BET'S "Sunday Best" Winner Geoffrey Golden on Why Revival Needs to Be Seen

BET's "Sunday Best" winner and Stellar Award nominee Geoffrey Golden returns with a new live recording and a timely, global declaration in See Revival. With a heart for God and the people of God, Golden creates an atmosphere of expectancy throughout the 10-track album inspired by Isaiah 43:19 and available now through sales and streaming platforms.

With See Revival, Golden delivers a much-needed message of hope in a season of crises with "songs birthed in the journey of listening to God and walking with other believers." The Cleveland, Ohio native and third-generation minister says he originally intended to title the project after the song "In This Room," but felt God was taking it in a decided direction. Now looking back, Golden realizes that the opening song, the classic hymn "Revive Us Again," was meant to set the tone for the entire album. 

See Revival is the second full-length album from Golden who recorded the project at the historic Bailey Cathedral in Detroit, Michigan and co-produced it with his brothers Kevin and Reginald Golden who served as music director and vocal director, respectively. Guest appearances include Golden's father, the Rev. Kevin D. Golden, who makes a spoken-word exhortation on "Thou Art God" and songwriter Isaiah Freeman who wrote and appears on the track "Jesus," the album's first radio single. Guest writers/co-writers also include Jason Clayborn, Isaac Cates, Terence Page, Luke Page and Leeland Mooring.

Q: Geoffrey, thanks for doing this interview with us. Having been the BET'S "Sunday Best" winner and a Stellar Award, nominee you have got quite an accomplishment, how did all of this begin for you?  How did you feel God's call to enter the music/worship ministry?

Well first, thank you SO much for allowing me the time and space to have this conversation with you!  My journey as a Gospel artist and music minister really began at birth you might say!  I was born into a family where music and ministry are really a big part of what we do and who we are.  In the 1940s, my great-grandfather started the church I grew up in, and my great-grandmother was right by his side as the Church Organist.  Around 1990, my father became the pastor and remained so throughout my childhood and for almost thirty years.  And my mother was right by his side as the Minister of Music!  So there's this generational call of ministry and music on my family.  

Church wasn't optional for me and my siblings, and music wasn't optional either!  My mother took us weekly to rehearsals for the Greater Cleveland Choral Chapter, a community choir and local union within the National Convention for Gospel Choirs & Choruses.  So there was always this interest in music that I had.  I always thought I'd grow up to be a choir director!  But around 12 years old, God began to bring forth this passion for singing and worship leading.  By the time I went off to school at Morehouse College, I knew that this is what I wanted to do as it related to ministry. 

Q: How does it feel to be the winner of BET'S "Sunday Best"?

Oh my goodness!  What an honor!  "Sunday Best" was such an amazing experience and journey for me.  I had auditioned for Season 6 of Sunday Best and didn't make it through the preliminary audition round.  So to go back the next year, to make it through the preliminaries, to stand before the main judges, to make it onto the Top 20, and to actually win?  Absolutely surreal!  Even 6 years later, I'm amazed that God was so gracious to bless me with the "Sunday Best" platform.   

I learned so much during my time on "Sunday Best" and my subsequent time with Kirk Franklin's FoYoSoul Recordings/RCA.  I'm forever grateful for every person who encouraged me, helped me, and imparted wisdom during that time.

Q: You have got a new album "See Revival," how was this album birthed?

I think of the birth of See Revival from two perspectives.  On the one hand, it was birthed on the day that my brothers and I decided to launch out together and form The Golden Brothers Music Group.  We had grown up together doing music, but in October 2016, we decided to formally come together, produce albums together, and help to raise up other artists as a unit.  So the launch of our company was in a very real sense the birth of this album from an organizational standpoint.

But from a musical and spiritual perspective, I trace the birth of See Revival back to a different day in Fall 2016 when I was leading worship for a prayer night in my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio.  It was a small group gathered, maybe 20 intercessors in the room.  During the course of that night, one of the fellow worship leaders put her hand on my shoulder, prayed for me, and then said, "Release the sound of Heaven!"  And immediately after, God began to give me this sound and lyrics, "Open up the windows, open up the floodgates, pour out Your Spirit.  We need You, Lord!"  And this line became the anchor to the album's title track, "See Revival."  Both the song and the album itself were birthed out of worship, prayer, and seeking to hear and release the sound and heartbeat of Heaven.

