Michael English Concert

Panama City, FL

September 20, 1997

First of all, let me warn you up front that there are no pictures, yet. Oh, yes, I have some GREAT pictures. But the scanner I thought I had did not work. So, I am trying to get access to another scanner. It make take a few days, but I promise I will have them on soon.
NOTE: You will notice that I have added pictures. However, these were not the best pictures. Those have yet to be scanned. Also, I have not "touched-up" these pictures like I really want to. But I thought everyone might want to go ahead and see what I have so far. But keep checking back, there will be more and they will be better!!!!!!

The Michael English concert in Panama City, Florida was GREAT! I can almost say it was the best concert I have ever been to (sorry, Carman!). Yes, Michael English had a MAJOR problem. But, yes, he turned that problem back over to God. His attitude from the very beginning of this concert was, "I did wrong. I failed God. But I repented. I know that God forgave me, when I repented. Now, I apologize to you. And I hope that you can forgive me. But if not, I'm going to follow God, no matter what."

This is by no means, meant to imply that it was a good thing that Michael allowed this to happen. However, God has taken a bad situation and used it for His glory. There is more of the annointing of God on Michael than ever before! Michael is able to minister to the hurting better than ever before!

Actually, the opening act of the concert was a new artist, by the name of Celina Grant. If you EVER have the opportunity to hear her, don't miss it! The love of God was evident in her songs. When she sang, you never wondered who she was singing to. She openly sang the praises of our God. And on top of all that, her voice was wonderful, too!

But finally, Michael English came on stage. The first words from his mouth were, "I'd Rather have Jesus," as he sang the song by that title. This song put his recent decision and testimony right up front, from the very beginning. To me, this song tells his story. He could have gone secular. The world would have gladly accepted him. He probably would have made millions! Yet, what would he have? The Bible asks us what good is it if a man gains the whole world, but in the end he looses his own soul. That is exactly what Michael says when singing this song. The audience can see the confidence on his face as he sings, "I'd rather have Jesus...than to be a king of a vast domain." They can feel the determination in his voice as he says, "I'd rather have Jesus than riches or pearls." And I'm sure the unsaved can't help wanting to know what it's all about when he sings, "I'd rather be held in His nail-pierced hands." Through this song, he is pledging to put aside the world's offers of fame and fortune and never look back. And we are trusting and praying that he stands firm in that pledge.

Michael introduced his band. Until this point, I had not realized that the guitar player/backup singer was Jay from the former group, East to West. I remember noticing how hilarious Jay was at the East to West concerts. But somehow I think that Michael and Jay are almost "two-of-a-kind." They seem to play off each other for laugh lines. And it really works. They have the audience rolling with laughter at things that wouldn't even be funny, if someone else had said them. The friendship between Michael and Jay is very evident on the stage. Michael had to tell us a story that could be one of Jay's most embarrassing moments. But Jay just laughed with him and really even made a bigger joke out of the whole thing. You can tell that these guys are not faking on stage. They are great friends during the day, too.

He then sang, Solid As the Rock of Ages And again, we can feel that his faith has now grown "rock solid"; that no matter what happens, he can never be persuaded to turn back.

The next song was one that he is now becoming famous for, even if he wasn't before, John the Revelator You can tell that he REALLY loves to sing this song. You can also tell that everyone in the audience REALLY loves to hear him sing this song. When he sings those last few words, you actually get a picture of the Lord being described by John the Revelator as having, "feet like brass, eyes like fire." And you can almost hear that voice asking you to "come up higher."

Michael loves hymns. However his version of some of those old hymns would have some of our church members standing on their heads! One of those is Blessed Assurance After many years of being an Assembly of God pastor's daughter, I've heard many groans, especially from young people, when that song was about to be sung, because they find it boring. They may have never listened to the words, because many times the music is slow and "draggy". But you'll never hear it like that from Michael! I think many people were actually hearing the words of that song for the first time.

Next, he did a medley of some old songs, including Holding Out Hope to You, Love Moves in Mysterious Ways, Your Love Amazes Me, Save Me and then back to Holding Out Hope to You for the ending. However, he has changed the last line of that song, so that it says, "I'll be holding out hope to you.....because you were holding out hope to me." This seems to be one of the focal points of his ministry now, to minister to the hurting.

The next part was the second best part of the whole concert. He left the stage and went out into the audience. He took requests from anyone who wanted to yell them out. As a matter of fact, he had stated that this was about the best part of the whole concert to him, too. In the beginning of the concert, he was having trouble with his cordless mic and had to use one with a cord. But he asked if it could be charged so that he could use it later to go out into the audience. The mic was charged and brought back to him. However, it started messing up again during the request time. At one point, Michael completely stopped what he was doing. He held the mic in one hand and placed the other hand on the mic. He closed his eyes and said, "IN THE NAME OF JESUS......" It was sort of a joke and everyone started laughing so you couldn't hear what the last words were. But, you know what? I don't remember the mic messing up again during the concert! During the request time, he would try anything the audience yelled out. There was only one song that an older lady requested that he did not know. However, he tried to get her to sing that one for us.

