Marvin Sapp

By Rene Williams

The words “parched”, “dehydrated” and “dry” conjure up thoughts of a desert, a place lacking water. But “thirsty” means something entirely different to Marvin Sapp. It’s a word that reflects a renewed desire for the living water from the lover of his soul, Jesus Christ. Thirsty is the new project from the Grammy, Dove and Stellar Award-nominated artist Marvin Sapp. His seventh solo project, Thirsty encompasses what fans have loved about the artist since his days as lead singer with Commissioned – unmatched vocal delivery, and spirited, inspiring performances.

Take a moment to listen to an interview with one of the most recognizable voices in gospel music.

ARW: How did you end up being a preacher?

MS: From an early age, since I was eight years old, I knew that’s what I wanted to be. I personally believe before the foundation of the world that God predestined that I be a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I mean, the rest is just history. I held service in my backyard as a little boy in my neighborhood. I preached services and I had ushers. Everybody else was playing games and I was having church. That was when I was 8 years.

ARW: When did singing become part of your ministry?

MS: I started singing at the age of four. My father was a singer; I used to watch him singing at the church. I remember watching him get up and sing Just A Closer Walk With Thee. He would sing that song and the people would go crazy. I found myself at ten going with him to choir rehearsals and getting with him in the choir stand. One day while he was singing a song, I got up and started singing a song with him. He passed the mic to me. And from then on, I’ve been singing for some 36 years now.

ARW: I’ve heard you say that you’re a preacher that sings and not a singer that preaches. Can you explain that to me?

MS: I always tell people that I’m not a singer that happens to preach, but a preacher that happens to sing. Because singing is a gifting while preaching is a calling. The Bible declares that the gifts come without repentance. I’ve learned that you can be gifted and anointed and not live in accordance to the Word of God. In order for you to be successful in your call, you must be tapped into the source. Not only do you have to be tapped into the source but you have to live a life that’s holy and acceptable. I never put my gift before my call; I always put my call before my gift. I understand that my gift enhances my call. They have two distinct personalities and intricacies, but they work together.

ARW: You’re a pastor; tell us about your church.

MS: I pastor the Lighthouse Full Life Center Church – one church, two locations. One is in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the other is in Battle Creek, Michigan. Our total membership is about 1,500 members total. It’s a four-year old church; started with 24 people. A cutting-edge church. The reason we call it Full Life is because we’re a holistic ministry. We deal with the mind, the body and the spirit. The mind – is teaching people to elevate their thoughts and to change their outlook on life. We encourage people to empower, not enable. We have all types of programming that speaks to empowerment from financial empowerment and help with budgeting. For our young people, we have ACT practice testing; that’s one of our educational components. We take them on Black family tours. There are a whole lot of things we do to empower people. We also deal with the physical component. We have a fitness ministry. We have fitness classes in the church with strength training and building and those types of things. We deal with the Spirit man as well. We have our own Bible school. We have a lot of different things. We wanted to be a church that was really 21st Century in its application. Not just being a place that grandma used to say was “a wheel in the middle of a wheel”, but really being a church that’s relevant to 21st Century believers. I coined a phrase for Lighthouse – this ain’t your grandmother’s church. It’s really different; the average age of the members of our church is about 30 years old. The people are very, very business-minded so we attract a lot of business-minded spiritual folk. But we also welcome people who come off the street; the more non-churched individual who is looking for something different.

ARW: It’s been a couple years since your last release, Be Exalted. What have you been doing since the last release?

MS: I’ve been focusing on the church and building the membership. I’ve been really trying to remain focused on being a good father and a good husband. My wife and I have been married for 15 years now. I’m really trying to remain connected to home and to my family. By the same token, still staying pretty busy…staying before the people; getting them to hear the stuff that we’re doing musically; traveling as a preacher. I do tons of preaching. I do about 200 dates a year. It keeps me busy.

ARW: Tell me about the night of the live recording for the new project, Thirsty.

