Becoming a father is Bishop Marvin Sapp’s ‘greatest accomplishment’

Bishop Marvin Sapp needed prayer. His congregation and fans immediately responded to his plea, joining him. His wife of 17 years was battling stage 4 colon cancer. MaLinda Sapp died on Sept. 9, 2010. Sapp raised their three children while preserving her legacy and continuing to maintain a life of victory, peace and healing. Facing the death of his beloved wife and relying on his faith to persevere, he continued maintaining victory in peace and healing.

On of his greatest accomplishments in life was becoming a father to his children, Marvin II, Mikaila and Madisson.

“I’ve been blessed to be nominated for every award known to man,” he said. “And that’s been rare in this field of gospel music. But being a dad, to me it’s the greatest reward ever. Honestly, that actually means more to me than anything else.”

Sapp’s father and mother divorced when he was 9 years old.

“It was a real challenge,” he said. “So I made a commitment when Marvin [II] was born that I was going to try to be the best father that I could possibly be, because I didn’t have a father. The challenge with it was that I was learning on the fly, because I didn’t have a real example where the father is supposed to be about, what a father is supposed to be like. So thanks be to God, I had people around me that mentored me from afar …”

Sapp’s children attend historically black universities. Marvin II attends Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Mikaila and Madisson attend Alabama A&M.

“My kids went to predominantly white schools,” he said. “So they made up their minds to go to universities where they could see young people that looked like them. They’re doing very well. Both of my daughters are on the dean’s list, and I don’t know if I get to necessarily take credit for that aspect. Their mother was a wiz when it came to school and stuff.”

Sapp balances life through prioritizing.

“Before I’m anything else I’m a father. After being a father, I am a pastor [Lighthouse Full Life Center Church]. After being a pastor, I am a recording artist. After being a recording artist, I do all my other entrepreneurial responsibilities, from my day care to my full-service bar, be it a mani-pedi, a salon to a restaurant to all the real estate properties that we own, apartments and houses. What I’ve learned for me is that if I keep everything in proper order, it allows me to be able to be successful in each of those areas.”

A gospel music award-winning artist, Sapp transcends generations and first crossed over from gospel to secular in January 2007 when his hit song “Never Would’ve Made It” was released.

“I just think that my relevance is solely based upon me tapping into the culture as it pertains to where they were, and what they feel,” Sapp said. “When I wrote ‘Never Would’ve Made It’ … the reason why the song is timeless is because everybody has had a never-would’ve-made-it moment. And kids connect to it. Adults connect to it. Grandparents connect to it. So the message is universal … ”

The tune spent 46 weeks at the top of American gospel radio charts and became the longest-running No. 1 radio single of any format. The song topped The Associated Press list of Best Songs of 2008. The record-breaking tune was the first song by a gospel artist to sell more than 1 million ringtones.

He’s also a strong believer that “nobody can tell your story better than you.”

“If you get it out before other people, you’re going to win,” he said. “So, my goal has always been to just be as open and honest and transparent as I possibly can be. And it’s caused me to win, across musical genres as well as across age groups.”

Sapp is a testament to steadfastness in faith and remaining relevant in an ever-changing music landscape nearly three decades after he launched his career. In April, he won two Stellar Gospel Music Awards, bringing his total to 24. His latest CD, Close, has been atop the Billboard charts since it was released in September 2017. He is also featured on the Snoop Dogg Presents Bible of Love album.

One bit of important advice Sapp received was from Bishop T.D. Jakes.

“I did a concert at the Potter’s House [Jakes’ church in Dallas] maybe some eight years ago. And afterwards I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Bishop Jakes. After the concert, we went downstairs and he said, ‘Marvin, in this season, you have to learn how to friend up. What you need to do is you need to start trying to hang around people that’s not at your level but who have accomplished what you desire to accomplish. Connect with them …’ ”

Sapp recently lost more than 50 pounds through changing his diet and beginning to exercise while reclaiming his health.

“I kind of lost myself over the last eight years. I stepped on the scale and I was like, ‘My God, 310 pounds.’ I never would have thought that I was that big. So I changed my diet, found this app that taught me how to count calories, and I started going to the gym every day.”

Sapp often uses sports as his way to connect to hope, faith and victory.

His favorite player, LeBron James, had left the Cleveland Cavaliers in that same year for the Miami Heat, seeking a victorious situation in his own life: an NBA championship.

“I don’t necessarily have a favorite team,” Sapp said. “I’m like, wherever LeBron is. I used to fly to Miami like four or five, six times a month just to go to the games. I would get up in the morning and tell the kids, ‘Hey, I’m going go to Miami and going to the game. I see y’all tomorrow.’ I take my kids to, like, all the Christmas games. I honestly did think that LeBron was going to L.A.”

That time for Sapp is one example of how religion and sports intersect. The two held an unlikely and possibly unnoticed bond: desire for victory.

With the victory Sapp has embodied, there is nothing in his life he would change.

“I think that the challenges of life, the hills and valleys, they are the things that make you who you are,” he said. “I look at my life and I’ve gone through some crazy stuff over the last eight years. I know what it’s done for me. It caused me to really have a more deeper relationship with God, and to trust him like never before.”