Hi, I'm Billy Blackwood.
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Through my years
in music ministry,
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I've had the privilege
of meeting many great people
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and making a lot
of great friends.
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Some have been
friends for literally decades
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and some have been more recent.
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It's my hope that
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you will enjoy getting a glimpse
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behind the scenes
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and into the real
lives of my friends.
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Sit back and enjoy as you watch
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Billy Blackwood and Friends.
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Gene, welcome to the
program today, buddy.
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Thank you, man, I appreciate it.
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So glad to have you here.
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It's good to see you.
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You know, one
of the things that,
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that God has allowed me to do
is to over the years of my life
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in gospel music,
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meet a lot of great people.
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Like me.
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Like you, and you and
I go back to allowance
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I'm considerably
older than you are.
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But we go back to
when we were really
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you were a little kid
and I was not a very big kid.
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Been a while.
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Been a while, and your
dad and my dad were friends.
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Yes.
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Tell the folks how long
your dad's been on radio?
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Pop started on the radio,
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I guess in about
'76, somewhere in there.
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So he's been on the
radio about 40, 41 years.
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Forty plus years. Yeah.
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Tommy Mac? Tommy Mac.
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TommyMacshow.com
TommyMacshow.com
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And Tommy and your
mom have just been,
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they were dear friends
of my mom and dad and...
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And I remember as a kid,
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I was probably
I'm gonna guess I was.
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I don't know, 15, maybe 16.
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When we first met you were about
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eight or seven?
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Yeah. Few years back.
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And I was traveling
with the Blackwood Brothers
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playing drums and...
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In Southeast
Missouri, where you grew up
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there in the
Bootheel or close to it.
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Yeah, Comet,
Missouri. Comet, Missouri.
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Your dad's radio
program was there.
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And we were doing a
concert in the area.
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And I remember your
dad being on the bus.
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And I remember him
bringing you up on the bus.
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And you were just you know,
you're just his son, little kid
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come upon the bus and all,
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you know, bright
eyed and on the big bus
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and how much fun that was.
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I think you
probably rode to the concert
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or something with
us, I don't remember.
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I did, my friend.
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And that's my first...
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Well, that was
my, first time we met,
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my first memory of you.
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And now we're 40
something years later,
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is that right?
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No, it can't be that
long. Yeah, I'm 52, so.
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Well, I'm not gonna
tell you how old I am.
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But anyway, here we
are all these years later.
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And God has blessed you
and given you so much favor.
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For folks who
may be watching today
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who don't know,
he currently singing
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with a guy who's
pretty well known
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in gospel music.
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Been on tour with Bill
Gaither for since 2008.
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So it's been... 2008?
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Yeah, I was in from '98 to 2007
I sang with the Florida Boys.
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Okay. So sang
with them for 15 years.
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And so, Lord blessed me a lot.
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Sometimes you
forget how blessed you are.
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But when you
reminisce a little bit
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and you realize that
I've gotten do a lot of things
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that a lot of people love to do.
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And be around a lot of people
that are true heroes for me.
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I mean, the Gaither videos.
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For me, I was the
kid in the candy shop.
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I mean, all my heroes,
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because of my
father and mom, and music.
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I mean, all my
heroes were there.
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There wouldn't be
anybody that you know.
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And so, it's been an
awesome, awesome journey for me
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to have the privilege
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of getting to know them
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on more of a personal
basis, and just, you know,
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getting to love on, you know,
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and letting them
know that they've,
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they made a
difference in a kid's life.
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When we were
talking earlier just before,
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before the program,
you were telling me a story
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that just comes
back up for me right now.
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And I found it's just so cool,
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so interesting
about the church camp
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that your son's now going
to, and share that with folks
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because that's a cool story.
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This is a great,
it's Camp McClanahan in
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outside of Kennett,
Missouri Black River
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Baptist Association.
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And my father went to this,
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to the camp in the '50s.
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And then I went to
the camp in the '70s.
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And I have just taken my son
from the fourth year in a row
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to this camp.
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At first he didn't know
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if he would like
it because it was...
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There's no electronics.
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No...
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And it's out in the
middle of the woods,
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out in the middle of the woods
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in Southeast Missouri
that out in the middle
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of a watermelon patch.
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Yeah.
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And you tell me
where it was located
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something about
there was a creek?
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There's a 19 Drain, 19
Ditch is what it's called.
