He is the National Director of Music and Worship for Champions for Christ a high impact ministry to college and professional athletes with Pastor Greg Ball. He also leads worship regularly at Lakewood Church in Houston, TX. with Pastor Joel Osteen. Israel and Meleasa founded New Breed Ministries in 1995. Comprised of world class musicians and singers who are all ministers in their respective churches. They travel extensively with a message that crosses cultural, generational, and denominational boundaries.

Known specifically for their diverse sound effectively captured on the 2001 Hosanna! Integrity release of New Season as well as 2002's Lakewood Live 'We Speak to Nations', their heart is to deliberately diminish the lines that separate the Church, and bring all people together through worship. Once a member of Fred Hammond and RFC, he has also worked with the Young Messiah Tour, TBN, Crystal Lewis, Anointed, CeCe Winans, Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams, and is currently finishing an Israel and New Breed- Integrity Gospel / Sony release produced by Tommy Sims due in October. With a heart for the Nations, true worship, and a passion for the Presence of God, Israel and New Breed add purpose to any event.

New Breed Worship  

In this age of disposable relationships, there has never been more of a need for pure worship. Oh, that sweet constant, the great equalizer, the undeniable presence of the Living God.

Think about it… the theologian and the newly converted drug addict enter into His presence the same way. The seeker and the most radical Pentecostal enter into His courts in the same manner. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s so amazing!

I come from a cross-cultural background, which is just a nice way of saying my father was black and my mother is white. My mother became pregnant at the age of 17 in Waterloo, Iowa. You can imagine how this is shaping up. She was given the choice of a back-alley abortion or being disowned by her family. Thank God she choose the latter. Ultimately, she was disowned, abandoned by my biological father, and ended up in San Diego, California.

Picture this. It was 1971 and my mother was 8 months pregnant, all alone, thousands of miles from home, and forced to enter reality unprepared. Pretty bleak. One day while walking down the street, a lady pulled up in her Volkswagen Bug, got out, and respectfully yet boldly, began to share the Gospel with her.

Words of life and hope began to overtake the words of rejection and abandonment she had grown accustomed to. There on a street corner, she ended up on her knees and cried out to God – committing her life to Jesus Christ. The lady gave her a Bible and that’s how I got my name. My mother started reading at page one and well, you know – you have a Bible, my name is on every page!

I’m often asked by skeptics, why I’m as passionate about worshiping God as I am. The answer is simple for me. In this age of disposable relationships, I could have easily become a statistic and at best, a distant memory of a youthful mistake. Instead, a Sovereign God rescued my mother and me and gave us hope, a future, and a testimony of the providence of God. The very least I can do is enter His gates with fresh thanksgiving, His courts with a passionate praise, and eventually bow before His throne in intimate worship. 

As far as leading worship goes (which is my passion and calling), I now realize that there have been demands put on me from every part of my experience since day one – culturally, emotionally, musically, and more. So things tend to sound cross-cultural, cross-denominational, and cross-generational. I like to call it, “The Sound of New Breed Worship.”

I tend to lead from an internal platform founded in Psalm 124:2, “If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side…” where in the world would I be?

In an age of disposable relationships, maybe we should be asking ourselves that question a lot more often. I am confident that we would worship with far more conviction, intensity, and overwhelmed gratitude if we did.