Zach Williams, Easter, and Finding Your Now

March 2018 SGNScoops Magazine

Editor’s Last Word by Lorraine Walker for March 2018 SGNScoops Magazine

I heard the birds singing louder than the traffic noise this morning, and I knew that spring must be just around the corner. The month of March is full of possibilities as I watch the bulbs start to send up their green leaves, and the rabbits come out of hibernation to try and feast on those sprouts. It makes me begin to wonder what new things the Lord wants me to do as I come out of my own winter hibernation. Is there something new for all of us this month, this week, or even today?

Let’s all look at the chains that may be preventing us from attempting something different. Those chains may be fear, or indecision, or perceived inability, holding us down. Maybe we need to listen to Zach Williams’ “Chain Breaker” one more time. That is one of my favorite songs right now, whether it is Triumphant or Gaither Vocal Band or Steve Ladd or Williams himself performing it. I confess that I have played Williams’ and Triumphant’s CDs until they have been worn thin. I may be the only person in the world still purchasing full CDs, but then, I still have boxes of cassette tapes as well. However, I digress.

When the idea was born to feature Williams on the cover of this issue, I was delighted. The writer of this hit is a Grammy Award winner, and his song has been covered by many artists from many different branches of Christian music. I am so glad that Justin McLeod was able to chat with this singer/songwriter, and I hope that you enjoyed every feature in our diverse look at what is happening in the world of Christian music.

Moving to the genre of Christian country music, artist Jonathan Dale said something in my interview with him that has resonated with me ever since. He was talking about his new release, “This Is Your Now.” He wants this generation to be aware that the time is now to do what you are called to do, not wait for another day, week, or year. We all need to look at this moment as our time, as we may not have another moment.

The writer Paul told his readers in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” He was quoting the prophet Isaiah from the Old Testament in Isaiah 49:8. The Bible is filled with the thread of urgency, reminding us time and again that our life here on earth is but a short blip in the eternal timeline. Where you spend the rest of your life depends on what you do now. Have you made the decision that Dr. Billy Graham probably preached thousands of times in his lifetime? Have you accepted the salvation of the Lord, put your trust in Him and given your life to Him?

Lorraine Walker, editor of SGNScoops Magazine

Truly, “This Is Your Now.” You may never have another chance to make that decision. And if you have been walking with the Lord, what has He been urging you to do with your life, that thing that has caused you to procrastinate? You have said to yourself that you would wait until you had a break in your job stress, or perhaps until you acquired a job, or until you were wiser in your knowledge of scripture, or until whatever has been happening in your life had passed.

What better time than spring, than Easter, than today to reach hold of the hand of God and allow Him to lead you into a new land?

God spoke to Isaiah and said through him, “Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now, it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18, 19)

Thanks so much for reading SGNScoops Magazine. If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to email me at lorraine@sgnscoops.com. I hope to see you at some gospel music event this year.

Do that new thing today. This truly is your now.

By Lorraine Walker

Download The PDF Version Of SGNScoops Magazine HERE

Find SGNScoops Magazine On Facebook HERE

Listen Online To The Best In Todays Gospel Music HERE

Rob Patz asks if You are Missing the Mark

February 2018 SGNScoops Magazine. Publisher’s Point by Rob Patz

Publisher’s Point by Rob Patz

Welcome to the February edition of the Publisher’s Point. So how was the first month of the year? Did you complete everything you wanted to accomplish? Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions? Are you on the path to a successful 2018?

Okay, right now is a moment of transparency. To be completely honest with you, I haven’t kept either of my resolutions. One was to exercise. Now, I’m not saying I haven’t exercised at all, but I haven’t exercised with any consistency.

I blew the other resolution too.  I was going to be more organized. Yeah, that one hasn’t worked out too great either. In fact, I probably will lose this Publisher’s Point at least once before it actually makes the magazine. If that doesn’t make you laugh, nothing will.

Sometimes in life, we set standards and goals for ourselves, both of which are sometimes not attainable. I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive for high standards, or for lofty goals … far from it. I think we should always dream bigger than we can imagine, because we serve a God who wants us to set goals that are beyond our normal beliefs.

However, I do want to talk about something that has been weighing on my heart, and that is missing the mark when you set goals and standards. I’ll be honest with you … over the last month, I have struggled with my own self-worth. They say, in life, you can be your worst critic, and there have been times when I have questioned my own decisions. I’m not saying we shouldn’t question our own decisions. Again, this is something that we need to pray about.

