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MARK
GRAALMAN (Sanctus Real):
During my sophomore year of high school my Dad became very convicted about
the spiritual state of our family. He realized that we needed to decide
if we wanted to truly follow the Lord with all of our hearts. Dad basically
made us start going to church again. Us kids were in youth group every
Wed. night. I think seeing the transformation that was happening to my
Mom and Dad and my two younger sisters affected me. All the people at the
church were always really nice and loving towards me and even the kids
in the youth group reached out to me, even though I obviously wasn't like
them.. Then one weekend someone from the church paid my way to go to a
youth retreat. The main speaker was Eastman Curtis. Just something about
that weekend; hearing the Word of God, seeing 2000 kids just really on
fire for Jesus; it moved me in such a powerful way. That weekend I gave
my life to Jesus completely.
BRITT
EDWARDS (The Swift):
I’m a P.K. so church was pretty well ingrained in me since childhood,
but it wasn’t until I was a young teen that I realized there was
more to Christianity than just church. We had a youth pastor at the time
that really took me under his wing and discipled me in what it really
meant to be a believer in Jesus. I soon surrendered my life to the full
time ministry at about age 15 and have been playing music for the Lord
ever since.
JOHN
COOPER (Skillet):
My mom was a radical Christian, and by the time I was five I could quote
tons of Scripture because she forced me to memorize it! She was the most
real and passionate believer that I knew and it impacted my life. I gave
my life to Jesus when I was five. I was alone at night in my room when
I heard God (inaudibly) tell me to give my heart to him. I was alone,
and nobody told me that I should, but my parents had taken me to church
since I was born.
JEREMY
THIESSEN (downhere):
My parents were the main influence in my life when it comes to things
of the faith. I became a Christian when I was 5, and it was my mom who
was with my at my moment of decision. It was the middle of the night
and there was a thunderstorm outside - I was terrified that I was going
to die right then and there. Mom came in and comforted me, asking me
if I knew where I would go if I died. She told me I had two options -
heaven or hell - and heaven sounded much more attractive, so that’s
the road I chose! Once I made that choice, however, mom and dad continued
to lead and guide me as my faith developed and became my own.
NATALIE
GRANT:
My parents were the greatest influence of Christianity on me. They used
great wisdom in picking an awesome church to raise their family in. Less
focused on themselves, they made sure the church had an incredible kids
and youth program, so my church leaders were also really great role models
for me. I accepted Christ when I was really young. I remember it was
a Monday night. I guess I had heard the preacher on Sunday talk about
going to heaven. I didn't want to miss out. So in our basement, while
my mom was folding clothes, I told her I wanted to go to heaven, and
she knelt with me right next to the laundry basket and led me in the
Sinner's Prayer.
Under the Influence: 14 Christian Musicians Share Who Influenced Them
Most For Christ
by Tracy Darlington
Okay, so you aren’t Billy Graham. You aren’t an actor/activist
like Steven Baldwin. You may feel you aren’t making an impact on
the world. But these musicians and authors had their lives changed by
the smallest acts of ordinary people. The little things you do can really
make a difference. Here are some fascinating stories of how their lives
were eternally changed.
SARAH
KELLY:
Watching my older sister read her Bible every single night before bed definitely
got me curious about Jesus at an early age. Every single night I remember
the light going off, the night light coming on, and her taking out her
Bible. Big sisters are heroes to younger sisters, so I started the same
nightly practice. Between that and listening to Keith Green all the time,
it was hard not to have an early personal experience. I remember having
the same dream of Jesus dying on the cross 3 nights in a row . . . I was
seven. Right after that I started writing worship tunes.
