I was recently reflecting on my experiences being raised in the church my entire life. It was there that I had a front row seat to my dad being the senior pastor, my mom playing the piano, and my siblings singing in the choir. As for me, I was the church drummer, responsible for the percussive heartbeat of each of our worship experiences. At any given moment, my dad was the pastor of up to 4 different churches, so our Sundays were filled to the brim with nothing but worship.
This abundance of church briefly led me down a path where I believed that I somehow possessed a “Get in Heaven Free” card, simply because of the frequency that I was in church. I mean, God has to know me right? I’m literally here in His house all the time.
But that type of thinking can be dangerous.
When your mind focuses on the act of church instead of its pure purpose, it can be easy to forget what it truly means to be a follower of Christ. You can become judgmental, a gossiper, a hypocrite, and so many other ungodly things that tend to drive people away from the church.
But the closer I’ve drawn to God, the more I’ve come to discover the countless ways in which one can express that relationship. I’ve also come to appreciate the fact that there is no cookie-cutter approach to worship. You don’t have to look, sound, or dress a certain way in order to have a sincere experience with God.
So this morning, as I was praying following my morning devotional, my phone buzzed. It was a message from my brother. “Check out this group from South Korea singing gospel music,” he began. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He was right. I had never seen anything quite like what my eyes and ears were witnessing. It was beautiful and powerful and sincere, and nothing like what I saw growing up in my dad’s church all those years ago. So I wanted to share it with you, as a reminder to never judge a book by its cover. Doing so, may rob you of experiencing some of life’s most beautiful treasures.
So enjoy the following, which is an unexpected collection of sincere Gospel praise from Sooyong Yoon (@syongyoon), who declares in his Instagram bio that he is a “lover of Jesus and Gospel music.”
“I Love to Praise Him”
The lowdown: As an old gospel staple popularized by the Mississippi Mass Choir, you’d be more likely to find this song sang by an old deacon or church mother, as opposed to four Asian men in South Korea’s Jeju forest. That they deliver it with a soul-stirring power only possible when you have a true connection with God, makes this all the more pleasing.
[jwplayer Lz9WBbNh-cLZpqEsi]
“Chilly Winds”
[jwplayer 9E3tJP6w-cLZpqEsi]
“Aint No Need to Worry”
The lowdown: There’s nothing shocking about this performance in the traditional sense. But the message is one that I couldn’t leave this post without sharing. Originally sang by the Winans, this interpolation by Ashley Jayy and Jehreeus really blessed my soul.
I’ll even leave the lyrics with you below, just in case you ever need a pick-me-up.
[jwplayer CRINBoY0-cLZpqEsi]
The lyrics:
Ain’t no need in worrying
what the night is gonna bring,
it’ll be all over in the morning.
There’s a fear of night fall,
when darkeness comes and covers all the day.
Sometimes we feel pain,
but there are things that we can change, just pray.
Ain’t no need to worry,
what the night is gonna bring,
it’ll be all over in the morning.
Troubles come, but they do past,
heartaches, hurts, oh but, they don’t last always.
Sometimes we feel pain,
but there are things that we can change, just pray.
Ain’t no need to worry,
what the night is gonna bring,
it’ll be all over in the morning.
