My Utmost for His Highest
Taking its inspiration from Oswald Chamber's classic daily devotional of the same name,My Utmost for His Highestis a collaboration of many of the top names in Christian music, each performing songs that pertain to a certain day from Chamber's devotional. Lest you think of this as merely a fantastic marketing ploy to sell more copies of Chamber's book, the depth of honesty and chronicling of spiritual truth contained in this album are unparalleled.Some songs come closer than others in relating to Oswald's point each day. Steven Curtis Chapman nails it on the head with "Sometimes He Comes in the Clouds," when he sings, "Sometimes His face cannot be found/Sometimes the sky is dark and gray/But some things can only be known/And sometimes our faith can only grow when we can't see/So, sometimes He comes in the clouds." Acknowledging that God sees and works in us where we can't even see, Sandi Patty scores with "God of All of Me," in which she confesses "Lord, in my soul, in secret parts of me/There are places in my heart that only You can reach/Brighter shines my hope than the morning light/Deeper is my stain of sin than any dark of night." Twila Paris also connects with "Where He Leads Me" where she acknowledges our need to be receptive to God's call on all of our lives.Beautifully produced by Brown Bannister, this Utmost project tends to be pretty mellow and reflective, keeping the focus on the message of the songs. Michael W. Smith's songs "Move in Me" which proclaims the confidence of God's reality as being found inside his heart, has a tremendous orchestration to it but with a melody reminiscent of his songs "All I Needed to Say" and "Do You Dream of Me.'Other great performances are turned in by Amy Grant on "Lover of My Soul," Gary Chapman on "Man After Your Own Heart," Cindy Morgan on "You'll Be There," and Bryan Duncan on "A Heart Like Mine." --Mark A. Smeby(c) 1995 CCM Communications, Inc. --From CCM Magazine -- Subscribe Now!