W.W.J.D. (Forefront)

Various Artists

By Robert Gruber

So you've seen people sporting colorful bracelets with the message "W.W.J.D." on them, and you've probably figured out that it's not some new radio station they're advertising. By now, you've been hipped to the fact that it stands for "What would Jesus do?" And while, for many, the bracelets are nothing more than trendy fashion, for many others they pose a genuinely interesting question: what would Jesus do? How would He handle this or that situation? How would He approach this decision or that dilemma?

To help answer such questions, the fine folk at Forefront have issued a CD entitled "W.W.J.D." It features 15 songs by some of today's hottest Christian acts, such as dc Talk, Audio Adrenaline, Steven Curtis Chapman, Grammatrain and others, performing songs that pointedly address those four simple letters.

The title cut, written and performed by Big Tent Revival, has a huge, anthemic quality to it that's as memorable as the message itself. Though every other song on the album has been released before on other albums, taken together in this context, they assume a clarity that may have gone unnoticed before.

'Consequences' by Considering Lily pulls no punches with a lyric like, "You can't do anything anytime anywhere without thinking about it"; "Go and Sin No More" by Rebecca St. James is very strong, a prayer of a song not unlike one of David's psalms; dc Talk gets downright vulnerable as they pose the question,

"What if I Stumble?".

As if all this great music wasn't enough, W.W.J.D. sweetens the pot by including one of those cool little bracelets, plus extensive, devotional-style liner notes by each of the artists. And for those of you with CD-ROM capabilities, you can find out exactly what Jesus would do by accessing the entire New International Version of the Bible, as well as other Bible resources available on this enhanced disc.