Participants:
Series Code: BBF
Program Code: BBF170004S
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00:03 Hi, I'm Billy Blackwood.
00:05 Through my years in music ministry, 00:07 I've had the privilege of meeting many great people 00:09 and making a lot of great friends. 00:13 Some have been friends for literally decades 00:15 and some have been more recent. 00:19 It's my hope that you will enjoy 00:20 getting a glimpse behind the scenes 00:22 and into the real lives of my friends. 00:25 Sit back and enjoy as you watch Billy Blackwood and Friends. 00:33 Hi, I'm Billy Blackwood. 00:34 Welcome to Billy Blackwood and Friends. 00:36 My guest today is my friend John Darin Rowsey. 00:39 So glad to have John on the program. 00:41 Good to be here. Thanks for having me. 00:42 Great to have you. 00:44 I've been excited about being here with you 00:45 ever since we first talked about this 00:47 'cause, you know, just to get a chance to sit down and talk 00:51 with a friend about the stuff that we love is a lot of fun. 00:53 Yeah. 00:55 A lot of folks may not know you by face, 00:57 but I'm sure they know a lot of your songs 00:58 and we hope to acquaint them more with you today. 01:01 And your great gift for writing and singing, 01:04 your songs to me, when I think of John Darin, 01:07 your songs have a real soulful, 01:09 kind of a jazzy feel a lot of them 01:11 then I don't know, 01:13 is that to Does that box you in too much 01:15 or would you say that's pretty apt description? 01:16 No, I guess it's... 01:18 I've heard that a lot. 01:19 And, you know, I have a lot of people 01:21 tell me that my songs 01:23 don't necessarily fit my personality 01:25 'cause I'm pretty laid back. 01:26 I'm not a guy who's very excitable, 01:28 you know, and I can pretty much go 01:30 with the flow. 01:31 And sometimes like the songs feel 01:34 a little bit more aggressive than my personality real, 01:37 but I like stuff 01:38 that has a little bit of heart and soul to it. 01:40 Yeah. Well, you do those well. 01:42 Tell folks who don't know John Darin, 01:44 tell us a little bit about you and your career 01:46 and your history in gospel music? 01:48 Well, I grew up singing with my family, 01:50 started when I was 11 years old. 01:53 And sang with my aunt, my grandmother, 01:55 just, you know, around our area, 01:57 like there were so many family groups 01:58 when I was a kid. 02:00 And there was a what we called a singing 02:02 every Saturday night somewhere around home 02:04 and my family was a big part of that. 02:06 And when I graduated high school, 02:07 I started a group called a New Journey. 02:10 And we achieved a little bit of success 02:13 as far as the industry went 02:15 and were able to just sing on a label 02:18 and that grew for probably 15 years. 02:21 And at that point, my wife, her father passed away. 02:26 And she was traveling with me on the road at the time, 02:28 and she didn't want to be gone from her mom, 02:29 she wanted to be available for her. 02:32 And we shut the group down. 02:33 And I took a job with Karen Peck and New River 02:36 that was New Year's Eve 1999. 02:39 And I stayed there till 2003. 02:41 And one of the greatest, it was just an honor 02:44 to get to work with them 02:46 'cause they're truly godly people 02:47 who love the Lord with all their heart, 02:49 and they live everything they sing. 02:51 It was one of the greatest jobs I could ever have had. 02:55 And I came off the road in 2003 02:57 when my son started high school. 02:59 And when he did that, 03:01 I felt like I wanted to be closer to home 03:02 and worked with our church music program 03:05 for seven years. 03:07 All that time I was writing songs 03:09 and having a lot of groups 03:11 in southern gospel music record, 03:12 and a few in contemporary Christian 03:14 and things and some choral books 03:16 and different things like that. 03:18 So all through the time of singing, 03:21 writing has been part of what I did. 03:22 And this opportunity with the Guardians 03:25 came about totally unexpected. 03:27 And when that happened, 03:29 I had no intention of ever traveling again, 03:32 not that I didn't like it was a great experience, 03:34 but I thought, 03:36 you know, that part of my life is finished. 