Christian musician Jason Lovins is here today only because his mother, sexually assaulted as a teen, decided to keep her baby despite becoming pregnant via the rape. Because of that decision, the world has been privileged to hear Jason and his band praising God on the road up to 40 weeks a year. His life, the influence of his grandmother, and his music...it's all in this episode.
The Dan Scott Show Podcast
Dan Scott Show, Radio Episode 94 (Jason Lovins)
The following program is a presentation of Grand Slam Ministries. Hi again everybody and welcome to yet another edition of the Dan Scott. This is our 94th episode together and I am so thankful to have you along with us no matter where you're listening our 39 I think over the air affiliates and our 8+ internet affiliates internationally, nationally, wherever you are, thank you for continuing to support what we do and just ask that you continue to share it and help us grow, help more people find out about these amazing stories that God keeps dropping into our lap on a weekly basis. For a small number of you stations or listeners at stations, this show this week is going to be a repeat but for the vast majority, this will be the first time that this show has aired and I'll explain that last year you recall we had a transition from our initial flagship station to the Life FM network as our flagship and there was a week between the two when one ended a week without a flagship and then the Life FM started in early November of last year so we're coming up on the one year anniversary of that. In that interim week we aired this interview that we're going to play today with Jason Lovins of the Jason Lovins band and under the circumstances considering the fact that we've got an election coming up and one of the hot button issues is abortion. I thought this would be a good time to bring Jason Lovins interview back and I'll explain why when we come back but first I want you to hear something about Grand Slam Ministries. Teenage boys and young men today are in crisis. Statistics show that a home without a father or male role model present is the single biggest indicator of poverty, behavior issues, drug and alcohol abuse, criminal activity and yes imprisonment. At Grand Slam Ministries, one of our core missions is developing a mentorship program to teach boys how to become strong Christian men and then teach those men to be the biblical husband's fathers and church and community leaders the Bible calls us to be. We need your prayers, we need your ideas and we need your support. Visit our website Grand Slam Ministries.org to find out more about our mentorship mission and prayerfully consider how you may be able to assist us. Again, that website is Grand Slam Ministries.org. Tell us on social media, search Grand Slam Ministries on Facebook and Grand Slam for God on Twitter and don't forget Dan's personal and public figure sites on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You're listening to the Dan Scott Show presented by Grand Slam Ministries. 594 of the Dan Scott Show. Good to have you with us. Thank you for tuning in and as I normally do it this time, just remind you about Danscottshow.org, the jumping off point for everything that we do. You can go there, get to the affiliates and archives page, find out where the show is airing live on Saturday or Sunday. Find out some information about the new sports only show that's exclusive to the upstate of South Carolina and Western North Carolina and anything that you have missed from either of those programs. You have a chance to catch on the archives. Our bio is there, Grand Slam Ministries.org is a page there. So go check it out and we would love to hear from you. Want all the feedback that we can get? The email address is Dan@Danscottshow.org, Dan@Danscottshow.org. So drop us a line or use your phone, record a voice memo and send it to us. Keep it to between 30 and 60 seconds and we'll play some of those in a future program. As I mentioned, bringing back the Jason Lovin's interview for this week and I'm doing it for a couple of reasons. Number one, as I mentioned because of the way the show affiliates have grown, the vast majority of our affiliates have never heard this interview. So I thought it would be a great time to bring it back and for those of you who have heard it, enjoy it again because Jason's story is one that is quite amazing. And I mentioned with abortion being a hot topic, Jason Lovin's would not be here if his teenage mother had chosen to have an abortion and what makes it even more amazing is that she was sexually assaulted, raped in effect. And that's how she became pregnant, chose to keep the baby. And the baby is now a grown man. He has this incredible music ministry and I'm telling you when he shares his testimony on stage, it is something to behold. I got to know Jason back in 2023 when he was the music provider for the Rick Gage Go Tell America crusade that came into our area here in South Carolina and we set up the interview then. And it's just a phenomenal story and he's a heck of a musician as well. So the interview is what's coming up with Jason Lovins and we began by talking about the fact that God has Jason and his band very, very busy. The past several years, we've averaged about 40 weeks a year on the road and mostly weekends, you know, I always tell people that our wives still know us and like us for the most part. So we're home a good bit, but we do go out on a lot of weekends and we've been very blessed to get to do what we do. It's kind of like being a broadcaster because that's what I do. I work mostly weekends until baseball season comes and then it's every day, but there are some points in time where my wife is happy to see me go out on the road for the weekend. So I'm sure you get that a little bit too. Oh, if I'm home for a couple of