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Pat Terry Group Reunion Concert: "First Love"

1/9/2004
Revised 04/12/2007

Note: Since this article was first published, Pat has established a website (http://www.patterryonline.com/). In his “Interview” he addresses some of the issues I raise in this article.

Related articles: A Visit With Pat Terry, Mark Heard: Key to the Change in Pat Terry?

Photos

My last article on seeing Pat Terry ended with “I can’t help but pray that someday I will hear Pat once more singing songs that change people’s eternal destiny. Songs of forgiveness, songs of hope, songs about the love of Jesus and His gift of mercy…” Thank you, Lord, for answering my prayer!

When you first become a Christian is a special time. That “first love” makes everything seem new and exciting! The Pat Terry Group provided “the soundtrack” for my first few years as a Christian and the joy of that time continues with me to this day through their music. The humble and painful honesty and openness before God conveyed by their songs helped give me the courage to be honest with myself and my Lord. Their music was water to my soul and helped me grow in my walk with Jesus.

When I was told by a friend that there was going be a Pat Terry Group Reunion Concert I couldn’t believe it! What an answer to prayer! I began to pray for Pat and the others who would be there and, of course, rushed to get my tickets!

The Pat Terry Group hadn’t played together in 23 years but they all came together to raise money for a mutual friend (Jeff Griffin) who was having a heart transplant. It was a sell-out crowd at North Metro Church (http://www.northmetro.org/) and several other artists were there to lend their support.

The event was MC’d by Christian comedian Ken Kington (http://www.kennkington.com/) and he kept the crowd amused in between acts. The first artist was Todd Fields (http://www.toddfields.com/) who took the stage alone with his acoustic and played three of his songs (including “I Believe” and “Wake the World”). In the middle of one of the songs he seems to have broken several strings on his guitar at one time (which I have NEVER seen in 33 years of playing music)! He then ran and picked up Sonny’s guitar which prompted Sonny to run out and yell “don’t break my strings!” Todd is a talented and anointed young man and has several CDs out in conjunction with North Point Community Church.

Babbie Mason (http://www.babbie.com/) came up next (singing to to prerecorded music on two songs and playing keyboards on another). Babbie is a singer/songwriter, college professor, talk show host, and author with two Dove awards to her credit. She performed three of her songs including “Play It Again” and “Standing In The Gap” and conveyed an amusing anecdote about running out to the field when her young son was knocked unconscious on the football field to illustrate God’s love for us.

Mac Powell of the million-selling, Grammy and Dove Award-winning rock band, Third Day (http://www.thirdday.com/) took the stage next. He admitted to a little nervousness in performing without the band but still managed great renditions of their songs “I’ve Always Loved You”, “God of Wonders”, and “Your Love Oh Lord.”

Then Pat Terry came out. Same ol’ Pat…maybe a little greyer and with less hair. He’s now living in Smyrna, Georgia again with his wife of 25 years (Pam). As mentioned in my previous review, he is now primarily a songwriter in the country music industry and has written hits for Travis Tritt and Tanya Tucker (among others). He chose to play some of the songs that he’s written for others that have been successful including “Help Me Hold On”, “Jump On It”, “A Gift of Mercy”, and “Someplace Green” (see my previous article for more detail on these songs).

Finally, the long awaited moment, Sonny and Randy joined Pat onstage and the crowd gave them a standing ovation. They played the songs that helped shape the first years of many of our Christian lives including:

  • “You Got Me”
  • “It’s You”
  • “Sweet Music”
  • “To Me For You”
  • “Iris”
  • “Put My Armor On”
  • “Restored” (a song sung by Sonny and one I first heard performed by "Millenium" with Bob & Jayne Farrell when Sonny and Randy played with a Christian group called “Dove” before they were with Pat Terry)
  • “That’s The Way” (the wedding song he wrote for Randy and his bride)
  • “Never Pay Price He Paid”
  • “Daniel”
  • “Closer”
  • “When The Lord Comes Back” (which seemed even more appropriate now than it did back then)
  • “Meet Me Here” (my favorite…I closed my eyes and wept and prayed that we all would have an encounter God that night)
  • “Home Where I Belong”
  • “I Can’t Wait To See Jesus” (his big hit)
During one of the songs, they projected some old video of the Pat Terry Group from “back in the day” along with other pictures of them from back then. During a break between songs, Randy narrated a slide show of some of the various flyers and drawings of them used to promote their concerts during the early years (many of which were hilarious).

Of course, the crowd rose to their feet at the end and they came out and played “Reason Why You Do The Things You Do” after a warning from Sonny not to expect a second encore because they hadn’t practiced any more songs!

Just before the concert ended, Pat talked about how it’s fun to revisit the past but that you can’t live there…”you have to take what’s good and plug it into the future.” Of course, that’s true but he bowed his head as he said it and I felt…sad. Perhaps I took it the wrong way but it seemed as if he were saying that playing Christian music for him was a thing of the past which would never come again. I hope I’m wrong. I hope that a seed was planted in Pat…a reminder of the days of his “first love” for Christ. Maybe it came from playing the old songs with old friends again…maybe it came from the multitudes who came forward afterwards to speak to him about how much God had used his music in their lives…maybe it came from the Spirit of God knocking at his heart and asking him to return to his “first love.” All I can say, is that it was a true answer to prayer for me and an unexpected gift. And I pray that this will not be the final chapter in Pat Terry’s Christian music days but the beginning of a new chapter when he returns to God’s calling on his life and to his “first love.”

Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Revelation 2:4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.’