The Harp and the Bowl

I can't remember that last time I had so much anticipation for a album release.  Matt Redman's new 10,000 Reasons project was FINALLY released in the US yesterday!  Yes, I got it immediately.  But being away from my home computer and unable to ipod sync I just now had a chance to listen.

I've been following and loving Matt's Redman's music since his first US release, The Heart of Worship, back in 1999.  This latest release is quintessential Matt:  well-crafted and timeless songs recorded in a well-produced live worship setting. I happened to be greatly blessed to attend the conference at which it was recorded back in February in Atlanta, and have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the release ever since.

Every song is a fantastic, so it's really hard for me to pick a few favorites.  If I was forced to do so it would probably be the opening anthem "We Are the Free." I will definitely be leading this one next time I lead worship at our church.  It's a powerful song of proclamation.  "Holy" is another great one. I remember being gripped by the sound of this song at the conference as a hall filled with worshipers sang out the chorus - I remember thinking that this is what heaven will be like.

"Never Once" is a moving song of that proclaims God's faithful, the chorus resounding with the truth "Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own.  You are faithful. God, you are faithful."

And then there is "Magnificent."  The song just compels me to worship.  And of course I feel the same way about "Endless Hallelujah."

OK.  So they are all great, like I said.  Just go get it now!

So here is my LONG overdue follow-up post on the LIFT worship conference that I had the pleasure of attending a few weekends ago with my wonderful wife, who is not involved directly in worship ministry except that she is directly involved with me. So that counts.


In short, it was “fantastic.”

(If you weren’t there, you won’t appreciate the inside joke there. Louie Giglio teased Matt Redman endlessly about his overuse of the word “fantastic.” He probably said it 75-100 times over the course of the two days. )

But fantastic really is a good word to describe the conference.

What was so great about it? Jesus. No, really. Jesus.

From the opening minutes on Friday evening, though focus of the conference was not on cools songs, how to play your instrument or run better sound, how to hype up your media presentations or any of that. It was about Jesus. It was all about his presence.

I loved the way we started off. Total darkness. No one on the unlit stage. Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin lead a-capella songs standing among those of us in the seats. Immediately our focus was on Jesus, and it pretty much stayed that way the whole time.

There was a little bit of practical teaching, but mostly there was just lots of worship - lots of time spent in the presence of our glorious Lord. My favorite teaching was Matt’s session on songwriting. I’ve heard him speak on it several times before, but his insights are always helpful and inspiring. Chris spoke about the difference between a performer and a worship leader. Not a whole lot new there for me, but a good reminder. And Louie’s teachings were totally God-focused. He is so easy to listen to.

And then there was Matt’s CD recording. Wow! If you follow me on Twitter and got my updates from the conference you already know that he has some amazing new songs. I think there were a dozen songs recorded and there wasn’t one of them I didn’t care for. I was even hoping to introduce a few of them in my church ahead of the release of the album, but alas they took down the song samples they sent out to conference attendees ahead of the conference.

So I guess I’ll have to wait.  And so will you. It will definitely be worth the wait!! This will certainly be Matt's strongest project since Face Down and it may even surpass that mark.  We'll just have to wait and see what the final product sounds like, but if the strength of the songwriting is any indication what the production will be like, it's going to be... well... you guessed it...  Fantastic.

If you want to get on the mailing list for future LIFT conferences, which they assured us there will be. Go to the LIFT page at Passion City Church and fill in your email address under "Waiting List."

I think the release date is in June. Come back here to see my review of the CD when it’s available.

I know I’ve been doing a lotof reviews recently, but before I move on to new territory there is one more project that I simply MUST bring to your attention, mostly because otherwise you would probably never get a chance to hear this amazing artist, unless you happen to frequent the prayer room at the Atlanta IHOP (the prayer place not the pancake place!).

