I’ve been a reluctant convert to Christian music. I’ve always thought it  was naff. That might still be the case! I guess it could just have been the stuff I was listening to. It could also be the case I’ve just got older and lost the discerning ear. Now I’m approaching middle age it could be that the ‘easy listening’ section is irresistibly beckoning. But I’ve not noticed my secular musical tastes hastening towards the kind of melody you might expect to accompany your trip in the elevator. I’m sure the Carly Simon purchase was just a blip.

I’ve always thought that the Christian musical genre unavoidably fell into one of two camps. Either the words were doctrinally correct and the music was tragically dated or the music was contemporary but the thoelogy whiffed of sulphur. I’ve long wanted something I can play air guitar to whilst nodding my head in agreement. Figuratively speaking, of course.

‘Valley of Vision’ is an offering from Sovereign Grace Ministries http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/. If the music I heard in Australia put me on the path of repentance then this has hastened my journey along it. It accompanied our holiday to France this summer. It provided the backing track to Digby’s pained shouts for redemption from his restrictive car seat.

The songs on the album were inspired by the book of the same name. It’s a collection of Puritan prayers compiled by Arthur Bennett back in 1975. It’s available from the Banner of Truth http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/home.php.

Most of the tracks are written by Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge and his son Stephen. On the CD sleeve they write,

Someone might ask, “Why produce a CD inspired by the prayers of a bunch of dead guys?” That’s an easy one. Puritans like John Bunyan, Thomas Watson, Richard Baxter, and Isaac Watts knew their hearts, their Bibles, and their God much better than we do. Many of them wrote down their prayers not to be published, but to assess their own spiritual growth and to encourage themselves in times of spiritual dryness. These prayers reveal a personal, humble, passionate relationship with an awesome God, a living Savior, and an active Spirit. Reading their meditations inspires us to pursue the same level of reality as we worship God. The songs on Valley of Vision draw from these prayers at various levels and in various ways. Some use a few phrases from a specific prayer, others develop a particular idea, and a few try to capture the original flow of thought, using many of the original words. We hope two things will happen when you listen to this CD.

First, we pray that your relationship with God will deepen as the truths expressed in these songs are sown into your heart. Truths like the deception and pervasiveness of indwelling sin … the power of the gospel to secure our forgiveness and freedom … our utter dependence on God … God’s sovereignty in the midst of sufferings … and a passion for God’s purposes on the earth. We trust these songs will make you more aware of God’s holiness and more amazed at our Savior’s sacrifice for undeserving sinners.

Second, we hope you will read, many times over, the grace-drenched, Christ-exalting, biblically faithful book of prayers that inspired these songs. We pray that you won’t simply read them, but that they will become a springboard for your own prayers and meditation in your relationship with our great, merciful, and changeless God who is, ever and always, there to meet us in the Valley of Vision.

Those are two great hopes. And I have to say that as I’ve listened and [when I’m alone] sung along, I’ve been encouraged to believe the truth and to love Christ. I’ve got a great return for my investment of £12.

Lyrically all the tracks are good. Musically, Rosslyn loves the slow ones. But I’m sure I can feel the testorone seep from my pores as the sickly sweet lone female voice warbles away. That’s a little rude. The female vocalists are Shannon Harris, wife of Joshua of the ‘I Kissed Dating Goodbye’ fame and Megan Russell. I’m sure they’re great singers but in all honesty tracks 1, 4, 7, 10 & 12 don’t do a whole load for me melodically. They’re a bit melancholic for my taste and definietly not to be listened to whilst driving tired! But tracks 2, 3 and 6 are more my cup of tea. They rock! We’ve tried track 6 as a congregation and it worked. We couldn’t find the bagpipes for the bridge but we’re just starting out on our contemporary musical odyssey.

You can buy the CD from here http://emumusic.co.uk/Home.html as well as various offerings from the Australian music publishing stable EMU.

Musical tastes are subjective. But for my money, this satisfies both my musical and lyrical appetites. And even where I struggle with the musical style I can’t fault the content.