weeks, she's like, now, when do you go back out again? When did you fall in love with music? Oh, man, I don't know that I remember a time where I didn't. My grandma had a little gospel group and they traveled all around, you know, mostly regionally, but it was like we were in church every night and to give you perspective, my mom actually played bass guitar in that gospel group and my mom's water broke with me while they were in a church service one night singing. I actually have, right behind me, I have that bass guitar that my mom was playing that night, but so I don't ever remember not being around music and I don't remember the time when I didn't love it. I can remember being a little tiny kid sitting on the front row of the church just waiting and hoping my grandma would call me up to sing with their group. And I remember being so little, they would put me up on the pulpit or anywhere, any kind of podium so everybody could see me. So I don't remember a time that I didn't, to be honest with you, which I never think about that until you asked me that. So that's kind of a cool thing. Tell me that your mom finished the set, even after a water broke, she still finished the song. No, my grandma told me she stopped the song and said her water is breaking, we're going to the hospital. So they just left. Well, as we say in the broadcast industry, bigger name on the other line, there was something more important that was literally coming down the bike. And when you hear my story, I think you'll see too that there was a lot of, I think everyone was on edge as is. And so when it was time for me to come, it was kind of like all hands on deck, like let's go do this. Right. And that's the main reason that we've got you on the show. We're going to talk a lot about your music and what you do and want people to get to know the Jason Lovins band, but Jason Lovins would not be here, had his mother decided not to have an abortion and more and more importantly, decided not to have an abortion after being sexually assaulted when she was 15 years old and not knowing who the father was. And in the Christian world, it's a difficult thing to stand up and say that you're against abortion of any kind for any reason and people will throw out, well, what about just this kind of thing? And yet here you are, here you are, Jason, a living shining example that what somebody meant for evil, God meant for good. Yeah. And you do. You hear that a lot and I don't ever really get into any debate about it because I don't have to because I just say, well, let me tell you about my life. And, and then it allows people to see a real life example and it just can change the story real quick. Well, let's let's let's go ahead and hop in hop into the story. I mean, your mom was 15 years old, right? She was she was 15 walking home from the pool one day and and she doesn't remember it. And I remember when they explained that to me as a kid trying to process like, well, I understand this was a really terrible tragic thing like, how do you not remember that, you know, and, and I've had a lot of people tell me that when something and so traumatic like that happens that your mind can, can block it out and, and that's what happened. My mom just didn't remember it. And, and my mom would tell you she was very naive for 15s, so she didn't understand anything about babies. She didn't know what was happening. And my grandma always said, you know, she had four other kids. She was chasing around and, and she said, your mom was my good kid. And she said, I, I just missed it. And, and so finally one day my, my mom told my grandma, I'm sick. I need to go to the doctor and, and my grandma said, yeah, she's gang way. We, we noticed that we should take her to the doctor and see what the doctor says. And, and so they did it and, and the doctor come out and say, well, she's pregnant. And I always tell people the best way I know to explain it is after the initial shock war off, my grandma said, Hey, we're going to go to church and we're going to pray. And that's what they did. And, and, you know, if you were to have heard her tell the story, she made a sound just so simple. And I understand that it couldn't have been that easy, but I just tell people my grandma, she got it. She understood that God is so big that he was not surprised by me. And these things that we read in the Bible, that he formed me in my mother's womb, that he had plans for me, she believed it. And there was nothing that was going to shake that. And, and so it immediately went to, okay, we've got to really make some choices here. And, and my grandma told me, she said she had a lot of Christian people telling her. Now, Miss Lovins, in the case of rape, you know, nobody would be upset with you if you allowed your 15 year old daughter to have an abortion. You don't know what that baby's going to be. Like, I mean, all the things that you would hear the world say, and that even, you know, Christian people were telling her because, you know, we just, it is so hard for us to wrap our head around that and, and I understand it is hard. And, but I just tell people, I am so thankful that I had a praying mom all who wasn't listening to the world, you know, and she was listening to the one who created the world. And it was that simple for her. And so adoption became the next conversation. That was the plan. And you know, I've been lucky enough all these years to travel around and partner with a lot of local pregnancy care centers that are faith based and just doing an incredible work. And, and those have become near and dear to my heart. And, and my mom and my grandma didn't have anything like that. And thankfully, I just tell people, you know, man, the Lord knew that, that my mom had a mom who was walking so close to the Lord that she said, even in this dark valley we're in. I know