Review

Many worship CDs are filled with great worship songs. Not that many are great worship services, in their entirety. 'Encounter' is just that: it exhorts us to come and worship; it calls out the Name of Jesus and praises Him for what He’s done; it draws us to the throne of God and it releases us to go out and minister to the world.

Not that worship services need to follow any formula, but there is something to be said for a flow of worship. As many of you are worship leaders, I’m sure you will attest that you try to lead people where God wants them to go. And you have to begin with the end in mind. Even in the secular world, albums are laid out in such a way that they tell a story. If you just blindly throw one song after the next, you’d have the same songs, but not the same story.

That is why I like this album so much. I listened to it over and over and began to appreciate how it led me. It’s live worship and it feels like it. Ian White is the kind of worship leader that will call out the next line for the congregation. I tried to imagine if they had overheads with the words during the recording. But I decided that even if they did, it was still good for the worship leader to call out the beginning of the next line. That way those who had closed their eyes to worship were able to keep them closed and still sing along.

And can I just say that Ian White is an excellent songwriter! His words are so simple you think, “Why didn’t I write that?” The first song, “Worshipping the Living God” starts out: “This is the best place/ this is the right place/ and we have confidence now to enter/ Let us draw near now/ our hearts sincere now/ in full assurance to worship Jesus.” His words and melodies, throughout the album are so singable.

After the first song draws us into the courts of the temple, the second one, “Free to Live” proclaims Jesus as the one who has freed us. “Oh love that covers me/ Oh Truth that sets me free/ For I know my Saviour lives today/ There’s an empty tomb and a promise made/ That free in Him is free indeed/ I’m free, I’m free to live!” “Calm Faith” then begins a heart’s cry to the Lord. “We’re asking for calm faith/ we’re asking for burning love/ we’re asking for bright hope/ and deep compassion for souls.”

All these songs have been fairly upbeat and melodic. We (the congregation) have sung loudly and been on our feet. Now, as “The Mystery of God” begins, we settle back into our seats and as we sing “Let us bow before the mystery of God/ Let us listen, for he calls us each by name/ Let us rest here in a climate of compassion/ And let His healing begin, again”, we begin to let our hearts be opened to the touch of the Lord. We let Him begin to heal us. We actually say the words. Inviting the Lord to touch us is one of the key reasons we gather in His name. God’s glory is proclaimed not only on our lips, but in our yielded hearts and lives.

The title track of the album is next. In “Encounter” we tell the Lord how much we need Him, that we didn’t come here to mess around. We came to encounter Him. “We’re lost and alone in our weak human souls/ We’re pleading, our need is to come close and know/ An encounter with You, Our Creator God/ In Your presence we bow as we pour out our hearts/ An encounter with You/ Right here in this place/ We don’t want to leave till we know we are changed!/ An encounter with You.” That’s it, isn’t it? Why come at all if we are going to resist God?

There are five other songs that follow, all of them proclaiming God and His glory and attributes. The second to last song, “All I Know”, is the crowning song. It gives us direction after we’ve been to the mountaintop, or the throne of God. Whatever way you want to describe being in the presence of God, this song does what is necessary at this point. As with Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, we have to come down from the mountain sometime. We’d love to stay and build a tabernacle for Jesus, but we have work to do. It’s the great “so that” principle at work. We are refreshed by the presence of God so that we can go and refresh others. We are discipled by the Spirit of God so that we can disciple others. We are blessed by God so that we can be a blessing to all the nations of the world.

“Though I feel afraid of territory unknown/ I know that I can say that I do not stand alone/ For Jesus You have promised Your presence in my heart/ I cannot see the ending but it’s here that I must start/ And all I know is You have called me/ And that I will follow is all I can say/ I will go where You will send me/ And Your fire lights my way/ what lies across the waves may cause my heart to fear/ Will I survive the day, must I leave what’s known and dear? A ship that’s in the harbor is still and safe from harm/ But is was not built to be there, it was made for wind and storm.”

Those words sum up what we have been fearfully and wonderfully made to do. Not stay in a safe harbor, but go where He sends us. Ian White’s wonderful words have captured the essence of Isaiah 6. Who now can not say “Here am I, Lord, send me'?

Review by John Ausmus