Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

This is Marvin's seventh album and was recorded live in January 2007 at Resurrection Life Church, Grandville, Michigan. For those who don't know, Marvin sang with Commissioned for six years in the first half on the 1990s, went solo in 1996 and then formed a church in 2003 of which he is the pastor. I get the impression that music features quite heavily at Marvin's church, but in his own words, "I always tell people that I'm not a singer that happens to preach, but a preacher that happens to sing, because singing is a gifting while preaching is a calling." Marvin has a powerful and versatile voice and this selection of songs suits Marvin's voice well, demonstrating quiet soulfulness as well as soaring power. The production is strong, there are a lot of musicians and singers involved and the musicianship is very slick and tight, but they still manage to sound passionate and involved, not rigid. The intention of the album is that this is a worshipful experience, not merely a concert (Marvin states between two songs "This ain't just no concert - you're supposed to come here and experience God.") and was recorded at a difficult time of bereavement in Marvin's life. The songs chosen (almost all written by others) are obviously very personal and focus around praise, desire for more of God and thankfulness for what he has done in our lives. A lyric I like in particular is "Praise Him In Advance", a song about confounding the enemy by praising God through times of trial rather than waiting for blessing first. One weakness of the disc is that there are three up-tempo tracks to begin with and then the rest are all ballads - this seems unbalanced and one does get a bit of ballad-fatigue when listening in one sitting. Another, in my humble opinion, is that with songs stretching up to eight and a half minutes in length with all the repetitions some are just too long for CD. But that's gospel for you.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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