Yep, that’s me in the Larry Boy t-shirt meeting one of my musical heroes, Steve Wiggins, lead singer of Big Tent Revival. This was 1999 in Shalimar, Florida, and it’s the one time (so far) that I got to see BTR in concert. Now, more than a decade after they stopped touring and recording, the band is getting back together to record an album, and they’re hoping to fund it via Kickstarter. I just became a backer, and I hope you will too.
It was The Beatles that made me want to be a Rock ‘N Roll musician, but it was Big Tent Revival that opened my eyes to the possibility of using my musical gifts and desires for Jesus Christ.
Like many BTR fans, I was first introduced to the band through their song Two Sets Of Jones’. For me this came in 1996 or so at a youth group meeting. However, it was their album Open All Nite that really opened my eyes to idea of marrying my love of Rock music with my desire to serve the Lord. I still remember sitting at the desk in my room listening to that CD for the first time and feeling it hit me. It was totally a God thing.
My brother and I had a couple of high school Rock bands and we played several BTR songs during that time period. I went on to be part of a little Christian Punk Rock band in college, had many opportunities to lead worship or participate in worship bands for multiple youth groups, church services, and college Christian ministries over the years, and still get to play with the worship team from time to time at my current church, Fellowship Bible Church, in Murfreesboro, TN.
Big Tent Revival has meant a lot to me over the years in my growth as a musician and my walk with Christ. I pledged $25 on their Kickstarter page (check it out here), and if they’ve meant something to you, I’d encourage you to contribute something as well.
In his testimony on his website, Kiel talks about how with success came an addiction to alcohol. After the death of a fellow actor, Kiel decided he had to quit so as not to die and leave his wife alone with their four children, but had difficulty. Says Kiel:
I had become a Christian when I was about nine years old, reconfirmed that commitment at a youth camp at age 12 and was baptized at the age of twenty-seven. As a “Christian” I couldn’t understand why I was addicted and bound to such a negative habit. Early one morning, I was watching a program on one of the Christian networks and learned that the Bible said that I could join together in prayer with other Christians and God could free me from that addiction. I prayed along with the guest on the program, and although nothing seemed to happen (there were no bells or flashing lights) I found that I had no more overwhelming desire for, and was no longer addicted to alcohol.
Kiel goes on to describe how he was offered a lot of money to be in a beer commercial and turned it down, and how that affected his life and career. He closes by saying:
Not only did God deliver me from the bondage of alcoholism, he also blessed my family financially because of my commitment to honor what he had done for me and for not doing what I believed could possibly be destructive to others.