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But it's a drainage ditch,
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but it's where we swam
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before the church
camp put a swimming pool.
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Okay.
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And so we swam in 19 Ditch,
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and on this side
is Camp McClanahan,
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and then the ditch
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and on this side was
my grandfather's land.
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And so my father,
whenever he would go,
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my grandfather
had a general store
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in the middle of our land,
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and my dad would get
tired of going to church camp
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and he would swim the
ditch and go to grandpa store
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and sit with him
until brother Mac
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would realize it, pop was gone,
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then he go, get
him back at the store.
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And so now your son is going?
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Yeah, he is.
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He loves going.
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And we've...
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The first year I took my son,
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the second
year, I took two boys.
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And the next year, I
took two different boys.
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And this year, we took four kids
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from Tennessee
to this church camp.
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So I think, you know,
every year that my son goes,
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he brings four or
five more friends.
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And, you know, if it's just fun,
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I love doing it.
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You know, the thing
that I love that story,
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because it's that
faith that was passed down.
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Yes, sir.
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You know, from your dad to you,
now to your kids, it's just,
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you know.
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That's just such a cool
thing to watch and to see.
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And you know, I
mean like our dads,
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our dads were friends.
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Right.
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And because they were
friends, we're friends.
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I mean, they passed that down.
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Gene, if you see this,
but in the world, you know,
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a lot of people
can have friends.
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Right.
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But the thing that I've noticed,
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and I think
maybe you've seen too,
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is that in the kingdom,
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and particularly
even in gospel music.
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Right. You
know, we have friends.
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There's such an
interconnectedness.
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There's such a family of people.
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It really is.
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I think that if we don't,
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we cannot convey God love
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if we don't share
love with each other.
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How can I tell somebody
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about His love
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if I can't feel
love from the guys
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that I'm with?
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Our industry, you
know, I might not see you
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for another year.
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But we'll pick up
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where we left
off from this time.
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Because there is a common bond
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that no other
genre of music has.
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Right. You know it.
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We have wonderful
singers, great things.
00:08:06.88\00:08:10.82
But if we don't have the
common bond of salvation,
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then it's not the same.
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I mean, we have to have,
that is what connects us all
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in this in our industry anyway.
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You were talking earlier
before we were filming today
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about Ben Spear.
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Yeah. You know,
the Spear Family.
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I think a lot of
our viewers tonight
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would know the Spears
00:08:35.11\00:08:36.44
but like the Blackwood Brothers,
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you know, a family group.
00:08:38.11\00:08:39.51
I remember Dad and
Mom Spear, Ben's parents.
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When I was a kid,
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I went to both of
their funerals in Nashville,
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because the
Spears and the Blackwoods
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and all the Favers
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and all those old
family groups were,
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you know, were
friends and statesmen
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in all those groups, you
know, it was such good friends.
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As I grew up in
the gospel music,
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the people that
were my dad's friends,
00:09:02.74\00:09:05.34
even though they were
a generation ahead of me
00:09:05.37\00:09:07.01
became my friend.
00:09:07.04\00:09:08.38
Right. And
people like Ben Spear...
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Your mentor... They're mentors.
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And your correctors and your...
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Right.
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And it's just such an
interesting dynamic to see in,
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you know, in ministry,
00:09:20.52\00:09:21.86
and in this
industry, particularly,
00:09:21.89\00:09:24.13
how that, that just
seems to leapfrog on down
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from generation to generation.
00:09:27.56\00:09:29.00
I think it has to.
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I don't ever consider
myself a hero of nobody,
00:09:30.53\00:09:34.27
but there are people
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that are going to look up to me,
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whether I want them to or not.
00:09:38.91\00:09:40.24
Oh, they are.
00:09:40.28\00:09:41.61
And, so it's my
responsibility to act right.
00:09:41.64\00:09:46.08
It's my
responsibility to lead them
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or give them
votes of confidence.
00:09:50.49\00:09:54.46
You know, I can
remember when I was a kid,
00:09:54.49\00:09:56.93
Rex Nelon or Chief
or, you know, Hello Kids.
00:09:56.96\00:10:02.60
You know, but he
didn't know my name from Adam.
00:10:02.63\00:10:05.33
But it was the fact that
he talked to me, you know,
00:10:05.37\00:10:09.50
JD Sumner, I mean, my goodness.
