continued from part 1
His Cousin Goes To The Top Of The Entertainment World
I then heard that Jerry Lee had come back to God. It was true. Jerry Lee also felt the call of God, and preached for over a year. God did have His hand on him. But the devil wants that which belongs to God, and Jerry left the ministry to go back into the entertainment world. He and his dad went to Memphis, TN to see Sam Philllips, the man that started Elvis Presley on his road to success. They recorded Jerry’s first song. It was in the top forty in just a few days. His next song went to the Number One Spot in the nation. He was a guest on the Steve Allen Show, over a nationwide hookup. It seemed that he went to the top very fast. His next song was to be a two and a half million seller.
So, Jerry Lee was right at the top of the entertainment crowd, and one day at a church dinner, his dad came to me and said, “Jim, I want you to go with me to Memphis. Sam Phillips has sent for you.” Sam Phillips owned Sun Records. As I said he’s the man that launched Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and others and thousands of young people all over the nation were clamoring for his attention. To be sent for by him was tantamount to success! I stood there looking at my uncle, and opened my mouth to accept, when the Holy Spirit checked me. I had already told my uncle that I would not play anything but religious music. He answered. “That’s all right.” But the Holy Ghost said, “NO!” I remember telling him I couldn’t go, that he was saying, “But Jimmy you can buy you a new car which you need so badly.” The Holy Spirit then revealed to me, if I signed a contract and played only religious music, the world would dance to that just as well as anything else. So I declined.
The Backslider Is Never Happy
One Sunday morning, I saw a big black Cadillac drive up in front of the house and Jerry got out. I hadn’t seen him in some time, and we had much to say. I was asking him about his recording and TV appearances, but he seemed to want to talk about God. I have found through experience, that a backslider is never happy. He can never really get away from the things of God that he used to have. He knows that he just doesn’t belong to the devil’s crowd. He told me that he wanted to go to church with me that morning, and he did go. I preached for my dad, and the Lord was really dealing with Jerry. He wept the entire service, but continued to say no to God.
After the service, we walked to the front steps, with my mother still talking to Jerry about his soul. He looked at us and said, “Aunt Bell, do you see that Cadillac there? All of my life I’ve wanted one, and now I have it. I’m making $2,500 a day and I’m just getting started. I know you are right, and I’m coming back to God, some day.” He turned and asked me when my next revival would start. I had just quit my job to enter into full time evangelistic work. I told him, “Next week.” He got into his Cadillac and left.
I began my first revival meeting the following Sunday night in Sterlington, LA. For three nights I preached and God wonderfully blessed. The fourth day, I took sick with pneumonia --the sickest I have ever been in my life. For three days, I lay in a coma in the hospital, not knowing I was even in this world. When I was finally allowed to go home, there was a doctor standing over my bed.
I had to cancel my meetings, being too weak even to walk. It seemed as if the world had dropped out from under me. When I was well enough to leave alone, my parents, wife and small son went to prayer meeting.
Throughout the day, the radio had been on, and it seemed as if every few minutes they would play one of Jerry’s records. Then too, I had another cousin with whom I was raised --Mickey Gilly. A recording company was predicting big things for him.
Likewise, Carl Mcvoy is my first cousin. Carl had just put out his first record, and it went to the top forty and made him $10,000 overnight. At the present time, he plays with the Bill Black Combo.
In The Valley Of Decision
All that day, I had heard the songs of these young men --cousins of mine, and boys that had all known God. Lying there that night I began to think about it, and all of a sudden, I felt a terrible oppressing spirit enter the room. It seemed as if all the powers of hell had assembled there. The devil began to talk to me. He asked me. “If God loves you, why did He allow you to get sick? Why doesn’t He heal you? Look at your cousins; they used to be Christians, but they turned their backs on all this foolishness of Christianity. Look what it has gained them. They have money to burn and big cars to drive. Their names are in neon lights, thousands are clamoring for their autographs. How are you going to pay your bills? Why don’t you come with me?”
By this time, I was trembling all over, weeping like a child. I seemed to be able to hear the devil laughing at me. My heart was breaking... I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what answer to give. I laid my arm to the side of the bed, and it fell on my Bible. Like a drowning man clutching to a straw, I grabbed it. As I pulled it to me, my eyes fell on
Joshua 1:9: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” These words seemed to literally burn from the page.
Instantly, I felt the powers of darkness dispelled. I began to shout. I sat up in bed, put my feet to the floor, and began to dance in the Spirit. Oh, the joys of heaven that flooded my soul. God had spoken. He had not forgotten. I promised God that night, that I would preach His Gospel, no matter what. That my talent would not be used for the devil. God healed me right then and there, and gave me the assurance that He would take the weak things and confound the mighty.
Just a few months ago, we rented the Sun Studios in Memphis, to make a recording for the Lord. This is the one owned by Sam Phillips. There were no strings attached. No contract. We were recording the song, “Reach Out And Touch The Lord” as Sam Phillips walked in the engineering room. He stood there for a long time, and looked through the plate glass window, not knowing I was the same one that he had sent for six years earlier.
During these last six years, I have been in continuous revival campaigns. I’ve witnessed the hand of God move in great ways. I’ve seen many hundreds saved and filled with the Holy Ghost in our meetings. But I’ve also seen my popular cousins beg me to pray with them in an hour of great need. I’ve seen the devil break their hearts and their homes, and their lives. I’ve seen the broken promises and bitter disappointments the devil has given them. I’m so glad that I said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (
Joshua 24:15)
My final testimony is the chorus:
Never failed me yet, never failed me yet.
Jesus has never failed me yet.
This one thing I know, that wherever I go,
Jesus has never failed me yet.