I’m one of JJ’s newer fans and both Painted Red and When I'm With You have been in heavy rotation for me since they released. Naturally I’ve been interested in hearing her back catalog which blew me away once I heard how “Love Me” was re-recorded as “What Love Really Means.” This album displays JJ’s signature acoustic folk music style that paved the way for her current success, which is well-deserved. Opening track “I Get To Be The One” is the perfect opener for Deeper and is JJ’s song written to her second baby daughter Nora (born September 2, 2011), just like “When I’m With You” was written to her first baby daughter Lucy. Interestingly, both girls’ names are references to light. Lucy means “bringer of light.” Nora means “light.” The song is the perfect anthem for parents who are trying to put into words their gratitude for the gift of parenthood. It has a catchy melody and reflects how I feel as a father of three little girls myself. I love when JJ sincerely sings the chorus, “I get to be the one to hold your hand, I get to be the one, through birthdays and broken bones, I’ll be there to watch you grow, I get to be the one.” JJ has admitted that she struggled with anxiety issues in the past and parenthood has really shown her how the love she has for her daughters is selfless. Although this is a sweet and loving song from a mother or father to a child, it is also a profound picture of how God feels about us as His children. Children also love us unconditionally and God wants us to be a picture of His love back to them. Remember that God loves you and there is nothing that we can do to make Him love us more.

This album is a great reflection of that “light” we are all commanded to shine as Christians ‘like a city on a hill’ from Matthew 5. Some great examples are found in the acoustic recordings of “Control,” “No Fight Left” and “Kingdom Come” also found on When I’m With You. These recordings truly allow you to focus in on the strong lyrics and worship along with JJ especially during the emotional song “Control” which includes the extremely moving description of someone seeking perfection and is a cutter who ultimately finds redemption in the “hope living in the blood that was spilled for me.”  I started sobbing the first time I heard the emotional bridge of the song, it’s that moving and beautiful.  The themes of redemption and relationship continue strongly with the rest of the new songs “In The End,” “Someday” and “Red Against Your Black” which are all arguably the most spiritually focused songs on the album and I love them all. “In The End” comes right from Ecclesiastes with JJ and Dave echoing Solomon’s sentiment, “nothing really satisfies, in the end…you cannot buy peace of mind, there’s nothing new under the sky build your kingdom all your life and say goodbye…in the end.” “Someday” includes JJ tenderly praying “someday, I don’t know when, you will live in peace, may you see redemption, on this side of Heaven, my friend.” A song I keep playing is “Red Against Your Black” which is from the perspective of Jesus forgiving us of our sins: “When you run away, I will bring you back, My Love for you is a Red against your black.” Amen to that! Our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus and all of these songs reflect the joy that JJ Heller has in Christ, including her ‘relationship’ songs “The Very Thought Of You,” “Sunshine” and “Boat Song.” The album closes prayerfully and hopefully in the gorgeous song “Kingdom Come” with the stirring lyrics “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, all will be made new.”



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This is yet another one of those “gourmet” albums that only comes along when JJ Heller puts out a new album. We are super fortunate to have JJ and David Heller release another stellar album while we’re still savoring When I’m With You.  I have to fight back tears while listening to several of the songs, especially the odes to JJ’s daughters—“I Get To Be The One” and “When I’m With You.” The acoustic recordings of JJ’s worshipful songs “Control,”  “In The End,” “No Fight Left,” “Someday,”“Red Against Your Black” and “Kingdom Come” are not to be missed.  This is easily the most authentic album of the year. If you like singer-songwriters like Audrey Assad, Sara Groves, Brooke Fraser and Sandra McCracken, then you must pick up Deeper by JJ Heller.