00:10:09.54\00:10:12.44
If he, if there was a
kid that walked by him,
00:10:12.47\00:10:15.31
he was going to agitate
him just because that was JD,
00:10:15.34\00:10:19.15
but it made that kid
instantly a fan of JD.
00:10:19.18\00:10:23.65
And I think
that because of that,
00:10:23.69\00:10:27.46
that is our responsibility
for the next generation
00:10:27.49\00:10:31.59
to show them what love he is,
00:10:31.63\00:10:33.66
to show them
what camaraderie is,
00:10:33.70\00:10:36.67
to show them that we have love
00:10:36.70\00:10:41.00
that God has given us something
00:10:41.04\00:10:43.10
that nobody else has, you know,
00:10:43.14\00:10:45.81
and that we need to share it.
00:10:45.84\00:10:47.91
Absolutely.
00:10:47.94\00:10:49.34
Hey, I want you to sing a song.
00:10:49.38\00:10:50.95
I love this one,
00:10:50.98\00:10:52.31
got a cool
little bluesy feel to it
00:10:52.35\00:10:54.98
and as Gene prepares
just kind of get comfortable
00:10:55.02\00:10:58.59
and sit back,
you gonna love this,
00:10:58.62\00:11:00.32
this is called "Stand By Me."
00:11:00.36\00:11:02.39
Now there are
times we feel alone
00:11:14.74\00:11:19.71
Although you
know we done no wrong
00:11:19.74\00:11:24.78
Oh, Lord, Oh Lord
00:11:24.81\00:11:29.85
Stand by me
00:11:29.88\00:11:34.96
And there are
times we stand the tears
00:11:34.99\00:11:40.20
Oh you know me done our best
00:11:40.23\00:11:45.20
Oh, Lord, Oh, Lord
00:11:45.23\00:11:47.80
Oh, Lord, Oh, Lord
00:11:47.84\00:11:50.27
Stand by me
00:11:50.31\00:11:52.31
Stand by me
00:11:52.34\00:11:55.41
Stand by me, Lord
00:11:55.44\00:11:57.21
Oh, Lord, won't You stand by me
00:11:57.25\00:12:00.52
While I walk this lonesome road
00:12:00.55\00:12:05.69
Stand by me, Lord
00:12:05.72\00:12:07.36
Oh, Lord, won't You stand by me
00:12:07.39\00:12:10.76
Help me to bear my heavy load
00:12:10.79\00:12:15.73
And if I stumble pick me up
00:12:15.76\00:12:20.90
Help me to drink this bitter cup
00:12:20.94\00:12:26.01
Here I reached my home in glory
00:12:26.04\00:12:31.18
Stand by me
00:12:31.21\00:12:33.35
Stand by me
00:12:33.38\00:12:36.32
Now there are
times we're made to cry
00:12:36.35\00:12:41.36
Oh, Lord, wipe
those tears from my eyes
00:12:41.39\00:12:46.49
Oh, Lord, Oh, Lord
00:12:46.53\00:12:51.57
Stand by me
00:12:51.60\00:12:56.77
Now there are
times we're made to fail
00:12:56.81\00:13:01.78
Oh, you never failed us yet
00:13:01.81\00:13:06.82
Oh, Lord, Oh, Lord
00:13:06.85\00:13:11.95
Stand by me
00:13:11.99\00:13:17.23
Stand by me, Lord
00:13:17.26\00:13:20.36
Oh, Lord, won't You stand by me
00:13:20.40\00:13:22.10
While I walk this lonesome road
00:13:22.13\00:13:27.20
Stand by me, Lord
00:13:27.24\00:13:30.57
Oh, Lord, won't You stand by me
00:13:30.61\00:13:32.44
Help me to bear my heavy load
00:13:32.47\00:13:37.41
And if I stumble pick me up
00:13:37.45\00:13:42.52
Help me to drink this bitter cup
00:13:42.55\00:13:47.66
Till I reach my home in glory
00:13:47.69\00:13:52.79
Stand by me Stand by me
00:13:52.83\00:13:57.77
Tonight my father and my mother
00:13:57.80\00:14:02.90
And my sister and my brother
00:14:02.94\00:14:08.11
It was amazing
00:14:08.14\00:14:10.38
Oh how You saved me
00:14:10.41\00:14:13.21
It was a grace, Lord
00:14:13.25\00:14:16.48
That brought me
00:14:16.52\00:14:18.35
Till I reach my home in glory
00:14:18.39\00:14:23.12
Stand by me
00:14:23.16\00:14:28.63
Till I reach my home in glory
00:14:28.66\00:14:33.37
Stand by me
00:14:39.51\00:14:44.11
Stand by me
00:14:47.18\00:14:51.32
Wow!
