{"id":2007,"date":"2024-06-11T12:52:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T16:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2024-06-11T12:52:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T16:52:31","slug":"how-george-jones-met-god-the-faith-of-a-country-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/2024\/06\/11\/how-george-jones-met-god-the-faith-of-a-country-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"How George Jones Met God: The Faith of a Country Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Geroge Jones performs at Harrah’s Metropolis in Metropolis, IL, in June 2002. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have you ever heard the story about how country singing legend George Jones met God? It may sound like an unlikely conversion, as the singer drank heavily and partied hard for most of his adult life. But his conversion at age 67 turned him around and possibly extended his life.<\/p>\n

Jones, who died at age 81 in 2013, was in the news again recently when a PBS Great Performances <\/em>program honored him on the 10th<\/sup> anniversary of his death. The network called the singer \u201cone of the most influential, storied and beloved country music icons in history.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you know much about Jones\u2019s story, you know the singer lived a life of incredible highs and profound lows. He was often called \u201cthe greatest living country singer,\u201d and Rolling Stone <\/em>ranked him among the top 25 \u201cGreatest Singers of All Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Jones partied hard, drank heavily and became addicted to drugs. His relationships with women were turbulent, as he married four times and divorced three.<\/p>\n

He seemed like a hopeless wreck of a man for most of his adult life until something broke the cycle. That \u201csomething\u201d was profound. George Jones met God.<\/p>\n

A Window into George Jones\u2019s Life<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jones\u2019s songs give listeners the feeling they are glimpsing into his life of heavy drinking, drug addiction and one failed relationship after another.<\/p>\n

One of his most mournful songs was He Stopped Loving Her Today<\/a><\/em>. It shares the story of a man who cannot forget the estranged love of his life. Only when the man dies does he stop loving her. As you listen to the song, you feel as if you’re\u00a0sharing the man’s heartbreak thanks to the sorrow-filled lyrics and Jones’s poignant delivery.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Jesse Owens, pastor of Immanuel Church in Gallatin, TN, said this about Jones: \u201cPart of what I find so alluring about his music is that it provides direct insight into the sorrow of sin\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though his music is filled with references to alcohol and cheating, it never glorifies them. In fact, his music really highlights the consequences of alcohol abuse and of unfaithfulness. It\u2019s this human element, this form of honest lament, that draws the listener in.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Jones\u2019s Faith Journey<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Several people helped introduce Jones to God in a meaningful way. One of them was Jones\u2019s best friend, Earl \u201cPeanutt\u201d Montgomery<\/a>. Montgomery, who wrote more than 70 songs for Jones, bonded with the singer over their shared love of alcohol.<\/p>\n

But Mongomery gave his life to God in 1976, and from that point on, he drastically changed his life, though Jones didn\u2019t change his. Montgomery stopped drinking and carousing with Jones and started traveling and preaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t live that life no more. I couldn\u2019t do that and then try to preach to people. It wouldn\u2019t be right,\u201d a Helwys Society Forum<\/a> story quoted Montgomery as saying. The forum is an online Christian organization that focuses on ministry, theology, spirituality and culture.<\/p>\n

Yet, the two men remained close friends.<\/p>\n

Montgomery talked to Jones about God and once took the country legend to a tent revival. \u201cAs Jones heard the singing and then the invitation at the end, he got out of the car and fell on his knees in prayer,\u201d HSF said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a conversion experience, but it was a sign of the great conviction Jones felt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeanutt\u201d Montgomery and his wife Charlene joined a Free Will Baptist church in northern Alabama and invited Jones to attend services with them. Jones went several times and was even moved to tears at some services, but he wasn\u2019t ready to commit himself to God.<\/p>\n

Another contributing player in the story of how George Jones met God was Tom Malone. Malone was a pastor who later became president of Welch College, a private Free Will Baptist college in Gallatin, TN.<\/p>\n

He and Jones became friends during the time Jones lived in Florence, AL. Malone tried to share the gospel with the singer, but Jones wasn\u2019t ready and did his best to steer conversations away for God and faith.<\/p>\n

