By Mallory Mattingly
The first time Grammy-nominated artist Tauren Wells stepped into a church, he was thinking about street hockey.
“I remember the first time I walked into a little Pentecostal church in Battle Creek, Michigan. The carpet, chairs, and pews were green. There was a big wooden desk in the center of the stage. There was a preacher up there preaching. I don’t remember what he was saying, but I remember he was mad about it,” Wells told CBN News in an interview.
Though Wells’ Sundays were usually filled with street hockey, everything changed following his parents’ divorce when his dad came home one evening and said, “‘Ren, we’re going to church.’ I said, ‘Sir, we are going to church?’ This did not fit into our family culture. I grew up in one of those houses where you weren’t married if you weren’t fighting.”
When Wells and his father stepped into the church, they experienced the love of God for the very first time. Wells was saved at that very first worship service and would later attend a church summer camp, which led him to pick up a hymnal and sing, “Sing Unto The Lord.”
Related: Tauren Wells Explores Depth of God’s Love in ‘Crazy About You’
“O, I want to see Him. Look upon His face. Let us sing forever of His saving grace. On the streets of glory, let me lift my voice,” Wells recalled singing.
“I don’t know what it was about the era – maybe the depression – because every song was get me up out of here, singing ‘I’ll fly away, O glory. Morning when I die,'” he remembered.
Wells later joined a local youth group and recalled “You knew you were having church when the worship leader went, ‘When I think about the Lord, how He saved me, how He raised me, how He filled me with the Holy Ghost, how He healed me to the uttermost.”
Today, Wells has several No. 1 hits, including “Hills and Valleys,” “Joy In The Morning,” “Citizen of Heaven,” “Known” and more.
He also shares about his faith on his social media and leads Church of Whitestone with his with his wife, Lorna.
In one Instagram post, he wrote, “New week. New mercies. Same faithful God. Whatever you’re walking into today, He can shift it in a moment. The weight you’re carrying? He can turn it into peace. The fear in your mind? Into faith.”
“Don’t just start your week — step into it with expectation. Because when Jesus steps in…everything changes,” he added.
If it weren’t for Wells’ father taking him to church one Sunday morning, the now beloved Christian singer and leader’s life probably would’ve looked quite different. Praise God for how He works in each of our lives!
Read Next: Tauren Wells Reflects on God’s Guidance: ‘We Need His Voice’
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1Share:
– Content: +1