00:15:00.60\00:15:01.93
Stand by me, Gene McDonald.
00:15:01.96\00:15:04.17
You know, when I
first called you about
00:15:04.20\00:15:08.84
being a guest
today, you surprised me.
00:15:08.87\00:15:11.94
And I said...
00:15:11.97\00:15:13.61
I said, "Hey,
00:15:13.64\00:15:14.98
I'd like to do a song together."
00:15:15.01\00:15:16.64
There's something, you know,
there's something we could do.
00:15:16.68\00:15:19.15
And you said...
00:15:19.18\00:15:20.58
Love Held Jesus To The Cross.
00:15:20.62\00:15:22.18
Love Held Jesus To The Cross,
00:15:22.22\00:15:23.55
which is a song I wrote
back in the early 1980s.
00:15:23.59\00:15:26.86
And you had mentioned
that song one other time
00:15:26.89\00:15:29.49
that you heard it, but
I'd kind of forgotten that.
00:15:29.52\00:15:31.26
And I was, at first, I
was kind of shocked that
00:15:31.29\00:15:34.06
you would even
remember that song.
00:15:34.10\00:15:36.60
I would, I was do,
00:15:36.63\00:15:38.93
periodically
your dad would sing.
00:15:38.97\00:15:41.30
And he would want
me and my dad to come
00:15:41.34\00:15:44.11
and sing backup for him
00:15:44.14\00:15:45.47
whenever he was doing solo stuff
00:15:45.51\00:15:46.84
after the Masters V,
00:15:46.88\00:15:48.68
before the Blackwood
Brothers reformation there.
00:15:48.71\00:15:52.08
He gave me a cassette of you.
00:15:52.11\00:15:56.15
And it had Love
Held Jesus To The Cross.
00:15:56.18\00:15:58.39
That's probably about '88, '89.
00:15:58.42\00:16:00.66
Okay.
00:16:00.69\00:16:02.02
So I met you again through
the Gaither videos about '94.
00:16:02.06\00:16:07.70
In the person I came
up to you, and I said,
00:16:07.73\00:16:10.20
"Man, I love Love
Held Jesus To The Cross."
00:16:10.23\00:16:13.37
And you looked at me, like,
00:16:13.40\00:16:14.97
I can't believe you
even know the song, you know.
00:16:15.00\00:16:17.74
And I said, "Your dad
gave me the CD, this cassette."
00:16:17.77\00:16:21.14
It wasn't CDs.
00:16:21.18\00:16:22.51
He gave me this cassette.
00:16:22.54\00:16:24.15
And I listened to
it, man, I love the song,
00:16:24.18\00:16:26.95
can I get a copy of the words.
00:16:26.98\00:16:29.88
And I never thought
I'd hear anything about it,
00:16:29.92\00:16:32.05
you sent me the
copy of the words.
00:16:32.09\00:16:34.49
And I have never recorded it.
00:16:34.52\00:16:37.56
I've always wanted to record it.
00:16:37.59\00:16:38.99
I've always wanted to sing it.
00:16:39.03\00:16:40.36
I've never sing it
live that I know of.
00:16:40.40\00:16:43.63
And it was just.
00:16:43.67\00:16:46.20
man, such a great song.
00:16:46.23\00:16:49.87
If anything, there's
nothing in this world
00:16:49.90\00:16:52.87
that could help
Christ, but loved yet.
00:16:52.91\00:16:56.11
He loved me.
00:17:01.32\00:17:05.69
And that's to me
the ultimate gift
00:17:05.72\00:17:09.86
that I can have.
00:17:09.89\00:17:14.56
I'm not worthy of anything.
00:17:14.60\00:17:20.10
But He died for me.
00:17:20.14\00:17:22.60
And He died for me alone.
00:17:22.64\00:17:25.34
It's not...
00:17:25.37\00:17:27.34
He died for
everybody by themselves.
00:17:27.38\00:17:30.98
And so it that song has
always meant a lot to me.