that God is there, that he's constant, that he doesn't change and we're going to say, God, you're so great and you have given us this blessing and, and, and the plan was to bless somebody else. That was the whole plan. And so adoption was the deal and I even know who my adopted family was going to be. I mean, my grandma had a younger brother. My grandma had 13 brothers and sisters and my grandpa had 12 so big families. But my grandma had a younger brother, him and his wife couldn't have kids and, and I later found it out years later that, and I'm still very close to them, but they, they were planning on taking me. That was the plan. And then when my mom heard my heartbeat, it changed everything. And you hear all these pregnancy care centers that talk about how, you know, how important these ultrasound machines are and, and the ones that can't afford them, how they wish they could and, and that's partly what we do with our nonprofit ministry, Jason Lovins Ministries is where we're going to really dive in and try to help raise some money to, to help them do that, but because it's so important, because literally the statistics are staggering when the mother hears the heartbeat, it changes everything. And, and so when my mom heard my heartbeat, you know, thankfully she wasn't abortion minded, but adoption was the plan until that. And she told my grandma, Hey, I want to keep this baby. And I always tell people, I know that my 15 year old mama had no idea what she was getting into, but my grandma did and she said, Okay, if that's what you want to do, that's what we're going to do. And so they chose to keep me and my mom had me at 15 and turned 16 a couple months later. So she's 16 years older than I am, but that's the story, man, that's how it got started. And there's several things we could go from there, but, but that's the, that's the beginning. Yeah, and, and we probably are going to head down some of those rabbit trails. So I want to kind of put this in context here. So, so you were born in what year? 81. So you were born in 1981. So we're talking about still quite a different era than we're living in now. And you're also from the same region of the country that I'm from, the, the, the Appalachian region. Yeah, I can't remember. Are you the one of the guys that's from the Sarita Canova area or are you from Ashland? Yeah, I live in Ashland, but I'm from Canova. So you're, so you're from Canova and, and I'm from Williamson. So I played a lot of a plot, a lot of American Legion baseball, uh, in and against, uh, the CK Legion team back in the day. So, so we're talking about a region of the country and a still a timeframe in, in the late 70s and early 80s where there was a stigma for a young teenage girl being pregnant. What about whether it was through rape or not just being pregnant overall, there would have been a stigma attached to that that would have made her life very, very difficult. I'm guessing going to school with her friends, church, whatever the case may have been. Yeah. And, and honestly, like I, I don't know a lot of those stories. Um, what I do know is I ended up going to the same high school that my mom went to and I had teachers that had my mom and there are teachers that told me stories of like they, this was way before there was daycare at the high school, you know, um, but they have told stories of how I just talked to one the other day, Miss Han, she, she said she remembers holding me as a, as a newborn. I guess during class so my mom, they would let my mom bring me to class. I mean, I can't even imagine that. So I think she had a community that, that really kind of rallied around. I, I assume be open with, I, you know, I don't really know to be honest with you. But I would have said, I know there was such a support system. Um, I mean, I had teachers that told me stories about having baby showers for my mom. And so there was a pretty incredible support system around them. And I would guess, um, they probably protected my mom from a lot of that, you know, um, but that just, that just shows in, in hearing that to me, that just shows that God had that hedge of protection around her from the very beginning. Yeah, I really believe so. But I mean, you can imagine what the world will say and, you know, I mean, I tell people the world is so loud nowadays, but even then, I mean, I, I, like I said, my grandma told me multiple times that, you know, she had people pull her aside and say, Hey, I mean, what are you doing here? You know, you're going to ruin this girl's life. And, and all the things that the world would say. And I, you know, I'm just thankful that my grandma was strong enough to say, no, no, this is, this is not how it's going to be sounds to me like your grandma was one tough cookie. Oh man, she, listen, you know, we're done low West Virginia is Wayne County, West Virginia. That's where she's drunk, man. That's my people. You don't, you don't survive in that area and not be strong. That's right. A lot, a lot of those areas in, in Appalachia were visiting with Jason Lovins on this week's edition of the Dan Scott show talking about his story and, and just the, the incredible way that God had ordained his life from the very beginning. And it's, it's marvelous to, to be able to sit and talk now. And I first met Jason back in late April, early May, this year when the band was playing at the Rick Gage crusade here in Liberty, South Carolina, and I was on the publicity team for that crusade. That's how we got engaged and just blown away by the music, by the power of the worship music they were putting together and, and then heard the story. And I had to tell you, man, there are a bunch of stories that came out of that crusade from, from team members. I've had Adrian Dupre on the show. I've had, I've had Rick himself on the show. I mean, you want just to talk