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 “God didn’t send His Son to die on a rugged cross so we can come down to the altar, pray a little prayer, walk back to our seats unchanged, and live like there is no God.” – Eric Bennett 

KWFC, the local Southern Gospel radio station for Springfield, MO conducted their final concert for the season on October 21st. Adding to that a line up such as Triumphant, The Whisnants and Jonathan Martin, it was bound to be a remarkable evening ~ and so it was! Evergreen Church has a very beautiful sanctuary. I was lucky to find a seat a few rows back from the stage, and settled in while waiting for the concert to begin. If anyone has ever attended a concert put on by the KWFC radio station, like myself, you find out quickly that you will be entertained by many announcements before the concert actually begins. The radio station manager keeps you on your toes and you never can predict exactly what will happen! This time he called upon a Compassion International worker, Zane King, to come up and sing a song he wrote called, When I See Jesus It Will Be Heaven For Me. Of course, we couldn’t have a concert with out some give-a-ways! So they threw out some trivia questions (such as, “What is the name of Susan Whisnants new radio single?” If you were the first one to say, The Church Across The Street, you just won one of Max Lucado‘s new books!). Sorry guys, I get a little weird when I’m taking cold medicine!

 Anyway. . .

 The Whisnants were the opening group singing Something Beautiful Of My Life. On Monday, Susan had gallbladder surgery! I can’t help but admire her for being out on the road on Thursday after such an ordeal! She truly is a trooper! King Jesus Is Coming, their very popular radio single, got the crowd clapping. That song received a great response from the audience – clapping, shouting, and even a few whistles! Susan took the lead on the next song, Even In The Valley God Is Good, which turned itself into a congregational singing of God Is So Good. Aaron was featured on the next number, Be Not Afraid. (Another song you’ll remember that did well for the Whisnants on the radio!) Jeff Whisnant stepped up and introduced Eric Ollis, who played a short piano solo, then introduced Aaron. When The Son Of My Life Goes Down followed, Susan and Jeff took a moment and praised their two sons and said how proud they were of them. Ethan, their youngest, sang his solo first with his parents called, Don’t It Make You Want To Go. (An upbeat Bluegrass song) Then Austin, who also plays bass guitar for the trio, sang Ronnie Booth’s well-know song I Would. Both did an excellent job with their songs! Susan stepped up and introduced her new radio single by telling a true story about a Youth Pastor in Georgia. (I think it was Georgia!) This Youth Pastor said that one night he had his youth group over at his house, and the CD with “The Church Across The Street” was playing softly in the background. Afterwards, when everyone left, he noticed that a girl who is always the first one to leave, stayed behind, she was seventeen. She came to them in their kitchen and said that she just found out that she was pregnant, she didn’t tell her parents and she already had scheduled an abortion at a local clinic; however, since she heard that song, (Church Across The Street), if they would go with her to her parents’ house right then, she would tell them and try to make the right decision. The youth pastor and his wife went with her, and when she told her parents, her dad wrapped his arms around her and said, “We’ve already made one mistake, let’s not make another.” The girl cancelled her appointment at the clinic. Susan went on to sing the Church Across The Street – a song, in Susan’s own words, “That does not have a happy ending.” While she was singing that song I couldn’t help but think, it’s great to hear great music, like SG, and great artists, like the Whisnants; but, it’s even greater to know that their music is having an impact on the people who hear it, so much so, that lives are being changed! What a ministry they have! After the Church Across The Street, Aaron sang a song called I’m Saved and Susan had everyone sing the chorus of A Greater Yes. I’ll Pray For You followed, and they closed their set with New Day Dawning. . .and many encores with standing ovations followed!

Jonathan Martin was next on stage singing as a soloist that night. His opener had a very contemporary feel to it, a song called You Were Made To Look Into The Son. In between songs he talked about how the Martins started their singing career, and how he is putting together a new Hymns project. It’s not out yet, but he gave us a sneak peek and sang two songs off of it, the first being Pass Me Not. The second was a old hymn he said was his mother’s all time favorite, Fill My Cup Lord. She even agreed to sing with him on the album (which Jonathan tells us is the very first time his mom has every been recorded singing!). Next was an upbeat/contemporary song, I Will Go The Distance. From there, he spoke around twenty minutes about his family, telling of all the trials and triumphs they have endured. He ended with Enjoy The Journey and We Are The Children Of God.

