So, what is FAITH anyway? (Part 2)

I believe that the truly faithful Christian is one that fully embraces the fact that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Tears were flowing down from my eyes as I commanded that the tree be moved to the other side of the yard. I read the scriptures. If I could command a mountain to be removed then surely a tree wouldn’t be a problem. When my prayer for tree moving didn’t work, I started praying that the house move – even a few inches. I just wanted to prove that I had faith… at least as a grain of mustard seed. But nothing was moving. I felt weak and powerless. Something was wrong with my faith. Then I started playing with my dog and forgot all about the need for faith. You do strange things when you’re 10-12 years old.

Still I remember that day. I remember challenging the scriptures and testing to see if things would happen according to my reading of the text and my accepting the literal translation. When it didn’t happen, I had a question in my mind that lasted for several years.

I remember needing a job. I found out that this one place was hiring. I decided that I wanted to work there. I didn’t go looking anywhere else. I filled out only that one application. I didn’t need to look for an alternative. And, yes, I got that job.

I remember praying for my father who was an amazing man of God. He had served God faithfully for more than 30 years. He’d been a deacon turned elder in the church. He had built houses of worship with his bare hands. He had mentored pastors and preachers. Then, in the twilight of his life, my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer disease, and more. He was beginning to suffer. This was no way for a diligent Christian to die. My dad had more to do for God. He shouldn’t be facing death yet… and definitely not like this. I prayed and prayed. Several Christians prayed and prayed. But my dad died a painful death, eventually succumbing to the grip of cancer. I could dress it up and say that he slipped away, he fell asleep, he was taken away on the sweet chariot. But the truth is, my dad suffered. He was in pain, and then he died.

I remember God saying that He was going to give my wife and me our home. We didn’t have money for a down payment for a house. We had horrible credit. We didn’t think we were ready. But God spoke to our hearts and told us to look for a house. God then connected us with a mortgage broker that was able to get us approved. Then we found a house that we liked and put in a bid. We loved it! We lost the bid. Feeling very disappointed, of course I wondered if I was hearing God correctly. But, He told us to find a home. So we looked again. Then we found another home, being sold by the owner. We were dissatisfied with our realtor and the homeowners were dissatisfied with their realtor. As we sat and talked we discovered that we were all Christians and we could feel God at work. The homeowners told us later that night that after we left, they talked and felt God telling them to put us in their home. So, they drew up the contract for us. We didn’t know how. They had offers for more than their selling price but they sold it to us for the selling price. The mortgage came through. God blessed us to get the down-payment. We moved in and are living in that house today.

So, what’s the deal? Did I have more faith for my house than I did for my father’s healing? Did I have more faith for that job than I did for moving the tree? What did Jesus mean when He said that we could have whatsoever we say? Why are so many people claiming that they are millionaires in Jesus’ name but are still in the same economic position, if not worse?

I believe that it comes down to three major factors: Motive, Greed and Purpose.

So, what is FAITH anyway?

Every now and then I go on personal theological journeys to deepen my understanding of my own beliefs. There are few things more embarrassing to me than to be asked to explain my Christian beliefs and not be able to articulate them. It has been said several times that persons of other religions study their faith and can articulate their beliefs well. But… us Christians… we tend to just accept the Sunday sermon and call it a belief. So, when someone asks s to explain it, we get stuck trying to remember what the preacher said.

One of the pillars of Christianity is the doctrine of FAITH. The bible lays vital importance upon faith in that it says that it is impossible to please the Lord without it. It also teaches us that the shield of faith should be cherished “above all” so that we can quench the fiery darts of the devil. We are “saved” through faith. But what is faith?

Now, I could take you through the definitions and explanations that I read in my bible dictionaries and commentaries. I could take you through the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. I could load you with scripture. But, I want to share my life experience. Besides, isn’t that what blogging is all about?

Be careful… this is about to become graphic… not for the weak of stomach…

I remember when I was 10 years old and had a nosebleed. This wasn’t uncommon because I was a “bleeder.” But this particular night it was severe – both nostrils, plus coughing up some blood. My mother – ever the prayer warrior – and others of our church, who all happened to be gathered at our home for a wedding reception, began to lay hands on me and pray for my healing from the bleeding. This lasted for hours – until about 2am when the blood finally clotted and the bleeding appeared to have stopped. Our faith worked… so we thought. I had lost pints of blood from my little body and was very weak from the experience.

After few days of V8 juice and plenty of rest, I was finally strong enough to go to back to school. But I had noticed over those few days that my eyes had become bloodshot – like I’d been hit with a baseball bat – and when I turned my head it sounded like I was under water. Cool… built-in sound effects! As I was getting dressed to go to school my nose started bleeding again… first one nostril, then both, then the coughing. This time, my parents rushed me to the ER. Upon thorough examination, the doctors found that I had a hairline fracture on my skull (I wrestled a lot and had been slammed on the floor on my head. I shook it off at the time but the results were obviously quite severe) which seemed to be related to a ruptured artery in my head that was causing all the bleeding. My brain was sitting in a pool of blood, my eardrums were semi-submerged, I had bled into my eyes, and it was coming out through the nose. I was coughing blood because I was swallowing so much of it. They packed my sinus cavity with gauze and were planning to do a procedure the next morning – I think it was a spinal tap but I really can’t remember why.

That night as my mother and I were praying for God to heal me and to carry me through the procedure, I saw a vision of the finger of God coming down through the sky, right over the hospital and then stopping over my room. Then I saw surgical tools coming out of the tip of His finger and operating on me.

When we got up the next morning, my eyes were clear and I didn’t hear any more liquid in my ears. When the doctors came in and saw me, they were stumped and could not explain what had happened. They kept me for two more days to run tests but couldn’t find any of what they had found before. They couldn’t even find a trace of the blood that they had seen before. Yeah – this was a miracle!

But was this about faith? Why was it that the saints prayed all night at my bedside at home and I still bled, but when my mother and I prayed at my bedside in the hospital, God healed me? Was there more faith with just my mom and me than with all the saints gathered in the room? How do the scriptures justify this outcome?

This is gonna take more than one blog to cover so tune in for the next installment.

April 25th, 2008 finally arrived. There was intense excitement in the air an hour before the concert began. Worshippers started gathering early to share the experience. When my pastor, Dr. Kirk T. Houston Sr. took the microphone for the opening prayer, you knew that the night was going to be special. The presence and power of God quickly filled the room. Yeah… God came to the recording session.

As we got into the first half I knew I needed to pace myself. I had been struggling with my voice over the previous 3 months. At one point I thought I would need to cancel the session. Then I decided that I would overdub the lead vocals later if I needed to – but I wasn’t going to kill the momentum and excitement that was already built about this recording. No… whatever it took, we were going to have that worship experience. We were going to keep our appointment with God.

Once we got into the second song of the session, I noticed that my voice had cleared up. It was on… like popcorn! Things were moving very smoothly. The audience was right there with us. I took my time and introduced nearly every song. This gave my voice a little cool down between songs so that I would be smooth going into the next song. I had to use wisdom to get through the night.

It was my desire for the night to be much more than a recording session where people sit and observe or stand and applaud. My goal was for worshippers to join me in pressing into the very face of God so that we could experience His glory together. But the night went exceeding abundantly above what I had asked or thought. So many moments occurred that were not planned or rehearsed. I can’t wait for you to hear some of these moments that we were able to capture… such as what happened as we concluded “Hallelujah Chant” and all got caught up in the presence and glory of God. Then Pastor Houston came to the mic and led us even deeper in the worship. There was even a moment in the second half when God gave us a song right on stage in the midst of the worship. There is nothing in this world like the presence of the Lord!

The evening would not have happened without the love and support of my fans and friends. There was great generosity expressed by my home church – Gethsemane Community Fellowship Baptist Church. I was also blessed with wonderful sponsors who poured into my music ministry. I am particularly grateful to my corporate sponsor – Dr. Jerome Barber and Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Temple of Hampton, Virginia. Pastor Barber was there with us from the opening to the benediction. It was so cool seeing him and my pastor there on the front row praying for us and worshipping with us through the entire session. What an honor!

The night was a leap of faith. But I can say that God used my sponsors, my fans and supporters to help us cover all of the expenses of the evening. We were able to walk away from the night with professional audio and video recording as well as digital photography. Some of the photos are already on my Myspace page. Stop by and check it out.

I am targeting early December for the release of this project. I’m open to suggestions for the title of the project. If you were at the session and have a recommendation, I’d love to hear it!

Please stop by our corporate sponsor’s webpage and see the great things God is doing at Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Temple – affectionately called SMZBT (“Smizzbit”).

O For A Voice To Sing

I’ve heard of athlete’s insuring their limbs. I’ve heard of musicians insuring their fingers. I’ve even heard of singers insuring their voices. I used to think of it as vanity. Now, I kinda understand why.

