Bethel Music, the worship ministry from Bethel Church in Redding, CA, is one of the most sought-after music resources for the local church. In 2012, Brian Johnson’s “One Thing Remains” was the #1 downloaded song on PraiseCharts and MultiTracks.com, and the most scheduled song on Planning Center….all at the same time.
This week, Bethel Music released their new album, “You Make Me Brave.”The live album is from the three-day women’s conference held at The Civic Center in Redding, CA, and features songs that were written by Brian & Jen Johnson, Kari Jobe, Steffany Frizzell, and Kristene DiMarco.
It’s classic Bethel…and if you have listened to Bethel Music before, you know what I mean. 3 of the 12 tracks are what is called Spontaneous Worship. The worship leaders from Bethel seriously outdo themselves with their musical influcence, heavy synth (a personal fave of mine) and wisely put together arrangements of songs.
One of the songs that stuck out to me the most was Brian Johnson and Kari Jobe’s “Forever.” The arrangement feel and sounds like rendition of both Brian and Kari’s version of the song. I was never a big fan of this song – until I heard this version. It takes every emotional influence the song has to offer, and takes it up a few notches.
The title song, “You Make Me Brave,” sounds and feels very, very personal. Jen said herself, “What was celebrated was what God was doing, not who was doing what. I really hope that people feel that the highlight is what the Lord is saying through the whole album versus who sang what, who did what, whose name is on what.”
All in all, this is what I worship leaders want – solid, biblical, fresh songs that can speak to their people and have an amazing sound.
You Make Me Brave can be streamed absolutely for free on Relevant Magazine’s website. Click here to listen to the album for free.