Our guest this week is Jeremy Camp. He is one of the most accomplished male artists in Christian music. Five certified gold albums, nearly 4 million albums sold, a Grammy nomination, three American music award nominations, five Dove awards for ASCAP songwriter of the year, and over 40 number one radio hits across all formats. That’s huge. But his heart behind all of it, that’s what’s actually gold. And if you are unfamiliar with Jeremy’s story, it can now be seen in a streaming motion picture release of a film called, I Still Believe, which is actually how we open up our conversation, talking about how that film peaked and shut down the same weekend that it went number one because of COVID.
Interview Links:
- Follow Jeremy Online | Facebook | Instagram
- Watch the video of his new single: When You Speak
- Stream his movie: I Still Believe
Transcription:
Jeremy Camp: He never said this is going to happen. And so, when I was devastated and almost like God would are you doing, and he’s like, I actually never promised that. And it wasn’t like he didn’t come from me. It wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t that, it just was saying you had an expectation that wasn’t what I really had for you at this point.
And I think that’s all of us, like we have these ideas of what are supposed to happen. We get an idea of what last year were supposed to look like. And it was completely. And you have to ask yourself, if you felt like God promised you something and he broke his promise. That’s actually not true. There’s no way.
Cause it’s not who God is. Not his nature. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever, he doesn’t break his promises.
Sarah Taylor: And that’s just the beginning. Our guest this week is Jeremy Camp. He is one of the most accomplished male artists in Christian music. Five certified gold albums, nearly 4 million albums sold, a Grammy nomination, three American music award nominations, five Dove awards for ASCAP songwriter of the year awards, and over 40, 40, number one radio hits across all formats. That’s huge. But his heart behind all of it, that’s, what’s actually gold. And if you are unfamiliar with Jeremy’s story, it can now be seen in a streaming motion picture release of a film called, I Still Believe, which is actually how we open up our conversation, talking about how that film peaked and shut down the same weekend that it went number one, is when the world shut down for COVID. Jeremy opens up our conversation today
Jeremy Camp: I was raised in a Christian home and, you know, my dad always played music. That was a part of our kind of life. We went to concerts all the time and I was in like sports. All I want to do with sports. And finally, when I was 15 years old, I told my dad, my dad, he spent couple chords on the guitar. So he taught me a couple of chords and then from there, it just, I fell in love with guitar.
And so of course I was playing all the songs of that era. I was like learning songs from the radio and singing for my friends were like, wow, you can actually sing. I’m like, I didn’t know I could sing. So it’s like, it’s all kind of random, you know, what, what is happening here? So, music became more prevalent and sports became something that faded away.
And even though I love sports, it was like, I saw, you know, something happening with music. And really what happened was I was 16 and I gave my life to the Lord. Like I completely spend my life. You know, my faith in him was real instead of my parents’ faith. So it was an actual thing that I pursued. And I started writing songs and the songs I wrote were very personal.
And so I realized that, oh, I can share things, deep things in my heart through song. And fast forward, I went out to California from Indiana, went to California. I went to Bible college for two years and incredible time. Uh, after that I went, I met this girl named Melissa and was playing music still and you know, more out in different churches.
And I played at the school. Um, but didn’t know if I was going to pursue like a career with a label. It wasn’t like my idea. It was more, Hey, maybe I’ll go be a worship leader at church and or a youth pastor that actually plays music as well. And that was kind of my heart’s desire. And as I met Melissa, you know, I fell in love with there quickly.
You know, it was one of those things where she was incredible, and she loved Jesus. And that was what for me, attracted me to her. And so, as time went on, you know, we had our, the typical ups and downs of relationship and we broke up and I was devastated and I’m like, what’s wrong with women? You know that whole thing.
And that’s what I felt like, you know, he’s a young kid and I called my mom, like, what’s wrong with girls, mom? I don’t understand them. You know, it’s okay, honey, you never will. I’m like, oh, okay. So, pick the device. And so, we move forward and pretty soon I got this phone call as, um, we had broken up and I found out that she had cancer.
And so I went down to go visit in the hospital. And from that point on, you know, through a series of just circumstances, we knew we wanted to be with each other. I knew I loved her no matter what. I’m wanting to be with her and walk her through this cancer. And basically, you know, we had, it was beautiful.
