For several folks in southern Missouri, the answer was no! For a holiday weekend, the First Assembly of God in Lebanon, MO filled in quite nicely to enjoy a night of ministry from Brian Free and Assurance. The building was beautiful and could seat 1,000 people. With high back cushy seats and a big black curtain behind the stage, it felt like I was in a Theatre instead of a church! Though the A of G was no way near mega church size, we were able to go out to the coffee shop and buy a small pizza to snack on before the concert started! There was certainly a house of BFA fans there that night, and some friends from our church and myself were happy to be among them!

Wayne Truelove, our host for the night, and his mixed quartet, the Truelove Quartet, opened for BFA. The upbeat classic Don’t Ever Give Up, Don’t Ever Give In began Truelove Quartet’s time on stage. Their baritone singer was featured on a song perfect for the Easter season, What A Difference A Day Makes. Their lead introduced the quartet, beginning with Mr. Truelove, whom we all applauded for making this event possible. Next, he introduced Jesse Carter, she grew up singing and listening to Gospel Music and is only seventeen years old. Their baritone was introduced next, his name was Chris. I guess the other guys in the quartet have been trying to get him a date the last couple of concerts, and the last concert they did there was a lady in her forties who ran up on stage when they announced that he was available! Unfortunately, she didn’t come back, but they were sure giving their baritone a hard time about it! Finally, their lead singer, Darrell Polluck was introduced and then featured on an old Gold City song, I’m Not Giving Up. Keeping the GC favorites in the line up, I’m Rich was next and Darrell and Jesse shared the verses. I’m Traveling On and He’s Everything To Me are songs we got to sample from a new Cd that will be out soon.

Brian Free and Assurance fired up the crowd with their accapella rendition of Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee. The crowd went wild over this one! When everyone applauded at the end of the song the guys had everyone keep clapping for their next number, Go Tell The World, featuring lead singer Bill Shivers. When Bill sang the first line, the fourth row behind me immediately stood, clapping. (We sure had a house of BFA fans that night!) As the last few notes of the track faded, Bill reverently looked up and quietly said, “Come Lord Jesus!” Focusing his attention back to the audience, he asked, “Is it ok if we just have church tonight?” The crowd not only applauded their answer but also clapped the whole way through the next song, Anything Is Possible With You, which featured Bill as well. “Great or small it doesn’t’ matter, nothing is impossible with God,” said Bill. Brian’s solo, I Believe, was another new one from their Never Walk Alone Cd. This was the first time I’ve seen him sing this one live and it was very powerful! The crowd must have thought so too, because on the second verse when he came to the line about the stone being rolled away everyone clapped and a few “amen’s” were uttered. The minute Bill began singing Praying Man the crowd exploded in deafening screams. (I almost think they were louder than the music!) “How many of you are glad to be in the house of the Lord tonight? Say praise the Lord!,” Brian said, then went on, “If you came in here expecting a blessing, we pray that you’ll get one. But if you came in here with a ‘bless me if you can attitude,’ we pray you get one anyway! ~ a Holy Ghost head lock…that’s a good place to be! If you know the words to this song sing along…” The classic Glory Road followed. When Brian would hit the really high notes on the “heaven bound” part you could hear screams all over the house. At the close of the song Bill asked Brian if he would sing just a little bit more. Brian looked as if he didn’t want to do it while Bill begged for just one encore. They did another round and when they came to the line that says “when this journey here shall end, I’ll say goodbye…” Brian began waving at Bill as if to say “goodbye.” Bill swatted at Brian’s hand trying to get him to stop, they did that three or four times. When Brian wouldn‘t stop waving, Bill pointed to himself as if to ask, “you mean me?” When Brian grinned Bill shook his head no, and Brian shook his head yes, and Bill gave him a good natured punch on the shoulder. Hitting another high note at the end, Brian rose the audience in a standing ovation. (Throughout the whole night the crowd was mesmerized by Brian’s ability to keep executing those high notes one right after another – no wonder why he’s the industries most awarded tenor!) Continuing on with another oldie but goodie, Just A Little Talk With Jesus came next. This song was arranged in a way where it began slower and sped up at the end. Jeremy really hit those low notes, receiving much applause when it came to his parts in the number. After, Brian expressed, “It’s hard to believe all that is coming out of that skinny guy!” Then he asked how many were seeing BFA for the first time, and proceeded to introduce all the guys. It was so cute when Derrick was introduced. While Brian was telling everyone about Derrick’s baby daughter, Derrick reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a little photo album with her picture in it. While everyone was “oooo-ing” and “awwww-ing” over the photo, Derrick let the rest of the album cascade down to the floor with pictures! Everyone began laughing. On Jeremy’s turn, Brian mentioned that Jeremy’s little baby boy was due in a week…he even had his cell phone on stage with him waiting for that call! Bill introduced Brian, he was telling about his family, when he finished commenting on his sons he said, “Now, Brian doesn’t look old enough to have kids that age, but…” Brian leans over to Bill and says, “I was married when I was four.” Bill chuckles, “He was married when he was four – and that IS legal in Georgia!” The audience really got a chuckle out of that one! Brian stepped forward and began to talk about the songs on their new Never Walk Alone Cd. He said that these songs never get old because they are based on the Word of God. Brian talked about the last year and a half and how they have had so many losses during that time. Jeremy, Bill, and Brian’s fathers all passed away and last week Brian’s mom passed also. It’s been a rough season for these guys. Brian shared how he and the guys made it through – by their relationship with Christ. He reminded us that the Bible didn’t say we wouldn’t have any hard times in life, it told us to prepare for them. To quote him exactly, “And that is by staying in His Word, studying His Word, to make ourselves approved a workman not ashamed, by spending time in our prayer closet and looking to Him for the answers. Tonight, no matter what you are looking at in your life, and I’ve held onto this so strongly in the last six months, not only does He love you, He cares about every thought that goes through your mind and He promises you and me that you will never ever walk alone.” With conviction, Brian sang Never Walk Alone. Jeremy was featured the stirring ballad Remind Me Of The Cross. At the close of that song Bill asked the crowd, “How many of you know that when a person gets saved a miracle takes place? He can take the blackest heart and with His blood wipe it all away.” He proudly announced that he and his wife had the privilage of leading their daughter to the Lord and how this song, The Part Where You Come In, has a special meaning to him because of that. “Here’s one that goes back a few years that we had a request for,” said Brian as they began singing O, What A Savior. This old classic received another standing ovation. Closing the first set was BFA’s signature song, Long As I Got King Jesus. Afterwards, before they did the Cd pitch, Brian said, “If you can sit still during that song without tappin’ a toe or a finger, you better check your pulse, cause you’re dead!”