03:38 And when this came about, 03:41 they were kind of ready to start shutting things down. 03:43 They'd never had a personnel change in 25 years. 03:46 Oh, my! 03:47 I mean, almost no group can say that. 03:49 Right. 03:50 And they had done things on a regional basis. 03:51 And, well, when I came on board, 03:54 we decided when we did a project 03:57 that we would put a single out 03:59 just to see what it would do, 04:00 you know, and it did pretty well 04:02 And one thing led to another and a few doors opened 04:05 for concert venues and things like that. 04:07 And so, you know, we figure 04:09 Every time I think I've got God figured out, 04:11 every time I think I know exactly 04:13 what He's gonna do 04:14 He proves to me that I have no clue. 04:16 It is to surprise. 04:17 He keeps a few things that He doesn't let us to know. 04:18 Exactly. 04:20 You know what the Bible says, 04:21 His ways are higher than our ways 04:23 and, boy, has that been proven 04:24 over and over and over again in my life. 04:27 And so these days, I'm still traveling with them 04:29 and just enjoying, 04:31 I've learned to try not second guess God 04:34 because I'm really bad at it. 04:36 And watching what He does and it's good. 04:38 But tell us about, what was the first song 04:41 that you felt like, wow, this is really taking off, 04:44 I can, I want to be a writer. 04:46 Well, I had my first cut by a group called The Lesters 04:51 back in 1993 around that era '92, '93 04:56 there was a song called no greater love 04:58 and I thought, "My goodness. 05:00 Well, I have a song on another group's record." 05:03 These are the first people besides me 05:06 or my group has ever sung my songs. 05:07 Somebody likes my songs besides me. 05:08 I know. Maybe I can write. 05:11 Yeah. And I started to pitch 05:13 a few songs and one thing sort of, 05:16 one cut kind of leads to another it seems like. 05:19 And finally, a couple of years later, 05:21 the Gaither Vocal Band 05:23 cut a song that I wrote called Singing With the Saints, 05:26 now I wrote it with Daryl Williams 05:28 and John Starnes. 05:29 And the way it came about the group I had 05:33 at the time New Journey, had the privilege 05:35 of being on one of the Gaither Homecoming videos. 05:38 All of my heroes are there in one room, 05:40 and I got a chance to kind of sit in 05:42 and you talk about being a fly on the wall. 05:44 That's kind of what I felt like. 05:46 And when that was over, on the way home, 05:49 I wrote the chorus of Singing With the Saints, 05:52 and because, you know, I just thought, 05:54 if this is the taste of heaven, 05:56 it's only gonna get better, you know. 05:58 And then by the time I got home, 06:00 I'd written the first verse. 06:02 Well, I was writing with John Starnes 06:05 for a project he was doing. 06:07 Well, I said, you know, I've got this chorus, 06:10 a verse in the chorus of a song, 06:12 that I really think it sounds like the Gaither Vocal Band, 06:14 I wrote it at the taping, and when he heard it, 06:18 I played it for him. 06:19 He said, "Well, 06:21 that really does sound like the vocal band." 06:22 I said, "Well, let's write a second verse." 06:24 You can take it to guy and if he likes it, 06:26 he could give it to Bill and see what happens. 06:28 And so we started working on the second verse. 06:30 In the meantime, Daryl Williams had been writing 06:32 in another writer's room, 06:33 he came in and he finished the second verse with us. 06:36 They took it to Guy and he liked it. 06:38 And then Guy took it to Bill and he liked it, 06:40 and it became the title of one of the Homecoming videos 06:44 and they've used it for a lot of different things. 06:47 This is such a blessing in my life 06:48 because the Gaither Vocal Band were one of my favorites too. 06:52 You may have heard the Gaither Vocal Band, do you? 06:53 But let's listen to the guy who wrote the song sing it. 06:56 This is John Darin singing, Singing With the Saints. 