“This Is The Day” and “All I Want Is You” are mid-tempo pop/rock songs that express Phil’s reflections and Christian worldview. “All I Want Is You” is filled with Phil’s sincere yearning, “we all want something more, there’s something more, we’re searching for. You’re so much more, You, All I ever wanted, All I ever needed…All I want is You.” “God Of Our Salvation” would fit on any Hillsong UNITED album. It includes the theological truth, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, You are the God of our salvation, You have conquered, You have risen, You are the God of our Salvation.” It takes until track eight, “Sun & Moon” to hear my favorite musical style by Phil Wickham, an acoustic guitar based worship ballad. It has a similar feel to “The Light Has Come” and “You’re Beautiful” and is my favorite song on the album. The song has Phil’s signature vocal break as he prayerfully belts out “God, I want to feel You now, God I need a miracle, take my heart, make it glow, shine Your light from the inside out. You are the Sun, I want to be the moon, I want to be more like You.” “This Love Will Last,” “All I Am” and “The Victory” close out this very relaxing, sometimes mellow album. For me, there aren’t the big emotional moments that I experienced with “True Love,” “Cielo” and “Heaven Song” from the last two albums and overall it reminds me much more of Phil’s debut self-titled album with many of the songs having that more laid-back style.

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Phil Wickham’s enthusiastic and reverent style of writing and singing praise and worship songs has consistently been a draw for me. Wickham’s prayerful sentiments are consistently filled with his personal adoration of God. Response is no exception. Several of these songs should be added to your Sunday morning worship set, especially “Heaven Fall Down,” “One God,” “At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh) and the gorgeous ballads “Sun & Moon and “The Victory.”

One Song At A Time is one of my most anticipated full length albums of the year. On the heels of Jamie’s massive number one hit song “Hold Me” featuring TobyMac from Jamie’s Hold Me EP, I didn’t know how she could possibly follow-up on that type of introduction as an artist. It was well worth the wait, and this is not only one of the best debut albums I’ve heard, it’s also one of the top albums of the year. To call Jamie the next big thing in Christian music may be an understatement. Just like her mentor TobyMac, her album is accessible well beyond just the Christian music market. This year has seen a remarkable amount of female artists dominate in all music markets. From Colbie Caillat, Adele, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga to Laura Story, Francesca Battistelli, Mandisa and Natalie Grant, you can add Jamie Grace to that impressive list.  I love the joyfulness of “Hold Me.” My youngest daughter Bethany just turned 5 years old and she sings “I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me” when she’s walking around in the grocery store. I’m really moved by the lyrics, “Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down, That's when Your smile comes around.” As God’s children, it brings me such comfort to think of Him smiling down on us. “With You” and “1945” are great examples of the many autobiographical, comforting and catchy songs on the album which is chock-full of hits, including the follow-up single “You Lead.”

One of Jamie’s strengths in addition to her soothing and strong vocals are her infectious and engaging lyrics. “You Lead” is a great follow-up to “Hold Me” with the electronic pop arrangement by producer Chris Stevens, and the prayerful and sincere chorus “You lead, I’ll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow, Your grip, Your grace, You know the way, You guide me tenderly, When You lead, I’ll follow, Just light the way and I’ll go, ‘cause I know what You got for me is more than I can see, so lead me on.”  She further demonstrates her commitment in the lyrics: “And I…know my God is still God and You got my back.” Jamie is truly a “God Girl” and is a wonderful role model for any age girl. Being a father of three young daughters, I heartily recommend Jamie’s songs and her ministry GraceTalk where she conducts Bible studies and talks about her unashamed commitment to Jesus. She wrote my favorite lyrics on the album in “God Girl,”—“And when my ears start hearin’ what people say, Hurry up find love ‘cause times tickin’ away, well I’m not bein’ lazy, I'm just waiting for, still waiting for the right boy, ‘cause I only want to listen to Your voice, so I’ll be listenin’, always listenin’ to You everyday.” Amen to that! With our societal pressures to date and lose our innocence, it’s so refreshing to hear a godly girl proclaim that she’s in love with our Savior. The song connects to the biblical Truth found in Song of Solomon 2:7 (MSG): “Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you're ready.” That’s what Jamie’s all about, loving God with all of her heart, expressed in one catchy song after another. “Show Jesus” and “Come To Me” are also upbeat, catchy and filled with biblical Truth. I am a ballad guy, and I am excited that Jamie delivers two of her strongest songs as prayerful ballads, “Holding On” and the gorgeous closer, “Not Alone.” These are both piano based songs with Jamie revealing her heart. I can’t help but get emotional listening to Jamie yearning, “His arms are holding you, His love will see you through, When you try not to cry but to take it, All the stress, and the hurt and heartache, You may feel pain, But not as great as His name, You're not alone, No you're not alone.” God loves you so much. Lean on Him and He’ll give you strength. These songs are all for God’s glory. To You be all the glory. “Lord, I love the way You hold me.” Amen!