Q: What were some of the highlights for you in the making of this record?

There were really two big highlights for me!  The first was the live recording itself.  We really felt like we were in the midst of a "Time of Refreshing" (Acts 3:20).  The Holy Spirit was among us in such a sweet and powerful way.  I'll never forget that night at Bailey Cathedral, June 30, 2017!  The other big highlight for me was one of the days during post-production at our mixing engineer's studio, when I was dropping some overdubs for a couple songs.  And the Lord really sat among us in that studio like He did at the recording!  I really hope that people sense the presence of God listening to the album in the same way that we did when we made the album.

Q: On this album you've got to work with your dad, the Rev. Kevin D. Golden.  Talk to us about working with him on this record.

Getting to do a song with my dad was incredibly humbling and a LOT of fun!!!  I've learned so much about loving God, loving God's people, and loving God's Word from my father.  I had written the song "Thou Art God" almost 10 years ago, but it felt like it was missing something.  As my brothers and I thought about it, the idea came to have Dad do a TD Jakes-style narration on the song.  I remember him coming to one of our rehearsals during Recording Week and going over his narration with us, and it was like, yes!  This is exactly what this song needed!   He really blessed "Thou Art God" and the entire album.

Q: One of my favorite songs on the record is "Jesus."  Tell us about what it's like to sing and work with Isaiah Freeman?

Thank you so much!  What can I say about my brother, Isaiah Freeman?  He is such a force for the Kingdom!  I asked him to submit a song for the album, and he said that almost immediately after he got the text message from me, God started giving him this song, "Jesus."  As soon as my brothers and I heard it, we knew this song was necessary for the album.  So we fell in love with "Jesus" and recorded it.  But again, we felt like something was missing.  So Isaiah came in the studio during post-production and added his powerful voice to the record, and it was the final touch we needed to really help the song be all we believe God meant it to be.

Q: How do you define a revival? What do you think causes revival?

I think revival is fundamentally an awakening of hearts to the reality of who Jesus is, who we are in Him, and how He is calling us to impact the world for His glory.  When revival happens, people SEE.  When revival happens, eyes and hearts are open so that we can know Jesus better (Ephesians 1:17).  And from that place of renewed vision, everything changes.  Individuals are healed, families are reconciled, communities are revitalized, cultures are shifted, and even governments experience reform, because Jesus Christ is exalted in the eyes and hearts of the people as Lord over all.  

Very often we ask God for miracles, signs, and wonders, believing that that is revival.  But miracles, signs, and wonders are indicators or outgrowths of revival, not the essence of revival itself.  So I think that if we want to see revival, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to change our perspective.  It's all about seeing from our seat with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).  In Isaiah 43:19, God tells Israel that He is doing a new thing and asks them, "Can you see it?"  My question for my fellow Believers is do we have eyes to see the new things that God is doing in our time.  

Q: How can we pray for God to send a revival?

I think that praying for revival starts with asking God to open our eyes to see Jesus.  Revival comes when we see from the perspective of God's reality.  And so I believe the Body of Christ has to really go after the revelation of Christ.  Then, we need to pray for Christ's reality to burst into our world.  Once we see Him as King, we can ask Him to exercise His kingship over every area where we need Him to reign.  Third, we need to pray that God helps us to submit to this renewed vision of Christ.  What good is it for us to believe that Jesus can change the trajectory of nations if we do not allow Him to change our own hearts and decisions?  Finally, we should pray that God helps us to be His instruments of revival.  Once we see Jesus, seek His kingdom, and submit to His lordship, we can serve God and the world as revivalists!  

Revival starts with the Church.  But it's bigger than the Church.  Revival is about every sphere and sector of society coming into alignment with the lordship of Jesus Christ.  When revival happens, heaven and earth start to look a little more alike.  Let's pray as Jesus taught us to pray: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," (Matthew 6:10).

See Revival is available globally through digital sales and streaming platforms beginning October 16 through Red Alliance Media. Additional information and updates on Golden's music and ministry can be found at GeoffreyGoldenMinistries.com or by following him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @GeoffreyDGolden. 

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