Matt Redman - Inside Out Worship

Reviewed by Mark Lawrence

In the 21st century, worship has become a marketable commodity. It is something we can package up and sell on to churches and Christians all over the world. A browse in any Christian bookshop will reveal a huge selection of CDs containing "worship" songs and an equal amount of books expounding what worship is and how to do it. So with an already seemingly saturated market what, if anything, does this book have to offer that makes it stand out? Well to start with this is not just a book containing one author's musings; rather it is a collection of articles taken from the heartofworship.com website written by some of the best known worship leaders and pastors today, such as Tim Hughes, Darlene Zschech and Louie Giglio. The articles themselves are broken down into four areas which include a look at the Psalms, foundational theology and practical application. A lot of ground is covered with sections on worship and the poor, worship and the word, worship and community and songwriting among many others. If you are familiar with the Soul Survivor/Vineyard/Hillsongs style and teaching on worship then there is nothing here that is particularly new or ground-breaking, although there is an interesting exploration of lament in congregational worship, and due to there being so much crammed into a short(ish) book there isn't a lot of depth and unpacking of specific issues. There is however a good balance between providing an insight into what worship really is, and, providing a practical framework and pointers for putting them into practice. If you are a worship leader, musician or just passionate to go deeper with God and you don't own any other books on worship then this would be a great starting point. If, however, your bookshelf is as saturated with books on worship as mine are then this really doesn't add anything new.