Take All of Me embodies everything I cherish about Christian music – a melody that flows gently like a river, weaving through deeply contemplative lyrics and a choral backing steeped in pure worship. It builds steadily, gaining momentum with Marty Sampson’s rich tone and passion of voice, until it surges into the cascades and eventually the thundering instrumental roar of a waterfall. Take All of Me is the fifth song to be presented so far from one of my all-time favourite Australian album’s For All You’ve Done under the direction of Darlene Zschech and presented by the charismatic pentecostal church Hillsong. Today’s featured song and Evermore are two of the most uplifting and high spirited songs from the album.
Hillsong has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons; even here in Colombia I saw a documentary recently about a series of scandals including allegations of sexual abuse going back nearly five decades, marital infidelity and accusations of bigotry among its leadership. Leaving all that aside (if one can) I still treasure their music output in this epoch – many calling it the golden era of Hillsong with so many enriching tracks.
After I was baptised at the Mornington Baptist Church in South East Melbourne, I couldn’t hear enough of For All You’ve Done. I now consider myself more of an agnostic-christian who holds dear ‘The Logos‘, archetypes, meta-heroes and spiritual truths of the bible, but For All You’ve Done still remains my Desert Island Christian album. It’s just a spectacular ensemble of modern Christian music that doesn’t grow old to my musical senses. Also, the album was a revelation (excuse the pun) in Australian music at the time of its release, since it was the first non secular album to reach number 1 on the mainstream music charts. It was recorded in the Spring of 2004 at The Sydney Entertainment Centre with a 500-voice choir and a house packed with thousands of worshipers. I wore out the dvd – that’s for sure!
[Verse 1]
You broke the night like the sun
And healed my heart
With Your great love
Any trouble I couldn’t bear
You lifted me upon Your shoulders
[Pre-Chorus]
Love that’s stronger
Love that covers sin
And takes the weight of the world
[Chorus]
I love You
All of my hope is in You
Jesus Christ take my life
Take all of me
[Verse 2]
You stand on mountain tops with me
With You I walk through the valleys
You gave Your only Son for me
Your grace is all I rely on
[Bridge]
I love You so
And I give up my life to say
I need You so
My everything
The Fader web site states: Hillsong is one of the largest evangelical Christian churches in the world. What began as a small pentecostal church in a suburb of Sydney now holds services on all six habitable continents, with 30 locations and more than 80 affiliated campuses. More than 100,000 people are estimated to attend Hillsong church services every week, including Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, and the Jenner sisters. According to the church, for every person attending in person three more watch online.
References:
1. For All You’ve Done – Wikipedia
2. Hillsong: The Celebrity Megachurch’s Bombshell Scandals and Controversies Through the Years – People
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
While I think I can say I strive to live by Christian values, religion in general isn’t my thing. That said, I can appreciate a song with a beautiful melody, which “Take All of Me” certainly is. I also agree it’s got a neat built.
That’s a nicely transparent and reflective take from you. Big fan of this song and album. I’m glad you liked the build-up too.