We have been privileged to know and work with Jeremy Camp since his first album nearly a decade ago. Interesting point: Jeremy and his family have moved to the small village outside Nashville that is home to interlínc. Jeremy visited our office recently and shared his vision for evangelism, both personal and from the platform. interlínc President Allen Weed followed up with Jeremy and recorded this interview.
Allen: When you heard that theme of this YLO is “Evangelism” a spark went off in you and you said, “Man, I want to be a part of that!” How did you come to know Christ?
Jeremy: I was raised in a Christian home. My parents were in ministry and really loved the Lord. When I was 16, at a youth camp in California, all the kids were raising their hands and worshipping the Lord. I hadn’t ever seen that because where I was from if someone were serving the Lord they weren’t very bold about it. So when I saw these kids at camp, I could tell that God was doing something and that they were responding. The Lord spoke with me as the speaker came on and said, “Jeremy, I love you and I want to use you, but you have to run away from the edge that you’re on.” I was at a decision point where I was either going to go forward into the world or run as far away as possible. I remember breaking down from the personal connection of Him telling me He loved me and wanted to use me. I gave my heart to the Lord full on. When I went home to my mom and dad, I told them what I had been doing. I said I was sorry, and I told them I wanted to serve the Lord.
Allen: I know from listening to you talk and from watching your life that sharing your faith is important to you. Why?
Jeremy: The reason I share my faith is because it’s the truth. If I really believe that faith in Jesus is what saves people from going down a path of destruction and being separated from God for eternity, then I’ve got to tell people. I can’t be silent. I wouldn’t really believe it if I were silent.
Psalm 24:3-6 says, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Such a generation of those who seek Him; who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.” Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” When you are seeking God and understanding His love then you will naturally want to talk about Him. It’s like when you care a lot for a person, when you talk to someone else about that person you can talk about him or her easily because you’ve been spending time with that person. But, if you’re not spending time with that person, you don’t really have much to talk about. If you spend time on your face before the Lord, spend time on your knees, spend time in the Word of God, naturally the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say; He just wants you to be willing. Once you have that relationship with Him you will naturally want to evangelize. It’s going to be part of your life.
Allen: I think that musicians such as you can too easily say, “I did that on stage – I need a break right now.” But, the life and the power go out of it when it becomes just a stage thing.
Jeremy: You can have everything right on the outside and even do everything right on stage, but unless you are spending time with the Lord and God is changing you from the inside, the effectiveness is not there. If the Spirit is not leading, there’s not going to be a real effectiveness. It’s not based upon our works anyway. He is not saying, “I’m not going to use you because you don’t spend time with Me.” That’s not the point. We can rest in God’s love for us, but if we are not partaking in the fullness of what He has for us then we are just missing out.
Allen: Do you call people to anything at the end of your concert, or is there a word you say to people that might be investigating or who might not know what is going on?
Jeremy: There is a point in every concert where I say something like, “Hey, if you don’t know Jesus Christ, here is the deal. We have all sinned, and the wages of sin is death. We are all in need of a savior because of our sin. Jesus Christ took upon Himself our sin because He loves us so much.” Sometimes I’ll pray the sinner’s prayer, and sometimes I’ll just share the Gospel. There are counselors available so people can come forward, or I might say, “Hey, come and talk to these people afterwards.” It’s so important. Why would you sing songs to the Lord and not talk about whom you are worshipping or what you’re doing?
Allen: Tell me something about your heart for the record.
Jeremy: I remember first hearing the song “Overcome.” The great thing about that song (my favorite one on the record) was that I didn’t write it so I couldn’t pat myself on the back and say, “Man, I wrote this powerful song and I want you guys to hear it!” In the studio I was singing the part that says “We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, everyone overcome” and I started getting emotional. I looked up, and the songwriter was raising his hands and my dad was standing. I stopped and wept. We were all like, “Did you feel that?” We just felt the presence of God in that room so thick. Those moments were refreshing. To not have any pretense or formula of what we needed to do and what songs we needed to do exactly was great. When we recorded, some songs were like eight minutes long because we just let whatever happened happen. The process was very refreshing.
I want to be a part of a generation that seeks the face of God. This album is such a great step toward that time of worship in my own heart. I’m excited.
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Be sure to check out Jeremy's fall tour in which before each show there will be an open conversation with Jeremy Camp, Carlos Whittaker, John Mark McMillan and other worship leaders to encourage and support each other’s efforts within the local church.
During this special worship leaders only Q&A session, Jeremy, Carlos and John Mark will share their heart for worship along with useful thoughts and ideas on serving the church through worship.
Click here for more details...
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While you're here, listen to a couple of new songs (below) off of Jeremy's new album, "We Cry Out: The Worship Project" and grab a chord chart to his song, "Jesus Saves" |