Last year I caught a cold – well actually, the flu. But it was right before I had a few important engagements. And there were lots of things going on at church as well. So, I had to sing through it. When I got over the virus, my voice didn’t fully recover. Eventually, I had this “popping” that was going on in my voice. It was a bit frightening. It lasted for months. I remembered that a former pastor of mine had those symptoms and found that he had a growth on his vocal chords, which required surgery. So, I went to an E.N.T. (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist). He put a probe down my throat and looked at my vocal chords and reported that things looked normal. Then, he put me on Prilosec (for what he suspected might be acid reflux) and Prednisone (steroids). In a week, my voice was as clear as a bell.

Well, when I got back from my European tour on New Years Eve, I was quite hoarse. I think it was from the frigid ride on the van from Treia to Milan… or maybe it was the fact that I had only gotten about 5 hours sleep in that 48-hour span. Fatigue will affect your voice – especially after you’ve been using it heavily. Whatever the reason, I was very hoarse. But, I had to lead worship that night – for the New Years Eve service. Then I had to get right back into my schedule of rehearsals and my rotation for leading worship. It took several weeks for my voice to clear up. But about late February, it was starting to sound good again.

Then… of course… I got the flu. Yeah, this was that ugly, nasty strain of the virus that went around this winter. But, it happened right when I was scheduled to do a couple of high profile, very important events. So, I sang through it.

Eventually, I got over the flu. But my voice didn’t clear up. And then I started hearing that “popping” noise again. Here I was at the beginning of March, with a live recording session coming up on April 25th, and my voice sounded like the creature from the movie “Signs.” I started trying everything I knew. I did the lemon tea. I did vocal rest. I did lots of sleeping – well, not lots… just more than usual. I tried vocal workouts from my favorite vocal people – Vocal Coach. Nothing was working! I then started getting nervous. What was I going to do? I couldn’t record a live session with my voice sounding like that.

Then, I remembered last year. I remembered that it happened before. I thought about the medication I was prescribed and took a trip to the pharmacy. I got the sinus meds and the acid reflux meds. But they didn’t bring any change. Finally, I broke down and went to my doctor. Thank God for Dr. Eric Lipton!! He reviewed my case from last year and wrote me a prescription for prednisone. Two days into treatment, my voice was 300% better.

But it’s not as clear as I want it to be right now. I really think that’s because I’m tired. My body is tired. But, we’re in the grind right now. We have 7 days until the recording and there is a list of things that need to happen between now and then. So, I can’t really rest yet. I’ve got to hump it out.

Pray for me. I need a voice to sing. A clear voice.

You know what…

It’s going to be just fine.

God is in control!

Just Like You

This is the song that I was referring to in my latest blog. Take a listen and feel free to tell me what you think. This is the demo version of the song. Come to the live recording on April 25th to hear what it becomes through the production process.

Just Like You - MP3.mp3

The Michael M. Smith Songwriting and Production Process

When I wrote my first song I was about 12 or 13 years old. I remember the song. It was a basic chorus, verse and hook. Come to think of it, the structure was pretty solid. Classic. The title was, “I Love Him.” I taught it to my little group – “Representatives of Divine Love.” It consisted of my best friend on drums, my cousin singing alto, my best friend’s two sisters singing 1st and 2nd soprano and me singing tenor and playing keys. Those were such innocent, fun days. We rehearsed all the time and sang anywhere we could. We weren’t thinking about making records or making money. We just wanted to make melody that would please God and bless the people.

Here we are, some 30 years later and that is still the cry of my heart. I have concluded that God did not put me in this field to try to make a lot of money. He put me here to write and sing songs that would bless Him and bless His people. When the focus becomes the money, the songwriting becomes about making the next “hit,” rather than telling the truth through song. I want to tell the truth. I want to make God smile.

So, how do I write a song? My process has really changed over the years. I used to wait for inspiration to hit me… or for a few lyrics to drop on me. There have been some times when God just dropped a song in my spirit. But I believe that I am at that point where God entrusts me with the gift and responsibility to craft music that I know will please Him. It’s like… He used to pick me up and drive me everywhere. Then He started teaching me how to drive – with Him in the car. Now, He’s given me the keys and says, “Don’t wreck my car. And don’t go anywhere else but where I told you to go.” This project is that kind of graduation.

Okay… back to the process. It starts with an idea. There has to be something that I want to say… either to God or to His people, or there has to be something that God wants to say. My songs take one of three directions: from the mouth of God to me/us; from our mouths to the ears of God; or from us to one another. Lately, most of my songs are “prayer songs,” songs that speak our heart to the ears of God. They are sung directly to Him. I believe that is the proper direction of a good worship song. It should be sung directly to God.

Once I know what direction the song should take and what the message is, I now like to start with the hook. The hook carries the real message of the song. Like the song I just wrote for my new project, “Just Like You”… it started with the hook… “I wanna be just like you, just like you.” That’s the real message. From there, I start crafting the verses. They have to answer a few questions, like “who’s doing the talking?” “Who is being addressed in the song?” “What makes the hook relevant?” The verses are all about getting me to the hook. Since attending GMA Academy I have changed my song structure approach. And co-writing with Beth Champion-Mason had a great impact on me as well. Now, I like going verse 1 & 2, pre-chorus, hook, vamp. It’s a smooth pattern that works for most songs. Sometimes you don’t even need a vamp if the hook is strong enough. But a vamp can be a great addition.

Then I get to work on the music. Most of the time I have the tune for the hook in my head when I create it. The verses all build to the hook in their construction. The pre-chorus should be a musical buildup that lets you know something big is on the way. That big thing is… the hook! So, the pre-chorus often ends with some suspended chord.

Once I’ve got the tune roughly formed, I turn to one of my new best friends… LOGIC! It’s a wonderful software program for songwriting. I decide on my tempo and create a tempo loop – usually 4-5 tracks for a nice, wet loop lasting 4 or 8 measures. Then I loop it out over far more measures than I think the song will last. Then I play out the entire song over the loop using a basic piano patch with a rough rendition of the song. Then I crop back the tempo loop to the actual length of the song. After that, I play a solid bass line through the entire song. I come back and add strings or some atmosphere or background to the song. Then I come back and replace the piano with a really good piano track. If the song is one that I know I’m going to want guitar on, I’ll do a guitar track before the piano track – using one of the wonderful guitar patches. By the way, I have a Motif ES7, which I love. I used to swear by the Motif patches. But for the last couple of songs, I’ve just used the Logic patches. They sound great – and I can modify them pretty easily. Except, I love the Motif organ – which I used on “Just Like You.”

So, now that my music is set, I start tracking my sample vocals. I have to use my falsetto voice to record the soprano and alto parts and sometimes even the tenor parts. This is the most tedious part for me. I hate it when I’m “pitchy” or inarticulate. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m making a demo – not a final product. Finally, I’ll track a demo lead. This is the fun part for me. This is when I get to really get into the song and see what comes out of me. Sometimes the song will move me in ways I didn’t expect. I’ll find myself crying out to God or worshiping more intensely that I predicted. Sometimes a phrase will grab me harder than it did when I wrote it. It’s often a fun, revelatory experience.

Then, I start mixing the song. This is lots of fun for me. I get to use some of the things that I learned from Rob Ulsh at MasterSound Studios and Dwayne Valentine at DVal Studios.

Once I do all of that, I give the song to my co-producer, Kasey Square. He will often ask, “How much room do I have?” I then tell him what I’m married to in the song and what I’m open to. That lets him know how much he can change. We have a great relationship. The guy is a BEAST!! While he’s tweaking the musical arrangement and teaching it to the band, I’m teaching the singers the music and listening to them to hear anything that I want to go back and change. As I listen in on the band rehearsals I’m always looking for any place where we may develop a rub between the band and the vocals so we can fix it right then. Finally, we will bring the two together – vocals and instrumentation. Then we do final tweaking and polishing.

So, the track that came with this blog is what I gave Kasey and the singers. What you will hear on April 25th will be what we all came up with together. It’s going to be quite different.

This blank page can look so intimidating when it’s time to write a blog.

Okay… what’s on my mind? What can I talk about today?

