Greater Vision was the last group to perform before the intermission and kicked off their set with a well-loved number, He’d Still Been God.  As the song ended Gerald’s eyes lit up and he let out a whoop!  Then he hit the next track – a medley of hymns with the theme “redeemed.”  (Since I Have Been Redeemed, Redeemed How I Love To Proclaim It, etc.)  “The Booth Brothers and Legacy Five have done a fantastic job of picking top songs,” Gerald expressed, “Tonight is going to be the best Jubilee ever done.”  Then he introduced each of the guys and walked over to the piano.  As he played chords and cadences on the keys, he retold the story of how they began singing I Know A Man Who Can.  Overnight, this has become their most requested song, and in Gerald’s words, they finally learned it!  LOL  Chris put his heart and soul into his solo as Rodney played bass and Gerald piano.  Gerald was so happy over there playing the keys.  No wonder why this song is so popular, it received a standing ovation!  Gerald and Rodney left their instruments and sang My Name Is Lazarus.  As the number began – so did the clapping!  “People ask me all the time, do you ever get tired of singing that song?” said Gerald about that last tune, “NO!  I love that song!”  After introducing Rodney, Gerald mused, “I tell you what, we got a house full of writers – Rodney, Dianne, Jim and Chris.  Sometimes people think it bothers me that I don’t write because I travel with two writers.  As long as I know good writers, I’m happy.”  Speaking of Rodney, Gerald re-told the story of Rodney at the restaurant with the big mirror.  For as many times as I’ve heard him tell this – I have never seen him so un-composed!  He was laughing so hard he could barely tell the story!  LOL  After the crowd settled down from the funny antidote, Gerald took on a more serious topic, “I was debating tonight on what song to feature Rodney on,” he said, “I walked in tonight and saw the Compassion packets with all the little kids on them, and it reminded me of the time at NQC when a worker came up to me and handed me one, saying, ‘Don’t say anything.  Just take it home and read it.’”  He did, and his family decided that they wanted to sponsor the girl on the packet they had, but he wanted his kids to be involved.  Gerald shared that he has two boys and a girl.  Every time he goes home they want him to take them out to eat.  (Because he’s gone all week, that’s a big deal to them.)  So he and his wife asked them to give up one meal a month to sponsor a child and feel like they were contributing.  They did and after a period of time Gerald visited the country where the girl they sponsored lived, and he was able to meet her and her family.  “You don’t have to be famous to be effective,” Gerald said, “That little girl didn’t know I was a Gospel singer, or that I was on TV or had plaques on the wall or made CD’s – all she knew was that some short fellow from somewhere she’s never been cared enough about her to send her to that school down the street where they teach her about Jesus…There are some of you who are going to stand before Christ one day thinking you’re a failure because you’re not famous.  But all you have to be is faithful.”  This led into Faces, which featured Rodney.  “Isn’t that a great song?” Gerald asked when it ended, “Every time I hear that song I think of people who you will never meet who are the reason that I’m standing on this platform today.  Every one of us has those kind of people in their backgrounds – faces.”

Before intermission, Gerald called a little boy from the front row up on stage.  “I want you to see this little dude,” Gerald said, kneeling down to the little guys level, he asked him, “How old are you?”  Joshua, the little boy, answered, “5.”  “Are you a singer?” Gerald asked him.  “Yep,” Joshua replied.  “What part do you sing?” Gerald asked him.  “I sing Jesus Loves Me and I’ll Fly Away,” answered Joshua.  Gerald looked at the audience and asked, “Do you what the difference is between Joshua and the kids you see on the Compassion videos? – Where they were born.”  Then he gave the audience a chance to take a packet from Compassion.

 

