{"id":48,"date":"2008-03-13T12:30:23","date_gmt":"2008-03-13T12:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html"},"modified":"2008-03-13T12:30:23","modified_gmt":"2008-03-13T12:30:23","slug":"the-real-deal-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Real Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Randy%20Travis%20Album.jpg\"Whether or not you are a country music fan, whether or not you have ever downloaded a song on your computer, whether or not you have ever heard country superstar Randy Travis perform, this would be a good day to check out his website www.randytravis.com<\/a>
\nAs many of you many remember, Randy was the most popular and most frequent guest star on “Touched By An Angel” during the nine years that the show aired on CBS. I’ve always believed that he was and remains so popular because he is, as David Letterman once described him, “the real deal.”<\/p>\n


\nWhat’s so real, I believe, is not just Randy’s immense talent as a performer with one of the most uniquely recognizable voices in the entertainment industry. It’s the genuinely humble heart and soul of the man that continues to bless us. Randy is one of those rare people who will honestly give credit where it’s due and take virtually none for himself. He credits his wife, his fellow musicians, and most of all, his God for bringing him out of darkness into the light.
\nHaving had the privilege of knowing Randy and his remarkable wife and partner Elizabeth for more than fourteen years, I can attest that it’s not just the music that’s “real.” Something in that music he makes transcends “country” or “gospel” labels and becomes one man’s testimony to the transforming power of striving for the good and the right.
\nListen to his new single “Faith In You<\/a>” and tell me if there isn’t someone in your life who deserves to be reminded of their positive influence in your life. Watch the video on Randy’s website that covers twenty-five years of great music and a commitment to excellence. It’s hard to believe how much time has passed since a quiet young man promised he’d love us “Forever and Ever, Amen.” He’s kept his promise and given us more than his music. He has shared his faith. And that will last forever and ever, too. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether or not you are a country music fan, whether or not you have ever downloaded a song on your computer, whether or not you have ever heard country superstar Randy Travis perform, this would be a good day to check out his website www.randytravis.com As many of you many remember, Randy was the most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Real Deal - A Touch of Encouragement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Real Deal - A Touch of Encouragement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether or not you are a country music fan, whether or not you have ever downloaded a song on your computer, whether or not you have ever heard country superstar Randy Travis perform, this would be a good day to check out his website www.randytravis.com As many of you many remember, Randy was the most…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Touch of Encouragement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-13T12:30:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/MarthaWilliamson\/Randy%20Travis%20Album.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brandi Harkonen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Real Deal - A Touch of Encouragement","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Real Deal - A Touch of Encouragement","og_description":"Whether or not you are a country music fan, whether or not you have ever downloaded a song on your computer, whether or not you have ever heard country superstar Randy Travis perform, this would be a good day to check out his website www.randytravis.com As many of you many remember, Randy was the most…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html","og_site_name":"A Touch of Encouragement","article_published_time":"2008-03-13T12:30:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/MarthaWilliamson\/Randy%20Travis%20Album.jpg"}],"author":"Brandi Harkonen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html","name":"The Real Deal - A Touch of Encouragement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/MarthaWilliamson\/Randy%20Travis%20Album.jpg","datePublished":"2008-03-13T12:30:23+00:00","dateModified":"2008-03-13T12:30:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/#\/schema\/person\/0fab1a1c7e96cc6adfd1f2174e8a8ad5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/MarthaWilliamson\/Randy%20Travis%20Album.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/MarthaWilliamson\/Randy%20Travis%20Album.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/2008\/03\/the-real-deal-1.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Real Deal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/","name":"A Touch of Encouragement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/#\/schema\/person\/0fab1a1c7e96cc6adfd1f2174e8a8ad5","name":"Brandi Harkonen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6bc\/6bc9c9dda06e8fe4d711cc8eaa7168b7x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6bc\/6bc9c9dda06e8fe4d711cc8eaa7168b7x96.jpg","caption":"Brandi Harkonen"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/author\/bharkonen"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/marthawilliamson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}