A ten minute break let everyone stretch their legs and buy BFA’s “fuel special”. (I guess the fuel prices in Missouri are the lowest right now.)

When the guys came back on stage for the second half Brian asked if everyone was ready for some more singing. It’s My Life, a request and great song featuring Derrick, was the first of many to come. A snappy First Day In Heaven followed and Brian had the whole house on their feet on I Am Redeemed. You could hear many voices in the audience singing along with him on this last one! It was priceless! Brian stepped up and began sharing his testimony with the crowd, how he gave his life to the Lord on January 24, 1986. He said that he went from having a head knowledge of Jesus Christ to a heart knowledge – there is a big difference. “Churches are full of people who are full of religion. You don’t have to go outside the church to find lost people, there are lot of people who are sitting in churches Sunday morning, Wednesday night, they’re there every night of the revival, they’re good people, faithful church goers, they sing gospel music, they play piano and teach Sunday school – I’ve met people in all of those positions, who had never surrendered their heart and life to Jesus. They’ve never been born again. Religion won’t get you to heaven. It takes a personal one-on-one daily relationship with Jesus Christ and it takes being born again.”

“We pray that you’ve listened to the words of the songs that we’ve sung tonight, there has been many a sermon and encouraging word in each and every one of them, and if you’ve missed the words, you’ve missed the whole point in being here. This night is not about us, it’s not about you, it’s about our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“A pastor friend of mine up in north Georgia, pastors a small church. He had a number of people in his congregation he knew that were lost, they didn’t know Christ. For months and months he prayed to God, ‘God, give me that one sermon, that one hook line, that one something, that will prick their heart and make them understand that they’re lost.’ First you have to know that you’re lost before you can be saved. And he prayed for months for an answer and finally God gave him his answer one night, it wasn’t in a audible voice, the Spirit just spoke to him and said, “Tell them I sent my only Son Jesus to shed His blood for them, that’s how much I love them, if that’s not enough, tell them nothing else.”

During the invitation song, What Will You Choose?, a couple came down to the front to pray, and when the song ended Brian told the audience their story. At intermission, this couple came to the table and the lady, Debbie, explained that her husband Rick is in stage four cancer. Brian halted the singing to take the time to encourage Rick and Debbie from on stage, then he personally prayed (and had the audience pray silently also) for them right then. This really impacted me and truly showed what the heart of this group is focused on – ministry. I’ve been to a lot of concerts, and I have NEVER seen anyone stop a concert to pray for someone and encourage them in the way Brian did. While the couple made their way back to their seats, Brian announced their closing song, Jesus Will Pick You Up. Jeremy brought the house down with this one! Everyone was standing, clapping, shouting or whistling by the end of the song – it was great! To officially close the evening out, Brian took the time to pray one more time and we were dismissed.

Conclusion: I don’t know if there are even words to describe what the evening was like! It was definitely a wonderful and perfect way to usher in Easter Sunday! The personal interest Brian took in Rick and Debbie was very touching. He didn’t just use a few short comments to encourage them, he spent a good amount of time encouraging them and then on top of that, prayed a good lengthy, sincere prayer! I loved how they staged almost all the songs off of their Never Walk Alone Cd that night. It was great to see some of those live! One thing that was incredibly evident was that the guys of the group never disconnected from the concert, as you see others do. They were all very in tune with what they were doing and Who they were singing about. These guys truly understand what it means to live their lives for Jesus and are very apt at encouraging and uplifting the Lord’s people as well as bringing forth the message of the Gospel.