We had this amazing engagement. It was tough. She went through chemotherapy, but we just kept fighting and praying and it felt like that things were getting better. The doctors said that she was gonna have to do a hysterectomy and I’m getting super personal, but they ended up that we were going to have children ever.
And so I was devastated. And so we said, okay, if we pray and God heals, or you’re not gonna, you know, there’ll be no surgery, right. There will, of course. But we’ve seen it’s all over. Long story short, they go in for surgery and didn’t see any cancer. So it was this beautiful moment of just true story, documented. And like, here it is, there’s no cancer. So, we’re rejoicing at that point, I thought, oh my word, like it’s done. Clean up. So fast forward three months later, and we get married, things were looking amazing and went on our honeymoon. On the honeymoon. I remember she was saying, there’s something wrong with my stomach.
There’s just something wrong. And I was like, let’s not worry about it. It was tough. Wait till we get home. And then it got really bad. And so, we left, went to the doctor’s and he said that the cancer had spread. It was everywhere. And that there was nothing we could do. And it was just the battle. You know, it was a, you know, a four-month battle of just fighting for her life.
And so finally, I remember her taking her last breath and, um, you know, one of the things about that I remember is I was curled up in a fetal position by the bed. I remember God speaking to me and saying, Jeremy, I want you to stand up and worship. Give me glory. And I was like, I’m sorry, like, this is not the time for me to do that.
I don’t want to do that. I have no strength. It hurts too bad. I remember I just stood up. Finally, my dad helped me get up and I just, we had worship music playing in the background and I just was raising my hands and God just showed up and his comfort showed up. One I’d never experienced in my life. If I would’ve not done that, I wouldn’t have experienced that.
I mean, I would have experienced this comfort, but there was something about that obedience and that standing up and going, okay, Lord, here I am that I just felt his presence. And so fast forward, you know, here we are, you know, I wrote a bunch of songs, a song called I Still Believe two weeks after she went to be with Jesus; Walked By Faith I wrote on her honeymoon. I got signed to a contract and of course it’s amazing. God started opening doors. I started ministering like crazy. And then, you know, a woman named Adrienne that I met, who I fell in love with, and it just is the beautiful picture of God’s redemption. And here we are three kids. Well, here we are 17 years later, 16 years later, after all that happened, you know, 17 years later and I get a, uh, a phone call and saying, Hey, we’ve read your books. I wrote a book about my testimony, about my story, and it was from the Erwin brothers to do that movie called I can only imagine. And they, they just said, we read your book, we know your story.
We’d love to do a movie on your life. And I was like, whoa, okay. That’s a lot. And so moving forward, we have Lion’s Gate, which was a Hollywood studio saying we want to back this as well, which was such a miracle because they started getting these actors involved. It was kid named KJ Apa, which is an MTV show called Riverdale.
He was like a teen heartthrob. I don’t know that the TV show, but anyway, I don’t know if that’s good or bad, so I’ll go, anyway. So, he’s um, he was so sweet. He really did his research. He was so sweet with my family and me, Britt Robertson. And then you have Gary Sinise, Lieutenant Dan, you know, playing my dad. It’s like, man, Shania Twain playing my mom. So, it was beautiful coming together, all these actors and singers that were like, we want to be involved in this story. So, my manager, you know, he said something to me. He goes, and Jeremy barring a world war or a pandemic, this movie is going to do really well. That’s what he said. This is no joke. You know, Matt, Matt Balm, my manager. I’m going to say his name. His number is 615-… His email is, um… so I laugh cause I’m like, it’s all your fault, man.
Sarah Taylor: Does he remember? Does he remember saying that?
Jeremy Camp: Oh, no, he fully remembers saying that. I can talk to him right now and he’d say, Oh, no, I remember saying that because I can’t believe I said that.
So here we are. And we’re in like 3,300 theaters, which was almost like a record for a Christian movie. So, we were going, oh, my word.
Sarah Taylor: And this was late February or early March?
Jeremy Camp: So, this was early March, you know, we were like, here we go. And the movie came out in March. On March 11th, the president declared a pandemic. And so, we knew we started this shutdown right away. We knew something wasn’t good. And so Friday night hits, the movie comes out, we just canceled our tour. So, I was already going, I see this happening everywhere, and it was the number one movie in America. You know the night it came out, be beat out this Vin Diesel movie, Bloodshot, a Pixar film, Onward.