07:12 Heaven's getting ready for an end it all celebration 07:18 To begin eternity with a righteous congregation 07:24 This world's comin' to an end 07:26 And it won't be long 07:28 The party's gonna start and go on and on and on 07:32 I'll be singin' with the saints at the morning light 07:36 Ringin' in the day 'cause there is no night 07:39 Sayin' goodbye to the heartache trouble and pain 07:45 I'll be sittin' at the throne with an angel band 07:49 Shoutin' hallelujah to the great I am 07:52 If you think it's a dream well, it ain't 07:55 I'll be singin' with the saints 08:02 Will the tambourine's ringin' 08:04 And David starts to feel the rhythm 08:09 Paul and Silas are hummin' a tune 08:11 They wrote in prison 08:15 Now Gabriel hears the music he picks up his horn 08:18 It's just another glory hallelujah morn 08:23 I'll be singin' with the saints at the morning light 08:27 Ringin' in the day 'cause there is no night 08:30 Sayin' goodbye to the heartache trouble and pain 08:35 I'll be sittin' at the throne with an angel band 08:39 Shoutin' hallelujah to the great I am 08:42 If you think it's a dream well, it ain't 08:44 I'll be singin' with the saints 08:51 I'll be singin' with the saints at the morning light 08:55 Ringin' in the day 'cause there is no night. 08:58 Will be sayin' goodbye to the heartache 09:00 The trouble and pain 09:03 I'll gonna be sittin' at the throne 09:06 With an angel band 09:08 Shoutin' hallelujah to the great I am 09:11 If you think it's a dream well, it ain't 09:14 I'll be singin' with the saints 09:25 I'll be singin' with the saints 09:32 Some happy morning yeah 09:40 I love that song. 09:41 I've heard the Gaither Vocal Band 09:43 do it for years now. 09:44 And, well, I love hearing John Darin sing that 09:46 because as you can tell 09:48 he's not only a great songwriter, 09:49 but he's a great singer. 09:50 Great job. 09:52 Thank you, Billy. That's awesome. 09:53 You mentioned that, you know, your wife traveled, 09:56 you traveled together for a while, 09:57 but when her dad passed away, 09:59 she wanted to be with her mom 10:01 and tell us a little bit about your family? 10:03 Well, I've got four children. 10:07 My wife and I got married in 1985. 10:10 I've been married over 30 years. 10:12 We had a son a couple of years 10:15 into our marriage, biological son, 10:18 but almost 9 years ago, 10:21 we got a phone call in the middle of the night, 10:22 it was a call from the sheriff's department 10:25 they were distant relatives of my wife, 10:28 and we lived in the county, 10:30 where their parents were arrested on drug charges. 10:33 And a year later, we became mom and dad. 10:35 My wife and I inherited three children. 10:39 That night, we had a five-month-old, 10:41 a four-year-old and a six-year-old. 10:43 So our life changed forever. 10:45 I tell people, I learned a lot during that period of time. 10:48 I learned, first of all, you know, they tell you that 10:51 if you don't sleep eventually you'll die. 10:53 You won't. It's not true. 10:55 Yeah, it's not true. You won't die. 10:56 You wish you were dead sometimes, 10:58 but there was 10:59 a long period of time of adjustment 11:00 getting used to that. 11:02 And, but we're so thankful. 11:03 They're just great kids. 11:05 And God has really turned their lives around. 11:08 And so just two years ago, our son and daughter-in-law, 11:13 our biological son and daughter-in-law 11:15 gave us a grandbaby. 11:17 I'm a grandpa. I'm called Papi. 11:20 Papi. Okay. That's what he calls me. Yeah. 11:22 And then our kids that we adopted, 11:24 they think he hung the moon 11:25 and he thinks they hung the moon. 11:27 I mean, they're his heroes, you know? 11:28 Yeah. 11:29 Well, that's quite an experience. 11:31 I mean, that to just overnight have three additional children 11:35 to your family that's... 11:37 You know what? 11:39 If you would have told me 11:40 that we were going to adopt three children, 11:44 I would have said, there's no possible way. 11:47 Absolutely not. 11:48 Our lifestyle will not accommodate that. 11:51 I mean, I've been involved in music all my life. 11:54 And that just involves traveling in 11:56 and it's not a 9 to 5, 11:58 Bill, as you well know. Right. 12:00 And, man, I found out 12:02 that sometimes God doesn't change the situation, 12:04 He changes you 12:06 because I was praying that He finds a home for them, 12:10 well, He had found a home for them. 12:12 It just happened to be mine. It just happened to be yours. 