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Lord thank You for amazing Christian music artists like Jamie Grace who love You and want to glorify Your Name through their songs. Thank You for giving Jamie the gift of song-writing and singing so that she can give her offerings of praise and worship back to You, One Song At A Time.  This great debut album not only assures Jamie Grace of a Best New Artist nomination, it could even win her the award. 

The project was built on the foundation of Zondervan’s Bible, The Story  along with Max Lucado’s God’s Story Your Story and Randy Frazee’s The Heart of the Story. Nordeman immersed herself in those books and wrote these songs that all poignantly address the key characteristics of their personalities. Bernie Herms wrote music to match the lyrics and each song is work of art. “Who But You” features Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall (Abraham) and Megan Garrett (Sarah) portraying the faithfulness of expectant parents who need to fully rely on God to deliver their promised child Isaac and I get welled up as I worship along with them, “I see a star, You see a galaxy as just one way that these arms will not stay empty…Who but You would ever choose to dream Your dream in me?, Tell me who but You would dare me to believe what I can’t see, who but You?” It has a Casting Crowns musical vibe, including gorgeous strings, and it fits perfectly into their catalog of prayerful songs. The Story of redemption is that God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and He longs for our faithfulness despite our failures. Abraham and Sarah are listed in the “Hall of Faith” in  Hebrews 11:13—“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” Amen. That’s our call as Christians today, ‘to walk by faith and not by sight’ and remember that we weren’t made for this world. Another song that reflects that faithfulness is the ultra-catchy “Bring Us Home” featuring Michael Tait from Newsboys bringing his signature powerful vocals as Joshua, backed up by Group 1 Crew’s Blanca Callahan and a stellar rap vocal by Lecrae portraying the  Truth of Hebrews 11:30—“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.” The song tingles my spine and I get goose bumps when these three ultra-talented vocalists blend together. “I’m With You” literally wrecks me as two of Christian music’s most respected female vocalists Nichole Nordeman and Amy Grant blend harmoniously a beautiful depiction of faithfulness with stirring lyrics right from Ruth 1:16—“But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

Some other moments that stop me in my tracks are found in three more of my favorite biblical characters, David, Mary and Paul, all flawlessly depicted lyrically and musically how I hear these passages in my head when I read them in the Bible. Chris Tomlin knocks it out of the park vocally with my favorite song he’s ever sung, “Your Heart,” where as David he pleadingly prays, “At the end of the day, I want to hear people say that my heart looks like Your heart.” That is the cry of my heart as well and tears stream down my face when I listen to the song. Disc two switches to the New Testament and opens with Francesca Battistelli singing “Be Born In Me” as she sings my new favorite depiction of “The Magnificat” especially from Luke: 1-48—“For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” My favorite lyrics are when Francesca tenderly sings “I’ll hold You in the beginning, You’ll hold me in the end, every moment in the middle make my heart Your Bethlehem, be born in me.” I’ve always pictured Paul as a rugged guy, and one of the catchiest tracks on the album is Jeremy Camp belting out “Move In Me” as Paul on the move fittingly with a rock anthem song and a prayerful depiction of my favorite Bible hero submitting to Jesus, “I’m knocking down doors, You’re keeping the keys, Maybe they’ll open, maybe they’re not for me, I’m setting my sails, You ready the seas, I won’t make a move until You move in me.” Amen to that! Every song challenges and moves me and strengthens my faith, reminding me to cling to the Truth of  Hebrews 12:1-2— “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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Music Inspired by The Story is stunning, prayerful and a perfect devotional companion for anyone who wants to grow closer to God by immersing themselves through music into the lives of biblical characters. It’s been said that people remember songs longer than they remember sermons, and as a music fanatic who loves The Bible, this is a marriage made in heaven for me. You can’t help but want to know God more deeply after this worshipful experience. Just like we were introduced to Nichole Nordeman passionately  singing the words of Philippians 3:8-11—“I really want to know You,” sit back, lie facedown on the floor, raise your hands, close your eyes and allow these songs to penetrate your soul. This is the most inspiring and emotionally stirring collection of songs I’ve ever heard. There’s something for everyone: Chris Tomlin, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, Mandisa, Francesca Battistelli,  Lecrae and eighteen other artists all  brilliantly bring us to the throne room by passionately performing these eighteen soul-piercing songs perfectly orchestrated by Nichole Nordeman and Bernie Herms.  This is a five star compilation that needs to be heard and experienced until He comes back. God inhabits the praises of His people and as I immerse myself in these songs, I can imagine Him smiling down and saying ‘well done good and faithful servant.’

