Beating Time
FACE DOWN (CD)
By Matt Redman
http://www.survivor.co.uk
£14.99
I went looking for this one, but I really only bought it because Wesley Owen had stuck a big red ‘£5 OFF’ sticker on it. After my last couple of reviews I desperately needed to find an album I could write something positive about. This one fits the bill (although not without reservations).
Your blood speaks a better word
Than all the empty claims I’ve heard upon this earth
Speaks righteousness for me
And stands in my defense
Jesus, it’s your blood
What can wash away our sins?
What can make us whole again?
Nothing but the blood
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can wash us pure as snow
Welcomed as the friends of God?
Nothing but your blood
Nothing but your blood, King Jesus
Yes, that does it for me. It’s a song loaded with doctrine and application. But I particularly like the way it moves from personal reflection to ‘speaking to one another’ to a corporate response of praise. It is this which makes it far more useful than the original hymn by Robert Lowry (1876) which inspired the chorus.
Matt Redman obviously understands Ephesians 5.19-20 and Colossians 3.16. Unlike so many contemporary writers he uses a lot of ‘us’, ‘we’ and ‘our’ words — this album is full of them. As such, one might expect to find many songs that would be useful for congregational singing? Well yes, but only if you have a rock band leading your singing!
Any Keith Getty tune is easily taught from the piano (without the aid of a lead singer) because it is guaranteed to have an interesting melody and a simple rhythmic structure. Redman, on the other hand, uses very few notes but puts them together in a rather random and syncopated manner. This is not a bad thing per se, but it does limit the usefulness of his work for more general congregational singing.
But if you like your music loud and guitar-based, you will probably enjoy this album. And if you keep your ears open, you will generally be edified. Redman doesn’t write as many words as Townend, so expect quite a lot of repetition. Sometimes this gets a bit much, but often it helps to drum the message in.
Just take care over what messages are drummed in. You have a head — use it! Sometimes you may wonder quite where he is coming from:
No one can sing of things they have not seen
God, open our eyes towards a greater glimpse ...
Worship starts with seeing you
Our hearts respond to your revelation.
Is he talking about our response to the Word, or something else? I’m not sure, so I must conclude that it doesn’t matter as far as this song is concerned. However, I’m going to have to leave the final track ‘If I Have Not Love’ because Corinthians 13 is not ‘a love song to Jesus’ but an admonition for his body, the church. The penultimate track, ‘Mission’s Flame’, would have rounded the album off more adequately, and has more than a hint of John Piper’s ‘Let The Nations Be Glad’ about it:
Let worship be the fuel for mission’s flame...
You should be the praise of every tongue...
But until the fullness of your kingdom comes...
Send us out.
