I grew up in this part of the country – I was raised in Illinois. I wasn’t part of Chicago, though – I was central Illinois, back in that other part of the state (audience starts clapping) in a little town called Mt. Pulaski, barely a suburb of Springfield. But I was still part of Illinoiz! (audience claps and cheers).

How many people – tell me – how many people say "warsh?" (laughter) I mean, I was raised in Illinois to say "warsh" and "pajamas" and I thought it was normal in Illinois; apparently it’s not… I guess I’m just an oddball! (audience cheers) Yeah!…. no really, I really am… I’ll tell ya what – I’m a saved oddball (clapping & cheering). I got a chance, folks, 19 years ago, to get a second chance. I’ve got a God who never gave up on me.

When I was here in Chicago – and I was here a lot, during my secular years – I was in a band called Head East, and we played in every club in this part of the stomping grounds. I’ll say that Chicago was very good to us back then. But the problem was, when I first started with the band, all we wanted to do was play good music. But as time went on and we got bigger, we did more records, we did more touring – I got caught up in the world of secular rock ‘n roll, and that has nothing to do with Jesus.

I fell for the same lies that everybody else in that music business ususally does – I won’t say everybody, but the big majority… it’s normal to do drugs, it’s normal to get drunk every night. In fact, if you don’t, you’re an oddball. And I didn’t like being an oddball, so I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be cool. And I cooled myself right into a habit that I couldn’t quit, with cocaine and booze. I thought I could when I left Head East in 1980, but I couldn’t quit. And it freaked me out.

I started my own band, called the Johnny Band, for about 7-8 months, and I used that as an excuse just to stay high. And I’m serious – to stay high from March to August. And I remember it, because I still have people coming up to me and saying "Do you remember so and so, and when this happened….?" And I don’t, because I was fried.

It was a time when I think the enemy – and you know what his name is – if you don’t know him, I’m talking about Satan – that’s right, I’m not afraid to say his name, because I’m not scared of him. I’m part of the body of Jesus Christ; I have Jesus Christ go before me – he doesn’t mean anything to me… Satan doesn’t mean a thing. I’m not fearful of him because when he looks at me he sees Jesus, not me. Now if I didn’t have the Lord going before me, the enemy could chew me up in one try. But Jesus does go before me, because he died on the cross for me. And I realize that, praise God, not by choice – I was actually sort of forced into it.

Because for six months I went on a drunken binge that should have destroyed me. But by "coincidence" my wife got saved in that same six month period. And she was a heavy-duty Christian. Now, she’s about 5’1" but as a Christian, she’s about 10’3"! (audience claps)

Trust me, this was not a pretty sight, because I’m supposed to be the man of the house and she comes

"Now, you know, I want to tell you about…"

"AUGH! Grrrr….I don’t want to hear..."

"John, I wanna tell you…."

It’s like…..

So she kept on me; she quit when she realized that I didn’t want to hear it any more, but she kept and kept and kept telling me about the Lord.

Finally, when it got to the point where I felt that maybe suicide was the best answer for me, because the enemy had gotten me down to that point, she came up to me and said "John, you’ve got to come talk to my pastor." I said "sure, why not? I’ve got nothing else to lose." Seriously, I had no idea that anything would change. I didn’t give God any credit. I knew He was tapping on my heart, but I didn’t want to - I was too cool – I didn’t need Jesus. I wanted to have fun; I wanted to have nosebleeds, I wanted to have hangovers. I wanted to be fried, every day, every night, ‘cause that was cool. Was I lied to or what?

That’s how the enemy works. He keep lying, he keeps lying, he tells you black is white, and white is black, good is bad, bad is good… we wonder why our country is so hurting right now? Give the credit where credit is due. Look straight in to the enemy’s face and say "You know what? I claim my country back in the name of Jesus Christ! How dare you try to steal it away!" (audience cheers)

But we have to have boldness, folks – we have to realize, we have to believe that we have the power to do it – and yes we do, through Jesus Christ. But we have to be real about being a Christian.

And that night when I walked in to the person’s house, that pastor’s house, I had no faith at all, but that pastor did. And that pastor looked me straight in the eye and said "You know Jesus?"

"Well, yeah – I’m an American! I go to church twice a year!"

"No you don’t – you don’t know the Jesus who loves you, you don’t know the Jesus who has a plan for your life, you don’t know that Jesus is here right now!"

And there was a boldness about it that just knocked me over. I’m serious – I was in a corner going "what hit me?" Walks back, looks down at me and says "You want to know Jesus?" All I could do was (nods head). It was the smartest head shake I’ve ever made. Because once I stood up, I said the sinner’s prayer, and it was the beginning of a new life for me, where the pressure was released from me that I didn’t even know I had. The pressure of guilt, of the sins I’d done in the past, because His blood was shed for me, and I, all of a sudden, spiritually realized that I had a new beginning. What a way to live!

We are made in the image of God – we have the right to know about Jesus Christ! We do! And every time we don’t get that chance, we’re getting it stolen away from us by lies, deceit… the enemy tells you "Hey, that’s not cool - you don’t need Jesus." You’re getting lied to, you’re getting stolen, you’re getting the opportunity stolen away from you – your right, and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of watching our kids getting stolen. I’m sick of parents giving up on kids. I’m sick of my generation giving up on the new generation! How dare we give away our treasures to a lying thief! How dare we do it! (audience claps).

We don’t need to, because that thief is nothing but a liar. He has no power unless we give it to him. He’s sitting around going "hehehehe…." I tell you what – I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure that when I talk, that smile just wipes off his face, because the truth hurts him. And the truth is that he is a lair and Jesus Christ is truth! Jesus is alive and well right here tonight. He’s got a plan.

I look around and see the body of Christ right here, and there’s folks here that are not part of the body, that just came to see what a Christian rock band is about. You ain’t seen nothing yet, really. This has been a family thing tonight… you want some ‘in your face rock ‘n roll?’ We’ll give it to ya! We’ll bring the set – we’ll blow your head off! (audience chuckles)

(John laughs) All right, when I say that, I say.... with a ……(audience member shouts out "With the power of the blood!") Thank you – with the power of the blood! (audience laughs).

(breaks back into song at this point)