Customer Reviews

I Love Your Presence: Live From the UK

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really love this CD. I have played it almost non-stop for the last several months. It is almost like being at an actual worship. The lyrics are simple with repetition allowing you to memorize the words quickly.

Performed with what I could only call a deep love of the Lord, I could not help but feel that the Holy Spirit is in the lyrics, music, and the performers. My favorite song "Who is This" is sung with almost an ethereal quality expressing a relationship and understanding of the Lord. Though I must admit, all of the songs are good including the classic "Jesus I Surrender All".

The only thing that jarred me a bit is at the beginning of the next song that starts with a "minister" saying a few words a little louder than I expected. The words are valid but just a bit disconcerting after being taken to another plain of consciousness. I've learned to turn down the volume before he speaks and turn it up after he is done.

I have given away four of these CDs and one tape. All have expressed that they enjoy it. Note that I have also found that this CD can help be an instrument of "breaking and release".

I go to the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor. The largest factor in my choosing to attend this church is the wonderful worship that occurs there. It is a time of entering God's presence, humbly and reverently, sometimes with joy and celebration, sometimes with serenity, sometimes pouring your heart out to God in sorrow. It is such a great experience that one hour a week is just not enough.

A CD like this makes it possible to experience worship at any time; it's like being in church. Not only the songs chosen, many of which we regularly sing at church, but also the fact that the album was recorded live, help me to enter into the presence of God.

At first I only liked four songs on the album: "I Lift My Eyes Up," "Pour Out My Heart," "Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)," and "Father Of Lights." I still play these four songs far more than any other songs on the album, especially the first two I mentioned, and from these four songs alone I could give this album a strong rating.

Here are some sample lyrics. From "I Lift My Eyes Up":
Oh, how I need you, Lord / You are my only hope / You're my only prayer
So I will wait for you / To come and rescue me / Come and give me life

And from "Pour Out My Heart":
I pour out my heart for I know that you hear every cry
You are listening no matter what state my heart is in
You are faithful to answer with words that are true
And a hope that is real
As I feel your touch, you bring a freedom to all that's within
In the safety of this place, I'm longing to
Pour out my heart, to say that I love you
Pour out my heart, to say that I need you

To me, even these two songs alone make the whole album worth having.

Eventually I did venture beyond my favorite four songs to the rest of the album. It took me awhile to do that because I don't like too much slow music and the latter part of the album has so many slow songs in a row that it kind of drags, but the more I listened to it, the less the slowness bothered me; I began to get into the worship experience of it.

I got this album in late 2002 and began listening to it quite a bit then, listened to it very frequently throughout 2003, and in 2004 I still listen to it rather regularly, so this is an album that has staying power.