By Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
Paul Blake - File
AS A boy, Paul Blake made a covenant with God that if He made him into a star, he would give Him back his voice. When he sang the lead in the group Blood Fire Posse for his first ever song Rub-a-dub Soldier hit the charts and went to number one, Paul remarked "God, you in a rush."
Not long after that, he penned his second song and his second hit, Get Flat, which also went to number one and eclipsed Rub-a-dub Soldier in sales. Paul was riding a wave until Bloodfire Posse kicked him out of the group and got themselves a new lead singer in Trevor Bonnick.
Paul pursued a solo career and was doing fairly well but his long absences from home where he did gigs mainly on the North Coast did not help his shaky marriage. Then his dad Eustace 'Gussie' Blake died after a heart attack at age 59 in 1991. (His mom died in 2000) He was close to his father. His father was his best friend. It caused him to refocus his priorities. He sensed God speaking to him and accordingly he rededicated his life to the Lord. Rededicating himself to the Lord, he said in hindsight, played no small part in keeping him and wife Dorrett together.
His early religious heritage included serving as an altar boy at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Port Royal where he grew up under the ministry of Canon Ralston Smith. In 1978, the year he graduated from fifth-form at Kingston College, he accepted Christ as his Saviour during an evangelistic crusade where the speaker was Ralph Bell. Initially he started attending the meetings in Kingston of the emerging charismatic awakening the Deeper Life Movement. But following his conversion at the crusade, he really did not get meaningful 'follow-up' nor was he properly discipled. He did sixth-form at Wolmer's Boys School and thereafter embraced a worldly lifestyle. The formation of Bloodfire Posse in the 1980s only served to entrench him deeper into a worldly lifestyle
ZONE-CARE-CELL MEETINGS
After he rededicated his life to God in 1991, Paul began attending Family Church on the Rock, where David Keane took him under his wings and gave him special care. He also benefited from opening up his home to convene weekly zone-care-cell meetings.
Paul said he received favourable reception from church folk after he rededicated his life. He concedes that the welcome might have been easy for some since he was of middle-class stock and that he was not known as an artiste who did lewd songs. Nevertheless, the welcome at times, he acknowledged could become 'too welcoming' as a lot of the hugs that ladies directed at him were sensual. Accordingly, he became more cautious of the intentions of some of the women folk.
Early in his life as a gospel artiste he did not cope well as he said 'yes' to too many invitations to sing at crusades and other church-related functions. If he were to live his Christian life all over he would say no to such requests more often and devote more time to prayer and the study of the Bible, he said.
Though one year he won Best Male Vocalist in Gospel, his gospel music career has not really taken off as he has only in recent times produced his first album Praise the Lord Jamaica. It is mostly cover versions of popular praise and worship songs. He hopes to officially release album by year end.
Following his father's death, he gave up secular music and became a life insurance agent. Then came 1996. For six continuous months, he could not sell a single policy. This came after years of being one of the star performers for Mutual Life Assurance Company. He interpreted this as God saying to him, it is time to leave the industry. He conceded that when he gave up the North Coast he had sensed God leading him into fulltime ministry. But he did not have the faith at the time to follow that leading.
In March 1997, he moved his family to Montego Bay. In November of that year, he formed Sold Out Ministries - an evangelistic ministry that specializes in work in schools, prisons, hospitals and the streets. On reaching MoBay Paul continued with secular shows on the hotel circuit where he injected an evangelistic message when the opportunity presented itself. Then in December 1999 - he sensed the Lord saying to him, end your North Coast singing and do ministry fulltime.
Sold Out Ministries is principally the ministry of Paul and his wife Dorrett, a former banker, who is also speaker who is in demand especially for women's conferences. They have been married for 16 years.
Through Sold Out Ministries Paul and Dorrett are able to do ministry: every Wednesday to men and women of the Freeport Lock-Up (where at the end of the service, typically 50 persons embrace Christ as their Saviour); at the Cornwall Regional Hospital where they have a 24 hour pass; Friday morning devotions at Cornwall College; Good Shepherd Foundation. Also, the St. James Parish Council has given its green light for Sold Out Ministries to do ministry in Sam Sharpe Square every other Friday evening. There Paul and members of the Sold Out Ministries lay hands on the sick, sing and preach.
Paul is the first among the prominent batch of singers/deejays who in the last decade or so have embraced the Christian Faith. To win over more artistes and young people to Christ, he said requires of Christians:
First, greater commitment to holy living.
Secondly, greater use of personal evangelism as strategy to present the Gospel.
Thirdly, the calling of things that are not as though they were and stop 'talking down' the country.
The Blakes are members of Lighthouse of Faith International which is pastored by Rev. Phillip Gordon and located on Rosemount Crescent, Brandon Hill. They have two children, Stephen 14, who is a student at Cornwall College and Tiffany 13, who is enrolled at Mt. Alvernia High.
MUSIC MINISTER
In his church, Paul wears the hats of music minister and outreach director. "I believe that I am called as an apostle to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to a hurting and dying world through song and the spoken word. I believe it is not limited to Jamaica," he said.
He said when he became outreach director he was fasting and praying last year when the Lord said to him to build a health clinic, build a skills training centre for the young people of Rose Heights (sometimes dubbed the murder capital of MoBay) and to start a sports ministry there. He said he is pursuing these assignments diligently.
Paul's faith has grown much since he first sensed God leading him to Montego Bay. He tells the story how he had organized a gospel concert in the second city and lost a lot of money resulting in his having to sell his Kingston house to pay the debts. His wife received a word from God saying not to include interest in the sale of the property. They obeyed and the house was sold with closing costs paid up front. They became debt-free. Not long after that they were both in church when a wealthy couple offered them a choice parcel of land free of charge. The couple justified their offer on the basis that God told them to offer the land to the Blakes.
Paul and Dorrett have accepted the offer and are looking to God to come through with the funds to begin construction.
He adds: "God has also promised us that we will not spend the money to build on it either."
He cites Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundredfold times as much and will inherit eternal life."
