Reviewed by Paul Poulton

This can get complicated so listen carefully. Jentezen Franklin is the senior pastor of a big church in Georgia, USA, the Free Chapel church. He has recently acquired the services of Ricardo Sanchez as worship leader. So they are the two names on the cover of the CD, however it's not that simple; Israel Houghton who is quickly gaining a reputation for himself in cross-cultural worship music that has a bit of this and a bit of that from gospel, jazz and rock is also featured on here. In fact Israel had a hand in writing most of the songs; he musically directs the proceedings and makes a fine job of it. The strength of the songs is in their tail; once the hook for the coda kicks in, things begin to happen and I can see how the large audience (Free Chapel has 14,000 members) got into the groove: easy yet engaging arrangements with strong backing vocals for them to follow, and praising God is always an exciting thing to do. However, hearing the songs isn't going to be an easy ride for the armchair listener, there's some emotional baggage that comes along with the journey. There was a 21 day fast before the recording and the fervour spills out somewhat. Pastor Jentezen is in tears as he prays that the little ones will not walk in a diminished level of God's presence. Maybe that's how we have to talk to God, I've heard other well known preachers talk in a similar way, but it seems a slightly odd way of talking to me. For instance, we are unlikely say to our friends "I've been walking in a diminished level of your friendship". But such verbage indicates the flavour of the CD. Overall, these are well produced MOR worship songs featuring big church speak!

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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