Reviewed by Peter Dilley

The blonde, blue-eyed, soul gospel diva from Israel Houghton's home church in Houston is now making as big an impression as Israel himself: on its first week of release this, Martha's fourth live CD, stormed in at number four in the Billboard Top Gospel Charts. This was helped, no doubt, by tracks such as its power-driven title cut and "Invincible God", the opening tour-de-force. Full-on gospel praise remains her speciality, but Martha rings the changes stylistically, most obviously with the salsa pop-flavoured "Dance". After a run-through in English, she duets with Ricardo Sanchez in Spanish for an authentic Latino feel. But turning from style to substance, I'm less convinced. Like the reviewer of her previous album 'No Limits', I have misgivings about an overemphasis upon material blessings in her teaching/exhortation, particularly around "Favor Of God" and "More Than Enough". Martha states, "God wants to bless you, so that you're self-sufficient" (a contradiction), then suggests such abundance will spring from God's grace, that "out of the overflow you're going to have to bless somebody else." Even with strongly-rooted faith, and an understanding/experience of God's grace, questions of material/financial security are seldom that straightforward. Martha can big up her music as much as she likes, but she should tone down the prosperity doctrine.

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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