The Mark Trammell Quartet was in concert in DeWitt, Ark. on Sunday, Oct. 21. Since the church was in revival, their concert was a little different with half singing and half group members' testimonies. Mark was the speaker for the revival the rest of the week. Sunday night was such a great service where all members of the Mark Trammell Quartet opened up and shared their hearts.
Here's a list of what they sang:
- "Leave Your Sorrows and Come Along"
- "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" - Eric Phillips featured. This is one of my favorites from Lifetime, so I was glad to hear them sing it live.
- "Echoes From the Burning Bush"
- "I Thirst" - Pat Barker featured. Pat makes the case every time I see them that he's one of the best bass singers in southern gospel.
- "Boundless Love" - This was the first time I'd really heard Nick featured with the group. I think this has been one of the smoothest group transitions, and he fits like a glove with the other guys.
- "Loving the Lamb" - First standing ovation of the night
- "Testimony"
- "The King is Coming" - The entire church was standing during the third verse. It was the most powerful song of the night. Their version of this song is probably my favorite one I've ever heard!!
After the last song, Mark said that he would let each member give his testimony.
Eric Phillips spoke first saying that he was saved two years ago in September 2010. When he was six years old, he said a prayer, but it didn't really mean anything. He had grown up in a Christian home with his dad singing gospel music. He himself had sung gospel music for 11 years before he was saved. He said that he had doubted his salvation a lot, but it was one day two years ago when he really began feeling convicted at a church service. He wasn't able to focus and wondered what everyone would think. However, he reached the the point where it didn't matter. He walked out of the church after the service, but went right back inside in search of pastor. He knelt with his pastor in the pastor's office and was saved. He talked about the peace that he felt in that moment and how he had never experienced the kind of peace that he had at that moment.
Nick Trammell gave his testimony next and said that his story was very similar to Eric's. He too had grown up in a Christian home with his dad singing gospel music. His dad and Eric's dad had even sung together. He also knelt and said a prayer when he was little, but it didn't sink in what he was asking. When he was 18 years old, he began to feel convicted about his salvation. It was a Sunday afternoon, and he told his mom that he needed to go to church that night and get saved. His mom called his dad, who was on the road at the time. Mark told her not to let him leave the house. He led Nick down the Roman Road over the phone, and Nick prayed to receive Christ.
Before Pat Barker started sharing, he asked how many in the audience had grown up in a Christian home. A lot of the congregation raised their hands. He said that he too had, growing up a CDK, choir director's kid. When he was 7, he prayed the prayer but nothing happened. And his road took a much different turn. He said that he wasn't a bad kid growing up just a little mischievous. But without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, he went down a bad path when he got older. He shared that as a 19-year-old church choir director, he fell into some bad decisions. He said, "Once you fall, it's easy just to keep falling." He went on to serve at another church as choir director, youth director and Sunday School teacher still far from God. He said that he was eventually fired from the church, and that the sin had taken over his life. When he was 25, his mother gave him a Bible. He opened it up to James, and found this verse: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (1:22). He said that the last part, deceiving yourselves, really hit home with him and he realized his need for salvation. He went back to his home church that he grew up in and told the pastor that he needed to be saved. He said not to think that you've done something that can keep God from loving you. He ended his testimony by quoting "I'm Free," which is at the end of "The King Is Coming" on their Lifetime project. "I'm free from the fear of tomorrow. I'm free from the guilt of the past."
Mark then shared his testimony before giving a short devotional to end the services. He said he was saved on a golf course on July 13, 1988. At the time he was singing with the Cathedrals which was the #1 quartet. He wanted for nothing, blessed with a great wife, son, home and job, but he was miserable. He could play church really well. He had said a prayer with his lips, but didn't mean one word of it with his heart. That morning of July 13, God started dealing with him. The Cathedrals had sung at a crusade the night before and the sermon had convicted him. Tom Eliff, the preacher, said before you do anything, you must settle the question of your salvation. He told God if He was telling him that he was lost that God would let him play golf with the preacher the next day. And the next day when the preacher got to the course, he and Mark ended up in the same four-some. At the third tee box, he got out of the golf cart and said, "Bro. Tom, I need to do something. There's one thing you don't know about me." He said that Bro. Tom could tell something wasn't right. Mark told him that if he died right now, he would go to hell. The preacher led him down the Roman Road, and Mark knelt down in the golf course asking Christ into his life.
I appreciated so much each of those men sharing their stories and testimonies. It takes so much courage to stand in front of people and share when you've been down the wrong path and when you've just been playing church. Your courage and willingness to share so that He was glorified through your stories did not go unnoticed. Thanks to the Mark Trammell Quartet for such an incredible evening!
