Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

For an introduction to BIG Ministries check out Tony Cummings' interview from February 2010 on the Cross Rhythms website, and you'll then understand exactly where this high-energy, contemporary kids album is coming from - "songs that speak God's truth in a language and style that kids understand and enjoy." The title is based around Romans 8 v38-39 and in a nutshell this is a very well thought out package; a double CD set comprising 11 songs with the second CD containing helpful resources such as backing tracks, sheet music and videos to teach actions for some of the songs, more of which are available on their website. As a song resource the musical styles are deliberately diverse, covering variants of rock, hip-hop, Britpop, dance and pop. The bouncy opening "Celebrate God" could easily be a Hillsong United track, "C'mon Everybody" is in the Bananarama zone, and the "hidden" track at the end of the CD sounds like a Chris Eaton ballad. Lyrically, the songs are mostly praise songs, declaring attributes of God and how wonderful he is, and from the music and lyrical content I would suggest the target age range is five to 15, although one of the beautiful things about kids songs is that they allow "big kids" to do things we couldn't otherwise get away with, eg repeatedly shouting "frog, frog, frog. . ." in "Fully Rely On God!" It's immediately evident that there are a bunch of real musicians and singers here with a passion and a purpose, and the resulting songs have a vibrant energy that can only be thoroughly recommended.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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