about a collection of, of people that God has done amazing things and their lives, there were several of them just inside that crusade. Yeah, very cool, very cool. So I was reading in your, your bio and one of the stories that was done on you that your first memory was your mother's high school graduation and it happened to be your third, you happened to be your third birthday. Yeah, I had, I found a picture years ago and, and I, I remember thinking like, wait a minute, I remember this day because I remember the black and white hats flying in the air. And like I said, I ended up going to that high school and we had a new gym at the time, but in the old gym where they had the graduation, there was a big be up on the stage and I vividly remember that and, and you know, the picture, the date was printed on the back and it was my third birthday and I had to like, I kept, you know, you, you keep doing the math and it's like, wait a minute, that really was my third birthday. And so I always tell people my earliest childhood memory is my mom's high school graduation. That's pretty cool. So you got your love of music from your grandmother, from your mom, how old were you when you actually started playing an instrument and, and started actively participating in some of the things that would lead you into where you are now? Yeah, that's a great question. Um, again, I, I don't remember ever not singing. Um, and I mean, as long as I could remember, they would get me up and sing with my grandma and, and you know, we'd have a few of our songs that we would do every time and, and, and then I got interested in playing the guitar and I guess probably in middle school. And I remember thinking, man, how cool to be to play guitar for my grandma because she was an incredible singer. Um, I mean, she could walk into a room and, and just own it, you know, and I always tell people, like, if I knew what I knew now, I could have made my grandma the most famous gospel music singer on the planet because she had, you know, she absolutely just had it. Um, and, uh, and so, you know, that's when I started learning to play the guitar and, um, there was a man in her group named Tom Perry and Tom had this super cool, just old Washburn 12 string guitar that, that I just dreamed of playing, you know, and, and my grandma ended up buying that guitar from him for me and, and, um, and so in high school, I started singing with her group and playing for her and, and, and that's really when it all kind of started. Well, talk more about your musical journey in a bit, but one, one story that I haven't heard is your faith journey because you obviously grew up in a Christian influence, but we know God doesn't have grandchildren. God only has children. So, you know, I'm, I'm a preacher son, but I had to, I had to come to, to faith on my own and it took a while, trust me, but what, what was your faith journey like? You obviously grew up around it as we've been discussing, but, but when, when did you give your life to Christ and, and what were the circumstances? Yeah, I actually was telling the church we were up in Buck, Canada, West Virginia this past weekend and, and I was telling the church this story, um, it was, I was eight years old and we were at a church camp in Kentucky, um, and, um, and I can literally take you to the tree where it happened. Really? We were, we were just there, um, I don't know, probably seven or eight years ago. And I literally walked my band mates right to the tree where it happened. Um, I remember it just so plainly and, and yeah, so we were in our, uh, I think it was kind of middle of the week, um, I can't even tell you the date. I just know I was eight years old, but it was in the middle of the week and, um, our cabin leader, uh, you know, we would have a cabin leader that would stay in our cabin with us and, and, um, at the end of the night, just, um, I guess we were having a little Bible study. I don't really remember other than he made a comment and said, hey, if you guys, um, feel led to get say, you don't even know how he said it, but he opened an invitation and, uh, he walked me right outside and, and we, uh, he led me to the Lord right there in that tree by that tree and, and, uh, and I remember just my grandma and my mom, um, came to pick me up at the end of the week and I guess it was probably my first big time to ever be away from my family, you know, um, and, uh, I remember just running to him and telling him I got saved and, and we ended up, I got baptized in a creek up a hauler, um, and that following weekend and, uh, I can remember, uh, I, I would, I would give just about everything I owned to have a video of this, but the creek bed, you know, was that, you know, we had to kind of crawl down into the creek bed where, where they would baptize and, and kind of up on the, up on the hill up on the top of the bank, I can remember my grandma, just shouting and praising the Lord, uh, when I came out of the water, you know, man, I would, I'd give just about anything to have a video of that, but, um, but yeah, so that's kind of how it started for me. So, you know, I, I do tell people like I'm almost ashamed to tell you that I've been a Christian since I was eight years old only because I, I just still feel like such a baby in my faith, you know, I mean, do you ever get to where you want to be? But you know what I mean? So, um, it, that started the whole journey for me and, and, and, um, and so by the time I got in the ninth grade, um, well, I'll tell you this, I, I don't get to tell this often. Um, so my mom, um, you know, of course, when I was born, we live with my, with my grandparents. I mean, that was what you did. And, and, uh, and so what my mom got out of high school, she actually ended up having this really bad motorcycle accident. Um, I never tell this from the stage because it