A member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame has some interesting rock ’n roll ties.
Elvis recorded the first gospel song that Mylon Le Fevre ever wrote — when Le Fevre was a teen. Two of the former Beatles, George Harrison and Paul McCartney, played on two of his mainstream rock songs while he sang on Columbia Records in the 1970s.
But Le Fevre, who in the 1980s rose to be among the biggest arena acts in a burgeoning Christian pop-rock scene, recently wanted to talk about someone and something infinitely bigger than all that.
Bigger than his first royalty check of $90,000 from the Presley tune “Without Him” in the 1960s. And bigger than a drug addiction and drug dealing that he regularly tells current prisoners “should have landed me right in there with you with a white (jump)suit.”
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His topic: Jesus.
What else would you expect from the folksy fellow who became a full-time Christian teacher/preacher in 1993 — and one coming to Columbus’ Blessed Life Fellowship with wife Christi to speak July 1?
“Scripture says that God so loved the world that he gave, because Jesus is the ultimate giver,” Le Fevre said, speaking in his trademark native Mississippi drawl from his home in Fort Worth, Texas. “The Bible says that when a Christian comes to Jesus, he casts our sins into the sea of forgetfulness — and never brings them up again.
“Jesus takes what we deserve upon himself, and God gives us what Jesus deserves. It’s the best deal on earth,” he added.
The grandson of a southern preacher is hardly is new to such messages. Years ago, perhaps the only real criticism of some of his concerts with his band called Broken Heart was that some fans wanted him to sing more and talk less, only because they felt the bluesy-rock spoke powerfully to them in a special way.
Today, the guy who once struggled in school hardly pretends to be a scholar.
“I’m a blue-collar minister,” said Le Fevre, a motorcycle enthusiast right at home ministering at biker rallies and the like. “I’m just a regular guy.”
And a regular guy who once played alongside such rock stars as Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and others.
“I barely got out of high school,” Le Fevre said. “I talk to people about Jesus the only way I know how.”
Pastor Andy Robbins of the local congregation meeting on the second floor of The Roviar Building at 12th and Washington streets downtown mentioned that Le Fevre’s visit is timely given the community’s current battle against an opioid epidemic. That’s a concern that Robbins said he shares with other area pastors.
“The life of Mylon Le Fevre demonstrates that God is still in the healing business — even the business of healing from addiction,” Robbins said. “And beyond his testimony, Mylon has a wonderful message of faith that will inspire, encourage and strengthen.”
The 73-year-old Le Fevre said he truly submitted his life to Christ in April 1980 — at a time when addictions were siphoning his life — and felt all desire for drugs and alcohol fall away. He understands other addicts may have a different experience. But he acknowledged that he remains uncomfortable with the addict or alcoholic label and identity still hanging on many of those pointed toward recovery.
“Some of those people will be going back and forth from drugs for the next 40 years,” he said. “I simply got what the Bible calls ‘delivered.’”
In the past few years, he has given away 20,000 copies of his gritty-and-real autobiography “Live Forever” to prisoners at corrections facilities where he teaches. The book, which purposely includes a look at the worst periods of his life and how God rescued him, was never accepted into Christian bookstores because it includes photos of him getting high.
“Before I wrote that, the Lord simply told me to humble myself and be transparent,” Le Fevre said.
He has been accustomed to humbling himself. That includes when he walked away from Christian music not long after a heart attack — while some promoters still were offering six-figure payouts for a single concert.
“The Lord told me to walk away again, so I did,” Le Fevre said.
He left behind headlining top Christian music festivals all over the world before thousands, a state-of-the art recording studio in Atlanta and one of Christian music’s largest, technology-oriented stage shows with millions of dollars in digital lights and sound alone at the time. Not to mention a Grammy Award for the 1987 rock album “Crack the Sky.”
“That move actually took more faith than ever,” Le Fevre said. “The first time I walked away from music and all the money, I simply knew I would go to hell (from my lifestyle) if I didn’t.
“The second time I walked away, it was simply to obey what the Lord said to me (about leaving) — and it was something I couldn’t actually prove to anyone else that he said. It was between me and him. And it cost me a lot. But it was so worth it.
“Every time you do what God tells you to do, he always rewards you for it. He knows the future.”
Today, the singer known for such Christian tunes as “He Is Strong,” “More,” and “The Warrior,” is known for his plain-spoken, no-nonsense messages about God’s love. Le Fevre includes such messages in his video devotional “Church On the Run” at mylon.org or his TV show “On the Road to Freedom” on Dish TV Channel 265 and the online Believer’s Voice of Victory Network.
“God really loves his kids,” Le Fevre said. “But sadly, most people don’t know that.”
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Who: Former mainstream and Christian rock singer Mylon Le Fevre, now a traveling teacher/preacher, with wife Christi Le Fevre.
When: 10:30 a.m. July 1.
Where: Blessed Life Fellowship on the second floor of The Roviar Building, 12th and Washington streets in downtown Columbus.
Information: blessedlifefellowship.org.
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