When I wrote last month’s Publisher’s Point, I didn’t realize how the words that God had given me would come to such life, when I said, “2018 is a new year and new you.” As I have watched circumstances and events unfold in my own life over the last 30 days, it has made me realize that I may miss the mark I have set for myself.

Rob Patz with Mark Trammell, Nick Trammell and Pat Barker

I sometimes struggle to even see the mark, but I know that God is with me. I know that He cares very much for me and for what I’m doing, but He hasn’t brought me to this point to leave me. I do know that He alone is who I should focus on.

For so much of our life, we want to set these great and grandiose New Year’s resolutions. Please listen to me … I do think that we should all set goals. I think we should have things that we want to accomplish, because without goals – especially written down – we will never accomplish anything. But what I’m saying is that our first and foremost thing in life should be to immerse ourselves in what Jesus wants.

This month, I want to encourage you to know that if you are a Christian, you serve a God who is closer than a brother and who sees everything that you’re doing. He knows what you’re striving for. He knows that, at times, you’re going to miss the mark that you have set. Remember, He may not make the goal that you believe you should reach.

He is the God of grace, the God of love, and the God of peace. He loves you regardless of what you are striving for and wants you to make His goals your standard for your life this year.

Make plans to join me in Oxford, Ala., from March 1-3.We are going to have an awesome time. God is going to move, and we believe that lives will be changed. See you then.

Until next month, this is the Publisher’s Point.

By Rob Patz

First published by SGNScoops Magazine in February 2018

Lorraine Walker asks: What are Your Spiritual Goals for 2018?

Lorraine Walker, Editor of SGNScoops Magazine, asks about your spiritual goals for January 2018

SGNScoops Magazine: Editor’s Last Word by Lorraine Walker for January 2018

Happy New Year. I trust everyone had a good holiday season. For those whose December was a time of sorrow, I understand and pray that this new year will bring encouragement and joy from our Lord.

Here at SGNScoops, we like to highlight an up-and-coming gospel music artist every year on our January cover. The Jordan Family Band is a great new family group that everyone seems to be talking about.

I first became aware of them by catching videos on Facebook by Randa Jordan. It was just her and her piano, and it was so real and heartfelt, as well as being accomplished and skillfully presented, that I kept looking for her when I went online. Then, her family joined her, and I wondered what rock I’d been hiding under that I wasn’t aware of the Jordan Family Band until then. Seriously, if you haven’t heard them yet, find them on Facebook, and they will touch your heart. Be watching for them to climb the charts in 2018.

It is also nice to hear some new year’s resolutions by gospel artists and to think about our own goal-setting. As we consider the year ahead at SGNScoops, we would like to have your input. Who would you like us to feature? Is there a story or film or book you would like us to cover? Please send me an email with your suggestions at lorraine@sgnscoops.com.

Taking stock of your personal life is also good at any time, not just at the beginning of the year. Most people mention their physical goals, but what about your spiritual goals? It’s a good time to pray about God’s direction.

What are your spiritual goals for 2018?

Perhaps He is urging you to reach out to your neighbor this year, to find a missionary to support, or to dare to walk more closely to the light of His glory. I think we as a society are becoming more aware of religious persecution, but what some may not realize is that Christians are persecuted and martyred around the world. The tide against us is growing higher all the time, as is evidenced by daily news reports. The closer you walk with the Lord, the more this tide will grow, but a life with Jesus is worth it all.

If the new year appears to be filled with the same difficulties that you have faced in the past, remember that the Lord knows and wants to help you along the road you have to walk. Remember that He is building character in you. Romans 5:1-5 (NIVUK) “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Be courageous in 2018

Trust God to be your source of peace and hope in 2018. Happy New Year.

Questions? Comments? Email me at lorraine@sgnscoops.com

By Lorraine Walker

First published by SGNScoops Magazine in January 2018.

Lorraine Walker

The Stray captures the heart in a big way

The Stray

Sometimes God answers prayer in the most unusual way. Sometimes hardships and family crises become just the catalyst needed to make a change. And sometimes help comes from the most unlikely place. In “THE STRAY,” help for the Davis’, a family on the brink of falling apart, arrives in the form of Pluto, a stray dog who saves their lives—literally.