just gets too deep, too heavy, too quick and people just start crying and, and they think like, oh goodness, where is this going to go? And because it is sad, but, but there's so many beautiful things that came out of this, but, um, yeah, my mom was literally on a motorcycle and riding up our hauler. And, uh, and I would assume most people from where y'all from in your listening area know what a hauler is, but if not, just call your friends. Um, but I, uh, she was on a bike and another motorcycle came around the corner and they hit head on and, uh, she had just to this awful wreck and, um, she was literally in a wheelchair for like six months. Um, it was, I can remember her having this big long cast on one, on one leg, being in a wheelchair and, and, um, so after that, she ended up moving up to Charleston, West Virginia, which is about an hour away from us and, um, going to the rehabilitation center. She like went through this like extensive physical therapy and, um, and ended, you know, happened to learn to walk again and all this and that. And, and they ended up like, uh, she started college classes up there. And, and so, you know, essentially my mom went away to college. And I ended up staying with my grandparents and started kindergarten there. And then in the first grade, um, I remember my grandma set me down telling me, uh, your mom, you know, she's got an apartment. She's got a job, um, and it's time to go live with your mom. And I remember thinking that's a crazy idea. I don't want to do that. You know, I mean, this is my home and, but she just told me and, and I, I remember it so clearly that she said, you know, you're, you're, you're, your mom's and you got to go live with her, um, and, uh, so I can't even imagine the sacrifice my grandma felt like to, to send me off, you know, um, and cause we did have a special bond, but anyway, so I moved up there and my mom and I would come home every weekend. I would spend all the holidays, um, at my grandparents, all the summers. I mean, every chance I got, I was at my grandparents and, and, uh, and my, my, my grandparents would come see me all the time. I mean, so we were still very close, you know, um, but that was how it went. So I lived away, um, and then my mom ended up working for the USDA. She had a great job. I mean, she really did, uh, you know, she just, she was successful. And I'm very proud of that because, you know, she had every reason not to be and she, she wouldn't go let it happen that way. And, um, and so, um, in the ninth grade, her job, uh, she got transferred and we had to move up to Columbus, Ohio. And I did for a little while and I just hated it. I begged her to let me move back with my grandparents and she did. So in the ninth grade, I moved back to my grandparents and, and finished high school there. And my mom ended up moving back my junior year, um, and she moved in with us and, and, uh, we ended up helping take care of my great grandma who lived with us as well. But so anyway, all that to say in the ninth grade is when it changed for me big time. Um, I got invited to the big Babish church in town. They had a big youth group because my little church, we, you know, the youth group was me and my cousins, you know, I mean, and, uh, I got invited to the big Babish church in town and, and they had this huge youth group and, and they were having this Bible studies on Wednesday nights and it just changed my life. And, and then they had a praise band, a youth group on Sunday nights. I had never seen that before. I didn't know you could have drums in the church. I mean, nobody told me, you know, I mean, that wasn't the kind of, my grandma, they was like a little country gospel group, you know, and, and so I'd never seen this. I'd never heard praise and worship music. And, uh, and so that just sent me on a whole new journey and, uh, to really dig deeper into the Bible and, and learn so much that way. And, um, and then I always tell people this, you know, the, the craziest thing happened in the ninth grade. Um, this guy comes in, surprises the youth group, everyone's so excited. I had no idea who it was. I'm literally the only person in the room that doesn't know this guy. And, and I realized real quick, like I'm, I'm the odd man out for this and it was Michael W. Smith. He's from town. He's from that church and I had no idea who he was. And so that started a whole new journey of learning about all this new Christian music that I had never heard before and, and it just sent me and I mean, just rocked my world. And, um, and so that really set me on a path, um, to where all of a sudden I get in college and we start this band. So visiting with Jason Lovins of the aptly named Jason Lovins band. Actually I, I call this the dance got show that way I don't forget the name. So, so yeah, you know, that's why you call it the Jason Lovins band or not. I was reading too that you never really shared your, your testimony and the story about your mom until you were in college and playing at a church one night and, and the Lord just led you kind of unexpectedly to share that testimony for the first time. Yeah, it's true. I, I remember lying to people telling them my dad lived in California because I was good enough at geography to know that was far away. And I thought it's just easier to do that because I didn't want people to feel sorry for me because even at a young age, I knew I had it good. I always tell people, my wife tells me I was very spoiled and I don't agree with that, she thinks I was. But I had it so good and I was so loved and, and even as a kid, you know, when people would hear that story, the automatically the response was like, Oh my goodness, and you poor kid, you know, you must have just had it so hard and, and I didn't, I didn't experience that. And so I just was like, I just thought it was easier to