A Pre-Mother's Day Celebration (w/ Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond & The Mighty Clouds of Joy) at the Liacouras Center in Philly (5-8-2010)

 

 

At 7:30pm, the legendary Mighty Clouds of Joy started the Pre-Mother's Day Celebration show with some of the best Holy Ghost-filled music ever. Please forgive me because I don't know most of their songs or any of Fred Hammond songs, I will attempt to give the song set listings. The Mighty Clouds performed "Movin' " followed by a couple of slower R&B-style gospel tunes. Their rendition "Amazing Grace" sounded great. Also very good was the medley of "None But the Righteous", "I'm Glad 'Bout It" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". The Mighty Clouds ended their set at 8:00pm. 

 

At 8:15pm, the amazing Fred Hammond began his set with some super-funky bass lines from the song "Awesome God", featuring lead vocals by Fred and some great background vocals. This was a very good example of Funk-Gospel at its best! Following that was the lively tune "Nobody Like You, Lord". After talking with the audience, he went to the song "Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me" featuring some pronounced rhythm guitar riffing. He referred to scripture of Hebrews (Chapter 5) and talked about his moment of salvation & his family struggles, before going into a different, rock-influenced version of "Celebrate (He Lives)"....I LOVED the hard-rock lead guitar riffing and the way the bass player came in with the same melody! "When The Spirit of the Lord" and "Those Who Wait on the Lord" were so good, as well as "This is the Day (That the Lord Has Made)". Fred Hammond's set ended at 9:15pm. 

 

At 9:30pm, Kirk Franklin began his set with a song that I didn't recognize....but it was followed by "Lovely Day". Kirk started joking with the audience, talking about how people used to dance before they got saved. He was encouraging the fans not to "act so holy and sanctified" and just let loose (dance like we used to at the clubs)...he even joked about how white folks dance off-rhythm! After having the mothers and their children dance in the aisles, the band went into the familiar "My Life is in Your Hands" (where the audience sung the chorus). Kirk talked about the first few years of life, reciting the scripture of Romans 8:28. The band then went into "Imagine Me", which Kirk had the fans playing "air keyboards" and waving "bye-bye" to our problems. "Hosanna" and "Brighter Day" were followed by the duet with Fred Hammond, "My Desire". 

 

Kirk then sat and played piano on the following songs: 1. "Something About The Name Jesus" featuring Rev. Goldwire (who I've met at my church recently and who was on Sunday's Best on BET)....the funny thing was that one the background singer was whispering the lyrics of the song in his ear during the performance. But, Rev. Goldwire sounded WONDERFUL! 2. "The Storm is Over Now" 3. "Silver and Gold" 4. "The Reason Why We Sing" 5. "The Precious Lamb of God" After the audience was blessed with a performance of "How Great is Our God" and the spirit of God was flowing in and throughout the place, background vocalist Isaac began singing one of his songs (a very good performance, I may add). Afterwards, it was time to get the saints on their feet praising God with the lively tune "Looking For You". Before Kirk left the stage, he sneaked in a little bit of "Stomp"! ("Can I get a witness? OH YEAH, WE GOT THE CHURCH - AIN'T GOING NOWHERE!") The Kirk Franklin set was over at 10:40pm.

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO NON-BELIEVERS
************************************************


HOW TO GO TO HEAVEN? 

If you had died the minute you started to read this invitation, would you have the assurance that you would go to heaven?


The Bible says there are 4 things a person must do to go to heaven:

1. REALIZE YOU ARE A SINNER. The Bible says "All have sinned, all fall short of God's glorious standard" (Romans 2:23 NLT)

2. RECOGNIZE JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS FOR YOU. The Bible tells us that "God showed his great love for us 
by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners". (Romans 5:8 NLT)

3. REPENT OF YOUR SIN. The Bible says, "Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins". (Acts 3:19 NLT)

4. RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST INTO YOUR LIFE. The Bible tells us, "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved". (Romans 10:13 NLT)


Receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior is the next step in your spiritual journey. IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE THIS YET, WHY NOT TAKE A MOMENT 
RIGHT NOW AND MAKE THAT COMMITMENT? 



Remember, TOMORROW is ***NOT*** guaranteed!!