Randy Travis — Striking a chord with his faith, fans and family

For years, Randy Travis’ life sounded like—well—a classic Country-Western song: Heartbreaking bouts of anger, drugs, alcohol and fighting.

Today he’s singing a new tune, thanks to his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

A veteran of country music, the entertainer’s career has spanned a quarter of a decade, earning him dozens of honors.

Travis, past warts and all, presented himself up-close and transparent a free inspirational concert at Maranatha Chapel in Rancho Bernardo, California. The concert is part of an ongoing series he’s doing at churches across the country. The church concerts complement his regular tour schedule, but provide an intimate setting to share his testimony.

With 8,000 people filling the Maranatha sanctuary and hundreds more watching on a big screen outside the church, Travis answered unscripted questions from senior pastor Ray Bentley. Before the concert, Travis told the pastor that no topic was off-limits.

“You can have all you want and still not be satisfied,” Travis said about his early life in the entertainment industry. “But I don’t want anything to do with that anymore. Satan will attack you with your weakness.”

Before “getting his life right with God,” Randy said, his life was a wreck.

“I've totaled four cars, two motorcycles, and a horse and buggy,” he said Travis. “I've been in at least 30 fights and always walked away from them. I have no idea why I wasn't killed, except that I know that God was looking out for me.”

Travis admitted having a volatile temper that often proved brutal.

“When I got angry—people would have to go to the hospital with broken bones and missing teeth,” he said.

Now a broken man, Travis reveals a sincere faith and a transformed nature. Responding to an altar call 15 years ago in Ashland City, Tenn., he was baptized publicly with his wife, Elizabeth.

“Sure, I’m embarrassed about the past, but you come to a point where you accept Christ and are forgiven and you don’t have to worry about that any more.”

When Bentley asked how he managed to stay balanced, Travis took a light-hearted approach.

“My wife goes every mile with me on the bus—what are you gonna do with your wife sittin’ there?”

After the chuckles, he turned serious.

“Reading God’s word keeps me centered,” he said. “One day I just started reading the Bible. I would read it at night, and I could sleep better.”

Attracting new fans
Travis still performs at more than 80 concerts a year, filling stadiums and arenas, and is gaining a new fan base by playing at churches. With a show of hands, 40 percent of the audience admitted to never attending a Travis concert or owning an album. But that didn’t stop children and adults from tapping their feet and joining in the chorus of “Pray for the Fish.”

Obviously less lucrative than traditional country concert, Bentley asked Travis why he does a church tour without an admission fee.

Travis paused, and then looked Bentley in the eye.

“Some would call it obedience,” he said.

In the more intimate setting, Travis has a greater connection with the audience. He shared the story of a father who approached him after a concert. The man’s son was about to marry a woman who was pregnant with a child conceived during a rape by someone else.

The father told his son that he would not accept the child as a member of his family, but after hearing Randy’s song, “Raise Him Up,” the father had a change of heart.

“I’ll treat the child as my grandchild, and all because of hearing that song,” he told Travis.

In the midst of his failures, there has been plenty of success. Travis could boast of his 22 No. 1 hits, six No. 1 albums, five Grammys, six Country Music Association awards, nine Academy of Country Music awards, 10 American Music awards, five Dove Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame, Travis would rather talk about his walk with God.

“I just want to get to heaven and hear God say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,” he said.

Published by Keener Communications Group, December 2005

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