When George Jones Met God \u2013 For Real<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jones later said he knew about God and realized he was a sinner, but he struggled against giving his life to God.<\/p>\n

In an interview on The 700 Club, <\/em>a Christian talk show, the country music legend described one dark period in his life and the role his fourth wife Nancy played in bringing him to God.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou forget even that God exists or anybody does,\u201d he said. \u201cMy first wives or family or any of those things didn\u2019t matter any more,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe only thing that mattered to me was the thrill and fun of what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But his life wasn\u2019t all fun and games. \u201cI got down to 105 pounds, and I had met Nancy,\u201d he said. \u201cThe doctor told me that I wouldn\u2019t last another two months if things didn\u2019t change. I went into Birmingham to the hospital, and she was there by my side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through 30 days of reading the Bible, keeping my mind off anything else, and the Bible was one of the books that I really believed in but never lived or read like I should have until I was in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a different life. I didn\u2019t know there was a way back. There was no way. But then I started reading the Bible, and I found that way back with the Lord\u2019s help and Nancy staying by my side,\u201d Patheos contributor Tony Rossi<\/a> quotes Jones as saying.<\/p>\n

A Deal with God<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But it took a serious DWI-related car wreck in 1999 for George Jones to finally turn his attention to God. He was driving near Franklin, TN, in the Nashville area, when he lost control of his SUV and hit a concrete bridge railing. Rescuers spent almost two hours extracting the singer from the wreck.<\/p>\n

Jones spent nearly two weeks in Nashville\u2019s Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment of severe injuries. He sustained a significant injury to his liver, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, and he remained in critical condition for several days.<\/p>\n

Police found an open pint of vodka in his car, and he later pleaded guilty to DWI. He received a $550 fine but escaped a jail sentence and promised to get help for his drinking.<\/p>\n

A Taste of Country <\/em>reported, \u201cHe made good on that promise. At age 67, Jones got clean and sober for good, even giving up his smoking habit, and continued to tour nearly up to his death in 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy Jones, his wife of 30 years, told The Nashville Tennessean <\/em>after the singer\u2019s death that the car accident was a \u201cpivotal turning point\u201d in her husband\u2019s life. She had confronted him about drinking shortly before the accident and said his response was, \u201c\u2019Let me go in our pasture and pray to God to hit me in the head with a sledgehammer.\u2019 And He did. The next thing I know, George had hit a bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy explained that her husband made a deal with God. \u201cHe said, \u2018God, if you let me get over this, I\u2019ll never touch a cigarette or buy liquor again.\u2019 This time he meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones Goes Gospel<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jones recorded numerous\u00a0gospel songs in his later life. Many of them are on YouTube.<\/a> And you also may watch the PBS special honoring him, Great Performances \u2013 George Jones: Still Playing\u2019 Possum <\/em>here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The program features performances by Travis Tritt, Lorrie Morgan, Sara Evans, Trace Adkins and The Isaacs, Tanya Tucker, Jelly Roll, Wynonna and Brad Paisley, among others.<\/p>\n

Still Playin\u2019 Possum: Music & Memories of George Jones <\/em>received Telly Award gold as Best Music Performance (Television), bronze for Best Entertainment Program (Television) and bronze for Best Live Event & Experience (Television).<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge Jones achieved 79 top 10 hits and 10 no. 1 hits including He Stopped Loving Her Today,\u2019 <\/em>which is widely recognized as the greatest country song of all time,\u201d PBS said.<\/p>\n

He also sold more than 20 million albums and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry in 1992. The Kennedy Center honored him in 2008, and he was the recipient of the National Medal of Arts award in 2002 and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.<\/p>\n

The New York Times <\/em>called him the \u201cdefinitive country singer of the last half-century.\u201d And USA Today <\/em>said, \u201cHank Williams may have set country music\u2019s mythology and Johnny Cash its attitude, but Jones gave the genre its ultimate voice\u2026 Jones influenced generations of country singers and was considered by many to be the greatest of them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He died of respiratory failure at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on April 26, 2013. But his legend — and the story of how George Jones met God — live on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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