to join Bethel Music, some people believe this was a big mistake. But why? Let’s take a look at this article…
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Early life & Achievements
Amanda Lindsey Cook was born on May 8, 1984, in Niverville-Manitoba. This Canadian singer and songwriter is making a name for herself, in the world of Christian music.
She is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and contemporary Christian music recording artist.
Amanda is the only daughter of wheat farmers, she grew up being homeschooled and helping out on the family farm.
During the summers she spent her time reading in the fields and in winter she read books. From a young age, she started playing the piano.
By the time she was six years old, she was already participating in music competitions.
There’s no denying that she’s talented. By the time she was 10 years old, not only did she sing in church with her dad frequently, but also at other events around town.
She learned a variety of genres from his vinyl record collection.
By her late teens, she released her first album by Winnipeg-based Avante Records in 2004.
It won the 2006 Juno Award for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year.
Before joining the Signpost Music roster, She released “Beautiful” in 2007.
During this time she was part of the Beautiful Unique Girl Movement.
Cook has also received a GMA Canada Covenant Award for Female Vocalist of the Year for four years in a row, 2005-2008.
Amanda released her third album, In Between the Now & Then, in 2010, the same year she took a position as worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding, California, and joined the Bethel Music collective.
After marrying Jacob Cook in 2011, the singer returned with her first solo album in five years.
In 2015, Cook released her first studio album Brave New World through Bethel Music.
The album received the Inspirational Album of the Year award at the 2016 GMA Dove Awards.
The album marked her at the top of the Billboard Christian chart and even made a spot on the Billboard 200, reaching number 20. It also made the Canada Albums Chart at number 18.
In 2019, Cook released her 2nd album, House on a Hill, as a part of Bethel Music.
The album didn’t enjoy the commercial success of its predecessor, but it still managed to chart in the Top Ten of the Christian charts in both the US and UK.
In an interview with Soul Shine Magazine, she said that her musical influences are Sarah McLachlan, Nichole Nordeman, Norah Jones, and John Mayer.
Cook signed a deal with Essential Worship (Provident/Sony) in 2020 and released her first song “Help Is on the Way” in April.
In the same year, she released many singles, including: “I’ll Admit It”, and “Young Love”.
And in 2022 she released her “State of the Union” album.
Controversy
In 2019, Amanda did an interview for the Christian Post, where she was asked about the release of her new album, House on a Hill. However, this interview took a bad turn when some people saw it as being out of God’s line.
Holly Pivec released a blog based on this interview, titled “Behind the music: The baffling views about God held by Bethel Music’s Amanda Lindsey Cook”.
I quote: “I was dismayed because she makes a number of statements about God that raise many serious questions, including, most basic, what is her view of God?“ end of quote.
They presented four main statements that Amanda said in an interview.
#1 statement, I quote: “Every day I increasingly felt like gravity and the great beyond, called God, was working in my favor.”
#2 statement, I quote: “I love this divine essence that we so commonly refer to as God. I think it becomes this common, almost familiar thing that it has connotations because we basically impose our belief system on whatever we think God is when we say the word ‘God.'”
#3 statement, I quote: “I love the names that this essence and this divine presence gives itself. In the Old Testament, where God describes themselves as ‘I am,’ also the name Yahweh, ‘the intake and the exhale of breath.'”
#4 statement, I quote: “It’s this common acknowledgment, this communal aspect of living, where we’re all connected, we’re all part of the common thread … to be connected at the source to this divine presence, this Christ consciousness…”
They further said it is unclear how any questions could be answered so vaguely. Furthermore, one may wonder how she was even approved to teach at any church, let alone one as prestigious as Bethel Church.
They continued: there’s no question that churches should rethink the use of her music and other songs from Bethel Church (or other places) written by songwriters who have a pathetically limited view of God.
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And this received many comments from readers, some didn’t agree with the blog at all, like Joel who said: “If you look at the fruit of Bethel, and the fruit of Amanda’s music, it is only positive and people’s lives are being touched by the presence of God for the better.”
While others, like Ruby, said: “While I think Amanda Cook is saved and has a relationship with God. I don’t think getting involved with Bethel was best for her. Really liked her music long before Bethel.“
Conclusion
Amanda is a writer, musician, and lover of books. She’s been working on several musical projects lately.
She uses music as a way of connecting to God. Cook has released music that explores the boundaries between faith, love, hope, and despair. She writes songs that are helpful, healing and feel like a poem just from reading them.
“Music is a language insistent and committed to finding the golden thread that can make unlikely friends out of all of us,” said Cook.
“It creates safety and a sense of belonging to something bigger by distilling overwhelming emotions into something I’m able to express and feel.”
We believe that God has a big plan for Amanda.
So, let us know in the comment section. What do you think about Amanda Cook?