Reviewed by Simon Eden

With 20 years of album releases behind him including two live worship albums recorded in Jerusalem, Paul Wilbur has built up to this extravagance. Opening up with the blasting of a shofar (Jewish ram's horn) and the declaration "The LORD - He is God," Paul launches into song with his mature, slightly gruff voice. With a track listing including Paul Baloche's "Praise Adonai" and Robin Mark's "Days Of Elijah", the Messianic approach is integrated with a very American big church style. Recorded live in Jacksonville, Florida, this is full of stereotypical Jewish rhythms mixed with Hebraic words and numerous references to Israel, Jehovah and El Shaddai are combined with a gospel choir and live auditorium sing-alongs. Given that the performance was so theatric the CD version of this project falls rather flat and it is the visually impacting DVD version which creates the most impact. Having said that, a highlight here is the guest performance by Sharon Wilbur who has her own contemporary Messianic release.

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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