I could talk about the long recovery process of the human voice. My vocal recovery process has been very dramatic since the tour in Europe. I became very hoarse after the tour. I think the 7-hour road-trip to the Milan airport in the van all that night at about what felt like 20 below zero degrees had something to do with it. Or, perhaps, the fact that I could only sleep about 1.5 hours on the 9-hour flight back to the states because I had a painful case of... well, that’s kinda’ embarrassing. Well, let’s just say that I wasn’t about to make everyone on the plane uncomfortable so I kept running to the bathroom… trying to find relief. And when I say painful... I really do mean painful. That bad boy had my stomach screaming! So, needless to say, I couldn’t sleep much on that flight. So, the frigid, sleepless trip to the airport, the sleepless flight back to the states, the time adjustment, and the fact that we had just done 11 concerts, all took a heavy toll on my voice. Then, of course, I was asked to sing for our New Years Eve service. So, having no mid range left to speak of, I had to sing in falsetto. Now, Gethsemane is a funny place filled with funny people. Of course, they started calling me “Prince” for the next month or so. It took several weeks to get my voice back to full strength. And, just as I was getting there… here comes the flu! And, of course, I had to sing while I was sick. So, now, here I am again, trying to rehabilitate my voice. Saints, please pray for me!

Okay… what else can I talk about? Oh yeah! My MAC!!

When I got back from Italy, I invested in a MacBook Pro. Church, let me tell you! I understand why all the REAL musicians work with a Mac. This machine is wonderful! I also got Logic Studio 8. My God! I’m about to shout right now!! People, Logic is a wonderful piece of software. I am loving this studio hookup!. I already had CuBase Studio 4. I’ve stopped using it. I had CuBase LE. NO COMPARISON!! Logic is a BEAST!! And the MacBook Pro is just a fantastic machine all on it’s own. It operates so smoothly… so efficiently. It blows my ThinkPad away.

But the relevant question is, “What’s really going on?” Well, we are preparing for the live recording. God is quickly moving and so are we. April 25, 2008 is the big day. We have people coming from as far away as Tennessee and Georgia for this session. The concert will begin at 7:30PM. The doors will open at 6:30. We know that the building is going to be packed. It only holds 500 in the sanctuary and another 100 in overflow. So, only the first 600 people will be able to get in. We will officially release the announcement of the event on Wednesday. We are asking for a donation of $20 at the door. This will be a huge blessing and will enable us to cover a lot of the expenses of the recording.

Wow, what do you know… the page isn’t blank anymore.

Making The Way Clear

I was doing well. Had the first band rehearsal for the new project. It went really well. I had plans rolling in my head. It was looking pretty nice. Then, I asked someone to give me some advice on something that I’d written. The advice he gave me was excellent advice and direction. But I got his advice just as I was in the midst of fighting with the flu. Yeah… I caught that nasty bug that’s been going around. So, feeling yucky already, I found my emotions totally out of whack. At the same time, my wife was out of town tending to some family business. So, I was home alone, feeling physically miserable, emotionally vulnerable… and I got sucker punched by the enemy.

Lemme tellya… it’s been quite some years since I’d faced that kind of crisis of faith. I was suddenly fearful… nervous… leery… just downright scared. I was praying, “God, what am I dong here? Why am I trying to record another project? I know I don’t have the money. I know I can’t pull this off. I’m going to wind up with egg in my face… and I know that won’t bring you any glory.” I was ready to throw my hands in.

The next morning, I woke up, still sick. I got myself into the mood for writing. I figured, whether I was recording the project or not, I needed to finish the songs that I was working on. So, I started working on this song, “Bigger Than I Imagined.” The song was inspired by our Europe tour. We were in Potenza visiting Father Don Franco’s office, seeing the figurines he had acquired from countries all over the world… all celebrating the birth of our Lord. Seeing this clear representation of the global reach of the Gospel I gained a new perspective of how big God is. I just started telling God, “I thought I knew how great You were but You are much bigger than I imagined.” As we traveled to the next city, I started writing the chorus of the song.

So, as I’m thinking about this experience, and about the amazing view of the Alps as we were flying into Milan, Italy… and the snow-capped mountains, and the flight over to the island of Sardinia… the lyrics started to flow… “Even if I climb the highest mountain peak… or sail to an island – far out in the deep… no matter where I am, I’ll find You right there – answering prayer. You are so much bigger – bigger than I imagined. You are so much greater than my mind can see…”

Once I finished writing the song, I called up one of my songwriter friends, Beth Champion-Mason, to bounce the lyrics and tune off her for her critical ear. She shared a few great suggestions and gave her approval. That felt great!

Then out of the clear blue, I got a call from Jonathan DuBose, Jr… yes, THE Jonathan DuBose, Jr. He was responding to a call I’d placed to him a couple weeks earlier. I’d left a voicemail with him asking that he pray with me that God will provide what I needed to do this recording. Jonathan called just to tell me that my prayers had been answered and that every thing that I needed for this project was already in place… and all I needed to do was to step out and watch God fulfill his promise. I felt my courage coming back!

Saturday was our first vocal rehearsal for the project. It was so wonderful hearing Bethany, Neketa, Felicia and Jene singing the harmonies on “I Give You Everything.” During one of the breaks in the rehearsal they were talking about all the friends and family members they were bringing to the recording and how big a crowd they are anticipating for that night. As they were talking I was thinking, “Well, I guess I can’t call it off now. It’s already too big. And these girls would strangle me.” I later sang “Bigger Than I Imagined” for them. After singing it, I realized that those were the words that God was requiring me to live out. If I am going to record it, I need to live it. I need to realize and embrace the fact that God is HUGE… much bigger than a recording budget.

So, Monday I’m thinking through my plan and looking at possible means of generating a considerable amount of the revenue I need for the project. But, I was thinking I couldn’t act on my idea. Then, out of the clear blue… here we go again… I got a completely unexpected word from the Lord through a former piano student. She sent it via MySpace. She said… “just hitting your page to remind you that the Lord will fulfill His purpose in you.” That thing reverberated in the chambers of my spirit. Soon after, I felt led to call my pastor and talk my idea over with him. And the advice, wisdom and support that he gave me just changed everything! Now, I can see my way clearly. My confidence is back. My health is back, too.

But, I feel humbled by the fact that I acted so faithless last week. I got sucker punched and I wasn’t ready for the fight. God brought me through and proved himself. But now I know I need to prepare myself for the next test. I know it’s coming.

Inspire Me!

I believe we all have those moments when we need inspiration. Not just generic inspiration – but specific inspiration for a specific task. I’m having one of those moments right now. April 25th, I will be recording my next project. It will be a live recording at my home church, Gethsemane Community Fellowship Baptist Church in Norfolk, VA. The task seems HUGE this time. Perhaps because the last time I recorded I had no idea going in just how much it was actually going to cost me – financially, emotionally and time-wise. But this time, I know that it can easily cost me $XX,000 and an entire year to produce a project with the quality of my last one. Mediocrity is often inexpensive. Excellence, on the other hand, is seldom cheap. God has put excellence in me. I have disdain for mediocrity. But when you don’t have $XX,000 at your disposal, it can become a bit overwhelming.

Last week I was sitting in a group session for a leadership institute that I’m attending at my church. The group mentor asked a question, “How do you know that a plan is of God?” We all tossed around various answers. But the mentor gave us an answer that trembled the core of my heart. He said, “You know it’s a plan from God when it requires an act of trust.” Then he went to the scriptures and read from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy path.” At that very moment I heard God speaking these scriptures into me – like a song being played into my consciousness. I saw that I was being required to trust God. I was already facing financial challenges and trusting God to provide in other areas of my life. Now, in the middle of all of that, God was saying – “Launch out.” Yeah, this definitely required an act of trust.

Leaving that session, I was excited… feeling like the vision was confirmed. But this morning I woke up, exhausted from a very long weekend. The words of my wife are still ringing in my head, “Get some rest!” But, of course I woke up at 8:15 this morning and once I’m up, I’m up.
So, I opened my bible to have some devotional time with the Lord as I ate breakfast. Reading in Isaiah 11, I saw that the kingdom of God will be established in the earth and violence will cease. Even the lion will lay down with the lamb. I saw how Christ, the Branch from the stem of Jesse, would come demonstrating the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and the fear of God. Then I went to verse 13 where it speaks of a cessation of the rivalry between Ephraim and Judah. I had to go back to the story of Ephraim’s blessing given by Jacob. Here, I was touched by the fact that Ephraim, the youngest son (I can relate to that. I’m the baby of my family), would receive the blessing of the eldest son.

That was good for the soul… but I still felt like I needed inspiration.

Over a week ago, one of the drummers at my church loaned me three DVDs to watch. Israel & New Breed, “Live in South Africa” was one of them. Now I’m fan of Israel & New Breed. But I hadn’t had time to watch the video until this morning. The entire DVD is a treat! But there were two things that really spoke to me.