When one of the Davis kids prays for a dog, Pluto, a stray, shows up and makes himself at home with the struggling family. Mitch Davis, a workaholic father, seems unsure about taking on a pet, but when Pluto—“the Wonderdog,” they lovingly call him—manages to save one child and bring companionship to another, he can’t help but agree to keep him. But Pluto is not only a guard dog, he’s a guardian angel. While on a camping trip, Pluto the Wonderdog saves Mitch’s life during a freak lightning storm, and the act changes the Davis family forever. “He was the answer to problems we didn’t know we had,” someone explains in the film.

Based on the incredible true story of Hollywood producer Mitch Davis (The Other Side of Heaven) and starring Michael Cassidy (Argo, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Sarah Lancaster (Everwood, The Judge), “THE STRAY” is a film for all audiences and illustrates how the unconditional love of a pet can change your life and how important the love of and making time for family are. The film also received the Dove Family Approved seal for its portrayal of positive values. “Although The Stray reflects my personal story, I know there are countless families across America who could say the same thing about a pet that greatly impacted them with its unconditional love—which is why I hope families will see this film together,” Davis explained, adamant that audiences understand that God can work through the most unlikely circumstances.

Though it took a shock from God for Davis to learn, he hopes families who see the film together will come away knowing that “Families are what life’s all about. Families are hard, but they’re by far the most important thing,” in life. For the Davis’, Pluto helped them learn this lesson. “Pluto was a dog, but in our family he was an angel. He showed up in answer to prayer at a time when our family needed something, and we didn’t quite know what we needed,” Davis described. “Pluto gave us our lives back. We saved the dog, and then the dog saved us.” In the film, Davis ruminates to Pluto while staring at the stars in the sky, “We’re awfully small, aren’t we boy? Or maybe we’re just a part of something awfully big.” For the Davis family, Pluto was both.

THE STRAY released October 6, 2017 via Pure Flix. Visit THE STRAY movie website at www.TheStrayResources.com and follow THE STRAY movie on Facebook and Twitter and follow the conversation at #TheStray.

Reviewed by Suzanne Mason. Special to SGNScoops.

More Gospel music news here.

Newest SGNScoops Magazine featuring your favorite artists here.

Listen to our Online Gospel music station here. 

Christmas Challenge by Rob Patz

Publisher’s Point for Christmas and December 2017 by Rob Patz

‘Tis the season. I wonder how many times this year I will actually say that, and I wonder how many people really understand what we celebrate during the season. As Christians, we celebrate the fact that God saw such a need that He would send His only son, knowing full well that His son would die on a cross.

I have to say that there are times where I forget to take in the full impact of what Christmas really means. We all get so busy sharing the holiday with family and friends that we forget the impact of a baby being born in a manger. No, we as modern-day humans don’t understand what a manger really is. A manger wasn’t a softly made bed like the paintings that we see. They say it was hewn out of stone and probably was very rustic. It’s difficult to think that the savior of the world was born under such conditions.

That should make us all reevaluate how we look at the holidays. I’m not saying you should take down your tree, and I’m not saying you should stop buying gifts, I’m just saying that maybe this year, during the holiday, you should sit down and read the Christmas story and reflect on the magnitude of this perfect gift, which we truly celebrate.

‘During the holiday season …’ – that way I can work Thanksgiving in as well, since I’m writing to you before Thanksgiving – I spend a lot of time reflecting on life. I think we all do. Like everyone, I miss family during this time of year. There are those that have gone on before us, those who we don’t have the opportunity to call or see during the holidays, and then we have those who have – with time – drifted out of our lives. This includes my family as much as those that are close friends. During this time of year, I often wonder what they’re doing, or how they are. I usually take a few minutes, especially on Thanksgiving, to pray for them.

As you read this, for most of you, Christmas is in full swing. My family and I enjoy this time of year immensely. It’s an opportunity to not only look forward, but to look back at the past year.

This was a year full of changes and challenges. As someone who embraces change, some of the changes were good … some of them, not so much. As far as challenges, like everyone, I had different sets of challenges, but with challenges, we know we are moving forward. As much as we embrace change, we should also learn to embrace challenges.

What challenges are laid before you, and what does God have for you to do within that challenge? I learned that over this past year that sometimes God is creating the challenge to strengthen us. I recently heard a pastor say that without challenges we will see no growth, for in the challenge God creates in us the wisdom to move forward. I believe this year I have learned and gained new wisdom.

