Interviews
Israel Houghton
For me, after that, it took out all of the guesswork. There are no do-overs; there are no places that are irrelevant to go. Everywhere we go is a part of bringing the sound of Gods love, the sound of the Kingdom into whatever environment He takes us.
ARW: Praise & worship has gained a lot of popularity recently, especially in the CCM genre. Why do you think that is?
IH: Well, you know, I dont know. Industry-wise anything thats going to make money, they [record labels] will gravitate to in the industry. What they saw was an authentic expression of worship; a lot of which came over to here from England. With Delirious and Matt Redman and Worship Together, the CCM genre took their cues from that and said, Oh, well, this is going to make money. And its kinda sad. But there is an upside to that.
Gods name is being lifted up. Its a vertical form of worship and people are singing His praises. So Im excited, but what Im concerned about is that it has turned into another faction of the industry. As opposed to [being something] very pure. Then I look at the gospel side; I look at what Fred has done. Hes sort of been the architect of the urban side to bring worship into it. What I appreciate about Fred doing that is he did it at a time when it wasnt popular and that truly makes him a pioneer. So we have followed in those footsteps, keeping a pure heart about it. The positive side of it is that its the heart of God. People are sensing Gods desire for worship more and more. Im glad to see the industry leaning in that direction.
ARW: Do you think people are hungering more for worship?
IH: If that is the case, that would be great. Im certainly not trying to throw rocks at it. But I feel, to a degree, we like to worship the worship now and [worship] the praise, instead of honoring and prioritizing God as the focus. In other words, weve learned the formula of what moves people and maybe not what it takes to move the heart of God. Again, its just caution for me. So I have to check myself constantly that Im not getting caught up in the hype of worship or the formula of worship, but that it is always a pure expression coming out of my heart. I could always answer it this way Im hungry, Im thirsty and Im desperate for God.
