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Best of the Best: Reviews |
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Reviews "I appreciate the collection of songs compiled in The Best of the Best Songbook. I truly believe it is the best buy available. I recommend it wherever I go. I even require students in my songwriting seminar at Ashland College to have a copy of The Best of the Best." "If you're a worship leader/planner, (Best of the Best) BOB could become your best friend. You could take 20 of your worship songbooks that have become "casual acquaintances" and replace them with one book of hundreds of great songs from dozens of publishers called BOB. He's your new best friend." "Finally. A resource that does for contemporary worship songs what five hundred years did for hymns: identify the masterpieces. Each of the 253 songs in this collection was hand-picked for musical, textual, and theological excellence. Add meticulous referencing (by topic, title, key, tempo, scripture), and you have a volume that more than lives up to its name. The Best of the Best is a treasure." "I highly recommend this songbook. It is a well-thought-out combination of high-quality older choruses, excellent new songs and fine traditional hymns. This is a great new resource." "With every revival, renewal, reformation, God's Spirit raises up new, fresh music in the heart language of believers. God also raises up visionaries like Fellowship Ministries to bring us the best of the best. This is one of God's tools for spiritual revolution." "Here is The Best of the Best, 253 of the finest in contemporary Christian music. [Songs] in that category sometimes offer sentimental tunes, endless repetition of the lyrics, and a self-centered theology. Not here! Biblically-grounded and Christ-centered throughout, THE BEST OF THE BEST is just that: a collection of songs admirably arranged ALSO for liturgical tastes, and with a seasoning of some well-loved favorites to boot." "This is more than just another songbook-it is a comprehensive compilation of credible Christian Scripture and music resources. The 253 songs are great but the Scriptural references also make it an excellent Bible study resource. Use it for singing-use it for worship-us it for Bible classes. This is not only the 'best of the best,' it is also the 'zest' of the best! To have songs such as 'Thine the Amen, Thine the Praise,' 'We are Marching in the light of God,' 'The Lamb,' 'Give Thanks,' 'On Eagle's Wings,' 'I am the Bread of Life,' 'Go My Children With My Blessing,' and 'Here I am Lord' in one resource is just too good to be true!" "How about a 'W.O.W.' for B.O.B.! Your new Best of the Best song book is simply 'Wonderful, Outstanding, Worship' material. …we not only find most of the songs we have been using…but also…new songs we have just started to work on and 'lo and behold' they are already in your collection. This is a very up-to-date collection. The format is fantastic for our very talented musicians and the harmonies are great for our singers. As a pastor that weekly works on making our worship service the "best they can be,' I am always seeking praise songs that have some depth of theological content. I am please that an important criteria you used in the selection of songs in the B.O.B. was to have them be Biblically based so that not only the music would move the heart of the worshipper, but the words would carry with them the very power of the Holy Spirit." "Over 80% of churches with increasing average worship attendance offer more than one form of worship and music every week. They understand that reaching people means speaking to churched and unchurched in their own language. Without groups like Fellowship Ministries, these Great Commission churches would have nowhere to turn for wonderful worship resources like The Best of the Best in Contemporary Music." "The Best of the Best…truly is the best of the best. Your choices in this book will be the most useful praise resource for years to come. Churches like St. John's have purchased just about every resource through the years to have what are the most recent song and songs that are winners. This will be the music resource the Association of Courageous Churches and I will promote to anyone looking for a one-stop shopping songbook. You've created a treasure for church musicians of all denominations." "The Best of the Best truly reflects its title. In this one collection, the best of contemporary traditions find one home in this second Other Song Book. In one song book, some of the best standard hymns ('Blessed Assurance') set in contemporary style, almost all of the popular choruses of the 80s and 90s ('Cares Chorus,' 'Shine, Jesus, Shine') and many of the new contemporary music scene ('On Eagles Wings,' 'Borning Cry'). Thank you, Mike Zehnder, for bringing such a diversity of useful and beautiful music into one songbook!" "The Best of the Best…is an exciting new resource for congregations. Edited by Rev. Mike Zehnder,…he used his '[theologian] filter' to literally pick the 'best of the best' for…congregations. Particularly useful are the five different sets of indexes including a Table of Contents, Key and Tempo, Topical, Scripture References, and Copyright Holders. Approximately half of the songs are less than five years old and 30 have never before appeared in print. Zehnder, with a Master's from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and a Master's Degree in Music from Concordia University, River Forest, has worked hard to sift through both the theological questions and the musical concerns." "This will be a wonderful resource for churches that are serious about sharing the Gospel in the language and music of contemporary people. What a blessing this is for missionaries in North America! Thank you!" "In the deluge of Christian music, The Other Songbook 2 arrives as a special gift. The gift of the Best of the Best is that it is a great tool. The music within equips worship leaders and pastors to cross the landscape of contemporary music. From hymnody to lyrical, this music works! If you need help in finding just the right music option, this resource is for you." "You will be surprised at the wealth of material in The Best of the Best in Contemporary Christian Music. I'm impressed with the careful selection of both traditional and contemporary songs and that all of the songs are in singable keys (this is great). Everything has been done for you in this momentous presentation. I highly recommend it. Thank you, Pastor Zehnder!" "Best of the Best will be…a great resource as congregations seek to find worship styles that are going to reach into a new generation and people who are not traditional in their…understanding of worship." "I went through BOB very carefully about five days ago to pick music and it is the MOST comprehensive praise and worship song book that I've seen so far!! Really!" "Thanks for putting together a great resource with a variety of songs. The Topical Index and Scripture References sections have also been very helpful for worship planning." "Many thanks for The Best of the Best. What a huge and marvelous resource - and what a STAGGERING amount of work it represents on your part. Congratulations!" "Just got my BOB. It's awesome!!!! You did a fantastic job. I've already been blessed by the indexes as I planned worship. Thanks for all your efforts in producing this resource. Thanks also for the attitude of prayer and your "servant heart" which is evident in the book as well. Our worship will be frequently blessed by your work!!" "Fellowship Ministries and Mike Zehnder have helped the church celebrate God's mission to reach lost people everywhere! Songs such as 'I See the Lord,' 'Find us Faithful,' 'Go make Disciples,' 'Here I am Lord,' 'Raise Up an Army,' 'Shout to the Lord,' and 'The Battle Belongs to the Lord' are marvelous reminders that God has given individual Christians and every congregation the opportunity to participate in His mission to restore all people to His family." "I believe this collection of praise and worship songs goes to the heart of worship-encountering the presence of God. Being very Christ centered and Christ directed, these praises can lead a worshipper to the holy throne of Christ's presence." "Great work on the new songbook, The Best of the Best. It is destined to be one [of] the best worship resources published! The indexes are tremendous, the accompaniments are playable, yet sound great, and the selection of songs and hymns really does represent the best of the best. BOB will be a valuable resource both to those who are inexperienced in contemporary worship, as well as those of us who are experienced." "This contemporary worship resource is the first of its kind and truly lives up to its title, The Best of the Best. While many other publishers are more concerned about preserving the consistency of their past successes, this worship resource has pulled together the best contemporary worship music that cuts across all worship genres. I am thankful for your work in helping to build a bridge in worship resources that represents the cultural context of several of the most recent generations of Christians." "What a great resource the Fellowship Ministries has given us in The Best of the Best! This resource will save me hours and hours of time spent in looking through numerous books for just the right song." "I know of no one who has done more to help worshippers expand their repertoire into the contemporary arena. The welcome addition to the resources available will fast become a 'must have' for those churches who truly want to do their contemporary worship well." |