“How many times has a strange icon lit up on the dashboard of your car,” Bishop asks with a smile, “and you have to fish out the owner’s manual in the glove compartment to figure out what’s going on? Wouldn’t it be great if we had a manual for when our lives needed some tune-up or repair? Guess what… we do!”

“But it doesn’t do you any good if you don’t go read it,” he observes. “All of the answers are right there. It’s called the Bible, and it’s an owner’s manual for your life. Yours. Our newest song, ‘You Better Go Read It,’ is a playful, happy reminder that God has given us a gift… a roadmap… an instruction book… an insurance policy. But it does you no good if you don’t read it.”

Indeed, that playful mood is established at the outset, as Bishop asks:

Can I have your attention? This’ll only take a minute.
You’re runnin’ in the rat race. Now how ya’ gonna win it?
Do you know where you’re going? When the journey’s through?
Got any idea… who might be waitin’ for you?

And when he launches into the revelatory chorus, he’s joined by label mate Amber Lynn in alternating harmonies with invigorating back-and-forths:

You better go read it. It’s right there in the Word.
You’re really gonna need it. Maybe you haven’t heard,
There’s a hell and a heaven, there’s a right way and a wrong.
By the end of the journey, who’s side will you be on?
There’s a road map… you get to see it.
But you better go read it.

“I am especially excited for you to hear this new song,” Bishop adds, “because it also features my friend and live concert piano player, Tony Gross. If you’ve come to any of our concerts, you already know how talented this young man is on the keys. Well… now you can hear Tony play whenever you want to. Ladies and gentlemen… I present to you, recorded for the first time, the musical talents of Tony Gross on our newest song…‘You Better Go Read It’!”

“You Better Go Read It” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL. Listen to it HERE.

About Mark Bishop
Mark Bishop is a Grammy-nominated, Dove Award-winning Christian music artist who resides in east-central Kentucky with his wife Carolyn. In 2024, Mark celebrates a forty-year career in Gospel Music as a recording artist and songwriter.

A music reviewer once said, “Mark Bishop’s music gives us the glasses to see the bigness of God in everyday happenstance.” Linda, an Amazon reviewer said simply, “You just need Mark Bishop’s music in your life.”

In 1984, along with his father and brother, The Bishops began a recording and touring career that would span seventeen years, reaching millions for Christ. The family enjoyed appearances on popular TV programs such as TNN’s Nashville Now, Crooke and Chase, The Grand Ole Opry, The World Today with John Hagee, The Bill Gaither Homecoming video series and many more. They were blessed with twenty-seven Top 40 songs, numerous #1 songs, along with countless awards and industry recognitions.

Many of the group’s most popular songs were penned by Mark. He continues to be a prolific songwriter today, writing music for his own recordings, and other artists such as Brian Free and Assurance, The Kingdom Heirs, The Kingsmen, Legacy Five, Allison Durham Speer, and many others.

Mark’s solo career began after the family group retired in 2001, with that yielding more chart-topping and #1 songs. Mark was voted “Soloist of the Year” in 2005 at the Singing News Fan Awards. In 2020, Mark’s “Beautiful Day” album was a Top-5 Grammy nominee for “Best Roots Gospel Album”. In 2022 he was the recipient of the “J.D. Sumner Living Legend Award” from the readers of SGN Scoops Magazine.