I’ve know Caleb since my earliest days doing devotional sets at IHOP. For a while he had the set just before one of mine. Since IHOP Atlanta has been going 24-7 for five years next week, it’s got to be at least six years that I’ve listened to this talented, humble and unassuming man of God lead worship and sing his heart out to the Lord. Finally, he has an album!! And a fantastic one it is.

I know what you are thinking – never trust a friend to give an honest album review. If you know me, then you know I don’t give out heedless flattery. Ever. This work of incredible heart-felt worship is the real deal.

If you don’t believe me, click on one of the links below and just listen to a few free samples. You’ll be hooked immediately equally as much by Caleb’s incredible voice as his solid songwriting. I know from first hand observation that these songs are steeped in years spent in devotion at the feet of Jesus and in proclaiming in song the truth of the love our Bridegroom has for you and me. This truth is undeniably present in every song.

It’s hard to pick a few songs to highlight because each one is so good.I'll give it a shot.

The message of “Because You Say So” is close to my heart. “Beautiful, you are to me. It’s a miracle you say the same about me… I’m beautiful because you say so.” It’s a song of the amazing grace of the Gospel that no matter how much we mess up, God sees us as perfectly beautiful because of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

Another song that speaks to me, because of the marriage implications is, “Beautiful Example.” This is possibly my favorite song on the album. I love the guitar work here - simple and yet expressive. The lyrics are powerful. “What a beautiful example you are to me Jesus.” I believe that the reason men don’t get the idea of loving their brides “as Christ loved the church,” giving himself up for her, is that they don’t really get the unconditional love Jesus has for them. “I’m trying, Lord, to lay my life down, but it takes violence.” He is speaking of the violence we have to do against our flesh, against our innate tendency toward self. Fantastic.

Caleb’s heart for prayer comes through on “Prayer of the Upright.” Joined on BGV by his wife, Rebecca, who is among my favorite IHOP worship leaders in her own right. (When is her album coming out, by the way?) “All That You’ve Done” is another song featuring beautiful acoustic guitar work and Caleb’s stellar vocals. The song is pure and undiluted – guitar and solo voice only. “Here in the midst of your presence I find more pleasure than I knew in the world.”

Caleb Andrew’s Betrothal is a fabulous project full of well-crafted songs that are not over-produced yet bring out the essence of raw and real worship that is at the heart of the IHOP prayer and worship movement.

I highly recommend you get this album today! You can get it right now using the affiliate links below if you so desire.

I’ve been reviewing a few recent projects that I have found to bring a new and refreshing perspective to worship music. Brian Johnson’s studio project “Love Came Down” does just that.

I first stumbled onto Brian and Jenn Johnson’s music years ago during a search for chord charts to a song called “Taste and See,” a fabulous song that I heard performed by Isa Couvertier at a IHOP Atlanta One Thing Conference. Brian and Jenn are worship pastors at a Bethel Church in Redding California. This is the home of the Jesus Culture movement and the great music that many have no doubt become familiar with. But I digress.

So I got Brian and Jenn’s “We Believe” and was immediately taken by it. In addition to Jenn’s “Taste and See” and “A Little Longer” there were several of Brian’s tracks, such as “You Have Ravished My Heart” and “Where You Go I’ll Go” that just had a kind of IHOP/Bridal Paradigm/Intercessory Worship kind of feel to them that really grabbed me. I quickly worked these songs into my four hours weekly doing devotional sets at the IHOP Atlanta, but I digress again.

Focus, Scott, focus.

So, at last on to “Love Came Down.” This is an amazing live studio project, much like the “Live at the Banks House” album from United Pursuit that I reviewed a few weeks ago. Like Banks House, the instrumentation and production are sparse, yet crystal clear. Like Banks House, the worship is genuine and infectious. The idea is not to let the production get in the way of the worship.

If you buy the actual CD, it comes with a DVD that gives you further clues about the worship environment that was going on at the time of the recording. I loved seeing the “ordinary worshipers and intercessors,” of all ages that framed the room.

