Israel:  I believe that a tree is known by its fruit. And when God blesses something, I’m gonna’ go with whatever God has put His hand on, not what people have said could not possibly be right.

People who have not been in church forever, or people who have been disillusioned by church, are coming back to God. They’re not coming to Joel. They’re coming back to God. And they’re being introduced to the grace of God like they’ve never seen or heard it before.

CCM:  How is the “Hello Love Tour” going with Chris Tomlin?

Israel:  I’m having the time of my life because I almost feel like a new artist again. I get in front of 75 percent of people who don’t know who I am. They know the songs because they sing them in their churches, but they’ve not made the connection.

Three songs in I’ll go, “OK. Let’s get this out of the way. How many have no idea who we are?” Half the arena lifts their hands. [Laughs]

And suddenly, we’re cool. We’ve connected. And because, stylistically, we’re coming at [it from] a little different angle than Chris does, we’re introducing our audience to him, and he’s introducing his audience to us. It’s beautiful when it’s all said and done to watch the church come together under the same banner of, “We’re just gonna’ worship God.”

For more information, visit israelhoughton.net. Also, be sure to visit Israel’s new social justice site, didyoumakeyourmark.com, where fans are encouraged to be “the power of one” and share videos about what they have done to create positive chance in their communities.
 

© 2009 CCMmagazine.com.  All rights reserved.  Used with permission. 



**This interview first published on April 8, 2009