Rob Patz

I’m going close this year’s Publishers Point by challenging you to pray not only for our magazine, but for your church, your neighbors, and your family. I pray that this year you take time to specifically pray for each. I believe that 2018 is going to be full of new blessings.

God has amazing things for you and for me. It’s time to stop looking at the negative. I’m going to preach this throughout 2018 … stop dwelling on the bad things and start praising God for the good things.

As I close this, I want to wish you all the best during the holidays, from my family to yours. I love you all.

For the latest issue of SGNScoops Magazine click here.

For Gospel music news click here.

Day to Day by Selena Day: Seeing differently

Chuck Day and Selena Day

Chuck and I have taken the year off from traveling overseas due to our daughter’s wedding. It’s been a year of planning and dreaming, waiting expectantly for her big day to arrive.

I think this day is more meaningful to me than my own wedding, because I have been unconsciously dreaming of this day her whole life. I had the wedding of my dreams, so I have always wanted to give each of our girls their dreams as well.

I have been thinking recently about the mother’s heart and how we tend to think of God only in a male form, but there are many scriptures that talk about his love for us in a maternal way.

Selena Day and daughter

During this year of planning, I have wanted to move heaven and earth so that my daughter’s dreams can come to pass. As a mother, the joy hasn’t been in only giving her what she desires. It has been having the experience of watching her as she tried on the many wedding dresses to find just the perfect one. It has been the moments when I have needed to give her a pep talk to trust in God’s plan, when inside I was struggling to believe it for myself.

I am reminded of God’s heart towards us and how He not only loves us as a Father but like a Mother as well. He holds us close to Himself and cares about every tiny detail in our life.

This past year, no wish my daughter has expressed has been too insignificant to me. I have listened to her wishes and expressed my thoughts, and we have discussed the best outcome. But in the end, it has been whatever she has wanted that we have tried to make happen.

In every phase of my children’s lives, I have learned more of how God sees us and how He delights in watching us and bringing our dreams to pass for us.

I will never forget the first wedding dress she came out in … it took my breath away. The emotions that it stirred inside of me, it was better than the day I saw myself in a wedding dress. The wedding dress she chose was the one she fell in love with the first day we looked at them, and when I was able to pay the last payment and hand it to her, my heart swelled as she pulled it close and hugged it thanking me for making her dream come true.

On Aug. 18, Chuck will walk her down the aisle, and we will all be watching her as she stares into the eyes of her love and pledges her promise to him.

I am so thankful that God allowed me to be a mother and to experience seeing my child in the way He sees me. A mother’s heart is fierce toward her children. I am pretty laid back in most cases, but when it comes to my children, I will fight any giant to protect my girls.

Chuck always says that he would gladly lie down and let someone run a truck over him to protect his girls. I think a mother’s heart would be to take a stick to that truck and beat the life out of it.

If we are created in the image of God, I believe that God has those same feelings towards us as His children.

I personally believe that it is beneficial for us to see the maternal side of our Creator in our life. He cares so deeply for us, and His love is boundless.

Chuck and Selena Day on their wedding day

After 28 years in ministry, one of the greatest obstacles that I have seen people encounter over and over again is the belief that God loves them. When you struggle with that fact, you struggle believing that God is good, that God is for you and that every day God’s desire is to give you all that you desire.

My prayer for you today is that you can see through any pain or rejection you encounter, to see the love our God has for you, and that just as we have worked hard to give our daughter all that she has dreamed of for her special day, God wants to work that hard for you and your dreams.

By Selena Day

Selena Day is a motivational speaker and is available to speak at your conference or event. You may contact her at selenaday@me.com http://www.queenliving.org http://facebook.com/queenismsbyselenaday. Photographs courtesy of Selena Day.

First published by SGNScoops Magazine August 2017.

For the latest issue of SGNScoops magazine click here
For more gospel music news click here.
For online gospel music click here.

Shelly Wilson: Heart of a Servant

Shelly Wilson: Heart of a Servant

Shelly Wilson resides in East Texas, and though she comes from a small town, she’s always had big dreams. As a young girl she walked the aisle in a church and professed Christ, yet at 30 she realized she was not born again. She says there was quite a battle for her soul as she began to hear the voice of the Lord clearly for the first time.

Wilson had no idea the Lord would soon call her and fulfill her dreams. In 2002, she gave birth to her son and a few months later began having health problems. She literally lost her mind for a season.

