Marvin Sapp: ‘Here I Am’

Marvin Sapp has a unique ability to reach people. He likes to say that God has called him to preach and he happens to sing. He is senior pastor of Lifehouse Full Life Center Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., and he continually reaches out to his community, but also ministers to people with his gospel music. His eighth album, Here I Am, has a crystal-clear message, he says.

“Our focus and our goal is to make sure people are encouraged and uplifted through our music. … This particular CD … pushes people to think differently, to look at things differently … about who they are as individuals and … about who they are as people in general, as the saints in the body of Christ.”

Sapp also wants people to find solace through these songs. “His Hand’s on You” reminds us that God is always with us no matter what situation we are facing. “Don’t Count Me Out,” Sapp says, is his testimony and was inspired by the life of David.

“It never ceases to amaze me that man is always judging you on your outside when God is looking at your heart. A lot of church folk write people off when they’re down, but God specializes in taking misfits and making masterpieces out of them.”

Believers are also reminded to ask God for renewal. “Fresh Wind,” he says, speaks of how people can experience individual revival by tapping into the Holy Spirit.

“Some folks think that once they’ve experienced the will of God one time that’s all they need. The truth is that our daily prayer ought to be for God to send a fresh wind on a consistent basis—that we may be replenished in spirit and function the way that He is calling us to function.”

Here I Am offers energetic music and uplifting, faith-building songs. But it is also a very personal album for Sapp.

“I feel like this is a project that I have put my heart and soul into because I found myself in some very difficult positions over the last year and a half, with health challenges in my wife’s life. I just wanted to find something I thought would encourage me when I was feeling down, encourage her when she was feeling down. … My hope and prayer is that these songs minister to [people] and build them up the same way they ministered to me.”

Click here to purchase this CD.