There was a moment when Israel began to quote Zephaniah 3:17. That scripture resonated in my heart. Then Israel began singing prophetically, “Take The Limits Off.” I’d heard the song before on the CD. But, this time, God was speaking to me… “Release me to accomplish what I promised you.” I am very leery of anything resembling this “prosperity Gospel” that’s being preached in many pulpits today. But this morning, I saw a completely different revelation of the words, “No limit. No boundaries. I see increase all around me. Stretch forth. Break forth. Release me. Enlarge my territory.” This wasn’t about ME having stuff. This was about me accomplishing what God has poured into me. As I thought about it, I considered the fact that God wouldn’t be giving me these incredible songs like, “Bigger Than I Imagined” if He didn’t intend for these songs to bless the body of Christ. I can sing them at my home church… but that’s not the way He’s giving them to me. He’s given me songs for the home church before. But these songs are coming with production and arrangements that are beyond the scope of a “home church.” Then, Bishop Tudor Bismark took the mic and began to minister. Oh my God! I had a moment.

The other things that grabbed me was when Israel was singing “Alpha and Omega” and the glory of the Lord was so strong in the room that Israel could no longer stand on his feet. But right before this was the clip of his wife weeping in worship before the Lord. Then, when Israel fell to his knees on the stage, his wife came to the edge of the stage… just to worship with him. There, they wept and worshipped together. Then I thought about my wife, Sharon. And I thought about the moments that God uses me to lead worship and I can see the tears flowing from Sharon’s face as she worships with me. And I thought about the times we spend in prayer together and tears flow from her face as she lifts me up before God. I remembered the fact that she gave me complete support with the last project and has already given me total support with this venture. There is no limit to what God will do with a husband and wife connected in spirit, submitted to the will of God, courageous enough to launch out into the deep water and work for God’s kingdom.

As I’m writing this, I’m reminded about the moments on the stage in Italy, particularly in Sassari on the island of Sardinia. The moments when the worship became so intense that we couldn’t move to the next song… moments when the Holy Spirit translated the language for those sitting in the audience who didn’t know English but knew our Savior. After seeing God move like that, why am I letting this thing bother me? There is something that God dropped on me a little while ago. The project is His. It is for His glory. Everything that it takes to complete the project belongs to Him. He has it in all the right places. He will put it all where it needs to be when it needs to be there. God’s kingdom has the resources for a CD recording. It’s not about me anyway. It’s about God accomplishing something through me for His glory. So, I will trust Him.

Then, to top it off, I am reminded about the fact that the thing that woke me up at 8:15 this morning is that I heard “Join In This Praise” playing on the Contemporary Christian channel of Music Choice this morning. Music Choice is the cable and satellite radio network that Cox Cable and others use to play music. This means that the song is getting national play.

Thank you, Lord! I am inspired.

Settling Back Into The Grind

When I got back from Europe I figured it would take my body a couple of days to adjust to the 6-hour time difference. I got off the plane running! We had our church’s New Years Eve service to execute. Because of the tremendous growth of Gethsemane Community Fellowship, we held our New Years Eve service off-site at Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium. We had to contract sound reinforcement for the event. We had a guest artist coming in to do a concert that night. So, I had a lot of work to do that day to make sure that things went smoothly that night. And, yes, it was a wonderful night!

Since we were headed into a new year… and our church was beginning a new service schedule – going from two services per Sunday to three services – there was a lot to do before the first Sunday of the year. I had lots of meetings and planning. We had to redesign how we would execute things to accommodate these services. As “Minister of Worship and Arts” I am responsible for the ushers, greeters, media, parking & security, dancers, mime, drama and music ministries. And the change in service schedule was going to directly impact my ministries. To make things even more challenging, I had a ministry leader who was going out on sick leave for a couple of months with another young lady covering her ministry and I had another ministry that had just changed leaders. So, I had to be hands-on with both of these ministries. There was a lot to do!

My plan, getting back home, was to get to work on my next recording project. I had planned to do another live recording on February 29th. But I had to look at my whole picture and see if my timetable was realistic… and it wasn’t. I needed to spend the month of January working out the kinks of the new service schedule and working with my leaders. In other words, I needed to concentrate on things at my home church first. So I pushed the recording date to April 25th.

Before I knew it, three weeks had gone by and I hadn’t done any work on my new music. But I also sensed a longing in my heart. God sent a word through the church on Sunday about the parable of the wise and the foolish homebuilders. In that message, I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me. I realized that in the three weeks that I’ve been home I had not spent any quality time in prayer or in reading God’s word. I was working very hard on the things of God but wasn’t spending quality private time with God. WORSHIP LEADERS: BEWARE!!

So, I put everything on hold on Monday and spent time with God. Of course, he took me to a scripture that spoke directly to me. Isaiah 2:8 says, “Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” The word of God here reminded me of how easy it is for leaders to begin to worship the leadership position… for singers to worship the songs… for musicians to worship the music… for worship leaders to begin to worship the worship! It sneaks up on you. Before you know it, the private time with God is replaced with doing “kingdom work.” IT’S NOT THE SAME! God requires that I spend time with Him… not busy time but quiet time.

After my time with God, I was able to finally finish a song that was being birthed in my heart for quite some time, “I Give You Everything.” It’s going to be on my next project. I believe it will bless you. It’s a song of worship and surrenderance.

The Final Show!

After dinner, we went to the theatre for our final concert of the tour. We were excited, relieved, tired, drained, energetic, jittery, hoarse and grateful all at once. The place was packed. This grand theatre has four balcony levels. It was built in the early 1800s. Everything had been preserved except the wood has been replaced. The acoustics are incredible. The artwork and drawings just take your breath away to see. You’ll just have to see the photos.

We stepped onto stage to find that our last night had the rowdiest, most energetic, most excited crowd that we’ve had all tour. Before the first song even started I heard someone shout out, “We love you, Michael.” Did they think I was Michael Jackson… or Michael Jordan… or Michael W. Smith? That was an interesting feeling.

We went through our set. We opened with “Dance In My Feet,” involving the crowd on the vamp. They were on top of it. We went into “Holy Is The Lord,” singing the chorus in Italian. We took it to church with “We’ve Come This Far By Faith,” including personal testimony of how we’ve had to learn to rest in the peace of God. From there, we went to “In Your Blood” which set a powerful tone. We closed the first part of the set with “Join In This Praise.” Then we went into the Christmas set. We opened it with “Oh Holy Night” which always goes over very well. Then we went into “The First Noel” wherein “The Well,” “The Diva,” and “Red Bird” get to handle the lead by singing the verses. That consistently gets screams and cheers. We moved into “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Although Christmas Day has passed, these people celebrate the entire Holiday Season just like Americans. We concluded this part of the set with “Amen,” which is another crowd favorite. I love the fact that singing that song allows me to minister the Kyrygma… the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We moved into the final set, starting with our African remix of “Fight For Me.” It pulls the crowd in and allows them to sing with us even if they don’t know a drop of English. From there, we got personal with “You Are Lord – Agnus Dei.” By the time we got to the end, worship was in the house. I knew that if we didn’t stop quickly, we were going to completely lose it. We were all considering the times when the van skidded on ice in the mountains and the hand of God kept us from going over the cliff. We were considering the times we were emotionally spent and God revived and restored us. We were considering the many times we were terrified by Italian driving but quickly found ourselves falling asleep because God wrapped us in a blanket of His peace. Yeah… we were getting caught up… and wouldn’t have been able to finish the tour. So, we cut it kinda quickly and went to the closer… “I’m Saved.” By the time we were done with it, the crowd was on their feet singing, “Oh – Oh – Oh – Oh!” It was a blast.

Typically, that’s where we close the show, and then come out for an encore with “Oh Happy Day.” But I felt the need to do a teaser. So, we stopped, went back to the mics and did, “Down By The River Side.” It’s so funny watching my wonderful Italian friends try to clap and move and sing at the same time. Somebody say, “Rhythm, Lord! Oh, oh, oh, rhythm, Lord!” (Sorry… I had to whoop that one.) We left the stage and was called back out by the crowd for an encore. Now, we were all shouting the victory because it was the last time we were singing “Happy Days!” You should have seen us literally running back on the stage like it was Christmas. Then we all started dancing. The crowd was in stitches! It was a very funny moment. “Oh Happy Day” was very special this time. We took it to church! We even stopped the music and rocked out a little. Wow! What a blast.

After the concert, we went back to the hotel and packed. We had to pull out at 2:00 AM to head to Milan Airport – a six-hour drive. Our flight leaves at 10:15 but, of course, you need to arrive very early. We were supposed to take a nap and get some rest during the 1.5 hours we had before load and departure time. But, the only one of us that could sleep was “Red Bird” and she was like really dead to the world. “Mad Max” however was required to sleep. He had to do all the driving.

We sat around and tried to figure out what we were feeling. It was “bittersweet.” We were so glad that it was over and that we were headed home. But, we had so much fun and hated to see it come to a close. This was a special moment.

The drive to Milan was grueling! I took the first leg of staying awake with “Mad Max” to keep him alert. By about 5:30 AM, I was totally spent. “The Well” switched and took on the last shift while I got in the back to get some shut-eye. Of course, I woke up later and saw that “Mad Max” had no help. “The Well” was wide-awake, listening to my iPod the entire time I was awake. I guess we were on the same schedule.

