2 COR. 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Yesterday, my friend and co laborer Steve Solomon went to be with the Lord. He will be greatly missed. Steve and I became friends after meeting in revival meetings in 1994. He rapidly became one of the favorite guests in our pulpit. Our church loved Steve Solomon. What stood out about his ministry was his love for God’s presence and His passion for the written word. He would step over into prophetic songs that he called shiggianoth. It was Holy Ghost worship at its finest. One of those spontaneous songs was developed into a song on the Earthsuit album. In the song the reference to “yellow soul” is speaking about the glory of the Lord. This is called Jesus Riding on a White Horse.
Searching high with a yellow soul
I dig for ashes in a sea of gold
Drifting low, my yellow soul
I’ll live on air if the clouds will hold
Jesus riding on a white horse
Hero calling from the sky
Jesus riding on a white horse
With spare room for you and I to fly
Riding on a white horse high
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
On a white horse high
Sail high on the ocean sky
Searching high with a yellow soul
There’s no tomorrow in the days of old
I was falling low, with my yellow soul
It’s sad to burn, left in the cold
But I see Jesus riding on a white horse
Hero calling from the sky
I see, see Jesus riding on a white horse
With spare room for you and I to fly
Riding on a white horse high
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
On a white horse high
Sail high on the ocean sky
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
Sail high on the ocean sky
Sail high on the ocean sky
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
Sail high on the ocean sky
Sail high on the ocean sky
Jesus riding on a white horse
Hero calling from the sky
I see, Jesus riding on a white horse
With spare room for you and I to fly
On a white horse high
Wanna ride, wanna ride so high
On a white horse high
Sail high on the ocean sky
I guess the thing I am going to miss the most was the daily phone calls. I would call about golf swing thoughts, sermon ideas, or just to have a shoulder to cry on. Steve loved life but he really loved the word of God. He taught me to love good Bibles and he loved to preach his latest sermons to me. What a privilege it was to know Steve and to run with him these last 22 years. If you check out the words to this song you will see Steve finally got his answer, he is sailing high on the ocean sky, getting ready for that ride with Jesus at His return. Come quickly Lord.
An excerpt from Charisma magazine on the definition of Shigionoth:
“There is some debate over the exact meaning of this musical term, but scholars translate the Hebrew as “a highly emotional poetic form.” Shigionoth is not slow, whiny or sad, and Habakkuk 3 is not a cry-in-your-beer ballad. Shigionoth is a high form of praise—wild, rhythmic and exuberant. It is praise with pumped-up volume and no limits; it is worship punctuated with exclamation marks!
Before I had my own life-changing experience with the Holy Spirit, I sometimes heard people criticizing Pentecostals for being “too emotional.” The assumption was that if somebody laughed, cried, shouted, swayed, jumped, danced, waved his hands in the air or acted remotely undignified in a worship service, he was theologically off base and maybe even mentally unstable.
Then I discovered the power of praise, and learned that King David (who literally wrote the book on exuberant worship) believed in getting “highly emotional” when he was with God. Not only did he sing, shout, clap and dance to rhythm—he was accused of being a religious fanatic. Habakkuk apparently understood this same musical principle. He knew there are times in our lives when we need to go overboard in our praise.”
Sounds like Pastor Steve to me!
\o/
He will be missed loved when He visited our church!!! Imagine Heaven !!
Very saddened by our loss of Pastor Steve, he was someone who could show us a different aspect or side of our Heavenly Father. He was very unique and easily loved because of the love that flowed through him.
Thank you Pastor! What a joy to fondly remember our friend and co laborer! What a powerful tribute!
So sorry for the loss of you friend Pastor Frank?.
Steve Solomon took us to ‘Heaven on Earth’ with his leading of worship.
So sorry I missed them the last time he was at Church, I missed the opportunity to give him pralines?.
Missed the opportunity to Love
The first time I encountered Pastor Steve, I was relatively new at Victory, and I had taken a 3-day Bethesda Class where Pastor Steve, and Pastors Frank and Parris were teaching on our founding fathers. Pastor Steve was a guest speaker. I don’t exactly remember his topic, but we got on the subject of God knowing who will be saved and who won’t . Well, I had to be the one to ask the question of: How does God decide!!!!! His explanation had to run on like a rapid fire for at least 10 minutes of him quoting every scripture in the bible relating to pre-destination that I could not even keep up with writing them down. So, when He finally finished, I was so dumb-founded, I ask if he would repeat that, and he did, again!!!! I will never forgot Him, how much bible he knows, and his great sense of humor. He will be sorely missed, but remembered with a smile.
Dad sure loved your pralines!!! They were delicious!! Glad he was a giver and shared!!! 🙂
Pastor Frank,
Your blog was an awesome tribute to Pastor Steve Solomon. He truly was a blessing to our Heavenly Father.
Pastor Solomon would sing the Word for hours. He preached some and then when the Holy Spirit gave Pastor Solomon the beat…we dance before the Lord all night. Glorious
I woke up this morning thinking about Pastor Solomon’s “Who Dat” sermon. The joy of the Lord was so evident. Praise God for his servant Pastor Solomon.
I loved His “Who Dat” sermon!!! He knew how to take something ppl recognized, loved and added the teaching of the scripture to make it plain to us!! My Dad seriously loved theLord and the scripture but made it a joy to preach, teach and for us to learn!! Can’t wait to see him again when the Hero calls us from the sky!!