do that. And so I would tell people if they asked, but it just wasn't something I ever talked about. And, and so when I started the band, we were in front of a little tiny church in the Easter Kentucky one night. And I tell, I tell people this, I, I can't even remember the pastor's name. And I can't even remember his face. But I vividly remember him coming to me and telling me, you got to promise me you'll keep sharing that story because that was the first night I had ever shared it. And he said, I don't think you understand what God's going to do with your life, but you got to promise me you'll keep sharing it. And, and I have and, and I've seen so many stories and, and, and that's the beauty of it. I didn't, I didn't have anything to do with it. I missed the hard part, you know. And so it's easier for me to talk about it and, and, and God's really used it. And, and honestly, I mean, I think because I was willing to share it, he's put us on a lot of platforms that this hillbilly kid probably had no business being. I mean, we've done Billy Graham Crusades and I mean, just crazy things that you just would dream of doing. And I know that, that, that a lot of people know my name because of that and God's made a way to do that. And I'm, I'm so thankful for it. But see what the key here is you being obedient and faithful to do what, to do what he's called you to do. And, and he's blessed your ministry. Absolutely. I, I remember I could take you to the day when I had the moment when I said this is it, I will say yes to every opportunity I can to have this moment. I will chase this moment the rest of my life and, and we were at a camp leading worship for a bunch of kids and, and I got to share my story and I saw the response and, and that's when I knew like, okay, this is, this is it. And that was a little over 20 years ago. The, the group that makes up the band now, how long, how long has this group been together? Because I know as, as we were talking before, we got rolling here really well that it's changed up a little bit, but how long has this current group been together? So I'll tell you, cause a lot of people don't know, um, the original band in college, we met at our local, um, Baptist student union. It was the biggest like Christian organization on campus at Morehead State University in eastern Kentucky. Um, and we were just a bunch of guys that went to college there that just, man, we just loved the Lord, didn't really know, loved music, didn't really know what this was gonna look like. And, you know, worship bands, that was kind of a new thing, you know, and, and, um, so we met every day at four o'clock at, at, at the BSU, um, and we were practicing writing songs, just learning each other and learning to be a band and, and that original band, it was so cool that it really kind of had like three lead singers and we would all switch back and forth and sing harmonies and, um, just, it was so cool. And, uh, and so we got our first booking and we're trying to like dream up, like, what does this look like and, and, uh, the secretary said, well, I've been calling you guys the four o'clock band for like three months now, cause we didn't have a band name and we're like, that's perfect, we're going to be the four o'clock band. And, uh, and so that's how it started. And then, uh, we did that first big camp and we started getting invited all over the country because these camps, they were called fugue camps and, and we were in front of hundreds of churches that summer. So they all started asking like, Hey, can you come do our event in September? And I just started booking stuff. I didn't even know how we were going to get there. We didn't have anything, but we didn't have a van. I mean, we had nothing. I had my 2002 Honda Accord, you know, and, and, uh, I just started booking stuff and, and so that summer we came home and we had all these bookings and we didn't know how we were going to make it happen. But, um, that was the fall of 2002 and our base player, he couldn't go. And there was another kid named Jose, so we invited him to go. He's from Venezuela. And he said, Hey, I have a friend named Rodney. He's a piano player. He's very good. Uh, he's also from Venezuela. Um, do you want him to go? And we said, sure, bring him. And so Rodney and Jose got in the van with us. We rented a van and, um, and never looked back and, and Rodney is still in the band. Jose just left the band a couple of years ago. Uh, he came off the road to be with his family more and, and, uh, and so Rodney is still in the band. He's been going on over 20 years. And, um, and so that's when it started to become the Jason Lovins band because we weren't really the four o'clock band anymore and people were calling us Jason Lovins and then people were calling us Jason Lovins band and, and it just kind of stuck. And, um, and so Rodney's been the longest. And then, um, our sound guy, Chris music is his name. He started off as my guitar player and then about a year later went to sound and has been with us ever since doing that and he's been with me over 10 years. The next one would be Aaron Crozier. He's our drummer and he's been with me going on over six years now and he's from Kentucky. And then, um, the newest one is Jonathan Nicholson. He is our bass player. He took over for Jose, um, he's much younger than we are and he, uh, grew up in our home church and, and, uh, and so he's been going with us, um, a little over two years now, I believe. So you can make him carry all the equipment and load everything up and, yeah, he does a lot for us. That's fantastic. Uh, I, I, you know, again, um, I have to tell people they need to go to your website and need to find out where you're going to be and, and find out how they can get copies of, of what you guys do because the music is phenomenal. As we're coming down the stretch