Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

A mix of country/Southern gospel-tinged pop and Scripture readings from the NIV from John and Debbie Phillips, who front up Life Choices, a mission organisation based in Ohio State, USA, that takes the Gospel into public schools across the States. Thankfully free from the cheesy banalities and false bonhomie that sadly is a by-word for Southern gospel and country music these days, this CD is rather good (apart from "Pray For America", a five minute patriotic opus which doesn’t really have any relevance this side of the pond); Debbie’s voice is good and strong, and the songwriting (nearly all of which is their own work) is straightforward and directly worshipful, and well produced. The two Scripture readings can be programmed out or skipped over, and the final track, a 35 second snippet of "Jesus Loves Me", sung in a very cutesy off-key fashion by one of John and Debbie’s kids, can likewise be ignored; I’m not sure why they were included in the first place, but I quibble. Without them, we’d still have 12 tracks of good quality material, so this CD could be worth investigating.

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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