I love both of the first two albums, and it's now been over three years since Wonder of the World. From my first listen, I knew something was slightly different from the previous albums which were both produced in Nashville. This album was produced in Alabama by a mainstream music producer. It has a cohesive theme and is loaded with surefire hit songs. Don't miss out on “Come Find Me” which features an infectious melody and Weezer-like guitar riff similar to their recent hits “Memories” and “Brave New World” however unlike Weezer, this song features the edifying and transparent lyrics, “You're calling the sheep gone astray, I pray you'll leave the ninety-nine, to come find me, in a world that can't seem to find what it needs, give me faith in the place that my eyes just can't see.” “A Civil War” is a standout song which highlight's Willis' vocal range, as he belts out the emotional chorus brimming with hope, “It's time to bow out of this race, about time for me to be in last place, I got myself in a civil war, it's time to fight for...fight for..what's worth fighting for.” Wes WIllis is a charasmatic frontman and channels for me the emotion and sincerity of singers like Chris Martin (Coldplay), J.R. Richards (Dishwalla) and Jon Foreman (Switchfoot). “Won't Say Goodbye” is easily the most rocking song by this great band and is yet another highlight both with the hooky, driving rock beat and the yearning lyrics “I won't say goodbye, tonight, cause I don't wanna leave until my dreams collide with life, I'm still fighting, even though I'm barely breathing, I can feel my heart still beating, I'm holding on tonight.” Those tracks alone are worth the price of the album, yet they bring even more stirring songs in the second half.

Hit song “Grace Found Me” ties all of the songs together and is based on James 1:2-4: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” God has called Christians to become mature and complete, as first fruits of all He created. This is so high a calling and so valuable an attainment that we may consider even trials along the way pure joy. Amen to that! A refreshing change of pace comes in the standout song “No Other Love” which I find myself singing throughout the day with it's back-porch style tempo and kazoo part. It's a pure worship song, “No other Love looks beyond the things that I have done and I'm not proud of, No other Love lifts me up and holds me in It's arms, and lives within my heart...my soul faints in You, Jesus, my soul lives in You, my soul longs for You, Jesus, my soul lives for You.” That sentiment is the cry of my heart as well and I hang on every note of this fantastic song.



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Complete confidence in and reliance upon the grace of God is the theme of this incredible new album. Every song on the new album has a similar sentiment of praise and worship to our Savior set to catchy melodies and sung with emotion by Wes Willis. Welcome back Rush of Fools, this is a great return from one of my favorite bands. We Once Were is an emotionally stirring rock album and is loaded with great songs, especially “Come Find Me,” “A Civil War,” “Won't Say Goodbye,” “No Other Love” and hit single “Grace Found Me.” I rate this album highly for fans of alternative rock bands like Jimmy Eat World, Weezer, Abandon and Switchfoot. This is the best overall album by Rush of Fools and is one of my top albums of the year.

