Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

The first thing we had, of course, was the book: anyone with any knowledge of devotional Christian literature will know of Oswald Chambers' masterpiece, even if they haven't actually read it. Then we had the concept albums, with Word wheeling out the big guns on the Word/Myrrh/Reunion rosters (and borrowing one or two from their competitors, eg. Steven Curtis Chapman, Susan Ashton, Lisa Bevill); now we have the musical, created by Claire Cloninger and Gary Rhodes (no, not the TV chef with the spiky hairdo and the check trousers!), featuring some of the lesser lights of US CCM, although First Call fans will recognise Bonnie Keen and Marabeth Jordan on the castlist. I must admit I pre-judged things a little when the album arrived; by the time Bryan Duncan's 'Quiet Prayers' was released, I felt that the 'MUFHH' concept had run out of gas. Sadly, listening to the musical, I feel the same, only more so. This is Oswald Chambers meets "Come Together", the cheesy narration and inspo orchestration smacks of Broadway rather than The Narrow Way, and I'm afraid it left me pretty cold. Pity, there're some good songs in there, although how much "Shine Jesus Shine" owes to Oswald Chambers" influence only Graham Kendrick can tell us.

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