12:14 And so I remember the first time 12:18 that I kind of realized that's how it was gonna be. 12:23 We were at our home church on a Sunday, 12:24 and we were pulling off the parking lot. 12:28 And the little girl who was the eldest, 12:30 she was six at the time. 12:33 We were leaving the church. 12:34 And she said, 'cause everybody in our church 12:36 was just so kind to them 12:38 and loved on them and treated them so well. 12:40 And she said, "How come everybody likes us?" 12:45 And I said, "Well, they like you 12:46 because you're sweet. 12:48 You're good kids." 12:49 And she said, I saw in the rearview mirror, 12:50 she's sitting in the backseat, she dropped her head. 12:52 And she said, 12:54 "People didn't used to like us." 12:56 And my heart broke. 12:58 And I realized, you know what? 12:59 This is not temporary. 13:02 This is permanent 13:03 'cause we couldn't let them go back to, 13:06 you know, or any, let them feel like that they weren't loved. 13:11 And I just remember that, like it was yesterday. 13:14 And from that point on, I realized, you know what? 13:18 God, it's in your hands. 13:21 And if this is what you want us to do, 13:23 you're gonna make a way for us to do it. 13:25 And he's done that and, boy, they're good kids. 13:28 Man, what a blessing. 13:30 I can't imagine getting three overnight like that. 13:32 And they're all biological siblings. 13:34 Yeah, they're biological siblings, 13:35 their parents were arrested, 13:39 I said on drug charges 13:41 and they had lived in really a crack house, 13:47 as the night that we pick them up, 13:49 the police directed us where to come. 13:52 And I've never seen anything like it. 13:55 I guess I've lived in a box, a lot of my life, 13:57 you know, I was raised in church. 13:59 I told people all my life my testimony is, 14:01 I was raised with a drug problem. 14:03 I was drugged from church to church to church. 14:06 And that was really funny before I got my kids 14:09 and it became a little less funny. 14:11 But I saw conditions that I thought, 14:14 how is this possible? 14:16 That a baby, 14:18 the five-month-old baby was not even, not a crib, 14:21 not a she was in a box 14:24 that had blankets that were filthy. 14:27 And it was cold, where the electricity was off. 14:31 In this home and here are three kids 14:33 that were totally innocent of anything. 14:38 They didn't bring any of that on themselves. 14:41 And there they were in those circumstances 14:43 and we took them home and gave them a bath, 14:45 you know, they thought a bath was a treat. 14:49 And God taught us a lot during that time. 14:54 You know, isn't that just like God 14:56 to reach in 14:59 to the lives of people 15:04 in the worst of circumstances and redeem them? 15:09 Absolutely. 15:11 I don't know, John, if you, you know, as we travel, 15:14 we see a lot of different situations, 15:16 you know, a lot of different churches 15:18 and a lot of different cities 15:19 and encounter a lot of different people. 15:21 One of the things that I say I'm curious to know 15:25 if you see this, 15:26 sometimes I think people like us 15:28 who grow up in church can almost become inoculated 15:33 to what is reality for the rest of the world. 15:35 Right. 15:36 Praise the Lord 15:38 for my upbringing in my Christian family, 15:40 and, you know, growing up in church, 15:41 and that's all wonderful, 15:43 but as I've become an adult and realized, 15:46 there's a world of people out there that have no clue 15:50 what that life is like, 15:51 and our mandate, our mission, 15:55 you know, is to reach those people. 15:56 Do you see... 15:59 I see it over and over. 16:01 You know, our biological son, 16:04 I thought, after we got our adopted kids, 16:07 he was raised with a feeling 16:09 that he was the center of our world, 16:11 you know, he was just, he knew that. 16:15 When we got our adopted kids, 16:18 it took a lot of time, 16:20 they were conditioned to believe 16:22 that they were a nuisance. 16:25 They were conditioned to believe 16:26 that they were in the way 16:29 and that they were not worth anything. 16:31 And I've watched God 16:34 turn that completely around. 16:36 And, you know, the people that we minister to 16:38 week after week, 16:39 there are so many people 16:41 just like that... 16:42 Just like that. 16:43 Sitting in those audiences. Sitting in those audiences. 