 Compassion International was present and took some time before the intermission to show a video of Compassion’s work and how we can get involved.

 Triumphant Quartet (minus a piano player) was the last and most anticipated group of the evening. Jeff Stice had a prior engagement and wasn’t able to be there. TQ began their set with I’m Amazed At The Change. Saved By Grace followed with Don’t Let The Sandals Fool Ya’. They did a song together that was an acappella quartet song, during which, they all huddled up in a tight circle on stage singing to each other until, suddenly, you hear Clayton say to David, “They can’t see me!” Then they all moved out in the standard line again. Clayton was then featured on Everyday, and Scott on Love Came Calling. Eric stepped up and introduced everyone, including Jeff, even though he wasn’t present. They looked like they were enjoying the applause he was getting. Eric said that Jeff sent them some tracks to sing with since he wasn’t there, so when the intro for He Forgave Me, Saved Me, Raised Me began playing, he said, “Yep, that’s Jeff!” David played Goodbye World, Goodbye on his harmonica. As Eric mentioned, that is a solo he usually shares with Jeff, but since he wasn’t there, David had to play the whole song by himself! If you’ve ever seen Triumphant, you’ll know the standard intro to their “Bluegrass song” The Ole’ White Flag. Yes, Clayton did have some extra fun with it, and the audience was a sea of white Kleenexes on every chorus! A hearty standing ovation followed! The next song of the night was their up beat When The Triumphant Sounds. Eric proceeded to give the Gospel in the most unique fashion. For those who have never attended a concert, he began by telling about his wife, daughter and son. . . .then, went on saying that he loves what he does and he loves the people that they sing to ….. He loves each and every person with the love of Christ, BUT, he doesn’t love us (the audience/people he sings to) enough that he would give one of his kids for us. “But,” he said, “if I did give one of my kids for you, I wouldn’t show a lot of mercy to you. If I gave one of my kids for you, I would want to be the very first person you talked to in the morning and the last person you talked to before you went to bed. If I gave one of my kids for you, I would want you to love me with everything you have. Yet, somehow, we don’t think of God like that. He DID give His Son for us!” He continued saying that God didn’t send His Son to die on an old rugged cross so we can go down to the altar, prayer a little prayer, then go back to our seats unchanged, and live life like there is no God. . .and we call ourselves Christians! Some of us haven’t prayed a real prayer in a long time, the only time we pray is when we bless our meal, if we even do that! He stressed that the Lord wants a one-on-one relationship with us – a friendship, a walking, talking, living one! He ended the gospel presentation with these words, “I can’t live the way I lived or be the way I was, because Somebody died for me!” Scott sang the song, Somebody Died For Me. When Eric was speaking, you could tell audience was really taking in what he said. You would hear an “amen” here and there, I even heard a few sniffles. Their closing song was Moving Up To Gloryland. On the choruses David would swing his body from one side to the other and the other three acted like they didn’t like it. Clayton finally tapped him on the shoulder telling him to stop. Then, on the last chorus, David gets Clayton to do it with him! The other two guys looked shocked at his behavior, and David adamantly states, “I told him not to do that!”

 My conclusion of the evening is two thumbs up! The groups were great, the songs were great, everything was awesome! What impacted me the most was the ministry side of things. I loved hearing the story that Susan shared about her new radio single The Church Across The Street. It reminds us that these groups aren’t out there to sing just for the fun of it – they’re making a difference. That’s what it is all about. And the way Eric Bennett gave the Gospel that night! It stood out to me because he didn’t just present salvation to the unsaved, he put something in there to challenge the Believers too. Great job everyone! Keep it up! It was a night of amazing music with an amazing message!

Author: Lynn

One Response to "KWFC Concert Series Fall Finale!"

  1. Dave Taylor Posted on January 22, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    Lynn,

    Just found your article … THANK YOU for the nice write-up on our concert. We had a terrific time, and I am glad to hear that you did as well. Hope to see you at our next event!

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