Creed lead singer, Scott Stapp, recently recounted the journey he took to return to his Christian faith and it’s a story that should be heard far and wide, as it gives all honor and glory to Jesus Christ. Stapp is a prime example of the life transforming work of the Holy Spirit and the impact God can have in a person’s life no matter how troubled they might be.
His band, Creed, became popular during the post-grunge explosion of the late 1990s and pulled in massive crowds for their live performances. The band’s lyrics always seemed to reflect Christian themes and were more on the uplifting side of the spectrum than many bands of the era.
Scott said, “I would feel a connection with God when I wrote the words and when I would sing the songs, learning the songs, I would feel the Holy Spirit.” Despite many people believing the group was Christian, they weren’t. Shockingly, the other members of the band actually opposed the Christian undertones that were present in the music.
Check out more on Stapp’s story from The Christian Tribune:
After their debut album “My Own Prison” went platinum, the band enjoyed a meteoric rise to success. “I enjoyed it,” Stapp stated. “The band enjoyed it. And you know in my view, that’s what was supposed to happen. Ironically, although I was living this lifestyle and caught up in the mentality of rock and roll superstardom, when I was alone and writing, I would pray to God, pray to my father and make deals. And one of the deals that I made was father, I promise I’ll stay true to you in my words and the lyrics that I write. Just make us a success.”
However, amid the stardom and massive success that Creed enjoyed, Stapp endured a tumultuous, internal struggle with his faith. “I was a Christian who was in rebellion and running from the brand of Christianity that I was raised on,“ said Scott. Describing his spiritual battle while he was writing his songs, Stapp said, “Only when I would sit down at that point in time, to write my lyrics for an album. It’s ironic that every time I sat down in a song that was addressing a spiritual issue or me wrestling with my beliefs or my faith, it would always be resolved at the end.”
Stapp’s struggles culminated in a devastating fall he endured in Miami after a night of drinking. “Inevitably I land, and landing a ledge specifically designed to catch seagull waste, that it,” he said. “I really felt, even in that moment, I felt that’s where I belonged. And it was a real epiphany as I laid there and cried out to God and asked for help.” The singer explained how this was an eye-opening, spiritual experience him.
“I opened my eyes,” said the singer. “And they were blurry and I see two angels. And I’m kinda doing this and its Jaclyn and her mother and they’re washing my feet. They’re washing the dirt and blood and every thing off my feet, crying, sobbing and praying. And in that moment, and I get goose bumps talking about it, if there was any doubt who these women were and what they meant in my life, and I will go to my grave feeling this, that they were angels in my life, sent for me, there was no doubt after that moment.”
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Scott concluded his story by saying, “The redemption as I feel it and understand it is God taking this mess that I had become and creating it and turning it into a message. God is there. And you know, if my life can be an example of God taking the unlovable…then God can love anybody, anybody. You’ve just gotta come. Gotta surrender.”
Talk about coming full circle.
All of that struggling he felt with his faith that drove the band in its early days, that they fought so hard against, ended up becoming the element that defined them and helped reach their ultimate success.
Stapp is a man who proves that nobody, no matter how bad they might think they are, is beyond the love and redemption of Jesus Christ.