We arrived at Milan safely. Even more of a surreal moment was observed. We were actually leaving Italy and heading home. We are tired. As much as we loved Italian food, we want some fried chicken… collard greens… potato salad… macaroni & cheese… hmm, on second thought… skip the mac & cheese… we’ve had enough pasta to hold us for the next six months. Oh… we want pancakes and sausage… scrambled eggs… a waffle…

We’re on the plane!

Thank you, God, for the opportunity to do what many people only dream of. I am so grateful for the chance to spread the message of the Gospel to people of another culture. Thank you for the chance to spend two weeks living out a witness to “Mad Max.” I pray that the life that we lived before him will draw him to you. Thank you for opening his heart to the point that he would ask questions about you as we rode to Treia. Thank you for giving me an understanding of your word so that I could have something to share with him that would make sense. Thank you for being so gracious to me. Thank you for all of the people that prayed for us through this journey. Thank you for the amazing singers that took this journey with me and worshipped, wept and prayed with me. Thank you for healing me from the virus that attacked my body the first week I was there. Thank you for traveling mercies. Thank you for the revival in Naples. Thank you for the artists that went before me that I was able to draw from. Thank you for EVERYTHING!!

The Final Show Approaches!!

We decided to leave early from Olivone, Switzerland and head to Treia, Italy for the final show. It is a six-hour drive. When we stepped out of the hotel – a small, quaint ski-resort, we were astounded by the view we had of the Alps. When we arrived there the previous evening we were too tired to fully digest what we were seeing. Besides, it was late afternoon and the sun was setting. It was now early morning and we were in the shadow of the mountains. This was a great photo op.

Driving from the mountains of Switzerland to the central Italy city of Treia meant we had to pass through Lodi (pronounced Laud-ee). This area of Italy, just outside of Milan has the phenomenon of intense fog in the dead of winter. Fog most often occurs in warmer weather. But in this area, even when there is thick frost on the ground there is also intense fog. We traveled through it for about 15 kilometers (see, I’ve been here so long I’m starting to think in the metric system. Oh Lord!!).

When we reached Treia I could hardly believe my eyes. Do you remember the movies about Medieval Europe… about ancient Italy…about the historical city of Jericho? Treia is an ancient, walled city. This fortress still has cobblestone streets. You can see the great military advantage to the location just based on geography. Treia is on a mountain… an actual city set on a hill. It is a place that couldn’t be hidden. But it’s also a place that you couldn’t sneak up on. From the towers or from the walls, any enemy approaching this city would be spotted.

We arrived at the hotel, a very modern establishment in this ancient place. As we walked down the street we found some very cool shops nearby. This was a very modern city in the body of an ancient museum. We got there about 4:30. We had a 7:00 sound check, and dinner at 7:30.

Our tour schedule said that we wound be singing at a church in Treia. Our tour manager said that we would be singing in a church. We were prepared for one more cold church with the amazing acoustics, to which we had become accustomed. To our surprise, when “Mad Max” met us to walk us over to the facility, which was only about 40 meters away, he told us that he just found out that it was a theatre. And, to use his wording, “…and this place is dope!”

Now, please allow me to explain “Mad Max” to you. My buddy is part Italian, part American, part Hip-Hop and totally serious about everything. My man is INTENSE! But, because of that character trait, he can always be depended on to get the job done with excellence. He can be short and curt like most Italians, but he also knows how to rap. And now, after riding around with us all week, he knows how to “whoop!” See, when things got intense on the road, “The Well” or I would break out in a sermon to lighten the mood. Well, whooping is contagious. On the way from Rivarotta, “Mad Max” took over the message for one line. That was all it took. We were all in tears… hearing this Italian, who loves to rap and rhyme, take on the art of preaching. “Preach, preacher!!” Oh yeah… did I mention that he loves to rap and rhyme? Dude will break into a rap at the drop of a dime. He can break down the history of rap and hip-hop like very few others can. We love Massimo, aka “Mad Max.”

Crossing the Border for an Alpine Adventure

We left McDonalds with our bellies full. We had just come across the border from Italy into Switzerland. Here we go! Another new country to explore. We thought Italy was gorgeous. Switzerland just takes it to another level. It is just amazing!! I tried to capture every photo I could. We’ll have to get some more on the way out.

We headed to a little town called Olivone – up on a mountain in the Alps. The hotel we checked into has the most comfortable beds we’ve slept in since we left America. We all took a nice nap when we got there.

And let me tell you… we had never in our lives seen a church more beautiful than this. From the artwork on the ceiling to the sculptures on the ledges to the gold lined walls behind the pulpit to the enchanting colors throughout the building, this seemed to be a miniature Sistine Chapel. You will have to see the photos to truly appreciate it. No… you’ll have to go there and see it in person.

The sound check was on point. You know… come to think of it… we’ve had better sound on this tour than we usually have for our engagements in the states. I’m going to miss these guys that have been making us sound so full and rich. They really know what they are doing. It appears that they are engaged in ensuring the sound is as good as it can get from the beginning of the show until the very end. They catch feedback very quickly… before it gets to that ear-piercing point. They try to ensure that everyone in the building not only can hear the music but also can fully enjoy the experience. Working with them has been a great pleasure. Their expertise has allowed my voice to last for the entire tour. Thank you, guys!!

Then, again, we discovered that the restroom was in another building. So, we had to go outside to get there. We take so many things for granted in America… especially in our “big city churches.” But your worship is tested when you are offered the opportunity to worship in uncomfortable circumstances. If your intensity lessens because of your discomfort, I suggest that you re-evaluate the authenticity of your worship. Here, on this tour, there was no time for questionable worship. We had to be real.

People filled every seat, every crack, lined the back wall… all to hear “gospel music.” This was the community’s huge annual event and the first Gospel concert held in this church. This was a bit of a tough crowd… very reserved. But, the building was completely packed. It took a while to get them going. But, “Oh Holy Night” was just what the doctor ordered. When we did “The First Noel,” they came completely alive… and stayed with us for the rest of the journey.

We had developed a bit of a comedy routine on stage. We started trading riffs and runs… particularly “The Well” and me. But, this night, more of the group got in on the act. I heard “Chicken on Bikes” ripping it up. Shocking!! She was gettin’ it! The crowd seems to enjoy it. Also, on this night, I even challenged the crowd. You should have heard this Swiss crowd doing riffs with me. It was very cool. Thank you, Andrae Crouch, for the idea.

Over the last five or so shows, we’ve made “You Are Lord – Agnus Dei” our personal worship time. It allows us a moment to leave the performance and go hard after God. We’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to verbally reflect on the journey and openly bless God for bringing us through it. By the time we get to the “Hallelujah Chant” we are caught up in the glory of God. Those moments make the grind of the road worthwhile.

After the concert we came out to greet the crowd. We would have been selling CDs but we sold out in Naples. I guess I should have brought more. As we were talking with the crowd, a group of four was standing to the side – all of whom spoke some English. One young lady in the group – perhaps the spokesperson – began to share how they were moved by the intensity of the worship. She asked if that was the way we praised God all the time. “Yes!” She proceeded to say that it was a great testimony to them, that God could be worshipped this way. Too often, she said, their people sit quietly in worship – with a few rebels making noise. But now they are encouraged to worship more intensely.

Another young lady was speaking with some of the other group members about how she couldn’t sit quietly through the concert. We all were feeding off her energy throughout the show and told her how much we appreciated her enthusiasm. She shared how she doesn’t understand how people can sit during such worship and be so silent. Yeah… we really do understand.

Ron Kenoly recorded a live worship project in Italy some years ago and I have a copy of it. That album helped me learn words in Italian to facilitate praise and worship. Thank you, Ron.

The Wonder of Rivarotta

We arrived in Rivarotta after dark. That wasn’t a good thing. This place was a bit scary. Definitely like a ghost town. We checked into what is best described as a bed-and-breakfast, which was the best the town had to offer. The hostess was less than friendly. The accommodations were less than comfortable. But it reminded us of the word we had received from the Lord on Christmas day. So, we were up to the challenge.

Later, we arrived at the church. As we waited in the cold room, next to the door to the outside where the restroom was, we considered what the Lord had said and determined that we would give Him a sacrifice that cost something. Soon, the concert organizer came in and asked if he could have our seats because the place was completely full and they needed more chairs. We obliged. Later, he came in again and asked if it would be all right if people sat on the sides of the stage because the place was overflowing. Of course, we obliged.

When we exited our room and entered the sanctuary, this small church that seats probably 200 people was jam packed with about 300-325 people, standing against the walls, three rows standing in the rear of the building, and about 16-20 people on the stage at our sides. It was huge for their town.