00:17:31.01\00:17:35.42
And through rough times,
00:17:35.45\00:17:38.69
that song came back to me
00:17:38.72\00:17:41.89
periodically through my life.
00:17:41.92\00:17:44.19
And so it's just
been a great song.
00:17:44.23\00:17:46.96
Wow.
00:17:47.00\00:17:48.60
Well, this has got to go
on my list of favorite things
00:17:48.63\00:17:54.87
I ever get to do
is to sing with you,
00:17:54.90\00:17:57.57
and this is
song that God gave me
00:17:57.61\00:18:01.41
like I said back
in the early '80s
00:18:01.44\00:18:02.81
and I've sung it
for years but never.
00:18:02.84\00:18:08.98
This is gonna be
the first time for us
00:18:09.02\00:18:10.35
to do it together.
00:18:10.39\00:18:11.72
So I hope you enjoy
Gene and I, as we sing,
00:18:11.75\00:18:16.52
"Love Held Jesus To The Cross."
00:18:16.56\00:18:17.89
Ever since I can remember
00:18:24.43\00:18:27.54
I heard the story told
00:18:27.57\00:18:30.97
Of Jesus death on Cavalry
00:18:31.01\00:18:37.51
How the soldiers marked his name
00:18:37.55\00:18:41.25
Crowned his head with thorns
00:18:41.28\00:18:44.29
And nailed His
hands and feet to a tree
00:18:44.32\00:18:49.96
Not long ago I discovered
00:18:49.99\00:18:54.60
What the soldiers never knew
00:18:54.63\00:18:57.97
And it made all the difference
00:18:58.00\00:19:00.40
in the world to me
00:19:00.44\00:19:05.41
I found out what it took
00:19:05.44\00:19:09.11
To bear the sins of the world
00:19:09.14\00:19:14.12
Was the very thing
he placed inside of me
00:19:14.15\00:19:19.52
Love held
00:19:25.23\00:19:28.53
Jesus to the cross
00:19:28.56\00:19:32.67
Heaven's gain was Satan's loss
00:19:38.87\00:19:44.45
Man has never
00:19:48.08\00:19:51.59
forged a nail
00:19:51.62\00:19:54.76
That could have
held him to a tree
00:19:54.79\00:20:00.36
No love held
00:20:00.40\00:20:04.83
Jesus to goal
00:20:04.87\00:20:09.00
Now I had come to think of love
00:20:15.51\00:20:19.05
In terms of gain and loss
00:20:19.08\00:20:22.42
Where we then made to take
00:20:22.45\00:20:24.55
But not again
00:20:24.59\00:20:28.52
Then I saw an act of love
00:20:28.56\00:20:31.49
In a just upon a cross
00:20:31.53\00:20:34.76
By a man who had
every right to live
00:20:34.80\00:20:40.70
And I realized, I
might had never know
00:20:40.74\00:20:44.81
The Father's love was real
00:20:44.84\00:20:48.04
If I had not seen it
in a man who died for me
00:20:48.08\00:20:53.08
And in that
moment Jesus showed me
00:20:57.75\00:21:01.59
Loves not just a state of mind
00:21:01.62\00:21:07.56
As He gave His life
so love could live in me
00:21:07.60\00:21:13.37
Love held
00:21:19.11\00:21:22.58
Jesus to the cross,
00:21:22.61\00:21:26.78
Heaven's gain was Satan's loss
00:21:32.59\00:21:38.26
Man has never
00:21:41.93\00:21:45.47
Forged a nail
00:21:45.50\00:21:48.30
That could have
held him to the tree Lord
00:21:48.34\00:21:55.78
Love held
00:21:55.81\00:21:58.68
Jesus to the cross
00:21:58.71\00:22:03.85
Man has never forged a nail
00:22:07.52\00:22:13.90
That could have held
00:22:13.93\00:22:16.40
My Savior to the tree Lord
00:22:16.43\00:22:22.70
Love held
00:22:22.74\00:22:26.27
Jesus
00:22:26.31\00:22:29.41
To the cross
00:22:29.44\00:22:35.68
I sometimes say in concert.
00:22:49.90\00:22:55.60
Years ago, there
was a popular songs,
00:22:55.64\00:22:58.71
number one song
around the world.
00:22:58.74\00:23:01.51
The name of it was, I
want to know what love is.
00:23:01.54\00:23:05.71
And then I'll say
the writer of that song
00:23:05.75\00:23:07.55
just never read 1 John,
because it's right there.