Oh, my word, this is incredible. And it was just like, we saw the shuttering of these movie theaters. And the New York times, New York post, I can’t remember which one it was. They did an article after the weekend and they said, God beats out a superhero and was such an amazing article that they wrote because our movie did so well.
Um, even though it didn’t do as well as supposed to, cause the theaters closing, it was like, Hey, just so you know, God was saying, I got you. And so, it was pretty devastating, you know, to, to say the least. I mean, I remember, you know, watching it just be out and that was, it was it. And we’re like, well, maybe the theaters will open in a few months, and it just never happened.
And so, it went out on streaming. And I remember my wife telling me, this is, you know, if you know my wife, she is like, she’ll like, say something to drop the mic. It’s like, here I am, I’m going to drop the mic because I’m going to put a nugget of wisdom. She goes, Hey, I woke up this morning and God really spoke to me.
And he said, I never broke my promise. And I was like, well, what do you mean? She said he never promised that the movie was going to stay in theaters forever. Never promised that the tour wasn’t going to get canceled. What he promises that he was going to use all these things for his glory and his purposes. And I was like, okay.
And then she just stopped. And I knew exactly what that meant, my expectation. And this is what I tell people right now. I had an expectation of what should happen. God never said this is going to happen. And so, when I was devastated and almost like, God, what are you doing? And he’s like, I actually never promised that.
And it wasn’t like he didn’t comfort me. It wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t that, it just was saying you had an expectation that wasn’t what I really have for you at this point. And I think that’s all of us, like we have these ideas of what are supposed to happen. We get an idea of what last year was supposed to look like, and it was completely different.
And you have to ask yourself, which you felt like God promised you something and he broke his promise. That’s actually not true. There’s no way. Cause it’s not who God is. Not his nature. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever, he doesn’t break his promises. And so I think for me, we have to step back and go,
oh, I have ideas and idealistic things that aren’t necessarily from the Lord and I have to let that go. And so that was a massive part and still is a massive part of what today and all of us still have to experience. Our ideas or what, you know, moving forward is supposed to look like it’s a new normal. We have to just go, all right, God, you’re still in control and I just have to follow what you want me to do and be ready for a change.
Be flexible for whatever happens. And so, it has been a road and I just gave you, uh, a long reader’s digest version, but, but I just want to kind of share from the beginning and what happened, transpired from that. But, you know, streaming it’s done really well in streaming. You know, it it’s done beyond what we all expected.
So, I think we’ve been excited to see God still use it in a really powerful way. Um, and people are still watching it. And I get stories all the time and I think it’s one of those ongoing things that God’s going to use it for a long time. And I’m thankful for that.
Sarah Taylor: I don’t want to gloss over the fact. I want you to go back a little bit. You have such a strong faith and you do you always land in this place. Let’s not gloss over though. You I’ve heard you say you were in bed for like a week.
Jeremy Camp: Yeah. Yeah. So let me, you can, I was trying to give you the, like, here’s the overall picture. Let me show you some, some deep moments because here’s the thing I’m not afraid to share the deep things, because I think a lot of us were having a hard time being transparent. And I realized that I’ve always been transparent,
but there’s certain maybe details that I’m like, well, I don’t know about that. And I just realized no, I’m going to share everything. I went through a full, a full panic attack before this all happened. I mean, so this is, I mean, I was definitely down and kind of just, uh, after this happened, but about three years ago, I went through a full-fledged panic attack slash just, I couldn’t get out of bed for literally at least a week at all, I try to out of bed, and I just would panic. And, and my wife would pray for me, and I be listening to worship and just crying out to Jesus saying, please help me. I don’t know what’s happening. I’m literally freaking out. And finally, God really spoke to me, and he said, I had bitterness in my heart towards some people in situations that were very difficult.
Um, I don’t want to get into, that’s been a little private, but it was just not my immediate family, but just some other things and situations. And then I was, I wasn’t trusting the Lord with my family, that he gave me the three F’s: my family, my future, and my finances. I wasn’t trusting the Lord. It was like, at all.
