Life Love & Other Mysteries

Life, Love & Other Mysteries is the third album by Contemporary Christian group Point of Grace. It was released in 1996 by Word and Epic Records.

Life, Love & Other Mysteries
Studio album by Point of Grace
Released	September 9, 1996
Genre	Christian pop
Label	Word Records Epic Records
Producer	Michael Omartian Phil Naish Scott Williamson Blair Masters
Point of Grace chronology
The Whole Truth (1995) Life, Love & Other Mysteries (1996) Steady On (1998)
Singles from Life, Love & Other Mysteries
"Keep The Candle Burning" "You Are The Answer" "Circle of Friends" "That's The Way It's Meant To Be"

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Background

The girls have mentioned that this was their hardest album to record. They called it a "growing pain" because John Mays, the man who signed the group to Word Records, had left the label.[2] Shortly afterwards, Word was sold, so this left them to make all major decisions on their own. Shelley originally did not want to do "Circle of Friends" because she thought it was something kitschy, like a Kumbayah song. Similar to what happened in the music videos for two of the group's previous songs, in "Keep the Candle Burning", there is a scene on the Dallas Mavericks' jet where Chris Jones (Terry), Stu Jones (Denise), and David Breen (then Shelley's fiancé; they married 2½ months after the album was released) have cameos in the music video. "Circle of Friends" has been regarded as the group's signature song; a book by the group and their fan club both share this title. The current trio served as background vocalists on Kenny Rogers' cover of the song on his 2011 album The Love of God. Since Heather Payne's departure from the group in 2008, they have performed the song "Keep The Candle Burning" as a medley with "The Great Divide" and the song "You Are The Answer" as a medley with "I'll Be Believing."

Track listing

1. "Life, Love & Other Mysteries" (Joel Lindsay, Reggie Hamm) - 4:03
2. "Keep the Candle Burning" (Gayla Borders, Jeff Borders, Lowell Alexander) - 4:26
3. "That's the Way It's Meant to Be" (Bruce Sudano, Michael Omartian) - 3:31
4. "Jesus Doesn't Care" (Scott Krippayne, Tony Wood) - 4:43
5. "Gone Are the Dark Days" (G. Borders, J. Borders, Phil Madeira) - 4:11
6. "Sing a Song" (Al McKay, Maurice White) - 3:39
7. "Any Road, Any Cost" (Krippayne, Wood) - 4:17
8. "You Are the Answer" (Hamm, Matt Husemann) - 3:50
9. "God Forbid" (Husemann, Kyle Matthews) - 3:34
10. "Circle of Friends" (Douglas McKelvey, Steve Siler) - 4:15

Music videos

• "Keep The Candle Burning"
• "Circle Of Friends"
• "That's The Way It's Meant To Be"

Personnel

Point of Grace

• Shelley Breen – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Denise Jones – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Terry Jones – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Heather Payne – lead vocals, backing vocals

Musicians

• Tim Akers – keyboards and synthesizer (7, 9)
• Jeff Bailey – trumpet (3, 6)
• David Luther Cleveland – guitars
• Eric Darken – percussion
• Mark Douthit – saxophone (3, 6)
• Stuart Duncan – mandolin
• Byron Hagan – Hammond organ (1)
• Mike Haynes – trumpet (3, 6)
• Dann Huff – electric guitar (2, 8, 10), guitar solo
• Chris Kent – bass guitar (3, 6, 7, 9)
• Sonny Lallerstedt – acoustic guitar (2, 8, 10)
• Blair Masters – keyboards (4)
• Chris McHugh – drums (3, 6, 7)
• Scott Meeder – drums, percussion, drum programming (2)
• Jerry McPherson – guitar (3, 6, 7, 9)
• Doug Moffett – saxophone (3, 6)
• Phil Naish – keyboards and Hammond organ (2, 8, 10)
• Dan Needham – drums (4)
• Michael Omartian – keyboards (3, 6, 7, 9), acoustic piano (7, 9)
• Cheryl Rogers – acoustic piano (1, 5)
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
• Jackie Street – bass guitar
• Scott Williamson – drums

Production

• Producers – Blair Masters (Track 4); Phil Naish (Tracks 2, 8 & 10); Michael Omartian (Tracks 3, 6, 7 & 9); Scott Williamson (Tracks 1, 4 & 5).
• Executive Producer – Point of Grace
• A&R Direction – Lynn Keesecker
• Production Coordination: Bridgett Evans O'Lannerghty (Tracks 2, 8 & 10); Suzy Martinez (Tracks 3, 6, 7 & 9).
• Mixing: Ronnie Brookshire, Terry Christian, David Schober.
• Art Direction – Christy Coxe
• Design – Chuck Hargett
• Photography – Michael Haber
• Hair Stylist – Patrick Swan
• Make-Up – I.B. Fishman

Reception

Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars.[1] Dial-the-Truth Ministries, however, criticized Point of Grace for covering "Sing a Song" by Earth, Wind & Fire because of that group's new age influence.[3][4]

References

1. Life Love & Other Mysteries at AllMusic
2. Album leaflet.
3. "Christian Rock: Exposed (part two)". Dial-the-Truth Ministries. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
4. "Take the Contemporary Christian Music Test". Dial-the-Truth Ministries. Retrieved 6 October 2016.