My favorite track is the first track, also the title track, “Love Came Down.” It’s a beautiful song of heart-felt thanksgiving for Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. “Love came down and rescued me, love came down and made me free. I am your, Jesus, I am yours.” Surrender is such a fitting response to one who would lay his life down for you. Rather than me describe this fabulous song further, give listen to the official YouTube clip.


Direct YouTube Link

To fully appreciate the songs on this album, you need listen to it in an atmosphere where you are free to let the songs wash over you, to sink in deeply, where you can be part of the worship. My first few listens through were not as such, listening to it more in background mode, and I wasn't immediately gripped by it. As soon as I had a chance to soak under it, I was completely awestruck, by the heart of worship emanating form these songs. The Holy Spirit was on every song, each gorgeous guitar phrase and the skillfully placed additional instrumentation (grand piano, cello, hammered dulcimer, among others).

Then I put the DVD on, and I was even more amazed that even though this is billed as a live studio recording, it was actually more of a live worship event that happened to be taking place inside a sound studio.(The YouTube clip above is from the DVD.) Having the DVD just made the subsequent listens even more engaging for me.  Brilliant idea. 

In addition to the title track, other favorites include two songs of deep affection “I Really Love You,” “God You’re Beautiful” and the simple cry for revival entitled “Light a Fire.” There really isn’t a weak track on the entire project (11 tracks in all), each being carefully selected and arranged to add effectively to the overall atmosphere of worship.

If you haven’t purchased this album yet, I suggest you get it the old-fashioned hard-copy CD way, so you have the DVD too. But either way, you definitely need to add “Love Came Down” to your must-have list.

If you missed my take on the latest United Pursuit project, “Found,” be sure to go back and check it out.

As I mentioned at the conclusion of that review, at my daughter’s encouragement I also got “Live at the Banks House” by Will Reagan and United Pursuit. I was equally blown away, but what struck me immediately was how this project was so distinct from Found in its sound. These guys will not be put in a musical box – one of the things I really love about them.

Whereas “Found” is full of lush pads and ethereal electric guitar arpeggios, Live at the Banks House is just raw and real. As you can see from this video clip, it is a sparse production with just a few guitars, an acoustic piano, a violin, some light percussion and a group of friends gathered to worship. Really worship.


YouTube Link

This project harkens back somewhat to the “Enter the Worship Circle” albums, the first of which came out in the late 90’s. While similar in concept, Banks House has an earthier feel and lacks the lavish and sometimes peculiar percussion mix of the Worship Circle projects (I recall one such sound being credited in the liner notes to “goat toes on cookie sheet”).

I love the genuineness of the worship that is captured on this album. And that is really the distinction here – it sounds as if the worship just happens to be incidentally captured rather than produced. Will Reagan is the worship leader for this intimate gathering of friends, which I suppose is why he gets separate billing on the album. But it really isn’t about Will or about the other band members or even the music. It is clearly about fostering the presence of God in the room and giving him the worship he is due, which is right in keeping with the band’s mission.

Band member Nathan Fray states their purpose clearly:

Our mission is to create a culture of worship and of hosting God’s presence, all centered around community living. It’s in this place of God’s life-giving presence that our songs are born and we pray will stir the heart of a generation to love Jesus and pursue Him with everything. This is our united pursuit.

I like it that the songs are unhurried - certainly more repetitive than what you’ll hear on major label worship projects (song length ranges from 5 to as long as 12 minutes, though some are across multiple tracks). Radio play is not the target here. Again, it’s a genuine worship environment, and this is the way this group experiences worship, including wandering off occasionally into spontaneous response. The way the worship of the other folks in the room is effectively captured and mixed in adds perfectly to the realistic feel.

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite track. “Help Me Find My Own Flame” (which actually spans tracks 4 and 5) strikes at the heart of the band’s mission. “I don’t want to ride on somebody else’s passion.” The chorus resounds “Help me find my own flame. Help me find my own fire. I want the real thing. I want your burning desire.” Despite the overused fire/desire rhyme scheme (which I have to admit penning in a song or two myself) the song is a cry for a life of genuine relationship and passion, out of which clearly flows the kind worship captured on this project.