MS: The night of the live recording was unbelievable. We went to a church in our city called Resurrection Life Church. It seats about 4,000 people. We had about 3,000 there. It was a mind-blowing, life-changing experience because I really had the opportunity to minister songs that ministered to me. A lot of people don’t know, but during that period – the recording process – within that 90-day span, I lost three people that were indeed important to my personal growth. At the beginning of the recording process, my father – my natural father – passed away. He wasn’t only my father, but he was a member of my church. I went through the whole process of eulogizing him, burying him and trying to encourage the family when I needed encouragement. After that, my musical mentor passed away, L. Craig Tyson, who co-founded Tyscot Records. And 30 days after that, my spiritual father passed away….the day before my live recording. So after doing the live recording, a week later, we had to be back at the same church to eulogize him as well. It was really traumatic. But honestly, these songs - every last song - gave me the strength I needed and really kept me encouraged while losing three major men who helped to shape who I am today.

ARW: I love the project; you really shine as a live artist.

MS: Yes, I think I’m a better live artist. I like to feed off the energy of the people. In the studio, you’ve really got to create something. The audience is already there; I like to “reach out and touch the people”. I like to touch them, not physically. But I like to feel what they feel, draw off their emotions and see their tears. It really helps to direct me as how I can minister to them. Everyone can’t really do that. You really have to be sensitive to the move of the Spirit.

ARW: Tell me about Thirsty, the title.

MS: Thirsty is a song that speaks to God refocusing me. During the time while I was starting my church, I went through a lot of opposition. It’s difficult when you’re raised up in a city, step out and start to do the will of God. Sometimes when you make the decision to do the will of God, you face opposition. That was extremely different for me. As I travel, I’ve always been celebrated. For the last 17 years, from Commissioned to solo artist to multiple Grammy, Dove, etc….I’ve always been celebrated. So finding myself in a position of not being celebrated, I found myself trying to do things to receive the applause of the people in my city – not that people weren’t celebrating me across the nation. I felt like it didn’t make sense; I’m a son of this city. I’ve excelled in the area that now I’m facing opposition in because making the decision to do the will of God for my life. It didn’t feel good.

Then God shared with me and said, “Marvin, you’re thirsting for the wrong things”. He took me to the Psalms where the story of David talks of when he was so focused and busy doing the work of ministry that his son Absalom and his most trusted advisor began to come against him. God began to say to me, “Marvin, you can’t be so focused on the work of the ministry that you lose focus of the God of the work. You’re thirsting for the wrong things. You’re thirsting for the applause of the people. If you thirst for me, I will turn the hearts of the people.” And that’s what I began to do; I began to thirst for God. And that’s where “Thirsty” came from.

ARW: Tell us about Never Would Have Made It.

MS: Never Would Have Made It was actually written the Sunday after my father’s funeral. We had eulogized him. And it was difficult for me. I had to throw the blanket in the casket. I had to close the casket. I had stand up and say “earth to earth, ashes to ashes”. I had to preach the message and drop him off at the cemetery to be buried. But the Sunday after that, I went into the church and everybody was functioning. They were functioning normally. The ushers were where they were supposed to be; the deacons were where they were supposed to be. And I was standing there thinking, “What’s going on? Don’t these people see that I’m in pain? Don’t they see I am hurting?” Then I said, “God, I’m not preaching today. I can’t do it. I don’t think I can make it.” God said to me, “Marvin, there’s something you need to understand. Although your father isn’t with you physically, I will never leave you nor will I forsake you. I will be with you always even until the end of the earth.” Then I walked into the pulpit with my Bible. When God began to assure me that He was there for me, I stood up. I grabbed the microphone and started singing, Never Would Have Made It.

ARW: The song came just like that?

MS: The song came just like that; the whole entire song. I started singing, “never would have made it, never could have made it without you. I would have lost it all, but now I see how you were there for me and because of this, I’m stronger, I’m wiser, I’m better, so much better. And when I look back over all you brought me through. I realize I made it because I had you to hold on to.” It came out just like that. Needless to say, I didn’t’ preach that Sunday. I can’t even sing that song at my church; I can’t. We’ve traveled all over the nation and I sing it everywhere. It really wrecks every church because it’s simple; it speaks to everybody.

ARW: What do you want people to leave this project with?

MS: I’ve always wanted to encourage the believer. All of my music, all of my music, all of the songs that I sing are trying to get the believer to understand that the greater one on the inside of you is far greater than any circumstance that goes on around you. My focus has always been to do music that uplifts the believer, encourages the believer, strengthens the believer. It’s the same goal I have at my church. If people leave empowered and not enabled, then I know that I’ve not only mastered the pulpit, but the pulpit of music as well.