Now, we met God mightily in Potenza. We saw God show his face in Sassari. But, this night was another dimension. The worship was intense. The crowd was right there with us. Again, the Holy Spirit was the translator and these Italians were worshipping God with us! It was just amazing. This was a rocking, ready, rowdy crowd that didn’t mind getting into the music and engaging in the worship.

After the concert, we were asked to join some of the locals at a local eatery across the street from the church. So, at 11:15 PM, with our stomachs growling, we detoured from our planned immediate sprint to the restaurant so that we could make an appearance at the local eatery. Yeah, there would be food there… but it wasn’t going to be a meal. And we weren’t in the mood for snacks or appetizers. We wanted a meal. But… we obliged. After eating quiche’, we were headed out the door to the van so that we could go to the restaurant. Then we were intercepted and asked to come in and eat some of the local rice dish. This was a dish we had obligingly tried last week in another town. We weren’t ready for this. We had some attitudes. But we obliged. As we were sitting there eating the rice, which none of us really enjoyed, I remembered that in most cases your greatest victory is followed by your greatest test. I shared this with our group. We all quickly got ourselves in check and adjusted our attitudes. We were not about to come out of that incredible worship experience and fail an attitude test. We ate the rice, then left for the restaurant.

Oh my God… the wait was worth it!! The food at the restaurant was just indescribable. God knows how to reward us when we try our best to please Him.

We went back to the “bed & breakfast” and decided to leave extra early the next morning. We were all in the mood for an American breakfast. We had seen a few McDonalds on the road and decided to forego the aged croissants that the hostess at the B&B was offering us. We wanted McGriddle sandwiches: sausage, egg & cheese biscuits; hotcakes and sausage… something American. We were very disappointed to discover that Italians don’t patronize fast food breakfast so Burger King and McDonalds don’t open until lunchtime. Guess what we had for breakfast… croissants and strudels. But that’s okay… we went to McDonalds for lunch. And our stomachs paid for it!!

Major Bonding in Bellaria

“Mad Max” got a little lost getting to the hotel in Bellaria. A nice Italian gentleman got in the van with us and guided us to the hotel. We pulled up to a gorgeous beachfront vacation spot on the banks of the Adriatic Sea. Oh my God… What a view! The Adriatic Sea is so amazingly clean and blue. “Chicken on Bikes” and I had to go to the water and grab some shells. This slice of Paradise is very natural. Even in the dead of winter, it’s totally fabulous. Locals were walking and running the beach – getting their exercise… embracing nature… appreciating God’s awesome creativity.

The concert in Bellaria was held at a beautiful theatre. A local journalist called before the concert began to hold a phone interview. We found the article in the paper the following morning. That’s pretty cool… to see an article about you in a language you can’t read. “Mad Max” read the article to me. I guess journalists are journalists everywhere. She didn’t quote me accurately at any point in the article… but she did get the essence of what I said, so I wasn’t upset. I am particularly glad that she captured what I said about Jesus giving hope to the world and His message being the essence of my music.

Bellaria is an English friendly place. Since it attracts so many tourists from many countries, including England, you find many things in multiple languages. This was evident at the restaurant we visited after the show. They had an English menu for us to use.

Speaking of restaurants… I’m going to have to get back on a decent eating schedule when we get home. On the road the schedule is: breakfast at about 8:30-9:30 AM; travel to the next city for 3-7 hours; a snack after the sound check, which is usually around 7:00 PM; then dinner after the show which usually starts around 9:30 PM, which means dinner doesn’t start until about 11:45 PM. Then we go back to the hotel and sleep. Fortunately, this food is so natural, pure and light that it doesn’t sit on you. If you stay up for about 3 hours, you will find yourself hungry again. But, this schedule wouldn’t work in the US, especially with the kinds of food we like to eat. So, I’ll have to get back on a decent schedule. Pray for me.

Back to Bellaria… We got up the next morning pretty late. Since we only had a 2.5-hour drive to Rivarotta Di Teor, we didn’t have to leave early. So, we didn’t have wake-up calls. We stopped at a laundry and did our clothes together. That was a real bonding moment. You should have seen all of us putting our whites and colors together to maximize the use of the machines. By now, we all feel like family, so why not act that way? I have to compliment the laundry facility. Your 3 Euros pay for not only the use of the washing machine, but the machine automatically dispenses your detergent and fabric softener. As long as you don’t have allergies and need specific detergent, that system makes life easy.

A Tent Meeting and a Revival!

We flew out of Sassari and landed in Rome. “John” met us there. We didn’t know that it would be our last time seeing him on this tour. We’re gonna miss him. He is hilarious!!

“Mad Max” drove us from Rome to Campobasso. Our hotel was on the top of one of those snow-capped mountains. It was beautiful getting there. This hotel was on a cliff so that you could look right down off the mountain into the valley. Breathtaking!! We intended to come out and take photos – but by the time we got back outside the mountain was completely foggy. Perhaps a cloud had descended or something. We couldn’t even see the end of the parking lot. So much for the photos.

Upon our arrival at the hotel, we noticed a few African-Americans. That was exciting. Another group was staying at the hotel that night who were also touring the country. They were also singing at the same concert we were headlining that night. We expected to connect and fellowship with this group of people. We were disappointed to see that they were not a group we could freely fellowship with. Suffice it to say, we had an unpleasant experience. Anyway…

That night’s concert was held at a tent erected in the middle of town – all the way down the mountain. It was a heated tent! Hallelujah! But there were no restrooms… just outhouses, outside in the snow. Praise Jesus, anyhow!! They did have a drumset. “The Well” was able to get his release. We did a short set – only 60 minutes. Our other concerts have been 80-90 minutes. Yeah, that’s a lot of singing! But, this night was shorter.

Now, I told you about how we were always asked to sing, “Oh Happy Day!” Well, we had planned to sing it as our closer – perhaps our encore. As we were walking in the tent, we heard the group on the stage singing “Oh Happy Day.” They were struggling through it. In the States, our common practice is to adjust and sing something different if someone sings a song you were planning to sing. So I asked “Mad Max” about it and he thought we should still sing it. So, we closed with it. People were up singing and screaming as if we were The Edwin Hawkins Singers. Then the group that got up behind us was a choir from Campobasso. They sang a couple of the same songs we sang, including… you guessed it… “Oh Happy Day!” And the crowd went crazy all over again. Yeah! These people love… as they call it… “Happy Days!”

The next morning, we left a little late and drove to Naples (Napoli) for our day off. We so desperately needed some down time. We got a chance to go shopping! I got some nice things for my wifey. I even picked up a pair of shoes for me. We had a fun day. That night we hung out in the big room downstairs in the lobby. It was like a big family gathering. Being on the road like this really makes you bond. You become like brothers and sisters… getting on each others nerves… learning each others idiosyncrasies… making each other laugh until your belly aches. We had so much fun. But underneath it all, I could sense the depletion that was there. We needed a refill from God.

Christmas morning, we got up… ate breakfast… and went back to sleep. But God dropped something in my spirit to share with the group. I spent some time in the word to get the clarity I needed to share it accurately. It was based on II Samuel 24:24 when David states, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” We had arrived at the point in the tour where the novelty had worn off. We were no longer “oohing and awhing” over the mountains and fruit trees and buildings and landscape and food. We were in the grind. When you are giving your talent to God to be used by Him during a time when things are automatic and comfortable, that sacrifice doesn’t cost you anything. But when you aren’t feeling good… when your body is exhausted… when you are emotionally drained… when you are under attack… and in that moment you stand and give God your best offering, that’s when you are making a sacrifice that costs something. And God moves when that kind of offering is sacrificed before Him.

We met together at 2:00 Christmas afternoon and had a chapel service. After I shared this brief word with the group, we sang songs of worship to the Lord. And I wish I could describe to you what happened in that room. We were in the hotel restaurant at the piano. No one else was in there except one of the hotel staff that got caught up with us. As we sang, God came in that room and enraptured each of us. Tears turned into weeping as we felt God refilling us and restoring us. I have a new appreciation for the lyrics, “Oh the glory of Your presence. We, your temple, give you reverence. So arise from your rest and be blessed by our praise as we glory in your embrace; as your presence now fills this place.” I have a new appreciation for the lyrics, “Sweet Holy Spirit. Sweet Heavenly Dove. Stay right here with us, filling us with your love. And for these blessings, we lift our hearts in praise. Without a doubt we’ll know that we have been revived when we shall leave this place.” Yes, the Holy Spirit came up in that room so powerfully that even the hotel staff member was lifting his hand and worshipping God with us. And… the man doesn’t speak English. What an awesomely great God we serve.

Christmas night, we did a concert at another church. Again, the conditions were very difficult. But we were prepared. We pushed through and gave God a sacrifice that cost us something. And, again, God showed up in the building! Yeah, God!!