“Beautiful Thing” is the best opening track of any album this year, rivaling “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele as an opener that sets the pace for an album. It has that same rollicking tempo and provides insight into Heather’s mindset and submission to God as a believer, especially in the hooky chorus where Heather emotionally cries out to God, “Can You take all that I am and make this broken mess a beautiful thing? Every jagged piece, can You fix me, please? Fix me, fix me, I wanna be a beautiful thing." She clearly loves our Lord and Savior Jesus with all of her heart and wants to celebrate that fact with every song. In her great new song “God Is Still God,” Williams belts out, "We've all been lost and we've all been hurt, where our hope is thin and our faith don't work, but nothing lasts forever, the only thing that matters is God is still God and He holds it together, so hang on now." I sing that line along with Heather's gorgeous and powerful voice at the top of my lungs and I find it so uplifting in this troubling time where the earth is groaning, the economy is failing and the only thing that matters is God is still God. Amen to that! I’ve been enjoying the powerful and moving ballad “Hallelujah” for the past year and from the moment I first heard the song, I’ve been impressed by Heather’s strong vocals. Once I learned about her upbringing and that she wrote the song in response to her family tragedy after losing her six month old baby boy, I hear an even deeper yearning for God in the song and throughout this incredible album. Those three opening tracks are the strongest of any album I’ve heard this year.

As if the beginning of the album isn’t impressive enough, Heather takes it up a notch musically with the middle tracks, especially “Take It From You” and “This Time Around.” I’ll admit that although I’m normally drawn to the Brit-pop, alternative rock and singer-songwriter genres, these two ultra-catchy dance-pop songs have won me over to that musical style, mostly due to the personal lyrics. The mainstream music charts have been dominated by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and others who make the subject matter of their songs as edgy as possible to draw in listeners. Unfortunately as a father of three young daughters who love dance-pop style music, there haven’t been many edifying songs I can offer as wholesome alternatives to those artists, until now. I literally dance in my chair, my car, or while I’m walking around when I play these incredible songs. Electronic pop music has made a big mark on the music scene and Heather brings a vocal sincerity to these ultra-catchy pop songs which could easily be featured in mainstream music alongside those top-selling mainstream artists. “Take It From You” features Heather passionately singing from God’s perspective these profound lyrics—“Bring Me your shame, bring Me your worry, I’ll take it from you, give Me your doubt, give Me your hurting, I’ll take it from you, I died a death I don’t deserve, to give you life in return, when you’ve done all that you can do, I’ll take it from you.” Title track “This Time Around” is a perfect pop song. I hang on every note of Heather’s compelling personal story—“Love is so much better than it’s been before, My heart’s been shattered pieces on the floor, on the floor, You give me one more reason and I am finally breathing out love is better this time around.” This song challenges listeners to drop the masks we all wear to try to cover up our insecurities and lay them at the feet of Jesus. Heather clearly understands the Truth of the Gospel from Luke 7:47: “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” That’s the theme of this album. Amen.

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Heather Williams has the greatest voice I've heard this year, her vocals are so strong and pure. Musically and lyrically, her album This Time Around is brilliant. Look out GMA Dove Awards, a great new artist, female vocalist and stellar pop/contemporary album is on the way. Heather Williams is my choice as "the voice" in Christian music. This album is a 5 star work of art that brings me closer to God.

The Reckoning has been my most anticipated album of 2011, and I’m pleased to say it exceeds my expectations as I couldn’t imagine they could outdo themselves. This incredible band has once again released their newest best album. They rock harder than ever in the stellar opening track, “Oohs and Aahs,” a fitting tribute to their energetic and awe-inspiring live shows. The song ends with a jam session which highlights their outstanding musicianship. I had been listening to “Slumber” and “Drive All Night” as singles that preceded the album release, and they are fitting examples of the excellence of this band. Something I noticed after heavy rotation of those songs and also the show-stopping “Devil’s Been Talkin’” is how brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart have continued the “outsider” theme with the clever use of the term “victim” in all three songs. It personifies the brothers’ challenge of standing up for what’s right in a dark world, which is the cohesive theme of The Reckoning with fourteen amazing songs.