I also love the message of the next track, “Nothing I Hold On To.” It’s a song of total surrender to God. “I lean not on my own understanding. My life is in the hands of the maker of heaven. I give it all to you God, trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me.” The track melds seamlessly into the next song, “Climb,” which furthers the statement of surrender, repeating the refrain “I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open.” Musically and dynamically the song takes an almost ten minute journey that “climbs” to a beautiful and powerful crescendo. And yet again the worship flows into “If I Give It All to You,” further extending the theme of surrender.

I could walk you through every track, but by now you get the notion that this is a wonderful and powerful worship project. It’s power is not in heavy guitar riffs, thumpy bass beats, or raucous tom fills. It’s power is in the presence of God that it fosters.

As I tweeted about “Found” I’ll simply say this: Get it. Now.

So, yeah, I’m back. Here’s why: We had snow here in Atlanta this week.

Did you make the connection? Let me explain.

Unprecedented snow and ice around here this week had me home from work four out of five days this week. In between dealing remotely with various work-related disasters, I decided it was time to spend the Itunes gift cards I received for Christmas. But on what?

I used to think of myself as slightly ahead of the curve when it came to new music, especially new worship music. I spent hours every week perusing the web, listening to new music, reading reviews, looking at webisodes and learning new songs.

Then I just got burned out on it all.

So much of what I was hearing sounded like regurgitation of countless songs that had come before. The worship music explosion, which I had heralded as an awesome trend ten years ago, suddenly seemed to become industrial. Copy the last "hot" project and put it out. Again and again. There was so little in the way of fresh sounds that I became discouraged.

I turned my attention wholeheartedly to marriage. Specifically to writing a book, a small group curriculum and a blog on marriage. That endeavor became pretty all-consuming for me. So I more or less left new worship music behind. Except for a few projects from my favorite artists, which truthfully I bought more out of support for the artists than for the music itself, I stopped buying music altogether.

So, back to my Itunes endeavor. Via Twitter, I saw a new project had been released by one of the few bands that I felt wasn’t falling into the status quo, United Pursuit. I also noticed that 100% of the sales (not profit) from “Found” was going to support Heidi Baker’s orphan ministry, Iris Ministries. Good cause to boot. I decided to give it a try and bought it on Itunes.

Wow!

Here’s a tiny teaser.



These guys have really expanded their soundscape with this project. I fell in love with it from the very first track. And it just kept getting better as I listened.

The band’s MySpace artist page explains, “United Pursuit defies today’s worship genre norms, always reaching for more.” Bingo. This project had exactly what I felt had been missing from so much of the new worship music in the past few years. It is a fresh sound, a different approach, yet it isn’t a new sound for the sake of the sound. It is totally worshipful and engaging.

Now if you are looking for a bunch of huge praise anthems to rock the house on Sunday morning this project will disappoint. Chris Tomlin this is NOT (nothing against Chris, mind you). Each track unwinds slowly, with tons of gorgeous pads punctuated by echo-laden electric guitar arpeggios. The lyrics are scant but so rich that every phrase grabs your heart. Then they leave lots of musical space for them to sink in. Very effective for a true worship experience.

A good example is the song “Call me,” one of my favorite tracks. (This is the song in the YouTube clip) In the first two minutes of the song, the only lyric is “Call me, call me out of where I been. Call me out of where I been,” sung twice. Then you are left to reflect on what that means. Not until two minutes in is another line added, ‘Take me, take me near to your heart. Take me near to your heart,” and then adds “Wake me to the river that flows, flows down from your throne. Flows down from your throne.” That’s it. Simple. Magnificent. Engaging. Worship.

So I tweeted my reaction to this project, "Get it now!"  Lisa, my daughter tweeted back, “You need to get their new live album too.” So I did.

Wow again.

Put that’s another post.