Hey family, don’t forget to keep praying for Jeff Grant this weekend. Click here to read more about him and to see some of the prayers you guys have already posted– it’s great stuff and I love y’all for committing to prayer.
Monday, we’ll be lifting up another member of the gospel community, so get ready! 
Hey folks, please don’t forget to keep your prayers coming this week for Jeff Grant, Vice-President of Radio Promotions & Artist Relations at Verity Gospel Music Group.
As I mentioned on Monday, he’s been at the forefront of numerous radio success stories in gospel. Nothing’s wrong, that I know of– it’s just a part of our ongoing series, The Prayer List.
Click here to read my initial write-up on him, and to post your prayers.
Thanks, fam!
We had a great time praying for Kierra Sheard all last week. I wanna encourage you guys to remain steadfast and intentional in prayer. I don’t want us to be legalistic, but I do want us to challenge ourselves to be disciplined in this. If you want a reminder of why we’re doing what we’re doing, click here.
Ok, this week, we’re shifting gears a bit in that we’re not praying for a recording artist– we’re praying for an industry executive. He’s actually one of my favorite folks in this business– Benjamin Jeffrey Grant Clark (Jeff Grant).
Jeff Grant is the Vice President of Radio Promotions & Artist Relations at Verity Gospel Music Group. Aside from being at the helm of chart-topping radio successes like “Never Would Have Made It,” he’s been at Verity for quite a while, helping to guide the recording careers of Donnie McClurkin, Fred Hammond, Richard Smallwood, Hezekiah Walker, Dorinda Clark-Cole and more.
One of my favorite pieces of trivia about Jeff Grant is that he wrote Hezekiah Walker’s “The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow” yeeeeears ago (yes, the one that Kim Burrell covered and the one we’re still going bananas over. He’s a gifted musician and wise business man, but he’s also a great husband (like, one of those that you’d wanna watch to learn from), father and grandfather. So let’s go!
Father, thank You for the life of Jeff Grant. Thank You for his gifts and his abilities. Thank You for all of the opportunities You’ve given him– they allow him to be a capable, grounded and effective vehicle for ministry in this world. Thank You for investing time and love into him.
God, I pray that You would continue to be attentive to Jeff Grant. I pray that You will continue to remind him of the great responsibility on his life and I pray that he is perpetually aware of his unique purpose here. Cover him– physically, spiritually, emotionally– by the blood of Your Son, Jesus. Bless his marriage, his role as a father and as a grandfather. Allow him to be God-led in each of those roles and guide him to be an example of Christ’s love for us.
For Your glory’s sake, allow his labor in this industry, and in the Kingdom at large, to be fruitful. Give him wisdom and discernment. Allow his decisions to be sound and full of compassion. Please continue to reign on the throne of his heart, so that You will forever be his focus and his God. I pray this in the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Okay, folks… let’s hear ‘em! Post your prayers for Jeff Grant in the comment section. Thanks!
If you were at Marvin Sapp’s live recording (or at www.VerityRecords.com) on Friday night, you heard the great music that he plans to put on his new project, tentatively titled Here I Am, expected in the first quarter of 2010.
My wife and I were fortunate enough to make it to Grand Rapids for the event. Once we got there, we met up with Gerard Bonner (Bonnerfide Radio, GospelFlava.com), Jawn Murray (AOL Black Voices, Tom Joyner Morning Show, etc.) and Sheilah Belle (The Belle Report) before heading to the venue. Once there, we got settled in the front row along with Neechy (RocSpace) and the folks from Verity before the recording began. When I tell you we were cutting up from JUMP… let’s just say we were a rowdy group. 
Before the recording, Aaron Lindsey’s wife, Adrian, surprised him with an award to recognize him for his commitment to the gospel/Christian industry, and for writing and producing such GREAT music. It was kinda awesome of her… wanna point it out cuz you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t there.
Next, Marvin Sapp’s brother, Henry Sapp, performed a stand-up routine to get the crowd ready. I’m not a huge fan of stand-up, but he had the crowd laughing a bit. Finally, drummer extraordinaire and MC-for-the-night Ray Bady came to the stage to introduce Marvin Sapp.
With lights and energy at level 10, Marvin Sapp took to the stage and performed some reeeeaaally great music. For me, it got even better as the recording progressed. Aaron Lindsey served as musical director/producer while Myron Butler worked the vocal production with some of the tightest background vocals you’ll find in the game (shout out to Candy & Peaches West and Deonis Cook).
My favorites of the night: “Fresh Wind,” a song with a churchy/quartet feel to it, the vamp of which we stayed on for a good while; “Comfort Zone,” an encouraging ballad penned by Ted Winn (who was in the house); and, of course, ”He Saw The Best In Me,” written by Sapp and Lindsey, which reminds me of “Never Would Have Made It” in terms of its lyrical simplicity but easy-to-relate-to sentiment. I also enjoyed “Wait On Him,” “I’m In His Hands,” and “I Came.” It was just an evening of really good music.
He capped off the night by thanking and acknowledging various people in the audience, which included Commissioned mastermind Michael Brooks (and, of course, his lovely wife Lisa Page Brooks!). Almost as if unable to help himself, Sapp went into a quick impromptu medley of classic Commissioned songs written by Brooks– “City,” “Will You Be Ready,” “Giving My Problems To You”… it was tons of fun. I got several tweets that the live feed was cut, probably because of licensing issues for those songs. Sorry ya missed it!
Other folks of note in the crowd– Deborah Smith Pollard (Detroit radio DJ, author, speaker, professor and gospel historian), Michael Williams (drummer and former member of Commissioned) and Ken Reynolds (Integrity Music worship artist).
Pastor Sapp ended the entire evening by singing a small bit of “Never Would Have Made It,” like I’ve NEVER heard him sing in my life. His range was limitless and he made me feel like it was the first time I heard the song, which is a very tough task given how much it’s been played.
Special shout-out to Kymberlee Norsworthy, Jazzy Jordan, Jeff Grant and Joseph Burney of Verity Gospel Music Group– you were fantastic hosts and you made the weekend great for us. Plus, it was just good to see ya!
I’ve got a few photos for you below, but I urge you to check out Gerard Bonner’s website (http://www.GetBonnerfide.com, in the “In Concert” section) for a full collection of great shots. And I also got a chance to chat with Marvin Sapp, Aaron Lindsey and Myron Butler after the recording. I’ll tell you what they had to say later this week, so stay tuned.
Who else was in the house in Grand Rapids? Who heard the recording online? Which songs were your faves?
TALK TO ME!
