Review

Followers of Jesus know desperation. Not as the world is desperate: anxious for their own kingdoms to come. But for cant get enough of it now that Ive tasted it - I wont be satisfied with anything else until I see you - and so does the rest of the world kind of desperation. It is this theme that permeates through New Life Churchs aptly titled Desperation.

From the opening power chords of Im In Love With You which proclaims with all my heart, with all I am, all I have I give to You through to the last strains of Until My Breath Runs Dry I will sing to You, until the end of time I will praise You, Lord. Until we finally meet and I live down at Your feet Youll find me seeking You this CD gives shape and color to our saved human condition. We cry out to Jesus; a cry to meet Him, to know Him, to please Him, to be His friend, and to make Him known in all the earth. I found myself not only enjoying the songs, but I was worshipping along with the thousands at the conferences that New Life Church puts on, from which these recordings were culled. And thats what I want from my worship music dollar.

This album will give you a taste of the incredible worship leading and writing of Glenn Packiam, Jared Anderson and Jon Egan. They all have roles at New Life and are the worship leaders for the Desperation conferences. I especially like this CD as instruction for worship leaders. Granted there are many different approaches, but I like the way Glenn (especially) interacts with those in attendance. He is enthusiastic without being in the way, emotional without manipulation

Over an hour of worship music, Desperation begins with five songs that have you on your feet, dancing, shouting, praising. All the songs have audio clips featured on our website, so please sample them to catch the feel. After a few listens I found myself singing Holy Praise and You Are all the time. The bridge to You Are is simple, but very catchy and can really facilitate a response during worship. It sings, Lord, I will follow You over and over before going back into the chorus of You are the reason I breathe, You are the One Im living for. Jesus, my Savior and Friend, Im giving all I am to follow You. Youve gotta check that one out!  After these five songs, culminating with the title track, Desperation, the album slows down a bit. The theme that is so strong here is friendship with God. As I listened to the songs Far Better and Friend I remembered Jesus words that there was no better friend than one who lays his life down for another. The revelation that accompanied that was how we tend to look at those words as describing a martyr; one who takes a bullet for Jesus. And it hit me that far more difficult than physically dying for Christ is living for Christ and dying to our own self-centered passions. These songs beautifully proclaim a desire to be that kind of friend. May it be so.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this album was the flow from song to song. Not just musically, but lyrically. It seemed that as each song ended, the next song, often penned by someone else, picked up exactly where the last one left off. This can be attributed to producer Dave Perkins, and it really facilitates a position of worship for the listener.

Who buys this album? Well, Ill tell you, Id play any one of these songs at church, or in a small group. Theyre very accessible and uncomplicated, yet powerful. So, if you are looking for new songs for your church get this album. If you want personal worship music that can be compared to Passion or Vineyard, this is for you. The worship leaders on this album are all young, but I will say that this album will appeal to a broad spectrum of worshippers. It has a timeless quality and will be one of those that you just keep going back to the CD rack at home and finding and putting on, month after month and year after year.

Review by John Ausmus