The song you're hearing is Jesus, King of the Ages, taken from Spring Harvest's New Songs 2000 - see review below
BOOKS
Poor
Richard's website - Geek-free, common sense advice on building
a low-cost website by Peter Kent (Top
Floor Publishing, $29.95)
You've seen 'how to' computer books before, haven't you? They're the thick, weighty tomes that make bookshop shelves dip in the middle. They're packed with jargon, and simply reading the back cover leaves your head spinning. It's geek territory, and most of us lesser mortals have a life.
Well, here's your answer. Peter Kent has spent years establishing the Poor Richard website as a straightforward guide to all things Internet, written and produced for ordinary people, in ordinary language. And this updated second edition of his seminal website building guide is more of the same.
And frankly, it's a manual you'll go back to again and again whether you're a complete beginner or are already working with websites and the Internet. Kent's underlying principle is simple: you don't need loads of expertise, or loads of money, to set up an effective website.
So if you're planning one for your church, your family or just fancy putting something together on a hobby or interest, this will set you on the road. It covers everything from what websites can and can't do, what makes a good one, how to put one together, get a domain name, and promote it to the wider world.
And there are stacks of links to useful sites and services, many of them available for nothing. You can also access them via the website.
It may be American, and you'll have to translate a few things culturally, but 99% is relevant, well (and wittily) written and effectively demythologises something which often threatens to remain the domain of techies. Buy it.
Russ Bravo
MUSIC
A
Family Thing, by The Wades.
Famecity Entertainment, CD £13.99
THOUGH the Wades are regarded as one of the hottest Christian acts
on the circuit, as yet they haven’t exactly been prolific in
their recording output.
They must have been saving up their goodies, because after a long wait A Family Thing more than makes amends, with over an hour of top class tunes and grooves from the popular South London soulsters, released through the boys’ new Famecity label.
“Come with me, come alive” they sing on Soul Thing,
a song which could be seen as a manifesto for their musical and spiritual
raison d’être, and likewise Family Thing celebrates
the brothers’ togetherness, again in both familial and spiritual
senses.
Worship/devotional material, in typically soulful Wades style, features strongly here too, with Jesus’ love as the key theme – reflection and response in Friend, a call to evangelise (Love In A Million Ways), intimacy with God (I Worship You), and simply finding life worth living (Because Of You).
Effective too are the interludes, ‘zones’ in their Dome-like
terminology, which are dotted throughout the album, especially Condition
Of The Heart (Beats Zone) which
manages to offer food for thought without getting preachy. Nice work
guys, and let’s hope there’s more in store.
Inspiring
collection
New Songs for Spring Harvest 2000. ICC, CD £14.99/Cassette
£9.99/Backing Tracks CD £8.99.
WHILE many Christian events have clearly defined constituencies, one
of the strengths of Spring Harvest is its enormous breadth. Musically,
that gives it an almost unrivalled platform for enriching the wider
Church with worship material from diverse sources, as amply illustrated
by this year’s New Songs collection.
More than appropriate for an opener is Millennium song Jesus, King
Of The Ages (which avoids the ‘M’ word) and O Sacred
King is the latest big one from Matt Redman.
I Thank You For The Cross was a highlight of the recent debut
from Newcastle rock worship outfit Yfriday, and if you’ve tired
of singing Our God Reigns, then try Awake, Awake O Zion
for a fresh slant on Isaiah 52 by Nathan Fellingham of Phatfish.
Elsewhere, the Vineyard stable is well represented with the submissive
Jesus, Be The Centre and Falling On My Knees, and a
setting of Psalm 36 (Your Love Reaches Me).
Produced by Phil Baggaley (Phil & John, Shipwrecks & Islands)
and featuring singers David Lyle Morris, Mal Pope and Julie Costello,
this seems much more convincing and inspiring than some of its predecessors,
and even Passion For Jesus manages to live up to its title.
Peter Dilley
©
Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
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