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Here in Your Presence

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Here in Your Presence

Here in Your Presence

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Dennis Jernigan has a new CD coming out soon. Here in Your Presence is his live first recording in several years and I have been listening to a pre-release copy of the project. It’s one his best albums to date. There’s not a single track I don’t want keep on replay all day.

While the physical CD won’t be available until August 31, you can download a digital version now. In fact, if you preorder a CD, they’ll give you immediate access to the digital version so you can listen to it while you wait for the actual product to arrive.

I’ll add that if you don’t follow Dennis on Twitter or Facebook, consider adding him. He’ll announce from time to time online sessions where he’ll sing and stream live right from his living room. Those are always a lot of fun.

Impacting the Kingdom Through Worship,
Greg
 

Jernigan's Here in Your Presence

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Dennis Jernigan will be releasing a new live-recorded album entitled Here in Your Presence! Live from San Antonio sometime around the end of August. I have a pre-release copy of the CD and I absolutely love it. It’s full of the redemption story of Jesus Christ and Dennis’s testimony makes it all the more powerful.

My five year old son told my wife the other day, “Mommy, I love the music we listen to in the van.” The music we’ve been listening to recently has been Here in Your Presence. He borrowed his sister’s CD player and walked around the house singing along. At the risk of sounding like I’m placing a man a pedestal, the notion of which even Dennis himself would reject, this CD is Dennis Jernigan at his best.

Be on the lookout for this CD and grab a copy the first chance you get.

Impacting the Kingdom Through Worship,
Greg’s signature
 

To Be Like Jesus

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To Be Like JesusOver the last several years, I have come to know and love the ministry of Sovereign Grace Music. The quality and theological depth of their music is a blessing to the body of Christ and Bob Kauflin has taught me as much about worship as anyone else in my ministry. [Read more...]

Sovereign Grace's Awesome God

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Awesome GodAnytime my family travels anywhere that’s more than a few minutes away from home, it’s rare that we don’t have some sort of CD playing. Sometimes these can be CDs from the PBS television show “Between the Lions.” Sometimes they’re books on CD from the local [Read more...]

Sovereign Grace's Psalms

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PsalmsSovereign Grace Ministries held their biennial worship conference, WorshipGod 08, last week at Covenant Life Church in Maryland. Themed “Rediscovering the Psalms,” the conference was a mental and spiritual feast on many levels. [Read more...]

Review of Come Weary Saints

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Come Weary SaintsOne of the traits for which I have long admired the writers at Sovereign Grace Music is their attention to theologically rich lyrics. I mentioned my appreciation for that in reviews of Valley of Vision and Savior. Sovereign Grace Music recently released their latest CD entitled Come Weary Saints [Read more...]

Pages by Shane & Shane

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Pages CD coverI missed the release of Shane & Shane’s latest album last year. I’m not really sure how that happened, but I’ve finally had an opportunity to listen to it a few times, and I’m glad to say it was worth the wait. Pages is easily my favorite Shane & Shane project to date. With solid lyrics and skilled musicianship at its core, this is a CD I can recommend without reservation. [Read more...]

Lashey and Joyner's Hymns CD

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Tim Challies recently listed a few musical groups on his blog and one in particular caught my eye. Worship leaders Ben Lashey and Chris Joyner have combined forces to create a CD entitled Hymns, on which they record, well, old hymns. The project includes twelve hymns, some of which Lashey and Joyner give new melodies. [Read more...]

A Review of Robin Mark's CD East of the River

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East of the RiverFrom the time I first heard the CD Revival in Belfast, I have enjoyed the worship recordings of Robin Mark, so I was pleased to learn of his latest release, East of the River. In many ways, this CD is not unlike his earlier recordings. It opens with an instrumental “overture” of sorts before moving into the first song. The orchestration is noticeably Irish, which I like very much. If planning worship from week to week were left to my personal tastes (thank goodness it isn’t!) we would have a lot more whistle/flute and bodhrán.1 The lyrics on this CD are unmistakably Christ-centered; you’ll find no “Jesus-is-my-girlfriend”2 songs here.

While there are similarities to some of Mark’s earlier projects, there are differences, too. This recording is a studio recording rather than a recording of a live worship event, as most of Mark’s previous projects have been. As such, East of the River lacks some of the energy of its earlier predecessors, but I’m not sure that wasn’t by design. While several songs are quite energetic (“Heaven’s Gates” and “God Arise,” for example), there seem to be more quiet, introspective selections as well, including “Arise and Shine” and “Lost and Found.” This mixture make this recording perfect for use as a personal worship tool.

A further aid to personal worship are the helpful Scripture references printed in the CD booklet ahead of the song texts. If you purchase this album from iTunes or a similar music download site, you’ll miss this feature.

The songs are easily singable and many would be accessible for congregational use. Don’t feel the pressure to emulate Mark’s sound; if you can, fine. But just because the recording sounds Irish doesn’t mean that your use of it has to. Use the resources you have.

Here’s a list of the tracks on the recording:
     »Some Place East of the River
     »Heaven’s Gates
     »Fortress
     »Arise and Shine
     »He Shall Reign (a personal favorite)
     »Tripping Up the Stairs
     »I Have Been Crucified with Christ
     »Lost and Found
     »Shepherd
     »I Am Persuaded
     »At the Dawning
     »Mary Lee
     »Highly Exalted (a personal favorite)
     »O Amazing
     »Central Station
     »God Arise

While I might prefer the earlier Revival in Belfast CDs for their live energy, in the end East of the River is a very good recording. I happily recommend it to you if you’re looking to expand your worship recording library.

Impacting the Kingdom through Worship,
Greg’s signature

  1. An ancient Irish hand drum; pronounced bow-rawn. [back]
  2. Songs that, for their lack of specificity, could be equally effective in a Christian or a secular context. Basically, that means ineffective in at least one if not both contexts. [back]

A Thursday Morning Rant

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or, “If You Sing About Being a Proverbs 31 Woman You Are Not a Proverbs 31 Woman!”

I thought the second title might be a little too long. But here’s the background. I have XM Radio in my car. I rarely listen to the Christian station called “The Message” on there.1 On the way in to the office this morning, I decided to flip over and listen for a while because every now and then they’ll play a worthy song, and I really wasn’t in the mood for classical music or news or comedy.

Jars of Clay’s “I’ll Fly Away” came on; great version of the song. Then, Candi Staton’s “Proverbs 31 Woman”2 played. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The verses of the song extol the virtues of a Proverbs 31 woman: she works until late at night, she rises early in the morning, she does all she can for her family, etc. Then, the chorus begins and continues to repeat, “I’m a Proverbs 31 woman. I’m a Proverbs 31 woman.”

Huh? By the end of the song, I was talking very firmly to the radio (as if it could do anything about the quality of material it was forced to deliver). Now, Ms. Staton may very well be a Proverbs 31 woman; I wouldn’t know. I pray she is. But the point is that others can and hopefully do recognize those traits in you, but if you tout these things about yourself, you miss the point. And believe me, I know a Proverbs 31 woman. I’m married to one.

Maybe I’m overreacting. Um, nah. There’s no excuse for passing this off as Kingdom music.

  1. Not because the music they play is bad, but because it isn’t all that great. I have other choices when it comes to Christian music, and CCM isn’t one I choose to partake of often. [back]
  2. I tried to find the lyrics but couldn’t. [back]
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