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Another Special Life in Christ
These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the
role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!
Charles Edward "Charlie"
Daniels:
He was born 28 October 1936 in Wilmington, N. C.
"I was reared in a Christian home. Of course, I was a rowdy country boy, but I was taught
right from wrong in a painstaking, loving way. I would say that I had a typical childhood.
But later in life I got so far off the path that you wouldn't have thought I was a believer.
I made a commitment to Christ when I was a kid, but I don't think that I fully understood
what Christianity is about. I thought that in order to be a Christian I had to be a legalist
and be perfect. Of course, I came to find out quickly that that wasn't going to
happen.
"I never had a "Damascus road" experience; my
return to Christ was gradual. It was as if the Lord Jesus was saying to me, "Charlie, you
aren't doing right. You need to get straightened up." There was always that tugging of the
Spirit. I honestly don't know how people who don't have faith in Christ make it. When they go
through something difficult, when they need help, where do they go? Where do they find any
peace at all?
"But the times were different back when I was a
boy. As you know, our culture has changed tremendously. Back then it was a mild sort of a
time, nothing like what it is today. Nowadays kids have a lot of stuff to go through, and
good kids deserve to be
applauded."
Music legend Charlie Daniels is scheduled to
appear this month [the Fall of 2001] at the Central Valley Billy Graham Crusade, in Fresno,
California. In this article Mr. Daniels talks about music, faith and the Word of
God.
Q/ Charlie, you'll be joining Billy Graham
in Fresno, California, for his Crusade there this month. What do these Crusades mean to
you?
A/ "Well, this will be the seventh Crusade that I
have done with Mr. Graham, and it is always a blessing. I am an entertainer, so I'm trying to
get the attention of the audience. But what I really want is to see people streaming from
their seats down to the platform to receive Christ as their Savior. They are making an
eternal decision. That's my primary
motivation."
Q/ What was the first Billy Graham Crusade
in which you
participated?
A/ "The first Crusade that I had a part in was in
Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1996. It was wonderful. I'll never forget the first person I
saw come forward to make his decision for Christ. He was the first person to come to the
front. He came by himself, and he fell to his knees. When other people started coming, it was
just a little trickle, and then it was like water pouring off the sides of a bowl. It was an
amazing thing."
Q/ When did you first sense that you were
good at music?
A/ "I had the desire to be an entertainer, oddly
enough, even before I learned how to play
music.
When I first started learning, I was 14 years old.
It was difficult to find anyone to teach me, so finally I went to see a friend who had an old
guitar. He showed me how to play. The next thing I knew, we had a little bluegrass band
going. A few years later I moved to Nashville,
Tennessee."
Q/ What happened when you arrived in
Nashville, where people say that "country music is
king"?
A/ "It was kind of hectic. I tried to do studio
work, but I'm not really a studio musician. There were certain sessions where I fit, such as
when I worked with Bob Dylan, but I was not in the groove for the type of music that was
going on in Nashville at that time. My playing was too loud, too "bluesy." I learned that my
heart was on a stage, not in a studio. I wanted to be playing for people, not for a
microphone."
Q/ Is there a person in Scripture with
whom you identify?
A/ "I have thought a lot about David, the
psalmist. He is a prime example of someone who did not always do the right thing, but the
Bible says that he was "a man after God's own heart,"(1) so David must have been doing
something right. Every day I recite the 91st Psalm, and I trust that I am living in the
"shadow of the Almighty."(2) I have committed that Psalm to memory, and it's part of my
prayer life."
Q/ How do you feel today about some of
your early songs, such as "The Devil Went Down to
Georgia"?
A/ "I have changed the lyrics in some of my songs,
because I am not comfortable with the words. The songs are still popular, and people want to
hear them, but I have changed some of the
lyrics."
Q/ What message do you try to convey
through your life and
music?
A/ "I make no secret about my Christian faith. On
stage I do a hymn and I tell the people that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Many people
misunderstand the Gospel message. They think that you have to be "good enough." People need
to understand that they can never be "good enough." There was only one Person in the whole
world who was -- Jesus Christ.
I try to get across the
message: "You're a sinner, and I am too. When we accept the Savior who puts our sin under His
blood, the sin is gone." It's as if that sin never existed. That's something that is hard to
understand, but that's what the Bible teaches. You've got to accept it and believe that it's
true, that it's the Word of God. The Bible is not just pretty words that someone sat down and
wrote one day. The Bible is God-inspired. It is
real."
References:
Jim Dailey interview published in "Decision"
magazine (October 2001) and posted on BGEA website
***give me your comments about this
page***
(posted Jan. 22,2004)
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You have just read a very brief example of the
powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the
acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will
accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now
[check it
out]!
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