The last half of the evening was the promised Jubilee segment.  As a pre-recorded announcer introduced the groups, all the guys came out on stage and began singing Jubilee.  Michael, Rodney and Ronnie stepped forward to briefly sing a line, then Chris, Scott Fowler and Jim did the same on another line.  Another song followed back to back called Sing Me A Song About Jesus.  In the middle of this song Trey played a short solo that everyone clapped for.  “Well, our one and only bass singer is doing mighty fine tonight,” Gerald said, bringing attention to the fact that, with two trios, Glenn really is the only bass singer!  He also pointed out that Glenn’s family was in attendance that night, and it would be their first time to see Glenn sing his solo from Jubilee 3.  Gerald set up the ballad with a little story:  their (groups) favorite thing is sound check.  However, what they sing in sound check is never what they do in concert!  One time during sound check Glenn asked Gerald what song he was playing on the piano.  When Gerald told him what song it was, Glenn mentioned that he would like to sing that song sometime.  The song was a ballad called, How Much More.  After his solo, Gerald turned to Glenn and said, “You are without a doubt the best bass singer on the platform.”  He went on to tease the tenor bunch, “We call them the tin-ears.”  When they were putting the Jubilee 3 project together, Rebecca Peck sent them this song and the tenors wanted to sing it.  It was on the program for that night and the “tin-ears” were going to sing it for us!  Though, before that, Michael complained about, “The low part.”  Gerald exclaimed, “Yeah!  Michael is gonna’ sing baritone!”  The new song from Rebecca Peck was a fast number, Treasures In Heaven.  All the guys on stage cheered them on.  Everyone was having such a great time both on and off stage, that Gerald stopped and reflected, “Do you realize, you would not have been here tonight to see this outfit if it had not been for George and Glen?  We don’t take that for granted.  On the new cd, we wanted to do a song to pay tribute to them…but we wanted to do it right.”  By that, Gerald meant using a live band, because for so many years that’s how the Cathedrals preferred their music.  So Michael took on the drums, Ronnie played rhythm guitar, Rodney strapped on his bass guitar and Gerald played piano.  Their name for this group was “The Dream On Quartet.”  Chris, Scott Fowler, Jim and Glenn sang the classic Cat’s song Wedding Music!  At the end of the number, the guys on stage were the first to stand in ovation with the audience following.  Scott even did a “Glenn dance” across the stage like Glen Payne too!  The guys obviously had fun “naming” each group they mixed up for Jubilee 3, and the next group they put together was affectionately named, “The Emcee’s trio.”  (Featuring Michael, Gerald and Scott.)  The song was Getting Read Today and this is the one where we enjoy a special treat on the second verse – Trey sings!  Gerald told the story of how they convinced Trey to sing this song on the project.  Just before the song began, Gerald looked at Trey and said, “So when it comes to the second verse I want you to get up and bless these people with some vocal styling’s.”  Scott was featured on the first verse of Getting Ready Today, and true to his word, Trey sang the second verse – he can do more than carry a tune!!!  He did a great job!  On stage, all sense of order was lost when Trey finished his verse – they jumped up from their chairs, lifted mic stands in salute and shouted for him!…and the audience thundered right along with them!  After that little celebration, Gerald introduced another new song with these words, “Every now and then a song comes along that finds a dwelling place in your heart.”  The song that Jim Brady wrote for this Cd was just that kind, Gerald desperately wanted Jim to sing it, though Jim felt like someone else should be featured on it, Gerald won in the end.  He told Jim, “You have to sing that song on the Cd cause no one can interrupt the lyrics like the songwriter.”  Then, to the crowd Gerald said, “The first time you hear it you’re gonna be humming it all day long.”  The ballad was Every Cry Is Heard By The Father, and Jim was featured on it with Gus and Gerald joining him on the chorus.  When they finished Gerald smiled, “Some of you are already singing it!”  Continuing, he said, “Go ahead and sing it.  He lovingly cares…” then they sang another chorus before Gerald had just the audience sing it by themselves.  Thinking about the lyrics some more, Gerald asked, “You know who likes it better than the songwriter – the Author.  The Lord loves to hear you sing.”  The lyrics popped on the overhead screens and Gerald read them again.  Then they put another group together and when they tried to find a name for it, decided on “The Brunette Quartet.”  Glenn smoothed his hair down with the palm of his hand as the audience giggled at the name.  Gerald informed everyone that in regards to his hair color, “It used to be that color.”  This quartet consisted of Gus, Ronnie, Gerald and Glenn.  The song was The Galilean, and Gus was featured on the verse.  This ole’ classic received a standing ovation.

“So here’s the question; have you met the Galilean?” Gerald asked, and then went on to give us the good news of salvation.  “Here’s the good news: God Himself came to this earth, clothed in human flesh.  He lived a perfect life and then He was crucified.  The Bible clearly teaches that He was crucified for payment of a sin debt that we could not pay.  Theologians call it propitiation: replacement, substitute.  He being perfect, God in the flesh, gave Himself – the Bible says, ‘A ransom for many.’  When He died they took His lifeless body from the cross and laid it in a borrowed tomb, but three days later, just like He said He would, He got up from the grave, took the bloody napkin from around His head, folded it neatly and laid it in a place by itself – which signified to people who lived in that time – I’ll be back…and He walked out of the tomb.  Forty days later He stood on the mount of Olives and He gave what people now call the Great Commission (He was talking to disciples but it applies to everyone who is in this room who knows Christ) He said, ‘Go out into all the world and preach the Gospel,’ and then the Bible says a cloud received Him up out of there sight.  And just like Baptists would do, they stood there…gawking…looking up into the sky.  An angel said, ‘What ya’ looking at?  This same Jesus you’ve seen taken away from you will still come again in like manner.’  So the question is: do you know Him?  A lot of people come to concerts like this because they like the music or they like to laugh.  You’ve heard good music tonight and you’ve had some good laughs, but believe it or not, there are some people in this room tonight who have never really trusted Jesus Christ as their payment in full for their sin.  Lot of people in this room believes: Jesus crucifixion, Jesus sacrifice, plus something I do.  It’s Jesus plus this good stuff I try to do on my own.  Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Jesus plus nothing or it doesn’t work at all.  He is the payment for our sin.”  Then Gerald gave the invitation and prayed.

“One more question. Are you glad you came tonight?”  As the crowd bellowed their answer in applause and shouts, the Jubilee gang closed the evening with Beautiful Home.  Half way through the song Michael skipped to the drums and all the other guys who had instruments strapped them on and jammed as they sang.   These guys know how to end a concert!!!!

Conclusion:  If there were a single word that could sum up the whole night, it would be: “happy.”  There was not one person on stage that didn’t have a smile on their face all the time!  All three groups were on fire, full of energy and ready to sing!  This was my first time to see a Jubilee concert in a church and it was amazing!  All the groups were wonderful!  It seems like forever since I’ve been to a Booth Brother concert and watching them sing their songs (both new and old) was rejuvenating.  On the other hand, Legacy Five is spoiling me with all the concerts that I’ve been able to attend with them!  (What am I going to do when their bookings aren’t within driving distance anymore?)  LOL  Greater Vision…I never get tired of these guys!  Each time I see them sing, I hear and appreciate their ministry more and more.  With all three of these groups together on one stage – well, it was awesome!  Thank you guys for making us laugh, cry and for being such a great encouragement!