16:45 I think one of the enemy's greatest tools 16:47 he is the greatest distracter of you believing 16:50 that God loves you. 16:52 I think he just chips away 16:53 of that all of the time for just about everybody. 16:56 And a lot of people buy into it, 16:58 that they're not worth anything. 16:59 They're not worth anything. They're not good enough. 17:01 But God, He says, 17:03 He's no respecter of person, right? 17:04 So that means we're all His favorite. 17:08 I'm His favorite, you're His favorite. 17:09 And everybody watching us today are His favorite. 17:12 You know, I have found myself, 17:14 John, saying to our audiences so often, 17:18 it's really not about how good we are. 17:21 It's about how good God is. 17:23 Right. 17:24 You know, one of the things 17:25 that really getting a hold of God's grace 17:27 does is make you thankful. 17:28 Yes. 17:29 And one day you and I walked into a songwriting session. 17:33 And the first line usually in any songwriting session is, 17:36 does anybody have an idea? 17:38 That's right. 17:39 And so I said, "Well, I have this little idea 17:41 and I'll tell you, I don't know 17:42 if I've ever even shared this with you, 17:43 but I spoke the line. 17:45 If you woke up this morning, 17:47 and took another breath, give thanks." 17:49 And you just took that idea and you ran with it 17:52 in a much better way than I had in mind, 17:54 but I love the finished product that we came up with in. 17:56 You think we could... 17:58 I know we haven't rehearsed that... 18:00 Oh, for sure. 18:02 We have never even sung that together 18:04 or just anything, 18:05 but you think we could pull that off today 18:07 if we had a shot? 18:08 I'd love to give it a shot. Let's try it. 18:10 Don't try this at home. 18:12 Okay, this is unrehearsed and impromptu. 18:16 And we may never try this again. 18:17 And we may never do this again. 18:19 But this is a song John Darin and I wrote called Give Thanks. 18:22 We hope you enjoy it. 18:31 If you woke up this morning 18:33 And you took another breath 18:35 Give thanks Give thanks Give thanks 18:38 Oh, give thanks 18:39 If you saw another sunset 18:41 When you laid your head to rest Give thanks 18:44 Just give thanks 18:45 Give thanks Oh, give thanks 18:47 If there's food upon your table 18:49 You've got enough to eat 18:51 The style is not the greatest 18:53 But their shoes upon your feet 18:55 Give thanks Oh, give thanks 18:57 Oh, give thanks 18:59 Give thanks with a cheerful heart 19:01 Be grateful and rejoice 19:03 Get on your feet and testify 19:06 Make the joyful noise 19:07 This month they have its trouble 19:09 Its loneliness and pain 19:12 But let me tell you children 19:13 That I've learned in everything 19:15 Give thanks Oh, give thanks 19:17 Give thanks Come on. 19:20 In every situation In every circumstance 19:24 Give thanks Oh, give thanks 19:28 When you can't take another step 19:30 Just let your spirit dance 19:31 Give thanks Just give thanks 19:33 Oh, give thanks Oh, give thanks 19:35 When all your strength is gone 19:37 Defeat is knocking at your door 19:40 Go all and claim the victory 19:41 'Cause your hope is in the Lord 19:44 Give thanks Give thanks 19:45 Oh, give thanks 19:47 We'll give thanks with the cheerful heart 19:50 Be grateful and rejoice 19:52 Get on your feet and testify 19:54 Make a joyful noise 19:56 This month they have its trouble 19:58 Its loneliness and pain 20:00 But let me tell you children 20:02 That I've learned in everything 20:04 Give thanks Oh, give thanks 20:06 Give thanks 20:08 You know this love may have its trouble 20:10 Its loneliness and pain 20:12 But let me tell you children 20:14 That I've learned in everything 20:16 Give thanks Oh, give thanks 20:18 Give thanks 20:20 Just give thanks 20:30 I love that song, John, and thank you 20:32 for letting me be a part of that little song. 20:34 That's a great one. 20:36 Well, we've got to do that again. 20:37 Yeah, we do. 20:39 You have us a new song 20:41 that people are getting ready to hear 20:43 that is so powerful. 