Musings on 25 Years of Ordained Ministry--10

Interlude #3--BJ Thomas (he gets his own post)

My parents weren't all that crazy about the new music coming out in the 60's--that radical stuff like "I wanna hold your hand" sung by 4 guys wearing suits but with sort of long hair and hordes of screaming girls around them. But you know how parents are--beg them enough and they eventually give in. So we eased into the Rock scene with 45's like Daydream Believer from the Monkees and Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head by BJ Thomas. My brother, Jeff, was really the early BJ Thomas fan. I think he was the one who purchased one of the first albums of BJ hits. But I remember listening to the album over and over again as well. As my parents feared, that lite rock music led us to the deeper stuff...like Kenny Rogers and Neil Diamond!

By the way, BJ is the only artist to have #1 hit songs in Pop, country, and Gospel music. He's sold over 80 million records. He's a big deal in the music biz.

In 1976, while I was at LBI, rumors started circulating that BJ Thomas had converted to Christianity. Not long after he released his first album of Contemporary Christian Music. The album was huge! BJ has one of those voices that brings a high level of professionalism to the recording and his talent/success in pop music gave CCM a big boost.

I first heard BJ in concert in Tacoma, Washington. After the opening act BJ came out and it was electric. He sang hit song after hit song. I'd forgotten the huge hits he had had. Then he moved into his new Gospel music. In so doing, he shared his story, his life of success, drug addiction, his death on a flight between islands in Hawaii, and how he'd been brought back again. The nurse standing over him told him God must have something important for him. BJ called his wife, from whom he was somewhat estranged. He didn't know she had become a Christian. But when we went home, she and some of her friends shared Jesus with BJ and Jesus caught ahold of him. In that moment BJ was freed from his drug addiction.

BJ started putting out both Gospel and "secular albums." But his Gospel stuff started taking over. And some Christians weren't all that happy about him singing secular stuff. BJ always maintained he was a singer who was a Christian, not a Christian singer. That God was using him to sing for and talk to people whom the church couldn't reach. It didn't take long, however, before it turned ugly. During concerts a few well-intentioned but clueless Christians would heckle him and yell out--sing about Jesus! I saw this happen several times. One time, in St. Paul, the heckling was so bad that BJ actually walked off stage. It as heartbreaking. He actually received death threats from Christians. Some Christians even bashed in the windows of Christian bookstores that carried his recordings!

The heckling began to sour BJ on Christianity (understandably) and soon he distanced himself from the whole Christian scene.

He fell back into addictions, one time due to a pain med, and went through some tough years.

Many people have an artist they connect with. BJ is that artist for me. Something about his music, something about his voice and his soul always moves me. I can't explain it other than that. In those years I would take every chance I could to stick up for the guy, whether through a letter to the editor of a Christian music magazine or through the radio show Steve and I did.

I kept up with his career as best I could. I took in his shows whenever he was in town. The amazing thing to me was that he still continued to sing some of his Gospel songs in every one of his shows. He often gave a disclaimer to distance himself from the judgmental Christianity he had experienced but he still sang about Jesus in every venue, in every concert.

In the mid-90's I read an article that suggested BJ and his wife Gloria were trying to reconnect with Christianity. So I decided to see if he might be interested in doing a concert at Joy. I called his agent who said BJ would be delighted to do such an event. I said I didn't want a Gospel concert. I wanted him to do what he does! (BJ later told me he didn't want to do it. It was too painful. But his wife explained that we didn't want a Christian concert but a BJ concert and that he should pray about it.)

We booked the concert. Words can describe how excited I was. I knew the people of Joy would welcome him with grace and love. I wanted Joy to hear BJ and wanted BJ to experience at least one Christian place where people would accept him for who he was.

I can't tell you how nervous I was to meet him. Little did I know how nervous he was to be in a church. He came out to a full house, standing ovation. He sang a few songs and the response to him was overwhelming. He jokingly said to his band early on--boy, it wasn't like this 14 years ago! It was evident he was a bit nervous at first but as the evening wore on, he relaxed, opened up, and even had some very emotional moments on the stage. My friend Janie, a BJ stalker, said normally BJ does about 75 minutes of music. If he goes over that, it's a good night. He went 2 hours! One of the reporters who wrote about the event said there were 7-8 standing ovations during the show. As he walked off of the stage for the final time that night he reached down and shook my hand and gave me a heartfelt thanks.

After the show I had the chance to interview him for a small group of people. It was an emotional interview for me (this is my singing hero) and for him as he had had a healing experience after all those years of hurt heaped on him by Christians.

As a result of that first concert, we became friends. An odd friendship as I had to pay to see him all the time, either by going to his concerts or bringing him to Joy! :) But once in a while he'd call. But almost always, when I'd attend his concerts, he'd invite me backstage to chat for awhile. If he knew I was in the audience he would dedicate a song to me. He is a genuinely nice guy!

Once word got out that he had done a few concerts at our church, other churches wanted to have him. But BJ insisted that the only church he did was Joy. I remember one pastor calling me asking about booking BJ. I got the impression they wanted a Christian concert out of him so I did my best to talk the pastor out of it.

One of the big highlights for me came a few years back when he recorded two live, in concert CD's at Joy. One featuring his pop/country hits and the other his Gospel hits. On both BJ albums I introduce him. And on both, he gives a shout out to me. Very cool!

BJ was kind of enough to do an in-depth interview with me for a book I wrote.

Since I left Joy I haven't had the chance to see as much of BJ and we've lost contact a bit. I'm hoping that once we get our new building up I can bring him in once more for all of us oldies to enjoy his unique talent.

My experiences with BJ were among the highlights of my highlights. Having the chance--through Joy--to bring some grace to a guy I admire so much, who had endured so much abuse from a few Christians, and becoming his friend was and is very, very cool.