BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“I was very bold about the Lord,” Cathy remembers. “I talked to Jesse about God all the time, but he wasn’t interested. I witnessed to the whole band. “I knew more every day that Jesse was in over his head where drugs were concerned. Even as a new believer, I understood that his only hope was Jesus. For the next year and a half, I prayed daily for Jesse’s salvation.” On Sept. 4, 1974, Jesse was preparing for a show in Boston. While he got dressed, Cathy turned on the television to a Billy Graham crusade. “Why don’t you watch this program?” Cathy asked. “I don’t want to hear Billy Graham!” Jesse said. Then the Holy Spirit spoke through Cathy to say the only thing guaranteed to get Jesse’s attention. “Well,” she said, “he pulls a bigger crowd than you do.” Jesse stopped, and stared at the television screen. “Look at that,” Cathy said as the camera panned the audience. “You don’t fill stadiums like that.” Jesse sat down to hear what someone had to say about God that would fill a stadium. The message he heard cut through his criticism of churches. It cut through denominational differences. It boiled down to Jesse…Jesus…and eternity. For the first time in his life, Jesse understood that he didn’t have to be good enough for God. Jesus already was. A New Creature Jesse locked himself in the bathroom and sobbed his repentance before his Savior. Moments later, he stepped out of that bathroom a new creature. “The change in Jesse was so drastic that when he got to the show that night, the drummer asked what had happened to him,” Cathy recalled. “Before his salvation, Jesse used curse words like it was the king’s English. When he walked out of there, he never cursed again. He never drank again. He never took another drug. “Those things were a part of his old man, and that man was simply gone,” she said. “The next morning, he got us up and found a church to attend in Boston. He had just signed an $80,000 contract, and although he knew nothing about tithing, he gave the church $8,000 that morning simply because he loved God. From that day forward, no matter where we were, our family attended church whenever the doors were open. “God never told Jesse to get out of the music business,” Cathy recalled. “But three weeks after he’d given his heart to Jesus, the Lord asked him a question.” 'Jesse, do you love that more than you love Me?' The question troubled Jesse for days. Finally, he knew the answer. “Lord,” Jesse said, “I love You more than the music business.” “That day Jesse told his band he was quitting,” Cathy said. “He agreed to finish four months of contracts before ending his career in music. When he walked away from the business, Jesse sold all his instruments. He didn’t want them to pull him away from God. “We moved back to the New Orleans area and Jesse took a job in the pipe office at Patterson Truck Line. He walked away from $13,000 a week and worked for $1.75 an hour, because he never wanted to love anything more than he loved Jesus.” Two years later, Jesse went to work for Shell Oil Co. Over the years, he gave his testimony in churches. Jesse, the Preacher In 1976, Jesse preached his first sermon. He preached about Lazarus coming up out of the grave. He described how people are like Lazarus, wrapped in the trappings of religion. As Jesse spoke, twitters and chuckles echoed through the sanctuary. They must not be getting this, Jesse thought, preaching harder. Finally, the whole congregation burst into laughter. “I was furious,” Jesse remembers. “I couldn’t ever remember being madder than I was at that moment. When I didn’t think it could get any worse, I looked at Cathy for support and she was laughing! When we got in the car that night, I let her have it.” “But Jesse,” she said, “you were funny.” “I’m not a funny man! I was being serious!” He was being serious. Still, when Jesse preached, people laughed. 20 : BVOV

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