Review

Have you ever worshiped over at somebody's house where one or two people had guitars and maybe someone brought a conga or djembe or the like? "Enter the Worship Circle" is like having friends come over to lead worship in your living room. This album is an invitation to worship, a call to participate; it bids you be real before your God.

This project is a collaboration between "100 Portraits" and "Waterdeep". It is a collection of original songs recorded live, without overdubbing, in a big cabin by a lake in Texas. Over a three day period, this album was recorded with the players all arranged in a circle in the living room of the cabin. They wanted to be able to see each other as they played, sang and worshiped. Armed with a couple of guitars and more percussion instruments than you can name (oh, I'll try: djembe, bombo, kanjira, tabala, dumbek, dholek, tongue drum, goat toes, cookie sheet, etc.) they created an incredible atmosphere of worship. These folks came to model worship and have given us the gift of that weekend.

100 Portraits is a missions organization. Ben and Robin Pasley are fulltime music missionaries. Maybe the term "music" missionary seems incongruous. That's one reason to check this CD out.

Waterdeep has several albums out and their "Sink or Swim" release was voted by CCM readers to be the #1 unsigned album. Guitarist/singer/writer Christina Graves also has her own CD out. But you can read all this on the liner notes.

The songs are so simple and honest. They were written during times of devotion to the Lord. The lyrics are very fresh, helping us to see the Scriptures through our own very personal lenses. I come away feeling closer to the heart of David, Asaph, Paul and the other writers. The song "I Will Not Forget You" starts out with "Many men will drink the rain and turn to face the clouds; many men will hear you speak, but they will never turn around." It's such a brutally honest way of describing the human condition of pride, ignorance and false conclusions.

The music is also simple, and very playable. Listening to this album makes you want to grab your guitar or whatever you play and join in. The simple rhythms belie, however, the depth of the music. The album starts off with "Today", taken from Hebrews. It begins with one hand drum, adds another, then another, then a guitar and penny flute. The excitement just builds as they sing "Today when we hear His voice, Today we won't harden our hearts, Today we are living this choice. to fall at His feet and believe". I felt transported back in time to Palm Sunday, seeing Jesus ride in to town and truly falling at His feet and believing.

Back to the liner notes: Instead of lyrics they have written a little something from their heart about each song. The liner notes booklet itself begins with the question "How do we worship God? Worshiping God cannot be borrowed of 'faked'. Singing Christian songs with enthusiasm is not worship, and neither is bowing reverently in a chapel. True worship can never be a rehearsal of someone else's experience or tradition. We must hunger to touch God for ourselves!" And then they exhort you to "Do it!" giving instructions. At the end of the booklet they pose the question "How do we express ourselves in worship?" and follow with more instruction about writing and singing worship songs. It's in this respect that they are music missionaries. They are "making disciples" of all nations.

This CD was given to me by a friend. After just one listen I knew it would be one of my most listened to albums. It's very contemporary. not your mother's worship music. Get it today, and better yet, give it today.

Review by John Ausmus