ISRAEL HOUGHTON: THE POWER OF WORSHIP

Israel Houghton was born May 19, 1971. His Caucasian mother got pregnant when she was 17 for a Negro man. They lived in Waterloo, Iowa, which at the time in 1971 was a very segregated society. She came home and told her parents, ‘ I’m pregnant and the father is black .’ According to Israel, “ They had a really
difficult time with it.” The suggestion was for his mother to ‘Have an abortion. Move on with your life .’

She was a terrific concert pianist, she had everything ahead of her, and in a lot of
ways had every reason to go, but she ended up keeping
the baby and getting shunned for a good chunk of her life after that and didn’t have a lot of contact with her parents. When she was eight months pregnant, her and Israel’s father split up. But according to him “ God sovereignly knew what was going on and made it such that this lady came up to her out of the blue and said, ‘I
don’t know you, and I don’t want to give you a hard time, but I was driving by and I really felt that I needed to come tell you Jesus loves you. You’re not forgotten. You did the right thing. It’s going to be all right.’

 ” Those words of life were so powerful to her and so revolutionary to her that she got on her knees on the street corner on Carlsbad Avenue, out of San Diego, and gave her life to the Lord. There began the story of Israel Houghton.

Not long after Israel was born his mother married Henry Houghton and they raised Israel and his three younger siblings in Arizona and New Mexico. An interest in music settled within him early on. His mother (who was a piano player) taught him to play and he learned the guitar on a bet from someone who didn’t think he had the discipline to do it.

At 7 years of age, Israel met his grandfather for the first time, but the man “ had still not been able to make peace with this cultural thing .” This made the young to begin to doubt himself and think something was wrong with him. He says about that time “ I realized, You’ve gone
through all of this, not to hurt you but to shape you, to be acquainted with the pain that a lot of people feel. So it has shaped my life incredibly by just diving into the Father’s love and encouraging others to do it — not trivializing the pain that a lot of people who come to church and come to a concert or whatever are feeling, but just the sensitivity to where people are at and helping them come into a place of breaking through into what God really has for them .”
While growing up in Santa Fe, he began listening to the music of his day, both mainstream (Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Bobby Joel) and Christian (Andrae Crouch and the LA Mass Choir). But what really grabbed the teenager was the emerging R&B of Earth, Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder. “ My mom always encouraged and fostered the musical scene in our house and in our church ,” Israel explains. “ I was the kid that always jumped up on the drums at the end of service and annoyed everybody until I was removed. But I was always around it so when the need arose – the drummer was sick or whatever – I was the guy .”

One night in Arizona, where he’d returned to attend college, Israel had a life-changing experience. He was visiting a friend’s church and
was asked to play drums for the worship band. When the pastor met him and heard his name, he told Houghton, “ Even in your name, you have favour with God, but you’ve also struggled with men and God. But…you have prevailed, and you will prevail .” Israel had his first real experience with worship when he was 19. He was playing drums in the church band at a church in Phoenix, and they asked him to be the
worship leader. They had heard him sing and they said, ‘Why don’t you consider leading worship for us? ’ As it turned out, his job was supposed to start that night. “ Honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was like Ron Kenoly Jr.; I knew three Ron Kenoly songs ,” He states frankly. “ I
sang them every service, for weeks.”
Finally, a particular lady came up to him and said, ‘You might want to go find your sound and go find who you are.’ So he started worshiping with his piano on his kitchen floor for four, five, and six hours and He would sit there weeping and crying and having this conversation with God. “ I like to say I was doing worship before it was popular ,” he says. “ I was doing worship as a lifestyle before it was a section at the bookstore. When I started getting into the recording industry, I would hear, ‘Choose a style,’ and I used to say, ‘How about we just put it all together?’ Because when we get to heaven, there’s not going to be sections. ”

Israel, who is mostly known for his cross-cultural style of Christian music that fuses elements from gospel, jazz and rock, founded the group New Breed with his friend, producer, Aaron Lindsay. This is why Houghton is usually credited as Israel & New Breed (which is currently signed to Integrity Music). Israel Houghton and his wife Meleasa started New Breed Ministries in 1995. As an organization they continue to run, it is comprised of noted musicians and singers who serve within their respective churches and together serve the Church at large. They travel extensively with a message that crosses cultural, generational, and denominational boundaries.

Known specifically for their diverse sound effectively captured on the 2001 Hosanna! Integrity release of New Season as well as 2002’s Lakewood Live ‘We Speak to Nations,’ their heart is to deliberately diminish the lines that separate the Church, and bring all people together through worship. Once a member of
Fred Hammond and RFC, he has also worked with the Young Messiah Tour, TBN, Crystal Lewis, Anointed,
CeCe Winans, Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams. With a heart for the Nations, true worship, and a passion for the Presence of God, Israel and New Breed add purpose to any event.

From 1997 to 2004, he released five albums,
Whisper it Loud (1997), New Season (2001),
Nueva Generacion (2001), Real (2002) and Live from Another Level (2004); but it wasn’t until his 2005’s Alive in South Africa , recorded live in Cape Town, that real recognition came. The album received a Grammy Award for “Best Traditional Gospel Album” in 2007 and two songs from the album, Not Forgotten and Turn It Around , received a Dove Award for “Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song” in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Both his album
Live from Another Level and rendition of Again I Say Rejoice received a Dove Award in 2005. Israel also produced an album by Michael Gungor called Bigger Than My Imagination . This album was acclaimed as “one of the year’s best worship albums” in a 2003 Christianity Today review.

