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Seventeen and wild, I hit the bottle,
Doin' anything I dang well pleased,
Burning down life's highway at full throttle.
—from "When Mama Prayed" by Randy Travis

To country music star Randy Travis, the song "When Mama Prayed," from his 2002 album, Rise and Shine, is more than a little autobiographical.

Born in tiny Marshville, North Carolina, Travis lived a distinctively troubled youth. After dropping out of school in the ninth grade, he got into fast cars, drinking, and drugs, which led to a series of run-ins with the law. Violations like breaking and entering, larceny, carrying a concealed weapon, and drunk and disorderly conduct were sprinkled throughout the young Travis's police record.

"It was everything short of murder, to be honest with you," Travis, who turns 45 in May, says in his distinctive baritone. "When I give my testimony in church now, I often say, 'I've totaled four cars, two motorcycles, a horse and buggy, and I've been in at least 30 fights. I always walked away from it. I have no idea why I wasn't killed, except that I know God was looking out for me.'"

Indeed, God has been good to the singer. Billboard magazine said Randy Travis "almost single-handedly saved" the country-radio format in the 1980s. His 16 country albums have generated 15 number one singles, sold more than 21 million records, and garnered dozens of Grammys, Country Music Association awards, Dove Awards, and American Music Award honors.

	"I want to be remembered as a man who tried to learn as much of the Word as he could and who lived it." —Randy Travis

His country songs—most of which have clean lyrics and moral themes—include the signature hits "Forever and Ever Amen" and "He Walked on Water."

Inspirational Journey, his first full-fledged gospel album from 2000, produced the instant classic, "Baptism." Travis's second gospel release, Rise and Shine, has sold 500,000 copies, and features the award-winning "Three Wooden Crosses." A parable about a farmer, teacher, hooker, and preacher, the song reached number one—the first Christian-label single to reach the top of the country charts.

Initially, though, the song received exposure only on small-market stations.

"Those stations started getting so much request that bigger stations began playing it," he says. "You think that's not God?"

Before "Three Wooden Crosses," Travis's last number one song came nearly a decade before. He credits God for his recent resurgence.

"When you look at country music as a whole, everything is down—ticket sales and record sales," Travis told Today's Christian from his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. "For me to still move the concert tickets and album sales here in America and Canada is pretty amazing. A Christian friend recently told me, 'You're experiencing the grace of God.'"

Wild child
Experiencing God was the last thing on Travis's mind during his rebellious and violent teen years. Although he sometimes attended church as a youngster, Travis recalls "it didn't take." Instead, he succumbed to peer pressure, which eventually got him into big trouble.

At 18 and on the verge of going to prison, he was rescued by Elizabeth "Lib" Hatcher, then the manager of the Charlotte, North Carolina, nightclub where he often performed. Lib, who is now Travis's wife and manager, saw his musical talent and convinced a judge to give the reckless young man one last chance.

"Son, I'm gonna let you go one more time," the judge told Travis. "But if you ever appear before me again, you'd better bring along a toothbrush, 'cause you're gonna stay awhile."

Travis, a high-school dropout who had been using drugs and drinking daily since age 14, took the warning to heart.

Today, he credits Lib and an inexplicable interest in the Bible for turning him around. Ironically, the first stages of the singer's stardom emerged just as he was starting to consider God.

Without anyone's urging, Travis began reading the Bible and listening to televangelists—a practice that he currently continues. "When I started reading the Bible in my mid-20s, I was still using drugs," he admits. "It was just something I started doing at night, and I really don't have an answer as to why."

He remembers "sleeping like a baby" after each time he read the Scriptures.

"It brought a peace of mind to me that I had never known," he says. "I think from a little past 10 years old to well into my 20s, I just never really knew much peace of mind. There was always some turmoil—most of it was self-inflicted—but there was always something like that, and I was just amazed by what just reading [the Bible] did for me."

However, it would be another ten years before his faith in God became real. During the height of Travis's career, Lib started attending church, and Travis decided to join her. She had been baptized as a child but had wandered from her faith. Shortly after, though, the couple publicly confessed Christ and was baptized at Ashland City Church of Christ in Nashville.

"I made a choice that I was getting on the right road and I was going to stay there," says the former alcoholic and felon. (In 1999, he received a pardon for his juvenile offenses from then-North Carolina Governor James Hunt, who cited Travis's positive contributions to society as an adult.) Today, the singer still gets emotional when he talks about experiencing God's forgiveness.

"I still have struggles with some things like my temper," he says. "I consider my walk to be an ongoing process. Christ is the only perfect being. I want to be remembered as a good Christian—a man who tried to learn as much of the Word as he could and who lived it."

Takin' it to the world
John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, has known Travis for more than three years. He says Travis's "spiritual growth from his first appearance at the church to the present has been phenomenal."

"From the beginning, Randy's hunger for knowledge of the Word of God has been without limit," says Hagee, whom Travis considers a father figure. "As he travels across the country giving concerts, we talk often on the phone concerning his questions about the Word of God. Both Randy and Lib have a passion to serve the Lord."

However, when Travis first performed church concerts in 2000, not everyone was convinced that he had the interests of the congregations at heart.

"We have run into some folks at a couple of different churches who seemed somewhat skeptical, wondering, 'Why are you doing this?'" the singer admits. "But in every case, we've left there feeling like we've made new friends," he adds.

Travis doesn't see a conflict with performing in churches, while also playing in arenas, theaters, and casinos. "Jesus Himself said the well don't need a physician," says Travis, who does about 80 performances annually. "The Word of God doesn't come back void."

Travis, though, recalls being cautious about singing songs from his first gospel album during a casino concert because he thought the tunes might "go over like a lead balloon."

"I went into the first song, 'Shallow Water,' then I heard a loud voice shout, 'Play "Dr. Jesus,"' and I thought to myself, We're going to be okay."

Hagee has seen firsthand the impact of Travis's music ministry. "Randy gives his testimony of a life destroyed by drugs and alcohol only to be redeemed by the grace of God," Hagee says. "Thousands of people flock to hear him who would never come to hear a preacher."

Making a difference
Travis says he often hears stories of lives he has touched during his church concerts. He was especially moved by the testimony of a woman who approached his wife after his first appearance in a church.

"She had a son who was just like I was, drinking all the time, using drugs and getting into trouble," Travis recalls, choking back tears. "She was afraid he was going to get killed."

A Randy Travis fan, the woman's son came to the church to hear him sing.

"When they did an altar call, he went forward," Travis says. "He got saved and has since been baptized. He's in church every Sunday; he's a different man. When I heard that, it got to me so bad. I never thought I would hear anything like that—that I had influenced someone in such a good way."

Travis's latest CD, Worship & Faith, takes the singer even further into gospel territory. Released last fall, the album features classic hymns like "Blessed Assurance" and "In The Garden," as well as contemporary favorites such as "We Fall Down" and "Above All."

For Travis, who has balanced a music career with acting, making TV appearances on such shows as Touched By An Angel, becoming a household name among Christians is a privilege.

"I don't want to sound weird," the singer says, "but it's so different to hear that I've made a good difference in somebody's life."

Eric Tiansay is a writer and editor for Strang Communications in Lake Mary, Florida.

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