The first song requested was Had It Not Been. You could tell that he enjoyed this one. He even sang two verses of this song. Many of them, he just did the chorus.

He took several other requests, including Beyond the Open Door, Midnight Cry, Start A Party, and many others. He'll try anything that he knows. Someone requested Little is much, when God is in it. The band didn't know that song, so he just sang the chorus a capella.

When he was finished with the request time, he just sat down on the front row, like he was now ready to enjoy the concert. Jay started singing the opening to A Place Called Hope. Everyone was laughing because the concert seemed to have switched to Jay. But Michael got up and got on the stage just in time to start his part.

Michael then gave his testimony. I have heard other artists who claim they never did anything wrong. I have heard all kinds of people (both "Christian" and "Secular") admit to doing wrong, but blame it on circumstances or actions of others. But Michael never tried to back away from the fact that he had done wrong. As a matter of fact, he very plainly says, "I broke a lot of people's hearts. But most of all I broke God's heart." He fully admits to wrongdoing. However, he also says that he has repented and asked for forgiveness. He stated that he is forgiven. He said, "that's a given, when you ask for forgiveness. God will forgive you." Then he apologized to the audience. He said that he also let all of those people down and for that he was very sorry. The support from the audience was AMAZING! I could hear people shouting, "We've been praying for you and we're still praying for you." I could hear a lady somewhere behind me just repeating over and over, "Bless him, Jesus......bless him, Jesus." He had asked for no applause before he began the testimony. But there were times when the audience just could not refrain from showing their support through applause. Michael then expressed thanks for the amount of encouragement and support he has received from the Christians.

I said before that the request time was the second best part of the whole concert. Well, the next part was the VERY best part. Michael then said that he knew there were probably some people in the audience who needed support from the Christians. He said there were probably people who felt that they absolutely could not keep going without support from the believers. He said that he wanted those people to feel the same support that he feels "every time I step out on this stage." He then asked those who were hurting and needing support to stand. For a few seconds, no one moved. But then, suddenly there were people standing all over the building. I could hear people crying. Michael then asked for those who were still sitting to look around at those standing, smile and them, and "let your eyes tell them that everything is going to be okay." He, himself, looked, individually, at each person standing, smiled, and said, "It's going to be okay."

Now, I admit, that I didn't feel that this was a "perfect" moment. I would have loved to have seen him start by inviting the lost to find that forgiveness that he has found. I understand that his "outreach" was more to those who were saved, but just needed support and encouragement. However, I think there were many people in the audience who would have responded to a salvation invitation. There are some that would say it will happen anyway if it is meant to happen because the seed has been planted. But, I just feel an urgency. I feel that we should be striving to win as many lost people as we can as fast as we can. There are others who would say that those decisions made at that concert would not last anyway, because they would be made in a moment of emotionalism. But I would say that those people were not in that concert. They did not feel the annointing of God in that building. I am not meaning to criticize or say he is doing it wrong (not by any means!). I'm simply suggesting an additional form of ministry to add to the service. Remember that I said this was the absolute best part of the whole concert as it was!

After this, he had to do the song In Christ Alone. This summed up everything he had been saying the entire night. This song says that all the glory that comes to us, really belongs to Christ. He's the reason we can accomplish what little we do accomplish.

For his last song, he sang, I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy. This had been requested over and over during the request time. But he always said, I'm saving that one for later. Once he even said, "I know I couldn't get out of the building without doing that one." And did he ever do that one! The annointing of God is on both him and that song so strong, that you don't need a video with that song. You can see the picture in your mind as he paints it with his words.

At the end of that song, Michael told the audience "good night" and left the stage. However, the applause was deafening! It went on and on forever. Finally, he "got a clue". Michael and the band came back on stage. The applause intensified for a second then stopped, so he could sing again. However, the applause began again, combined with laughter when Michael looked at the audience and said, "No, keep clapping, we're trying to come up with one." They finally started the song, "Build a Bridge."

Michael left the stage this time, with the music still playing.

After the concert, Michael came to the merchandise table to sign autographs and have pictures taken. He didn't leave until the last autograph had been signed and the last picture had been taken. Even though, I found out on my Michael English schedule when I got home that he had to be almost 5 hours away in concert at 10:00 the next morning, and it was after 11:00 p.m. when he left the concert that night. Some people wouldn't even notice that. But to me, that just showed how dedicated he is to "holding out hope" to those who have "held out hope" to him.

And yes, that's me there with Michael. BOY IS HE TALL!!!!!!!!!!