8 March 2013 by Donna Uning CM –
By 6:30 pm, the line into the Trinity Methodist Church had started to form as throngs of concert goers filled the steps into the church. Tonight was Steve Green’s first concert in the city for his ‘Rest in the Wonder’ leg of the tour, after South Korea.
The US gospel singer had fallen ill upon his arrival to Kuching a few nights before, and Steve was just recovering when he stepped on stage that evening.
Accompanied by the local choir and his pianist, Dick, Steve walked on stage with the flute for his opening number, ‘In Christ Alone’. The crowd cheered and sang along with Steve. After his second song, ‘Immortal, Invisible’, Steve told the audience that this was his first visit to Kuching. They flew from Seoul, South Korea for a concert, in which Steve and his team stayed for about four to five days.
“I left there with the Asian Flu. I’m okay now after struggling in the last 2-3 days. I have half a voice today. I will give everything that I have. If it quits, it quits,” he said.
Steve played the guitar for his third song, ‘How can I keep from singing’. His voice started giving out as his brother David jumped in to carry Steve’s number. The audience was in awe and touched by the brothers.
“Today I’m Moses, he is Aaron. We have been partners for 30 years. David lives next door to me. We are good friends and brothers,” he acknowledged to the crowd.
Steve introduced his pianist, Dick, who was in the band, Truth; and later worked with the Imperials and Sandi Patty. Dick has toured as artists and “write great songs”. He has been with Steve for the last six years.
Then he introduced Joel, his sound technician who is a Canadian but grew up in Israel. He joined Steve for the last two and a half years.
Steve Green is married to Marijean for 34 years. “She is still the delight of my heart,” he gushed. He also has a daughter, Summer. His two grandchildren live in Atlanta, GA. His son Josiah and wife Jane are currently in seminaries.
Dick continued with a solo performance on the piano and picked up the accordion for the next song. “Dick started playing the accordion at the age of 5. He competed nationally at seven and came in third,” Steve explained.
With Steve on the guitar and Dick on accordion, they played, ‘Always’ and ‘He who began a good work in you’. For the song, ‘In brokenness you shine’, Steve’s brother joined him again for a touching moment.
“I would prefer my future set, but that’s not God’s way. In our weakness, God shows His strengths,” he said.
“God says my Grace is sufficient for you, in your weakness, I will show you my strength. God loves to receive the glory,” he added. In the first 300 years, the church was constantly prosecuted. When Constantine changed all that, it was a time of ease and believers began to wonder.
“We think that God’s blessings are everything good going for us. What if our difficulty is God’s mercy for us?” he asked.
He continued with the song, ‘Blessings’. At this time, Steve was obviously in pain and could not sing. David stepped in to finish the song. Later, the choir came back onstage for the song ‘Find us faithful’.
After the song, Kuching Ministers Fellowship’s bro Nelson Kee came onstage, “By faith, Steve can do the performance tonight. We give glory to God.” The Ministry of Steve Green is the ministry of faith. “They are a blessing to the city,” continued Kee as the crowd gave love offering for the team to continue to minister worldwide.
Steve continued with songs ‘I will bless the Lord, All to bring You glory, People need the Lord, and Only Jesus/Calvary’s Love.’
When Steve sang ‘Amazing Grace’, he told the crowd how the audience sang the song in Korean when he was in South Korea. Unfortunately, the Kuching crowd managed to sing in English when asked to sing in our own language.
“That was beautiful,” he said, telling the audience that he can sing ‘Amazing Grace’ in Spanish because “We grew up in Argentina.” It’s all over the world. It’s become an anthem for the church. It’s our testimony.
“By His grace that He reaches us. Worthy is the lamb, salvation is all of His doing for us. No one can ever boast.
“Other religions are about rules and lists to improve yourself. Christianity is not that. It is news, good news. News that’s done for us that we could not do for ourselves. That’s why it brings our joy. Something that’s a gift to us, that brings us joy. It’s God’s free gift,” Steve said.
“Did you grow up with conditional promise? If you eat your vegetables, you’ll get your desert; or if you finish your school work, you can go out and play. All our lives, we have grown up with conditional promise. It’s an ‘if then’.
“The gospel is unconditional promise. It’s a ‘because therefore’. Because Christ died on the cross, we are now a new creation in Him. He is everything necessary for our salvation.
“Something He did for us! That’s amazing isn’t it? All our lives we live on ‘ifs’. But, the love of God comes unconditionally by Christ. It’s a gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast.
“The gospel is not hard to understand; it’s impossible to understand! It’s against our nature. Jesus is everything, that’s all we need. Every heart that casts himself upon Him, trust Him, receive unconditional promise. He justifies you first. It’s a process; first comes love, your love. Receive His love,” he added.
Steve continued by singing ‘Amazing Grace’ and prayed for the audience. “Call on Him!” he called. He then continued with two more songs.
“Thank you. I’ve been looking forward to this the whole year! Maybe I can come back sometime,” he said as the crowd cheered. “My brother is an extra blessing for you and for me,” he added before exiting the stage.
Gospel singer Alma Niges sang four songs as the opening act for the one and a half hour performance. The sold out concert packed in 1300 people to the Trinity Methodist Church in Kuching. The show was organized by Kuching Ministers Fellowship and Full Gospel Businessmen.
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