A Deeper Level was released on September 4, and according to him, the album was to light a fire under church people to rise to a higher purpose. “ Like the song ‘Say So’ states ,” Israel stated, “ We’re not here to salt the salt and light the light. We’re here to get out to where there is darkness and no flavor-where people need the strength that we, as Christians, have access to and possess.” A Deeper Level won a Grammy for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album, same as the next album, The Power of One .
His next effort, The Power of One , was released on March 24, 2009 and it included the smash hits Just Wanna Say and Every Prayer (featuring Mary Mary). The album was a mix of Traditional gospel, Rock, Reggae and R&B; featuring long-time collaborator Tommy Simms, Marvin Smith, Toby Mac, Reggae queen, Chevelle Franklin and Mary Mary.

For his latest offering, Love God, Love People (released August 31, 2010), Israel once again partnered with co-producers Aaron Lindsey and Tommy Sims, with whom he worked on his previous album, The Power of One. This time, Israel fulfilled a lifelong dream of recording at the historic Abbey Road Studios in London. Israel says the new project is “ a return to a simple, foundational Gospel command: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself .”

The album boasted of great tracks like the title track, Our God , the spirit-lifting Hosanna, Name of Love and You Hold my World . The album, like the two before it, picked up a Grammy award in the Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album category.
Israel has served as worship leader for the
Promise Keepers and Champions for Christ events, as well as the Hillsong Conference 2006—2010, and Hillsong Conference Europe 2008-2010. Israel currently serves as a worship leader (alongside of Cindy Cruse-Ratcliff, Steve Crawford and Da’dra Crawford-Greathouse) at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, pastored by Joel Osteen.
Every Sunday, the musical compositions of Israel Houghton fill houses of worship across the world.

Through Houghton’s lyrics, one can feel the presence of the Lord; and when these lyrics are transformed into song, one immediately feels the warmth and security of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the inescapable reach of Houghton’s ministry is a testament to the favor God bestows upon those who walk in accordance to His will. Since Whisper Out Loud (1997), Houghton’s catalog has defied categorization. And with each subsequent release, social constructs, like race and religious denomination, have had little impact on his influence within the contemporary gospel genre.

Israel Houghton is known for injecting contemporary gospel and worship with a blazing energy that has made him among the most influential tastemakers in his field. As a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and worship leader, he has created a canon of songs that have become standards in houses of faith around the globe. He has accomplished this largely as the leader of Israel and New Breed , a Grammy, Stellar and Dove Award-winning musical ensemble and ministry organization that has amassed gold-selling albums and critical platitudes reserved for the best of the best.

Over the past decade, Israel has amassed a legion of fans while blasting down musical barriers, and drawing together people of all races, ages and cultures through worship. He has been fittingly graced with 2 Gold-selling albums, 6 Dove Awards, 2 Stellar Awards, a Soul Train Award, and 3 Grammy Awards.

Israel and Meleasa and their 3 children, Mariah, Israel ‘Sonny Boy’ and Milan Lille currently reside in Houston, Texas. Israel is a devoted family man, who likes to involve his family in his ministry; for instance, he involves his wife in the writing process (she has written and co-written a few songs for New Breed) and even brings his children on tour. Clearly, he is a devoted family man before all. Speaking about his family, he says, “ I love being home. My first ministry is in this house ,” he adds. “ The
church that I pastor is right
here. My congregation consists
of Meleasa, Mariah, Duncan, and Milan, and everything else is secondary, including Lakewood. I believe that if I don’t take care of my family as a great leader and husband and father, I could have all kinds of
accolades and awards and a
big mantle up there or something with a bunch of statuettes, but if my children don’t respect me, if I haven’t been a good husband, then that’s all a joke to me.”

From the circumstances surrounding his birth, it is clear that God called and set him apart for this great work. “ All the time, man; I don’t spend too much time dwelling on why God chose me. Many are called but few are chosen. I
think the real hinge to that statement is acceptance by the one who’s called, actually answering the call ,” he says. “ The phone just keeps ringing, so to speak. For me, early on I know this is what I want to do so I’m going to take this call. It gave me a platform that allows this thing to perpetuate and keep going. I’m going to keep
taking that call very seriously. For me, it’s more than a calling now; it’s a cause. I think there is no chance of me doing anything else ever in my life because I realize that I was born for this.”

When asked about what he hopes to achieve through his music, he said, “ Ultimately hope, which ultimately leads to transformation. I believe worship has the power to change ,” he adds. “ People need hope. I want to give good news to people. I want people to experience hope, and if somebody could lift their hands and say, ‘I am a friend of God,’ whether they felt like they were or not. The word says, ‘You are’, so walk in that. The more they sing it, the more they believe it, the more healing that comes to them .”

Now with his traditional gospel/pop/rock/R&B synthesis Israel is blurring the stylistic divisions and in the process challenging the racism that still exists in many white majority and black majority churches. Recently Israel was honoured with a cover story in the influential Charisma magazine. In that article Israel spelled out his thoughts on the black and white church divide to journalist Chad Bonham. “ I want to see the American Church break down the last of the walls that divide us culturally and racially. The colour barrier that still exists is just bewildering to me.”

Israel practices what he preaches by supporting social justice efforts. This includes serving as a spokesman for the international relief/aid organization World Vision and by supporting medical and mercy missions.

People can say what they like about the man, but one thing is certain, Israel Houghton has come a mighty long way, through the grace of God and completely keeping his trust in God of all flesh. It is truly an example of the scripture, “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness… ” and he is seeking God’s righteousness through his gift of music and is active using this gift to bring hope and healing to all those who listen. He is truly an instrument of God.