Blessed Night With Greater Vision - Concert Recap

Greater Vision - Gerald Wolfe, Rodney Griffin and Chris Allman

Greater Vision traveled to Monticello, Ark. last Thursday night to the Oak Grove Assembly of God Church. I had been looking forward to this concert for a while now. It had been a couple of years since I’d seen the group, so I was excited to see the current lineup of Gerald Wofle, Rodney Griffin and Chris Allman. The entire night was such a blessing, and I hope it’s not several more years before I see the group again!

The night started with “I Could Never Praise Him Enough” which was written by Chris Allman. They then sang “He’d Still Been God,” which had the crowd clapping right along. It’s definitely at the top of my Greater Vision songs.

The next song was their “Redeemed Medley,” which really showed off the blend of their voices. Then, Rodney was featured on “No Longer Chained,” which is such a great and different telling of a familiar story. Rodney does such a great job vocally on this song.

Gerald introduced Chris and told how he had been an original member of Greater Vision before coming back a couple of years ago. He told the story of how they had been asked to sing “I Know A Man Who Can” at a church one night in California not realizing that the concert was being broadcast online. Overnight it became one of their most popular songs. This was the song I was looking forward to hearing live the most, and Chris nailed it! The audience was on its feet at the end, and he did an encore of the second verse. It’s such a powerful song!

Gerald sat at the keyboard, and talked how blessed we are. He mentioned how they stood in line the day before for an hour and a half just to get some chicken nuggets. He talked to a man in line who had driven 80 miles to go to Chick-fil-A. He had never eaten there before but just wanted to go support. He made the remark that we are so blessed to live in a country where we are able to support a business who takes a stand for Christian principles and values. This led into the song “We Are So Blessed.” I love this song, and especially their rendition of it. It was a great worshipful moment in the concert. 

Greater Vision picked up the tempo with “He Could’ve Passed By” next. Gerald then introduced Rodney and talked about how he had won Songwriter of the Year for more than 10 years in a row in the Singing News Fan Awards. Rodney then sang “It Pays to Pray.” This one of my favorite songs that he has written, so I was really glad to hear them sing it live. I love the message of this song.

And they finished the first half with another song written by Rodney, the always fan favorite, “My Name is Lazarus.”

The second half started with “It Means Just What It Says” and then “A Pile of Crowns.” After that, they sang “A Mighty Fortress,” which was a request from an 18-year-old in the audience. He talked about how old the song was and not a usual request from a younger person. Gerald asked if he could take his picture with the teenager and send it to Toby Mac to prove that young people still enjoy southern gospel.

Gerald then complimented Brett Stewart who sang during intermission. He asked him if he sang in a group or just by himself. Brett responded that he mostly sang by himself but he would sing with them! Gerald asked him what he wanted to sing with them. Poor guy had a hard time coming up with a song to sing with them, and Gerald asked him if he had Toby Mac or Greater Vision CDs in his truck. After much deliberation, Brett took Rodney’s microphone and sang with Chris and Gerald on “The Only Way.” Gerald remarked that he wasn't used to singing with someone who had hair or was his height. The back and forth deliberation between Gerald and Brett reaffirmed my belief that Gerald is one of the funniest guys in southern gospel.

Chris was featured on “Like I Wish I’d Lived.” Rodney then came up and sang the chorus again, and then led the audience in “I Surrender All.” He spoke about what the words really mean to surrender all to God. He presented such a clear altar call and gospel presentation and kept the main thing, the main thing. The night ended with their “Jesus is Coming Again Medley.” Gerald’s vocals were spot on as always, but he really shined on this song to me. Great way to end the night!

I definitely hope it's not years before I see them in concert again. It was definitely a blessed night. It was a blessing to hear Greater Vision share the gospel and the love of Christ through song and to hear the truths spoken between the songs.