20:45 John, would you take just a minute or few minutes, 20:49 however much the Lord lead you. 20:51 And just talk to the folks 20:55 watching us today and share your heart 20:57 about this song? 20:59 Well, you know, I heard a statistic not long ago 21:01 that kind of blew my mind and it said that there were 21:06 over half a million runaways 21:08 in the United States every year. 21:11 It just, it really troubled me. 21:14 And my mind went back to the story in the Bible, 21:17 the prodigal son that we've heard 1000 times 21:19 I have grown up, 21:21 but the piece of that story 21:23 that I think touches my heart 21:24 the most is to think about that father, 21:27 who is looking down the road, 21:29 I just picture him in my mind wandering about his son 21:33 who decided to take his inheritance 21:35 and just go out and squander it. 21:37 And when his father had watched down the road, 21:40 I believe for him every day, 21:42 just wanting him to come home, 21:44 wanting to be able to put his arms around him 21:45 and hold him and let him know that he still loved him. 21:49 And I know there are a lot of parents like that. 21:51 But, you know, I think the thing that strikes me 21:54 the most is that wherever you are in your life, 21:58 the Lord is waiting with outstretched arms for you 22:01 because you may not even think of yourself as a runaway, 22:04 but if you have gone a direction 22:06 that is different than He has for you. 22:09 God has a plan for you today. 22:11 And His plan is greater than you can imagine. 22:14 And He is waiting with outstretched arms 22:16 loving you all the time. 22:18 Never giving up on you. 22:20 Never losing hope that you are going 22:23 to turn your face toward Him 22:26 and just become what He has planned for you 22:29 because He has a plan 22:31 that's greater than you can imagine. 22:33 And He's been watching down the road 22:35 for you to come home. 22:36 And, boy, today it would be a great day for you 22:39 to make that decision. 22:40 He is the Keeper of the Lost and Found. 22:59 He has a heart for lost 23:02 And troubled runaways 23:07 He has a place 23:09 Where comfort can be found 23:15 When friends are nowhere near you 23:19 There is one who hears you 23:23 He knows you cry 23:24 When no one is around 23:30 He sees you standing out there 23:34 In the darkness 23:38 He's heard your call for help 23:41 Out in the rain 23:46 He didn't come to scold you 23:50 He only wants to hold you 23:54 He's calling to you 23:56 Come in from the pain 24:01 He's the keeper 24:02 of the lost and found 24:09 Where wandering hearts can find a place 24:13 To settle down 24:17 And trade their tattered 24:18 Garments for a crown 24:24 He's the keeper of the lost 24:28 And found 24:36 It seems that you've been living 24:39 Miles away from home 24:44 And breaking every promise 24:47 That you've made 24:51 But child there's no outrunning 24:56 The boundaries of His loving 25:00 And where you are is not so far away 25:06 'Cause Jesus holds the key 25:09 To everything you're searching for 25:14 His eye's on you 25:17 Wherever you may roam 25:23 The door is always open 25:27 And you can come back knowing 25:31 That He will never ever 25:35 Let you go 25:38 He'll never let you go 25:41 He's the keeper 25:43 Of the lost and found 25:50 Where wandering hearts 25:51 Can find a place to settle down 25:57 And trade their tattered garments 26:01 For a crown 26:05 He's the keeper of the lost 26:08 And found 26:13 Hide me 26:17 Hide me 26:20 In the shelter 26:23 Of Your wings 26:29 Hide me 26:32 Hide me 26:37 You're the keeper 26:39 Of the lost and found 26:50 I'm glad You never leave us 26:52 and never forsake us but go with us all the way. 26:58 Hide me 27:02 Hide me 27:07 You're the keeper 27:11 Of the lost 27:13 And found 27:21 Yes, you are 27:33 If that song blessed your heart 27:35 half as much as it blessed mine, 27:36 you've been blessed today. 27:37 So, John Darin, tell us 27:39 how can people get in touch with you 27:41 and how can they get a hold of some of your product? 27:43 Well, the easiest way to get the project 27:45 Lift Him Up that Keeper of the Lost and Found is on 27:49 is just visit the Guardians website 27:50 is at theguardiansmusic.com 27:55 Thank you so much for being a guest today 27:58 and for being my friend. 27:59 Thank you for sharing your gifts with us. 28:00 It is a pleasure to get to be 28:02 here at Billy Blackwood and Friends. 28:04 I'm glad to be a friend. |
Revised 2021-05-06