Review

A lot of Christian Pop and Rock artists are jumping on the "Youth Worship" bandwagon lately. While it's exciting that worshipping God is now considered "trendy", rest assured that Third Day are not newcomers to this thing called worship. Anyone who has ever attended a concert by Third Day has experienced this band's passion for all-out Praise and Worship. It's something that drives the individual members and fuels their passion for all that they do.

"Offerings" is a collection of previously recorded worship songs that have appeared on various other Third Day recordings, some captured during blistering live performances, others culled from in-studio worship jams that never made it to disc until now. If you're new to this band's music, try to imagine if Delirious had been formed by five lads who grew up in the Atlanta, Georgia countryside instead of jolly old England and throw in a dash of The Wallflowers and you'll be pretty close to the unique soulful rock sound of Third Day.

This young band delivers a CD of such fantastic worship songs that anyone searching to complete their Gen X Worship collection simply MUST pick up this CD. I would especially recommend those who are not familiar with Third Day's previous releases. The energy, passion and verve flowing from each song on "Offerings" is guaranteed to get anyone's hands in the air and voices singing along.

The opening cut kicks things off by asking "Who is this King of angels, or blessed Prince of Peace?/ Revealing things of Heaven and all its mysteries/My spirit's ever longing for His grace in which to stand/ Who is this King of Glory, Son of God and son of man/ His name is Jesus, precious Jesus/ The Lord Almighty, the King of my heart/ the King of Glory" (from King Of Glory).

The impact of hearing this band break loose into full blown, down-home rock and roll worship is both intoxicating and refreshing to experience. This is not an album created by a group of marketing directors huddled around the table while comparing demographics and working up the press releases. This is an album birthed by five young men who love Jesus and have a desire that everyone, young or old, rich or poor, has the opportunity to worship God with an open heart and a joyful noise.

While this CD will appeal to fans of Sonic Flood and Delirious, the music here abandons the spit and polish of these bands in favor of the raw and raucous honesty of a three-chord rock and roll freight train bound for the glory of God.

On "My Hope Is You" vocalist/songwriter Mac Powell sings "To You, O Lord, I lift my soul/ In You, O God, I place my trust/ Do not let me be put to shame/ Nor let my enemies triumph over me/ My hope is You/ Show me Your ways/ Guide me in truth/ In all my days/ My is you" and the live audience responds with the refrain "My hope is You!", making good on an earlier promise that the band is here to "have some Church".

Third Day may be following a current trend in the music marketplace, but by all means, may their tribe increase! Third Day's "Offerings" is one of those CD's that will stay in your CD player for days at a time. Highly recommended.

Review by Keith Giles