Newfrontiers - Praise Is Rising CD

There seem to be so many Christian CDs nowadays with live worship on, especially in the UK (where I am) - all the big Christian events release at least 1 live album per year - Soul Survivor, Spring Harvest, New Wine etc etc.

After a while you get a bit overloaded with them all, especially as many of the songs, and even the worship leaders, can be the same on different CDs. You get that "deja-vu" feeling, you know?

I'm pleased to say that the CD "Praise Is Rising" from the Newfrontiers group of churches seems to me to stand out from the crowd. The event in question is the Together On A Mission 2006 with Mobilise conference, where over 4000 people gathered from 54 nations in Brighton, UK. The band is good, featuring most of the crowd from Church of Christ the King in Brighton - Stuart Townend, Kate Simmonds, Lou Fellingham and Evan Rogers, the songs are excellent, and the crowd seem to be excited and full of worship for Him.

Some new but already familiar songs are there - Matt Redman's "Even Though I Walk (You Never Let Go)", a haunting version of Paul Oakley's "You Have Loved Me (Father Me)" and a rip-rocking version of "You Are So Good To Me (Shout To The Roof)" , again written by Paul Oakley. The title track "Praise Is Rising (Hosanna)" is a strong track, which will certainly be heard in major events around the UK over the next year or two.

On the whole, a highly recommended album which is a good snapshot of UK live Praise and Worship in 2006/2007.

You can buy this album here Praise Is Rising CD - Newfrontiers

Frank Peretti

I can't drag myself away from reading Frank Peretti's "This Present Darkness". I read another of his books "The Visitation" a couple of years ago, and thought it was quite a gripping read. Then I happened to see a copy of "This Present Darkness" lying around when I was "between books" so I decided to give it a go.

Wow! It's as "can't put me down" as any Harry Potter book! The story is one of big corporation guys infiltrating a town and gradually taking over the whole place - police, judges, retailers, colleges, churches even. The thing is, these guys are demon-possessed and the takeover marks the start of an epic battle between the Angels, backed by prayer warriors from one small church, and the demons themselves. It's well written, with plenty of twists and turns, and builds to a fantastic climax.

If you haven't read any Peretti, why not give him a try? Millions of people worldwide already have!

This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

The Visitation by Frank Peretti

Out Of The Ashes

Wow! As the owner of a Christian music website based in the UK, I get a few sample CDs sent to me from time to time. Mostly these are from people who have not got a record deal and who are looking for independent distribution. It's good to help these folk out a little by offering their CD online, and bringing it to a wider audience.

The other day I received one such CD from a church called The Hope Centre in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, UK. I popped it in the car CD player as I was just going on a long drive to a business meeting.

The first couple of tracks seemed nice enough; nothing amazing, just pleasant. A bit like Hillsongs, I thought, without quite so much smooth production work.

About track 6 I started to take an interest in what I was hearing. There was a sort of mantra going on in the song, something like "I will never be alone, will never be afraid, will never be without you"....it was almost on one note, slightly hypnotic, and it was building and building and ......suddenly I was starting to get into it.

The next few tracks were good, but I didn't get the same "goose bumpy" feeling again until track 11, the title track "Out Of The Ashes". Now this is one of those tracks that doesn't need several listens to grow on you...it was there, straight away. A great song, good melody, strong lyric "It only takes a little faith...".

So I hit the back track button and listened to the whole CD from track 1.

By the third play I had 3 songs that were on my "excellent" list.

By about the 6th play I had 6 songs that were on my "exellent" list.

Now, after a week or so, I can't get enough of this CD! It's one of the best worship albums I've heard in the last 12 months. And it's British! Hallelujah!

All credit to the guys at The Hope Centre for bringing out a CD that holds its own against the likes of Hillsong, Vineyard and Abundant Life. Recommended - highly!

Read more about it here:

Out Of The Ashes CD - The Hope Centre

Andy

God On The Beach - Part 2

Well, I finished the book, and I would highly recommend it to everybody.

Nothing spectacular happens in this book - which may come as a shock to some (it did to me)......you know how every Christian book you pick up seems to come with stories of amazing conversions, amazing healings, amazing blessings......and after you've read a few hundred of them, you start to get a bit jaded?

Michael Volland's book is refreshing in that respect. He's an ordinary guy, he's from the UK, not America (sorry to all my American friends - no offence!), and God works slowly in him from the beginning to the end of this book - and somehow that gives me hope, because God seems to work in this unhurried, unspectacular way in my life too...so I can relate more to Michael than I can to some evangelist who flies to Africa, wins several thousand souls, heals a raft of terminal illnesses, and is home in time for tea.

If you are an ordinary Christian living in the UK right now, and you want to try and understand more about how God can use you to come alongside people that you meet (especially young people)......you should read this book. God On The Beach. Period.

God On The Beach

I'm just reading "God On The Beach" by Michael Volland. So far, I like what I've read. Why? Because Michael seems pretty much like me, and I'm guessing he's probably very much like a lot of other Christians who are carrying around a huge bag of problems with insecurity and reluctance to "go and tell the people".
Michael signed up for an on-the-beach evangelism mission in Newquay, Cornwall, UK - and admits that the main reason was to get some good surfing in! He hope that he'd be able to fade into the background so that he could enjoy his time there and let others do all the evangelising. But God had other plans!
I'll post some more thoughts when I've reached the end of the book. Which won't be long, because I can't wait to get back to reading it each evening.....

More info about "God On The Beach" by Michael Volland here

Gary Oates - Open My Eyes, Lord

I have just finished reading this book - OPEN MY EYES LORD is an amazing book from an American pastor, Gary Oates. It tells of how he had an experience, quite late on in his life, which revolutionised his spiritual life. Since then he has been able to see Angels and has witnessed many miraculous healings. Whether you think all this signs and wonders stuff is on the level or not, this is one book you should read, if only to try and understand more about it. Oates certanly comes across as a completely level headed, family man with no hint of pretence or exaggeration about him.


More about OPEN MY EYES LORD by GARY OATES:

Disappointment With God

No, I'm not about to let off a big tirade of Disappointment with God, despite the title of this post. I spotted Philip Yancey's book "Disappointment with God"on the shelves and decided it would be worth a read, for 2 main reasons:

1. We've all experienced a sense of disappointment with Him at some point in our lives
2. I find that I can read Yancey's books easily - ever since reading "Soul Survivor" a couple of years ago, I've admired his ability to put things across in a way that is engaging and easy to follow.

Anyway, I've been reading Disappointment with God for a week or so, and I suppose I'm a third of the way through it. The biggest thing that struck me so far is the concept of an Old Testament God who is disappointed with us (or....in particular the Israelites), to such an extent that He is weeping for the broken relationship that He so lovingly created in the garden. I'd always cleanly divided God into two easy-to-digest parts: an Old Testament God who was all powerful, vengeful and ready to inflict destruction on the people when they had strayed too far from His rules; and a New Testament God who loved the world so much that He was prepared to give His only Son, Jesus to attone for our sins. The idea of an Old Testament God who could be hurt, who could feel like a saddened parent, who tries all sorts of ways to communicate with their child....this face of God never occured to me. Now I want to read the Old Testament again and find all the places where this new God, this God I never considered, can be found.

Anyway, these two books can be found here:

Disappointment With God - Philip Yancey
Soul Survivor - Philip Yancey

Blessings,
Andy