Josh Hamrick

Being a fellow Carolina native, I heard of John Mark a few years ago. Some other worship leaders in the area were beginning to use his songs, even then, before “How He Loves” had blown up on the national scene. With Integrity Music’s release of The Medicine,  McMillan’s reputation will surely be furthered, not only as a songwriter, but as a singer and worship leader, too.

This disc is different from basically any worship project you’ve heard. That’s a good thing. McMillan finds a way to sound both firmly rooted, yet new and inventive. This is NOT the U2-lite that we have come to expect from worship CD’s. I’m not even completely sure I’d label this as a worship CD. It is just good art that happens to be done in worship of Jesus. Much like you wouldn’t call Bob Marley “Rasta-music”, you wouldn’t call John Mark “Christian music”. The lyrical content is certainly Christian, unashamedly so. The music, however, is so genuine and authentic that you simply want to take it for what it is. You respect it as art, and therefore the overt Christianity in the lyrics comes across as natural and unforced. I certainly, appreciate that.

My favourite songs on the disc are “Skeleton Bones” and “Death in His Grave”. The entire disc fits together well though, calling to mind the days when an album was a work of art, before digital downloads killed that business.

If I had to throw this in with other artists, it would be like an indie Springsteen. Maybe something like fellow North Carolinian Ryan Adams. Good stuff. Earthy and artistic, this is the Christian music that the world needs to hear.

(John Mark McMillan’s The Medicine is available on I-TUNES. )