00:23:07.58\00:23:10.62
It's right.
00:23:10.65\00:23:11.99
This is how we
know what love is.
00:23:12.02\00:23:13.36
Yeah.
00:23:13.39\00:23:14.72
While we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
00:23:14.76\00:23:17.49
And it's amazing
how he makes room
00:23:20.56\00:23:22.33
for everybody.
00:23:22.36\00:23:24.53
You know, one thing that
00:23:24.57\00:23:27.07
I always wondered
when I was a kid was
00:23:27.10\00:23:30.47
whenever I felt
God was away from me,
00:23:30.51\00:23:34.98
or I was away from God
and that had called out
00:23:35.01\00:23:38.45
sometimes in wonder, you know,
00:23:38.48\00:23:42.62
but the table never moved.
00:23:42.65\00:23:46.05
You know, home is still home.
00:23:46.09\00:23:50.79
And we are apt to
whenever we mature
00:23:50.83\00:23:54.86
or think we're maturing.
00:23:54.90\00:23:57.07
We're apt to leave home
and sometimes we lose our way.
00:23:57.10\00:24:03.37
But the house has never left.
00:24:03.41\00:24:06.01
The house didn't move.
00:24:06.04\00:24:08.31
And so that's for
me, that was God's love.
00:24:08.34\00:24:11.81
God's love never left
me, I left God's love.
00:24:11.85\00:24:16.32
And so that that's the reason
00:24:16.35\00:24:21.36
why I feel like
00:24:21.39\00:24:23.59
the love that we have,
00:24:23.63\00:24:26.26
the camaraderie that we have,
00:24:26.29\00:24:28.53
that common bond is God's love
00:24:28.56\00:24:33.97
and knowing that
it's always there.
00:24:34.00\00:24:39.84
I don't want to
put you on the spot.
00:24:39.87\00:24:41.41
But I want to ask
you to do something.
00:24:41.44\00:24:43.85
Would you just talk to
our audience for a minute?
00:24:43.88\00:24:47.48
Because there's
probably some people out there
00:24:47.52\00:24:49.05
who feel like
they've left the house
00:24:49.08\00:24:52.85
and the house is moved
00:24:52.89\00:24:54.22
or the table is no longer there.
00:24:54.26\00:24:56.12
Would you just take a minute
and share your heart with them?
00:24:56.16\00:25:02.00
You are loved.
00:25:02.03\00:25:05.40
There's nothing
that you've done.
00:25:05.43\00:25:06.97
Nothing that you've done
00:25:12.07\00:25:14.48
that can take Him away from you.
00:25:14.51\00:25:20.12
The table is always there.
00:25:20.15\00:25:22.08
The setting is always there.
00:25:22.12\00:25:26.22
He's waiting for you
to face at His table.
00:25:26.25\00:25:28.56
God loves you
more than life itself,
00:25:32.43\00:25:35.50
because He died for you.
00:25:35.53\00:25:36.87
I didn't realize what love was
00:25:40.77\00:25:44.24
until I had a child of my own.
00:25:44.27\00:25:46.71
I could not stand
00:25:52.18\00:25:53.52
if my child died,
00:25:53.55\00:25:59.95
but He was given up for us.
00:25:59.99\00:26:04.63
That took a lot of love.
00:26:04.66\00:26:07.96
And there's nothing that
00:26:08.00\00:26:10.93
you've done
nothing where you are.
00:26:10.97\00:26:13.80
You can't go far enough
00:26:13.84\00:26:15.70
that God won't take you
back or won't take you at all.
00:26:15.74\00:26:19.61
He loves you more
than anybody else.
00:26:23.24\00:26:26.48
There's no one
else in this world that
00:26:26.51\00:26:28.35
He loves as much as He does you.
00:26:28.38\00:26:33.02
And if you don't know Him today,
00:26:33.05\00:26:36.93
it's really easy to find Him.
00:26:36.96\00:26:40.86
God loves you, so do I.
00:26:40.90\00:26:44.83
Gene, thank you so
much for coming today.
00:26:44.87\00:26:48.24
Thank you for
giving me the opportunity.
00:26:48.27\00:26:51.37
I love doing this.
00:26:51.41\00:26:53.27
I love the family reunion.
00:26:53.31\00:26:55.91
It's good.
00:26:55.94\00:26:57.28