Christian Song “O Happy Day” Turns Atheist To Believer

Former Atheist says the song “O Happy Day” led him to Christ. Charles Mackesy, an artist whose work has been collected by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Bear Grylls and Sting, says God used art to draw him away from his old beliefs.

It began a quarter of a century ago when Makesy was at a Glasteonbury music festival where he first heard the gospel song “O Happy Day.” He was so overcome by the song that he, then an atheist, wept and wept.

He then concluded “there must be more to this than meets the eye.”

“Jesus quietly introduced me to a journey into finding people really beautiful, which is how my art really began,” said Mackesy during an interview with CBN.

“Because I felt inside me he was going, ‘Look. How beautiful is that guy sitting on that bench?’ And I would have never noticed him before.”

Born in Northumberland in 1962, Mackesy began his artistic endeavors during the 1980s, with his first showcase being held in 1984 at a pub.

“I didn’t study art but just kept busy — working as a cartoonist for the Spectator magazine, as an illustrator for Oxford University Press, drawing ads for the daily papers and doing poster designs for the likes of Cockspur Rum,” recalled Mackesy.

“I am cautious to explain what I think the work is saying for fear of taking away from you something you have seen and I have not. I could conclude by saying that life is precious and faith is a journey and sometimes art can give a small glimpse of these moments, seen and unseen.”

One of his more notable works was a bronze sculpture of the prodigal son returning to his father, inspired by the parable spoken by Jesus as found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15.