WILL
MCGINNIS (Audio Adrenaline):
The biggest influence on me to become a Christian was my cousin Thadd
and his mom and dad. I had grown up around my grandma and grandpa and
saw their faith lived out, but when I got in high school, I was spending
a ton of time with my cousin. Now because of growing up in a broken,
dysfunctional family I felt very alone during these times. I longed to
have a family like the one I saw my cousin have. They had a great family
situation. In school I was feeling like I couldn’t fit in anywhere,
very hopeless and messed up. I was at a real breaking point. Something
had to change and quick. My cuz could see through me and began to work
on me. He and I would do everything together, but I never went to church
when he went. One day he invited me to church (much like the other 1000
times) and I came up, with the plan of all plans: “I will say yes
this one time and then I can go back to saying no again.” Something
weird happened. I walked into the room of about thirty people and they
were not anything special, but they did do something very amazing. They
began to love on me, regardless of who or what I was. That was something
that I had not experienced before. I would go back week after week with
my cousin to church, and I began to realize that it wasn’t these
30 some people loving on me, but it was Jesus loving me through them.
This was the first time that I felt true love and that I belong somewhere.
I went from seeing myself as everyone else was seeing me to understanding
that the Maker of the entire world created me specifically and had a
plan for me.
MELISSA
BROCK (Superchick):
It was a neighbor of ours named Carol before any of my family was going
to church. She would come over and tell me about Sunday School and how
much fun it was so I would pester my parents to let me go. She's really
the first person who influenced our whole family towards Christ.
LAUREN
BARLOW (Barlowgirl):
It was definitely my parents. Mainly, it was me seeing their walk on
a day to day basis and how much they were in love with God and served
Him. I wanted that relationship in my life also!
MICHAEL
TAIT:
My parents are the ones that showed me the Christian life. I had parents
who are believers AND married. Not too many kids have that, especially
as an African American growing up in the Heart of Washington DC. They
didn't just talk about it, they lived it in front of us even though
they
didn't have much. Sometimes domestic pressure turns into spiritual failure
because so many things are pulling at you, they didn't allow that to
happen. No matter how many Grammy Awards I have or might receive; how
many albums I have sold or will sell in the future, all of those combined
could not compare to the life and advice my parents gave me.
BETHANY
DILLON:
The moment I decided I wanted to serve Jesus in this life, and not just
go to heaven, was one summer at Camp Union when I was 10. I saw how compassionate
and hopeful my counselors were (two of my counselors were Kate and Aaron),
and I decided I wanted that for myself. I wanted to embark on my own
journey.
BECCA
BARLOW (Barlowgirl):
I've been a Christian since I was 3 years old, but I didn't really make
the Lord my own until I was about 18. I remember listening to Darlene
Zschech music and observing how much she loved the Lord. It opened my
eyes to see that He is so much bigger than how I perceived Him. My mom
has also been a great spiritual role model in my life!
TODD
SMITH (Selah):
Growing up, the people who had a big influence on my faith were teenage
guys who were older than me. I was drawn to guys who were real and who
reached out to me. When I saw guys who were believers and they really lived
it, that made me want to be like them.
JOEL
ENGLE:
I had a Sunday School teacher named Bill Wilkerson who really took me
under his wing and invested hours of time and a lot of love to me. Since
I didn't have a dad, he kind of became a spiritual dad to me. My Uncle
Jim, who was a missionary in Lebanon, had a great influence on me as
well. We talked about a personal relationship with Christ many times
over my childhood. Probably the greatest influence was the Engle family
in Garber, Oklahoma. Mrs. Engle actually led me to Christ after a season
of really struggling with the reality of my faith. She walked me through
that time of doubt and prayed with me to receive Christ when I was 16.
I haven't gotten over that yet!
Tracy
Darlington is
a freelance writer, and her work has appeared in Brio, Breakaway,
YS, CCM Magazine, Insight, Susie Magazine,
and other publications. She has interviewed countless Christian musicians including
Rebecca St. James, Delirious, Newsboys,
Leigh Nash, Barlowgirl, Krystal Meyers, Joy Williams, Pillar, Michelle Tumes,
and many others. In her spare time she can be found riding horses or listening
to
music
and
sipping
a Venti 3-shot sugar-free vanilla latte. Visit her online at her
blog where she talks about Music, God, dogs and coffee. You can also look
her
up
at
Twitter and Facebook.