The doctors were unsure why and no one could help her. She was not in church but knew to run to the church. She visited many and the message was the same: “Use your gifts for the Lord.”

Wilson suffered terrible panic attacks, nightmares and incredible fear, but in the midst of it all she began to hear clearly the voice of the Lord and surrendered her life to Him. From that moment on, He slowly began to change her desires from partying to reading her Bible. Ephesians 3:20 became her life verse.  Wilson understands the verse and says, “I chose you, you didn’t choose Me. I’m grateful for a loving Savior. Although valleys come and go, He is always there.”

Wilson spent a year learning about the Bible because she knew very little.  She began to sing for the Lord but had terrible stage fright. The Lord had to gently show her that He could be trusted each time she stepped onto any platform.

Wilson wasn’t writing songs yet and said she honestly never considered it an option because she plays no instruments, reads no music and harmony is simply not her gifting. Yet one day in her closet the Lord said, “Shelly, you receive not because you ask not,” so with that nudge she asked to become a songwriter.

Soon the Lord woke her up with her first lyrics rolling around in her head and she began to receive full melodies with the lyrics.

Read more »

Rob Patz: What road are you on?

Rob Patz

Publisher’s Point by Rob Patz

Where has the summer gone? I’ve already started seeing back-to-school fliers. As a child those were the most depressing of any advertising throughout the year.

I have to be honest … over the last couple of days, I have written and rewritten the Publisher’s Point. It seems like I had no clear answer, no clear direction, of what I should say this month. I know that it is important for me to say exactly what God wants. It’s like choosing the road you have to go on, the right road to get to your destination. That’s what we’re going to talk about in this month’s Publishers Point.

It seems as though I have picked transportation themes over the last few months. We started off in the car behind a tractor. Last month we were on a train. This month, we’re deciding on the road we are going to take.

Life is full of choices. I know that statement isn’t anything new to any of us. I’m sure, since you were a child, you’ve heard your family tell you that life is about the choices you make. That is true. The choices we make today, even this minute as you’re reading this, are the choices that will resonate tomorrow. I know that sounds ominous, but it’s true. Choices we can make not only to follow God in our decisions, but to choose joy in the journey.

Rob Patz on the wrong road

I have to be honest with you … there are days when I can’t figure out what road to take. I know I have to make a decision, but at the time, I’m not sure. I truly believe that over time, as Christians, we become more attuned to what God has for us, and those choices and decisions become easier. But even for someone who has been a Christian for a while, there are times where those decisions don’t seem quite as clear.

I think this is where we insert ourselves into the equation. So often, we want to create the road that we believe God will bless, but God never had any intention for us to travel that road. Instead, He has a much better path for us, but we struggle because this is what we want … this is what we’ve desired … this is what we have built up in our minds to be the correct thing.  

Think of all the people that walked with Jesus. They wanted Him to create a kingdom on earth right then. They didn’t want to wait, nor did they really understand the whole scenario. They wanted the instant answer. They didn’t understand the life-saving road that Jesus was taking them on.

So many times in life, I’ve taken the road that I felt was right, but I wonder how many times the road that was paved by God was just one turn away. Yet, I refused in my own stubbornness to stop, to pray, and to seek the direction God was taking me.

Rob Patz

Instead, I wanted to go 100 miles an hour on this road that I had paved, and what I believed was what God wanted. All along, just one turn away was a perfectly paved road with happiness, with joy, and with peace that I could’ve easily taken, if I would’ve only stopped and waited for His word.

As Christians, we are to choose God’s road, and ultimately, prayer is the best GPS that we can have. If we seek God’s will, we will know what direction to take.

Vernon Alabama’s Gospel Music Weekend

Join me next month in Vernon Ala., from Sept. 8-9, and of course for the Creekside Gospel Music Convention, from October 30 through Nov. 2, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Until next month, this is the Publishers Point.

By Rob Patz

First published by SGNScoops Magazine in August 2017.

For more Gospel Music news click here.

Listen to Gospel music online here.

For the latest edition of SGNScoops Magazine click here. 

Lessons on being a father and a husband by Selena Day

Chuck and Selena Day

When I was falling in love with my husband, I didn’t stop and ask myself what kind of father he would be. After we were engaged, a woman told me to watch how he treated his mother. If he treated her well then he would treat me in the same manner. No words have been any truer, and I have extended this same advice to my own daughters.  

