He finds out what we do best so we can spread the good news of the gospel. The bus could leave all four of us behind and go by himself and the word would be spread.
"He's taken time to share what God has given to us. "The first thing is, we are in awe," he said. The guys in the vocal band sure have fun with Bill Gaither, and he seems to enjoy being their punch line.īut, Suttles said, the joking comes from men who have so much respect for him. It's obvious at a concert that boys will be boys. "I am nowhere worthy," Suttles said, "but it's because of God's grace and mercy that I'm doing this." 'It's like walking with Moses' "It's an honor and a privilege" to minister as a singer. What comes from the heart goes to the heart."
He said it's "not about how pretty I sing because I don't consider myself one of those" he said, "but it'sa God thing and getting a musical message out. "Instead of saying you're wondering what you're doing, now I know what I'm doing." But now God has called and put a finger on it, and that makes it more important.
Teachers are doing the same thing in schools. "People can do the same thing in schools. He said his place is to be on the stage, but this is an opportunity for everyone. "If it is, it's working directly for the Lord." "It's a spiritual thing, not a job," he said. "When we go out, I take my shoes off and know it's a God thing and move me out of the way," he said. Suttles references how Moses and Joshua took off the sandals in reverence. Rather, it begins during the week and it's a process to "rev up and pray up," he said. He just doesn't walk onto the stage and turn it on. "I look at it as this thing is God ordained," he said. "It's all about the basis of the love of God, which makes it all right." Is it work or is it ministry?įor three years, Suttles coached and sang before making the transition complete. "Good coaches continue to learn and I get to learn new things and just use some of the methods I've grown to know," he said.Īnd he strives to learn while also employing some of the coaching techniques. "It's funny how the backgrounds coincide. "It's the same way in a concert, you run into new people and hear new stories and just share God's goodness," he said. The strong connection he had with athletes has translated to being a minister. You get to meet people from different areas and backgrounds." "Coaching and being a fitness instructor, you always meet new people all the time," he said. It's not like singing in the shower.īesides, he found that being singer at gospel concerts wasn't much different than coaching. "He got him on the phone and I said, 'Buddy, I don't know if I could do this," Suttlles recalled. "He's been with Bill for a long time," said Suttles, who has been with Gaither for six years. Helping him change career gears was singer-songwriter Buddy Greene, who wrote the music that went with Mark Lowry's lyrics for the now-classic Christmas song "Mary Did You Know?"
Oh, he sang for years and that eventually landed him a job with the Gaither boys. For 21 years, he worked for the university as a fitness coach. Suttles is from Georgia and owns a master's degree in exercise science from Vanderbilt. "In Texas, they do that," he said, laughing. Suttles said there may have been another reason. "I hopped in that truck and he rode me home," Suttles said. When Suttles told him the box wouldn't fit, the man offered, "Well ride with me." A man driving an old Jeep pulled up and offered his help.