In the morning, we head to Bellaria. That will be a 5-6 hour road trip. Then we sing there and sing each night for the next four nights. Then we head back home. I look forward to getting back home to my wife. I miss her.

Meeting God on the Island

We had a wonderful time at the reception dinner after the concert in Cerro Veronese. We met “Danny” who promoted the event. “Danny” is a musician and producer in a wonderful blues band called MOBLUS (mo’ blues). He gave us a couple of their CDs. Really nice sound!! We also met the mayor of the town.

The next morning we headed to Verona airport to fly to the island of Sardinia. When we arrived on the island we had to wait nearly an hour for the taxis to pick us up. It gave us a chance to grab a pizza. Oh my GOD!! People, you haven’t had pizza until you have pizza in Italy. It is soooo goooood!!

When the taxis arrived, we were happy for a few minutes. Then we realized we were better off with “Mad Max” behind the wheel on a bad day. We had “Evul Knieval” and his twin brother “Evil Knievel” behind the wheels. I was exhausted so I fell asleep very quickly for this 75-minute drive. When they awoke me at the hotel, they ladies told me the horror story. I had my true revelation when “Evul” and “Evil” picked us up from the hotel the next day to take us back to the airport. Can you way reckless abandon?! But, that’s another story…

When we got out of the taxis at the beautiful hotel in Sassari on the island of Sardinia, it looked like something from a movie or a book. It looked surreal. The tiny street that was smaller than most 1-way streets in America was a bustling 2-way corridor right in front of the hotel. It looked amazing, frightening, enchanting and wonderful – all at once. There were so many people walking the streets shopping at the various clothing and merchandise stores. It was so cool!!

After chilling out for a little while, we got prepared for sound check. The church where we were singing was only a few meters away so we walked… down this amazing street… pass some enticing stores… through this bustling crowd… down this frightening alley… down an even more frightening, unpaved alley way… to this amazing, glorious cathedral in a courtyard that you would totally miss if a local hadn’t gotten you to it.

When we entered the building it was totally awe-inspiring. It forced you to consider the love and sacrifice of Jesus – with all of its paintings and statues. Yeah… this building gets you when you first walk in the door. And, in the Italian tradition, it was COLD!! But we were prepared – mentally prepared for this encounter.

After sound check, we sat in the back room. I finished sharing my testimony with the group. I started in Cerro Veronese telling them about my life story and how God had delivered me. I opened up and told them of what I had encountered during my foolish youth… the crazy mistakes I had made in ministry… the times I had completely failed God and his people… how God had wondrously forgiven me and restored my life. I told them what the song, “Look Where You Brought Me From” was all about. I told them where the song “In Your Blood” came from. We were all nearly in tears when we got finished talking.

When we stepped onto the stage we were completely charged! It is so much fun being on stage with this group. But something amazing started happening this night. We started feeling the presence of God very early in the set. When we started singing “In Your Blood,” I believe we all had a new appreciation for those lyrics. The intensity continued to build. We did our African remix of “Fight For Me.” It was a huge hit! But I kept feeling the need to go in deep and worship God intensely.

As I started playing the intro to “You Are Lord,” I just wanted to sing a love song to the Lord. I started asking Him if I could do so – but it came out in song. Very quickly we knew something supernatural was happening. As we started singing the song, the audience vanished, the ceiling disappeared and we were in the face of God. He listened as we sang, “You are Lord. I offer you my worship.” He listened as we sang, “Holy are you, Lord God Almighty! Worthy is the Lamb!” Before we could start the “Hallelujah chant,” I found myself weeping in worship. I told God how awesome it was that we were worshipping in this amazing place of worship, thousands of miles away from home. Yet, in every language, in every tongue, worship is the same because He is the same. And we can all join together and sing “Hallelujah!” But my prayer came out in song over the microphone. As we started the chant, we could hear this Italian crowd singing “Alleluia! Alleluia!” It felt as though the earth began to quake. Heaven was in a dance with earth and God kissed his creation. When we ended the song, we were paralyzed from anything but worship. We could do nothing but bless God. We couldn’t explain the moment to the audience… I didn’t know enough Italian to even attempt it… and I was too caught up to try. But as we started opening our eyes we saw that the audience was in worship just as we were. They went with us! They were clapping and cheering and lifting their hands. And we could tell that it was no longer applause for a performance… they were worshipping with us. The Holy Spirit had translated the moment and they understood it very well. This went on for a few minutes… just pure worship! What an amazing sound!! I can’t even write it without crying again.

Yeah, we met God on the island of Sardinia, in the town of Sassari. He was very present.

Learning To Adjust

Of all of us on this trip – “The Well” has the most touring experience. He told me, “In most cases, it starts out good, then it goes downhill, but it comes up at the end.” He was referring to the accommodations that you are provided when touring in foreign countries. He was certainly correct.

In Udine – pronounced UUH-din-nay – we had to adjust to rooms with very interesting smells and construction taking place on the roof – and we were on the top floor. In Cerro Veronese, we had to adjust to rooms that were colder than the snow-capped mountain the hotel stood on. But by the time we returned to the rooms after the show, the steam radiators had heated them. However, I guess the heat brought out the bugs because we found some crawling on our pillows – well not me personally. I was too tired to notice anything.

As a singer, I have had to learn to adjust my style and approach so that I can last for the entire tour. When I get on stage, I tend to completely spend myself vocally. But I cannot do that for these concerts; especially since the temperature of the rooms we sing in is totally unpredictable. I’ve had to adjust my clothing as well to accommodate the fact that I will be sweating a little on stage but there won’t be a warm bathroom in which to change clothes after the show at the venue. So, I have to wear undergarments that will absorb the perspiration and keep me warm, even after the show.

We noticed that in Reggio Calabria and in Potenza, the audience requested that we sing “Oh Happy Day.” We hadn’t learned it so we couldn’t do it. But we learned it in the van on the way to Udine and did it at that show. We’ve also had to pick up “Down By The River Side.” These are songs that Italians love to hear – and actually expect to hear at Gospel concerts. And you should see how they get into it when we close the concert with those two songs.

After the concert in Potenza, a gentleman came up to me who spoke just a little English. He said, “When I came to concert, I felt ‘ehh.’ Now, I feel much better. Thank you.” Of all the compliments we have received, that one blesses me most. It underlines the power of this gift of music that God has given us. It also reveals the universality of music ministry. Even when people can’t understand what you are saying, they can feel the message – and when God anoints it, they will encounter God in the message.

Many Christians in America tend to compartmentalize our experiences with God. We can be so over-churched that the moments when we encounter the supernatural don’t have a lasting effect. We leave those moments in its particular place in time. I think that is a problem. We talked about it as a group. We decided not to leave the Potenza experience in Potenza – but to carry it with us. And that’s what we have been doing.

The Udine concert was wonderful. Again, we experienced God. Likewise, the Cerro Veronese concert was fantastic. God’s presence was clear at that theatre. It was a night of major adjustments for me because my voice was a bit weak. I felt my body fighting off a virus and it took a toll on my voice. So, “The Well” took my lead part in “The First Noel” – and he KILLED it!! I think I’m going to let him keep it for the rest of the tour. I also dropped the key of “Fight For Me” by a whole step – right on stage. It is such a blessing to be working with professional singers who can handle a key change right on stage with only a 30 second notice. I don’t normally do that kind of thing but sometimes it’s necessary. By the time we got to the end of the concert, my voice was strong and clear again.

We are in the airport now headed over to Sardinia. We sing at a church there tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes. Keep praying for us. It’s very intense riding with “Mad Max” driving us through these mountains. The Italians are used to this… We’re from Virginia, Southeastern Virginia at that. Fast driving around curves on mountains frightens us. So, please keep praying for our safety… and our courage.

Oh yeah… one other great thing to report. Although we are less than halfway through with our concerts, we have sold two-thirds of the CDs that we brought. At this rate, we won’t have any CDs for the last few shows. God is blessing!!

If I don’t post to my blogs on a given day, it’s only because we are at a hotel that doesn’t have internet access – which has been the case with the last two hotels. Thank God for the airport.

The Road To Potency (Potenza) – Part 2

We figured that it was going to be cold in the church so we decided to dress warmly. Yeah, we were right. We arrived at a fantastic catholic church that was just as cold as the mountain. The heat was turned on to attempt to take the chill out of the building. I thought to myself, those heaters won’t get it done in time.

The sound check made it clear that we weren’t going to have to push. This building carried sound very well. We hardly needed mics. During sound check I saw a black priest come through the church, gather his robe, and leave. Soon, I saw him return with his robe on. I thought, “Wow! They’ve got a black priest.” What happens when you assume?

We were taken to a room in the adjoining building to relax and prepare for that night’s concert. There was a heater in that room and the temperature was probably just above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. That was quite a step up from the temperature of the church. As we concluded our vocal warm-ups in that room and finished our preparations, our host brought in some hot tea and pastries.