I am very lucky though that my husband has turned out to be a pretty amazing dad. He is the kind of father that helps when it is time for birthday parties. He is the kind of father that the night before Halloween or Thanksgiving, he’s designing an outfit for the girls to wear to school. He is the kind of father that on our girls’ 16th birthday, he took them all out to a very nice restaurant of their choice, bought them flowers and showed them how a man should treat a woman. When our girls went to prom, he not only drove them to the Prom, he stayed in the area just to peek in from time to time to watch them as they danced and enjoyed their special night.  

The greatest gift I believe that he has given them is his love for me. Men, if you really want to show daughters how they are to be treated, then treat your wife the way you want a husband to treat them. If you want your sons to know how to treat their wives, men, then set that example. And if you treat your wife in a manner contrary, then your sons should call you out.  

Selena Day and her daughter, a bride-to-be

I was told this story from a couple – that during a difficult season with their son – he started being very disrespectful to his mother. The father one day took his son out to his workshop and placing his arm around him, he softly and a little menacingly told him, “she may be your mother, but she was my wife first. I don’t let any man treat her the way you have been treating her. Now that you are becoming a man, consider this your one and final warning.” Needless to say that their son’s attitude got considerably better.

I am so thankful for the example that my father set for me with my own mother. I can always remember how my dad would go out in the morning during the wintertime and crank my mom’s car for her while she was getting ready so that she would get into a warm car for her drive to work.  

If you are a true student of God’s Word, you know that the father nature of God is to provide. I have seen this so many times in my own father and in my husband. Whenever our girls are in need, he does whatever he can to help. Having three girls, he has at times been stretched in their need for his time and attention.  

To be honest, I have been struggling with parenting lately. I have found that this season of parenting adult children has been the hardest so far. So, I wanted to take the time to honor my own father and my children’s father in this article.

CHUCK AND SELENA DAY

No parent is perfect, and I think that is one of the hardest parts of parenting – your own imperfection and how it affects those which you most treasure. My own father had his faults, but to me, he is a hero.   

I do have memories of times that my father or my husband may have missed the mark, but I choose not to remember those as much and to focus on the moments when they did. I believe that as our girls grow older, they will see that their father was an amazing example of the Father’s perfect love in an imperfect vessel, just as I see this about my own father. How thankful I am of the reflection he has shown me over the years of God’s grace and unfailing love. Even when I have hurt my daddy, he has always been there to extend grace and love, with consistency.   

If it were not for my daddy’s imperfect, perfect love, I would not have seen the true nature of God … nor would I have sought out our heavenly Father to lean on during some of my formative moments in life.  

I am very fortunate and grateful to have such amazing men in my life – men who are authentic and real. They are men who always try to be the best versions of themselves, men who have chosen to love me and my imperfections and who are willing to see the best version of me in all that I do.

Thank you, Chuck Day and Bruce Brantley, for loving me. And in the words of my grandmother, “thanks for being mine.”

Selena Day is a motivational speaker and is available to speak at your conference or event.  You may contact her at selenaday@me.com http://www.queenliving.org  http://facebook.com/queenismsbyselenaday. Photographs courtesy of Selena Day.

By Selena Day

June 2017 SGNScoops Magazine

First published by SGNScoops Magazine in June 2017.

For the latest issue of SGNScoops Magazine click here.

For Gospel music news click here.

For more artist features click here.

“But in the Valley, He Restoreth My Soul” – Wisdom from Dusty Wells

Dony McGuire. Reba Rambo McGuire. Dusty Wells

I have sung about it from the time I was a young kid of 14 years old, right after I got saved. I have talked about it over and over with many troubled hurting people through the years. I have lived it, and I have been in the valley numerous times. I sure have, and I am fairly certain each of you have had those times in your own life where you have been there. We’ve all been in the dark lonely valley of life. And if you haven’t, let me assure you, you will in time. It’s just a part of the journey that we all have to go thru and deal with. It’s so painful yet so necessary for us to go to that new place in Him.

Precious mama Dottie Rambo penned her song, “(In the Valley) He Restoreth My Soul” during one of the darkest periods of her own life. There were many times when we would be out on the road traveling, or we would be sitting at her home when she would be in some of the most excruciating back pain, or as she struggled to understand the whys of her own journey, that I would sit there and be praying with her. She would start singing the lyrics to herself, almost as a prayer, and before I knew it, I would be joining in. Within a little bit of time, we both knew that we would come out of the valley.

Read more »