by Scott Hallman, Pastor   After a 20-year career in journalism and corporate communications with Lockheed-Martin fell apart because of my own sinful pursuit of sexual happiness, I was left with no job, no career, no income -- including exhausted unemployment benefits -- no wife and no home. I pray that this was the low point in my life.

What do you get when you combine lively Celtic music, a huge, enthusiastic crowd and lots of fun? Well, you get a live Robin Mark concert.   This troupe straight from the Emerald Isle took the audience by storm on August 2. The Band opened with their ever popular song “Revival”, and then moved quickly into a worship medley including a marvelous trumpet version of Amazing Grace.  Accompanied by keyboardist-trumpeter Karen Cruse, vocalist Nicky Mark, bassist David Mark and drummer John Bock (a fill-in from Eastern Hills Bible Church), the highly-skilled musicians fired-off one hit song after another. The crowd demonstrated their thorough knowledge of Mark’s body of work, standing, singing and clapping along with every last tune played, filling the auditorium with joyous praise. As is the case every year, the gracious folks at North Syracuse Baptist Church made their facilities available for the favored annual event. Introducing his song, “Fly”, Robin commented, “David wrote a fantastic Psalm, 139, and said to God, ‘Where can I go from Your presence? If I took the wings of the morning, and dwelt in the uttermost parts of the earth and the depths of the sea, even there You would be with Me.’ He continued, “We treat this Psalm with great reverence, but I wonder if one day David was in the bathroom saying, ‘Why don’t You leave me alone God? Every time I try to get away from You I can’t get away from You. You just keep going after me. Can’t You just leave me alone?’ And the very answer to that is, ‘No!’ (Laughter). Our God is a pursuing God. He pursues the hearts of men, women and children and He never stops.” Sharing about a concert Mark did in Uganda, the humor-loving worship leader/recording artist related, “It was a women’s conference in a big hotel with 2,000 in attendance, and I was stage-rushed for the first time. This little lady came running up onto the platform and grabbed me by the neck. I stopped playing the guitar, and afterwards my wife asked me why I stopped playing” (Loud laughter). At the beginning of the concert, event organizer Margaret McCollum posted a huge sketch of her son on the jumbo screens and shared a very touching story related to the picture. Seventeen years ago her then 20 year-old son died unexpectedly from a heart arrhythmia. She recently commented to her artist friend Cheri Bladholm, “I wonder what it was like when Matt entered into heaven.” Bladholm asked her for a photograph of Matt and proceeded to sketch an artist’s rendition of that gloriously incredible moment. When she presented it, Margaret joyfully exclaimed, “Yes! It looks like Jesus is welcoming Matt with joy, and the look on Matt’s face lets me know he is home with His Savior.” Margaret also shared a miraculous way God recently intervened in her life. She had fallen and, although an initial exam revealed no problems, God led her to request an ultrasound on her legs. The miracle was that she had no intention of requesting the tests, but the words just spilled-out of her mouth under God’s prompting. The doctor complied, and the test revealed two life-threatening blood clots, which she now takes blood thinner for. The shock came when she later learned from her doctor that she has had a blood-clotting condition since birth known as an R-5 factor. Mark Bolos more than capably opened the show with a series of his favorites including an original composition. He serves as worship leader in a New Hartford-based church, and owns Big Apple Music in the same city. Bolo donates all the proceeds from his concerts to an orphanage his brother built in Peru. During the course of the evening Robin Mark introduced a number of tunes from his newest album, “Belfast Concert: Robin Mark with the New Irish Choir & Orchestra”. The CD, recorded live in Ireland, features a massive choir as well as a 100-piece orchestra. It includes songs that impacted a generation of worshippers, and delivers a very calming effect. It can be purchased at robinmark.com.