A Deeper Level - Interviewing Israel Houghton
from our friends at wreckedfortheordinary.com

You’re coming out with a new book called A Deeper Level. What is this deeper level to you?
I think it’s the kind of a head first dive into refusing to be regular or normal or in and out. It’s the dive into the perpetual living in relationship with God.

In your book, you challenge your readers to invest in a new reality. What is this new reality?
For us it was started out as something very practical. I shared some of the overview with it. We have the stigma that musicians stay up late and are out of shape and overweight and that’s becoming a part of our reality. Let’s invest in a new reality. Let’s put more emphasis on spirit and soul than body. And for musicians, it’s just one of those things that come with the territory. We live in a society that’s consumed with distraction, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But when it stands in the way of getting closer to God is when it becomes a problem. They say you can develop a new habit over 30-40 days. So we decided to do it for 40.

What did you and your band do to try to go deeper?
For us, it was practical. From a food standpoint we had healthy food and one meal a day. No sugars, not a lot of starches, mostly vegetables. Then it came to what we’re gonna feed our soul and spirit with; regulating what we put into our spirit. Entertainment was a big thing. I fasted from 24. But this wasn’t works based. We didn’t want to have some kind of work going on so that we were being legalistic.

We came together as a team and wanted to be elevated to a new level. That nervousness and pressure to have a great show with people jumping and hands raised. And when people praise us for what we’re doing, we start living for man’s opinion. Men are going, “Man, great singing.� So, the emphasis becomes on the person rather than the character and real individual inside.

What were some obstacles, some difficulties that you came across?
There were obvious ones. Things in private, like nobody’s gonna know if I take this ice cream cone. It’s easy to get distracted. A movie that came out when you were doing that fast that you just really wanted to see, but couldn’t.

But we connected as a team way more than before. Everybody was assigned a particular date to put together a devotional and we all would come together and go through it together. But we had the focus that we are doing this for our children and for the people we’re ministering to. It wasn’t some legalistic thing where we had to do this and couldn’t do this. There was an emphasis on character.

How is your life different?
The new reality that we invested in has... for me it was all about going beyond 40 days and developing a different lifestyle. And the biggest thing for me was how to spend the currency of a day. It had become, kind of when inspiration hits, roll with it. But now I’m waking up with a whole lot more purpose to my day. I’m asking myself, “How do I maximize this day for the glory of God.�

You talk a lot about being in relationship with God. What are your perceptions of what an ideal relationship is?
That the intrinsic understanding of who has priority is so potent. For me it’s, “Lord you know what, I had a long night and I’ll get to you in a minute.� Or, “I’m angry about such and such, so I’m gonna focus on that.� When I was dating my wife I couldn’t wait to be with her. And with God, I want it be, man I can’t wait to get home, not to watch the TV show, but to meet with God. Kind of a theme is that “most Christians have matured in their walk with God,� and it’s like, Lord, for us it’s finding the balance in the whole thing.

Another thing you talk about is true worship. What is the revelation you had about this the past few years?
For me this form of worship isn’t really focusing on God and singing songs. These are vehicles that help you get to a point of worship, but I think I realized worship is this conversation among friends. And I firmly believe that worship is the reason I was created, It’s not something I’m called to do on Sunday. It is the paramount reason why I was created. It goes beyond singing and songs and public demonstrations. The best worship experiences I’ve had have been in a room with nobody around.

I think that it stirs something inside of you to act. Something I’ve shared heavily in the book is that worship and social justice go hand in hand. The more you get in the continual relationship with God, you realize that his heart is not beating for another great worship setting on Sunday. It’s for the orphans and widows. It’s for the people who don’t have a voice. God’s heart is beating for the voiceless people around the world.

What are some things that readers can expect to take away from reading your book?
In these few interviews I’ve been doing the past few days some of the interviewers are saying this is stirring something inside of me. This is my first book, I didn’t want to come along with just be like, “Let me tell you something about the revelation I’ve had.� The thing about this book is… some of the greatest things I’ve ever learned were through a conversation about things. The conversational takeaway is much more memorial that any sermon I’ve ever heard. And I hope this book is more like me and you in a room by ourselves. That something awakens something inside of the readers. That people go away thinking man, I’ve gotta change this or that. To really just live in a new way.

Look for A Deeper Level in stores September 4, 2007.
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Seth Barnes Jr. is from Gainesville, GA and is part of a family of seven, including four sisters. Seth recently graduated from Taylor University and will be going on the World Race in September '07. Two of his favorite things are coffee and music.

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