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Humble, funny and engaging are words that best describe Allen Asbury, who recorded the No. 1 hit single, "Somebody's Praying Me Through" on his 2002 freshman album of that name. Although the New Mexico native didn't expect his first endeavor to meet with such success, he found himself ministering to local churches, our nation's leaders and our military and their families for the past two years. Now Asbury has recorded his second album, Stand (Doxology Records), on which he co-wrote five of the ten tracks. Stand also features a new version of "Somebody's Praying Me Through," which includes testimonies of answered prayer. Asbury spoke with us about how God has directed his life and his work of encouraging the church.

What was it like growing up in a musical family?

Allen Asbury Music is how God has allowed my family to express his love to others. My grandma, grandpa, sisters, mom and dad, aunts and uncles all sang. My family had a group, the Asburys, and we would travel regionally to sing. I was the only one on the high school football team who was also in the choir (laughing)!

Who were your musical influences?

Asbury I liked Toto, Mr. Mister and Chicago. [Chicago's] Peter Cetera's voice was phenomenal. In Christian music, I listened to a lot of Whiteheart, Petra, Mylon LeFevre and Michael W. Smith. I think my all-time vocal mentor would be Michael English. He is one of my favorite vocalists.

You've gone from forest fire fighter to youth group leader to actor to recording artist. Tell me about the path you took.

Asbury I went to Christ for the Nations Institute in Texas for two years, and I fought forest fires in the mountains of New Mexico in the summer. I went on to West Coast Christian College in California. Then I moved to Texas and became a youth and music minister.

Down the road was an amphitheater where they did the play,The Promise. I auditioned for the role of Simon Peter and got the part. I did this on Friday and Saturday nights and continued working at the church. When they took the show to Branson, I went and was there six years. There were two shows a day, six days a week, year round. Then I got signed by Doxology.

God makes each experience a stepping-stone to the next level. It's important not to skip levels or you'll miss the preparation for the next level. Fighting forest fires was a time to be alone with God and seek his will for my life. Doing stage acting took me places I never dreamed I'd be. All these things have brought me to where I am today. Sometimes it gets tough and the road gets long, but if you are fulfilling the calling on your life, then he makes the way.

How did you become the first artist recorded by Doxology Records?

Asbury This was a God-ordained thing. It wasn't anything that man could have conjured up. When my wife and I were part of The Promise, a friend of mine found out that Mark Lowry was leaving the Gaither Vocal Band. He asked me to give him my demo tapes so he could get them into Bill's hands. One day, Bill Gaither called and he wanted to audition me.

Bill called me a couple weeks later and told me they weren't hiring me to be a part of the Gaither Vocal Band, but he wanted to talk about another opportunity. His friend Dan Posthuma was starting up a new label called Doxology Records, and they wanted to talk to me about being the debut artist. Bill is on their board of directors. I didn't even know the record company existed.

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