Then, a very energetic, elderly gentleman entered the room. His presence demanded respect – but we all felt so welcome around him. He introduced himself as the pastor of the church and welcomed us. He gave us each a book about the history of the church and told us that he would return shortly to take us on a tour of the facility. As we looked through the books we could see the 100-plus years that the church had stood as a light in that city. We could also see that people wore coats and scarves during the services. We were in for a cold night.

When the pastor returned, he took us down the hallway and began to show us photos of the worldwide work he and the church had been doing to provide homes for orphans all around the globe. They had facilitated more than 1500 adoptions for children. We were introduced to one such young lady who was living in Potenza and working at the church.

We were escorted to the pastor’s office where he had the most amazing collection of artwork and memorabilia from all around the world, highlighting the many countries to which he had traveled providing assistance, training and service to the underprivileged of the world. Paintings, carvings, literature… Words cannot express what all we saw in his office. We took lots of photos (I’ll load them soon – I promise).

Looking at these items and seeing what this man was doing to make a difference in the world challenged us to re-evaluate our lives and to work much harder to make a difference. As we saw artwork capturing the struggles of people – even the terror of a congregation in Africa as, during Mass, their priest was murdered in front of their faces – we realized that the small things that we struggle with in our comfortable lives in America are so small when compared to the plight of millions on this planet. We felt embarrassed that we were griping about a cold church when these people who come to this cold church are tirelessly reaching out to people who have even less than they do.

The pastor then took us to another room wherein he keeps figurine nativity scenes from the many cultures of the world. He has at least 120 or so sets of nativity figurines in a case that covers three of the four walls of the room. Included are countries and tribes in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. It was breathtaking. I stood there, fighting back tears as I realized that God was much larger than I had imagined. “The Well” offered a great commentary when he highlighted that, while the design of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was different based on the culture of the people, the message and story was undeniably the same. Jesus was born to save mankind – and the Earth was rejoicing!! I wish I had the words to describe the things that the pastor shared with us. He spoke with such passion and conviction. “Mad Max” did a great job interpreting what the pastor couldn’t put into English for us. We were all challenged to be better.

As we went back to the room we talked about the change in perspective we now had on what our lives should be. Between seeing the awesome might of God in the mountains and the active love of God in the work of Father Don Franco, we were changed.

As we began to sing that night, the atmosphere was electric. These people, who could not understand the words of most of the songs we were singing, were ready to be fully engaged in a night of music and celebration. The building had endured an earthquake a few years ago. This was the first big event at the church since the re-opening. This was a big deal. They were ready to celebrate. And they did! They were up clapping, cheering, swinging, singing any words they recognized. As we sang the Christmas music set, they recognized the music and often sang in Italian as we sang in English. When we starting singing the song, “Amen” – oh, it was on! They were right with us!

But when we got to the worship set – and began singing “You Are Lord” and tied it with “Agnus Dei,” we found ourselves consumed by our new perspective of the awesomeness of God. Tears began to flow from our eyes as we envisioned those mountains we had traveled through and the figurines in Father Don Franco’s office. We lost ourselves as we sang, “Holy! Holy – are you Lord God Almighty! Worthy is the Lamb!” When we concluded that song, we had to just stop for a few minutes and weep as we reverenced the presence of God. “Red Bird” completely lost it – started acting like she was at a Pentecostal church in America, hollering and carrying on. While some of the people looked curious, they didn’t look frightened. We later found out that they actually understood what was going on. I guess that’s why they started clapping and worshipping with us as we were consumed with the presence of God. His face had entered the room and you didn’t have to speak English to recognize it. While we all reacted differently, we all knew what was happening – and we were not afraid. We all worshipped. It was a moment that I could never describe.

Finally, we pulled ourselves together and went into the final song. “The Well” called up a couple of enthusiastic gentlemen from the audience to assist with playing some of our percussion instruments. They were rocking as we sang, “I’m Saved!” You should hear these Italians singing, “Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh!” Just amazing!!

My life will not be the same after that night.

We headed to Forli the next morning. We have a night off. We’re ready for it. We have four shows in a row before our next day off. We were scheduled to have Christmas Day off – but we were just booked for a show in Naples on that night. So, we have Wednesday night off, we sing Thursday through Sunday; then we have Monday night off and sing Tuesday through Saturday.

I think we will be pretty tired when we get home.

Tired and inspired.

Pray for our voices.

The Road To Potenza (Potency) - Part 1

As we pulled out of Reggio Calabria we were consumed with the beauty of the scenery. Reggio Calabria sits on the banks of the Strait of Messina right across from Sicily. The night we spent in Reggio Calabria had us in awe of the beauty of seeing the lights of Sicily across the water of the strait. But it didn’t compare to the beauty of the view we had as we climbed the mountain leaving Reggio Calabria.

As we ascended, the scenery became more and more beautiful. We all intended to sleep the whole trip. “The Well” was the only one to go to sleep pretty quickly. He was TIRED from cutting up so much. The rest of us couldn’t stop looking at the glory of God revealed in creation. But, the higher we went up the mountain, the more nervous “Running Feather” became. She doesn’t do heights nor darkness very well (more about the darkness later). So, she went to sleep – or at least feigned it.

“Mad Max” drives very differently from “John.” “Mad Max” isn’t afraid to put the pedal down and get on up the road. His driving made all of us a bit nervous. So, “The Diva” and “Red Bird” went to sleep so they wouldn’t have to watch as we rode. This left “Chicken On Bikes” and me to do all the “oohing” and “aahing.” We tried to take advantage of all the “photo ops” – moments when the scenery warranted a photo.

Southern Italy has so much history and charm. Clearly, the people there live very simple lives. The houses are built to last for centuries. No wooden frames here… these homes are made of solid concrete with iron rod reinforcement. Many homes burn wood for heat. This is the way of southern Italy.

Soon, we started seeing snow-capped mountains. Oh, what majestic beauty they possess! We rode on cliffs; through tunnels and around some of the most beautiful mountains we had ever seen. Then, more snow-capped mountains. Soon we saw mountains wearing clouds for halos. Still, more snow-capped mountains. Then we were riding through areas where snow was still on the ground. Soon we realized that we were on a snow-capped mountain. We saw that halo again… then noticed it was getting closer… and closer. Of my God – we drove into the cloud. What an awesome experience… driving into a cloud on a snow-capped mountain.

Eventually we reached Potenza – which actually means “Potency”. It looks like something you would see in a movie. A city built on a mountain without destroying the mountain. Streets are all either on the incline or decline. This busy, bustling city is packed with people driving their small, mini cars (Opel, Fiat, Renault, etc.), navigating these steep streets with reckless abandon. The view and atmosphere are incredible.

We pulled up to the Parco Del Seminario. Based on the name, I figured that the place was a renovated or remodeled seminary. I was close. We actually stayed in an active seminary. And, in the classic tradition, this wasn’t at all a place of luxury. This was a “get close to Jesus” moment for us.

The establishment clearly believes in conservation. After checking in, we headed to our rooms. The lights in the hallway were turned off – and there was no sunlight entering in to brighten your pathway. It took us a while to find the light switches. And when we found the switch and cut the lights on in the hallway, to our utter surprise, they only stayed on for about 30 seconds. Before we found our rooms, the lights turned off and we were in the dark again. You should have heard “Running Feather” scream as she crouched in the corner, holding on for dear life to whoever she was able to get her hands on. Poor thing. That was a FUNNY moment! When we got to the rooms we discovered that they were just as cold as the hallways, which were just as cold as the entrance to the building, which was almost as cold as the snow-covered mountain. In other words, NO HEAT! Well, to be more precise, they don’t run the heat all day. And we were checking in at the wrong time. There was no heat running in the rooms at that time of day. And, this place doesn’t have central heat. It was pipe heat – like steam heat. So, the rooms weren’t going to heat up quickly. And, marble floors are quite beautiful to have in your room – but it sure is cold to walk on.

By now, we were all very hungry. So, “Mad Max” took us on an adventure walking through the streets of Potenza at 3:30 in the afternoon in search of a restaurant. What we learned as we walked along was that Italians – especially those from Southern Italy – believe in siestas. And once siesta is over, most of the restaurants close because they don’t get any business. And they don’t open again until about 7:00 PM. We walked about a half-mile downhill through the snowy streets only to find nothing open. So, we turned around and headed back UP the mountain. By God’s grace, on the way back we found a spot open. We were so grateful!!

After these experiences, we weren’t in the best of moods. We were ready to get to the church, do the concert, come back to this cold seminary and quickly fall asleep so that we could get on our way to the next place.

Little did we know that our lives would change that night!

Tune in tomorrow to find out what happened.