here, I want to ask you about one song in particular because you've told your story, you've shared your testimony here on this show. You've shared it. I'm sure in hundreds and maybe thousands of places now, but you'd never shared it through music and through a video until about a year ago when the song constant came out. How, how, how did all that come about and why, why then? Yeah. So, um, for years I've been trying to find something that would work, um, to do a video to kind of really tie it all in and, and nothing just ever felt right. And a friend of mine named Israel Crawford, he hosted a video, um, he's a worship pastor in, in, uh, Tennessee. He posted a video at his piano just singing this song and I immediately sent him a message and I said, Oh my goodness, uh, that's it. That's the song I've been trying to sing for a long time. I said, it's perfect. And he said, man, take it, do what you want to do with it. And, and so we did, we made it our own and, and, and we started dreaming up. I mean, the song is just so simple, but it just talks about those mountaintops, the valleys, how God is constant. He's the same. He does not change and, and God, you're so great either way and, and, um, and so the song was actually done and Rodney, who produces all of our stuff, he and I, we're going back and forth between a little melody line and, and I wanted to do it one way. He wanted the other and, and so we sent it to a few friends of ours and, and Russ Lee, who's the lead singer of new song, who's been a friend a long time. He's one of the best singers on the planet, um, I sent it to him. And again, the song was done. I sent it to him and I said, Hey, what do you think about this? And he said, well, I love it, but you should really go up an octave on the second verse. And I said, well, I can't do that. I need you to do that. And he said, well, okay, I will. And I thought, whoa, wait a minute. I, I wasn't really, I was kind of joking, but, um, let's do this. And so we went back in the studio and had Russ record his vocals. And then that's when it morphed into like, okay, we're really going to do something big here. And, um, a friend of ours named Kaden Tully, who did our video, he actually is on tour full time now and he works full time for, uh, for King Country. He does all their social media and videos and he's phenomenal and he's from here in our area. And, uh, so he dreamed up this concept and I thought this is it. This is, this is how we're going to do this. And it just turned out so good and we're so proud of it. And, um, and my wife and I, we never could have kids, but we have some kids that we just know and love. And, and the girl that's in that video is, is my God daughter. She, her name's Alexis and, um, we've just, you know, about half raised her whole life and she was a, uh, just graduated, I believe about to graduate or just graduate high school when we did that video. And I didn't know if she would even, if she could do it. I said, Hey, I don't know if you could pull this off, but you want to play with my mom in a video and she did and just did a great job. And so we're very proud of how that turned out and, and, um, just the Lord's really used it. So we're very thankful. It's amazing. I watched it a little earlier and it is a powerful, powerful piece of video to go along with the music. Jason, as we get ready to, to wrap this up, um, obviously God's got you doing what you're intended to do. You've got bookings and you're going to be on the road. You're going to be blessing people with your music and sharing, sharing your story and, uh, doesn't seem to be any, any end in sight to it right now, but what, what's the overarching message that you want people to get out of who you are and what you do and everything that, that your story encapsulates. What, what's the, what's the overarching message or theme that you want people to get out of who Jason Lovins is? Man, that's, that's a great question. Um, you know, we, we have this song called, I want to be known that, that my cousin and I wrote about my grandma and, um, you know, obviously she was a huge influence on my life. I mean, I literally talked to her every day, um, if she was still living, she would get on that bus and go with us anytime she could. I mean, she used, um, before our bus, I mean, and before her health started to decline, I mean, she would get in a van and go and work our merch table for us. I mean, I've got pictures of her, uh, working my merch table before she got bad. And she started getting early stages of dementia and, um, she never got real bad, uh, thankfully before she passed. But, um, we sang this song at her funeral and, um, and it, you couldn't have a conversation with my grandma for more than seconds and somehow she would find a way to point you to Jesus. I mean, it's just like anything and everything she did, um, would point to Jesus. And I'm not saying I've done a pretty good job of that, but, but that's really the goal. I mean, I want people to look at this ministry, this band and, and, you know, um, the one thing that we get compliments on a lot is, is somehow we find a way to, um, to really reach all ages and, um, and so that's been my biggest thing. I mean, you know, you hear people will say things that you just can't believe, but you're thankful for that you guys are really a band for the church and, and, you know, um, so when we go in, I mean, anything and everything we do, I mean, we just want to point me to Jesus. I mean, it's, it sounds so super spiritual, but also so simple, but it's really just the truth. I mean, I want people to say what my time on this earth was done, that man, it just seemed like anything and everything he did, uh, pointed to the Lord and, and, um, and that's my heart. You know, I mean, um, I gave up a long time ago on trying to be a super famous rock