Facedown

Facedown
by Matt Redman

This outstanding and accessible little book by Matt Redman is a wealth of insight into the glory and majesty of God. Matt, famous as a gifted songwriter and worship leader, is also a very skilled writer. Sometimes his prose borders on the poetic as he expresses his own personal preoccupation with God with such fascinating skill that you find yourself inevitably drawn in to share his thoughts and feel some of his feelings.

I was reminded of the matchless skills of A.W. Tozer as I read Matt’s excellent chapters, focused as they are not on ‘worship techniques’ but upon God himself.

Sometimes Matt uses insightful illustrations such as his comparison with his daughter’s goldfish repeatedly circling the bowl compared to the untamed beauty of the creatures of the deep sea sometimes captured on television documentaries.

He adds that we often seem to settle for ‘goldfish bowl’ worship, conveying a tame and domesticated God and stuck in the endless pursuit of the ordinary, while God is calling us to venture out into the ocean and encounter the extraordinary depths of God.

In his chapter ‘Worship with a Price’ Matt lifts the veil regarding his outstanding song Blessed Be Your Name, which has been such an encouragement to members of my own congregation who have experienced terrible pain. He tells us that since writing this song he and Beth have received letters from people struggling with some of the harshest circumstances of life but have found comfort in worshipping God ‘though there is pain in the offering’.

Matt ends his book reminding us that the word ‘awesome’ is one of the most misused words in our current culture, commenting, ‘These days, anything vaguely exciting is described as awesome.’ He goes on to tell us that, ‘The Bible tells us that awe is something reserved for God, and God alone.’

So often charismatics are dismissed as ‘happy clappies’. This book is no attempt to rob us of our joy or stop us clapping but invites us to go deeper and soar higher into the presence of God.

All too often we can drift thoughtlessly into public worship and perhaps have little time for private worship. God wants us primarily to be worshippers. If you want to satisfy God’s heart, Matt’s outstanding little book will certainly help you. It’s great to rub shoulders with an enthusiast and keep company with a zealot. Matt is a zealous worshipper. Get his book and get into it and let it get into you for the glory of God.