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I am literally blown away. This is a ridiculously fantastic album on all levels. You can be sure this is a 5 star masterpiece that will propel NEEDTOBREATHE to major headliner status just like GRAMMY Award winning bands Train, Kings of Leon and Muse. All I can say is "ooh and aah" as I listen to each incredible song. The meteoric rise of this band from Daylight to The Reckoning is unprecedented and extremely well-deserved. If you've been waiting to jump on the NEEDTOBREATHE bandwagon, it's time to "wake on up from your slumber, baby open up your eyes." This is the best album I've ever heard. Bo Rinehart is a hit song-writing genius. Just like everyone else including Taylor Swift, "More Time," "Lay 'Em Down" and "Something Beautiful" captivated me. Every song is on this album is a guaranteed hit, especially "Oohs and Aahs," "White Fences," "Slumber," "Maybe They're Onto Us," "Keep Your Eyes Open," "Devil’s Been Talkin’" and my Song of the Year-"Drive All Night." This deserves the GRAMMY award for Album of the Year. It is time to make history. Just like The Suburbs by Arcade Fire, The Reckoning by NEEDTOBREATHE is the Album of the Year by THE Group of the Year.

Title track “The Great Awakening” kicks off the album in style with a hooky piano intro and infectious melody featuring Leeland’s instantly recognizable vocals laying the foundation of the album. The song is based on an anonymous poem from the 1700’s with these great lyrics, ‘One man wakes, awakens another, second one wakes his next door brother, three awake and arouse a town and turn the whole place upside down, many awake will cause such a fuss, it finally awakes the rest of us, one man awakes with dawn in his eyes, truly then it multiplies.’ As missionary kids with hearts for the lost it is a quintessential Leeland song, and an incredible worship anthem. Anthemic is a great word to describe the entire project which oozes with Leeland’s unique ability to capture the incredible emotion of their live performances in a seamless eleven song worship experience. “All Over The Earth” is almost nine minutes long and is a worship jam session. Recently retired worship band Delirious? has a worthy successor in this progressive worship band who blends U2 and Coldplay-style guitar riffs with worship choruses that could all be added to church services around the world, just like Hillsong UNITED.

The songs I’d love to sing with fellow believers are “Chains Hit The Ground,” “Holy Ghost,” “While We Sing” and “Unending Songs.” They are all Scripturally based catchy songs addressing important Truths for people to lean on Jesus for hope no matter what their circumstances. The songs all come right out of personal prayer time for this gifted band and there are also some stirring ballads in the middle of the album including “I Wonder,” “Pages,” “Not Afraid Anymore” and “I Cry.” You can really hear the siblings harmonize in “I Wonder” as they all worship with awe and wonder the greatness of the Cross. “I Cry” includes vulnerable and prayerful lyrics, “I cry are You out there tonight or am I all alone, this time is the fight of my life, I cry, I can’t do this on my own, I can’t do this on my own, I am giving You control.” It is a gorgeous offering to our Savior and Redeemer Jesus. The song reminds us of the Truth of Romans 8:35—“Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.” Amen.

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This is the most spine-tingling worship project I've ever experienced and these eleven songs are all completely anointed, Spirit-led and emotionally captivating. The Great Awakening  by Leeland is flawless and overflows with worship-driven emotional responses to our Lord and Savior. This is the top worship album of the year! Each of the previous three albums were GRAMMY nominated and I expect the same for this album, along with multiple GMA Dove Award nominations including worship album and group of the year.

Personally, I wasn’t saved until I was 28 years old in 1999, and my wife and I got baptized together in 2001 at a local lake with our church congregation. When we did, we wrote out the entire lyrics of Steven’s song “Dive” in our scrapbook. That was our story and Steven had put our story into a song that we could give as our testimony to our friends and relatives. At the time, we had one baby girl, and now we have three girls. We preserved our handwritten lyrics as a witness to our story being told in his great song. I’ve always connected with Steven as a father and as a fellow believer over the years. Possibly the most moving moments of the album are the last tracks, where Steven covers “Morning Has Broken” with his son Caleb and closes with a worship chorus, “Sing Hallelujah.”

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If you’ve always enjoyed Steven’s past work and want to hear a return to his fun and uplifting songs re-recorded in a contemporary and laid-back style, then you’ll want to experience re:Creation, which is both enjoyable and moving. For sure, “Do Everything” is a song of the year candidate and is a great new song. “Long Way Home” is a sobering reminder that we’re not made for this world and includes my favorite vocal performance of Steven’s career which should also generate a well-deserved male vocalist nomination. This album truly allows listeners to treasure Christian music’s most honored male artist. Re:Creation is my inspirational album of the year.