star, you know, um, and, uh, so whatever setting we're in, whether it's a big crusade or a little tiny church up a holler, I mean, we, we, we literally take the same approach. Um, we're going to try to facilitate a worship experience and, and hopefully point people to Jesus to when they walk out, they feel like they had a, they had an encounter, you know, and, and, um, and music, um, you know, it's pretty neat that it can do that. Um, and the Lord uses that and, and we're just thankful that he uses us through our music. And so, um, man, just so thankful. I really am. And you know, um, you said it, but, um, just being faithful, um, if there's ever anything I've done well, I, I've just said yes and I went even when it didn't, didn't make sense. And I could tell you a thousand stories of how the Lord has used that. And, and so, um, you know, that's the thing, man, just, just thankful and I've been faithful and it's been an incredible journey. And you know, we do, we feel like we're just getting started, which is just crazy, you know, cause I'm not getting a younger, you know, well, the fact is none of us are getting any younger, but I was talking to a pastor friend of mine this week and it's especially true for preachers and pastors, but I think in some sense it's true for any of us who are Christians, number one, and Christians with a ministry of some kind, number two, the Bible does not, as far as I can tell, have the word retirement in it. And so I expect that we're going to hear much, much more about Jason Lovins and his band in the years to come. The website, if you want to find out more about them, Jason Lovins, L-O-V-I-N-S.com, Jason Lovins.com and you can also find his public figure page on Facebook. He's very active there, so go check it out, check out some of his music. We'll be back to put a wrap on this week's show in just a moment. Here at Grand Slam Ministries, our goal is to share the love of Jesus Christ through multiple platforms. While at the same time executing our core missions of mentorship and helping children in need, the primary way we can effectively do all of those things is through the Dan Scott Show, our weekly Christian radio show that airs in multiple markets around the nation and the world. We are asking you to partner with us to not only sustain what we are currently doing, but to grow both our on-air, online presence, and our ability to fund those core missions. Can you spare as little as $25 per month? How about $10 per month? If we can get 200 partners to join us at each of those small, sustainable levels, we can begin to accomplish everything we believe God has called us to do. So can you help us today with a donation of either $25 or $10 per month? Please go to www.grand slamministries.org for your donation to get more information or to ask questions that's www.grand slamministries.org and thank you for supporting the Dan Scott Show and Grand Slam Ministries. Like what you hear, have a question or comment, maybe a guest suggestion. Drop us an email and let us know. Dan at www.danscottshow.org and now back to the Dan Scott Show presented by Grand Slam Ministries. Back to wrap up this week's Dan Scott Show episode 94. Thanks again to Jason Lovins for his time. And I suspect that we will hear from him again on this show before too much longer with a maybe a brand new conversation or at least a part of a new conversation anyway. And again, his website, Jason Lovins.com and you can find his public figure page on Facebook. As we get into wrap up mode, I just want to take a moment to do something that I don't normally do. I try not to go too hard sell when it comes to donating to Grand Slam Ministries and help us do what we're doing here. But we are at a place where I think everybody finds themselves, where they're operating by faith and God has been faithful. He has met every single need that we have had and I firmly believe he's going to continue to do so. But my prayer, if I'm being as transparent as I can be, is that this thing takes off to the point that I can do it full time, that I can give up the sports broadcasting and I can devote all of my time and energy into what I know is God's purpose for my life. And I may have mentioned this some time ago, a little bit of a guilty feeling that came over me sometime back because I know this is what God has planned for me. I know it's his purpose. He knocked down the doors for it to happen. If that's the case, why am I doing it? I won't say as a hobby, but why am I not putting my full energy into it? Well, the main reason for that is that I have to support my family and that's what the real job does. So our goal eventually is to get this where the ministry is full time. The radio show working on those core missions of mentorship and helping children, things that we're doing in bits and pieces along the way. But what we're hoping to do on a full time basis, I'm just going to ask you to prayerfully consider making a one time or a monthly gift to Grand Slam Ministries. You can go to the page, danscotchow.org or grandslamministries.org. And there's a donate tab there and it'll give you options to do some pre-selected amounts on a one time or monthly basis or you can enter your own amount. Or if you want to do it the old fashioned way, you can send a check to Grand Slam Ministries PO Box 35 Central South Carolina 29630. But prayerfully consider if the Lord would have you come alongside us and help us out. And let's see if we can't take what we're doing here and blow it out of the water. God's going to get it where He wants it to go and you know me, I'm trying not to get ahead of Him, but I'm just prayerfully asking you to consider if you could help us here at Grand Slam Ministries. Thank you for joining in, we'll talk to you again next week. . . (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]