Larry Sparks has long had an affinity for the strains of gospel music - bluegrass style, even before he dedicated his life to Christ several years ago. This latest release samples some of his best gospel recordings from his last quarter century of recording. The earliest tracks come from songs included on mid-'70s era albums that were made for King Bluegrass; the Rebel label later purchased these masters. The best of these early efforts is the haunting Testing Times, a solo by Sparks that accentuates his soulful singing and bluesy guitar picking. Key components of Sparks' early Lonesome Ramblers sound, Mike Lilly and Wendy Miller, are heard here, along with others including Dave Evans, Ricky Skaggs, and ace fiddlers Joe Meadows, Art Stamper, and Gene Elders. Songwriter Emma Smith has been a vital source of material for Sparks over the years and, by choice or by chance, no less than six of her tunes are represented here. These include the title cut, Ship From King's Harbor Shore, Mother How I Miss You, I Want To See Him Smile, Jesus Is All That I Need, and Everything's Alright. Smith has an excellent command of writing songs of the gospel and Larry performs them with equal conviction - it's an excellent pairing of artist and material. One of Larry's all-time classic songs is included here, the poignant I've Just Seen The Rock Of Ages. He originally recorded it for Old Homestead in the 1970s but in the early '90s, as CDs were coming into popularity, made a new version of this song to make it available in this then-new format. A fine and well-assembled overview of Larry's many gospel recordings.