In May, 2005, one of Rob Reed’s neighbors asked him – for the third time – to play acoustic guitar on the worship team at LIFEhouse Church in Northridge, California. This may be considered a mundane fact until you consider that Rob was a secular, Jewish, thirty-something, Los Angeles, personal injury attorney whose idea of getting up early on a Sunday was getting up for the third quarter of the first televised, NFL games.
Thirsting on the idea of playing in a band for the first time in a decade, Rob finally accepted the idea of getting up at seven-in-the-morning on Sundays in order to participate in his friend's worship team.
Eleven months later, this secular Jew – already well set in his ways – had his world turned upside down by Jesus. Instantly, he began leading songs on the worship team and he ended up leading that same worship team from 2010 to 2022 - the very same team in which he was initially invited to join as a non-believer. Rob is now the worship leader at Calvary Chapel Malibu.
Rob has been married to his junior-high school sweetheart, Marie, for 30 years. They adopted a beautiful boy, at 11 days old, named A.J. who is now in high school and who brightens up every day of their lives. Marie, a devout disciple of Christ all of her life, has joined Rob on the Calvary Chapel Malibu worship team.
Rob is a personal injury attorney, in private practice, in Encino, California, but his fervent, hopeful prayer is that he and his music will be used by God to lift up current disciples of Christ and to build up and create many new ones.
Come, The Feast Is Ready| Posted November 08, 2012
In his second album, Rob Reed brings together his love of the Scriptures and the message of forgiveness of sin and new life they carry. He mixes these basic gospel ingredients into a wonderful banquet of balance between vocalist and musicians. The result? A rich meal called, "The Start of A New Life."
These songs come from the soul of one who is being transformed before our very ears, as it were, and as listeners we have the privilege of being invited into a sacred place. Just as Abram invites the three messengers to feast with him, Rob invites us to join him as guests and sit down with the living Lord and be refreshed and restored. Allow me to highlight a few of these savory offerings.
Beginning with "New Life," we are fed with honesty and hope. Next, "Overflow" stirs things together in a trinitarian reality that is a hallmark of the songwriter, Rob Reed. As you will hear in this and some other songs, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are given honor and glory, again in a balance that is rare for a Gospel artist.
Also, memorable from this album are the glimpses of apologetics, such as the David Clayton Thomas-ish (pause for Wikipedia) "I'm Alive." I guess I should say C.S. Lewis-inspired-
"He's more than a good man; much more than a prophet..."
Nowhere is Rob's missional passion more out there than with his Jewish family and friends, when, like a child at Passover, he asks important questions that inform his faith, and causes everyone else at the table to ponder, as well. "Shema Yisrael" is an unusual and thought-provoking dish to bring to this meal.
Rob gives us a genre song, his "I Write The Songs" piece, "Lyrics Of My Heart." In it, he humbly expresses what those who proclaim the good news in music and song have always known: there are rivers of notes and chords that bring the Living Water into our hearts and minds in a potent way.
In the final song, "In Jesus' Name," the banquet comes to an end. But, not before one last treat.
Rob shares a Tim McGraw/ Faith Hill- or to be more timely- a Blake Shelton/ Miranda Lambert moment with his bride, Marie, in a beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace." A fitting close to "The Start of A New Life." Can't wait to sample this meal again.
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