Song Review: Point of Grace Does “Awesome God”

The ending drifts into a choir singing the chorus as it moves into an 80s fade out. Classic! The ending made me feel like I was back home, listening to my Walkman, waiting to go to youth-group.

Christopher Watson is an author of six books, both fiction…

Point of Grace has been shaping the CCM scene since 1993. Originally a quartet formed out of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas (that’s a mouth full), the group has persevered for three decades. Now a trio, the group comprises two original members, Shelley Breen and Denise Jones, with Leigh Cappillino.

Over three decades and nine albums, Point of Grace has garnered three GRAMMY nominations, twenty-seven number one singles, and many Dove Awards. Their newest single is a reimagining of legendary singer-songwriter Rich Mullins’ Awesome God, first recorded in 1988 on Mullins’ Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth album.

Music and Production

Where Mullins used a more linear style and performance for the song, with an orchestral intro, Point of Grace includes more melodic variation. The first verse starts with a rhythmic groove over piano and bass. The melody is more syncopated, and they removed the refrain “Our God is an awesome God,” that repeated after every line in Mullins’ version.

This omission works well as the original version grew repetitive over the course of the song. Point of Grace does introduce the refrain after the first and second lines of the second verse and then back it out again. I think it’s more an homage to Mullins original composition.

Mullins notorious chorus still packs a punch after all these years. Point of Grace adds some ornamentation onto the original chorus melody with varying success (full disclosure, my analysis could very well be tainted because I have listened to the original version hundreds of times since my youth.)

One of the best choices Point of Grace made was adding the chorus from Michael W. Smith’s, How Majestic is Your Name, as a bridge. They give the melody a modal treatment with a pulsing rhythm section that fills it with energy. The bridge builds into another chorus series where the production goes for a big sound, as expected.

The ending drifts into a choir singing the chorus as it moves into an 80s fade out. Classic! The ending made me feel like I was back home, listening to my Walkman, waiting to go to youth-group.

Final Thoughts

Normally, I would write a section for the song’s function in worship and its biblical faithfulness. But such a classic group singing such a classic song needs no analysis from me. The original composition by Mullins and Smith stands the test of time, and both tunes are found in hymnals around the world.

Sure, I harbor great nostalgia for Awesome God and the chorus from How Majestic is Your Name, and for Point of Grace, so I may have a little bias in their favor. But that aside, when you see songs like this that have had such a deep impact over time, it gives a chance for christian artists, worship leaders, and producers to ask why? What made a song like Awesome God so legendary? And maybe more to the point, how do we get back to making songs that will stand the test of time again?

Great remake of a great song.

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Christopher Watson

Christopher Watson is an author of six books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is also a musician and composer with a B.A. in Music from Azusa Pacific University. For several years Christopher led worship at The Springs Church while attending Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas Texas. He's been involved with worship in a number of churches in California and the Pacific Northwest both as a musician and in production and technology. Now he lives and writes in Washington State with his amazing wife, wonderful daughters, and highly intelligent dog, Ellie Mae.