So, it was basically like everything I was trying to control until I said, God, I’m sorry. Like I repent of those things. That’s when it lifted. And of course, it was like, you know, it was a journey still through that. Um, but God has definitely helped me in that there was the chain of chain of bondage of, of that fear and those things.
And God’s lifted that. You know, and I, I know that it’s like when you press in and you try to fight and break those chains, especially for my kids as well, not letting that kind of roll over to them. They battled with fear. And so, I’m like, no, this is what you do. This is what I did help break it, you know, for our family.
Um, and I feel like what’s happened. And so, I think having that happen and then going through this, I was able to not… I was devastated. I was bummed. I was kind of just down, but it wasn’t that deep dark place that I was in. It’s like, God prepared me and just said, I’m going to let you go through this so that when it’s something kind of really devastating, kind of feels like it happens that you’re gonna go, okay, this is a bummer, but God I still trust you.
Sarah Taylor: We’ll be right back with our conversation, but first a heartfelt thank you to our sponsor Northwest University. Have you heard NU is all in on tech. They’ve got a brand-new state-of-the-art technology studio, and majors include UX design, data science, video production, audio production, and computer science.
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Sarah Taylor: Well in a few minutes here, kind of towards the end, we’re going to talk a little bit more about the imagery of your new album and how that sort of follows the story. There’s a lot of color in this new album. You go out of a desert season. So, I want to talk about that, but first, one of the parts that we reader’s digest too quickly is over how you met Adie, and a little bit of your courtship story, because it wasn’t love at, love at first sight for you guys. It was more like friendship at first sight, but then once you guys did start dating, all I have is pieces of knowledge, so fill in my gaps. Something about an Applebee’s breakup and sort of an awkward proposal.
Jeremy Camp: Yeah. So let me, let me share the little background, cause that’s basically about what it is in a nutshell. So, you know, we met on to where she was in a band called the Benjamin Gate, and we met on tour, and I was opening for her. So, people always remind me of that. Like your show opened for your wife’s. I’m like, I know that.
And so, it was one of those, you know, I would share my story and she would play and it wasn’t, I just was like, oh, cool. You know, a band that I would talk to her cause her table was close to mine. We became friends. And then all of a sudden, I remember there was a moment where she was her asking me questions about Melissa and just, I mean, she sounds incredible.
Like tell me more about her. And it was a beautiful, almost healing process for me. And then it became a point where I wouldn’t see her around and that’d be like, where, where’s she at? I got, I would have this feeling of how I want to see her, you know, And I realized, oh man, I have feelings for her. So, we had a conversation and said, you know, I like you. Circle yes or no if you like me. No, we didn’t do that.
But it was that kind of, you know, funny, awkward, like, hey, I like you like me. So, we started hanging out and then pretty soon I started feeling this, like, I can’t do this, you know, it’d been over a year and a half. I was like, it was, you know, a short time, but I still felt like, I don’t know if I’m ready for this.
I’m getting ready to, I just signed a contract record contract, I’m touring. So, I took her out to the Applebee’s I thought, hey, romantic dinner. Applebee’s I’m going to break up with her. So, we sat down and, uh, so we sat down, and I looked at her and I’m getting ready to say, I think we should break up. And what literally came out of my mouth,
this is true story, is do you feel like you can marry me? And she looks at me and says yes, right away. And we just sat there and stare at each other for a while. Like we had food common, we’re kind of picking out her food and I’m like, are we engaged or what’s happening now? So, I will say that I’m kind of black and white, you know, I’m not going to play games, kind of person. So that’s why I’m like, listen, if we’re gonna move forward on this, is this something that you can see yourself married? And if she would have hesitated at all, I would have actually been like, no, I’m out. And she’s not the type of person that would go, yeah, sure. She’s more of a thinker you think through this. So, it was like, God gave us each things that were not necessarily us. Like I would, I shouldn’t have said that. And she shouldn’t have said yes right away. That’s why I know it was just God kind of going, I actually want you to be together. And so that’s how we met.
And so we didn’t get engaged then. We got engaged about six months later, but, um, we knew at that point, that’s what we’re moving towards. You know what I mean? So
Sarah Taylor: I love that. I love it. And you guys have three beautiful kids. Um, I want to talk a little bit about them quickly before we get to the new record. Your oldest is driving.
Jeremy Camp: Yes. And I always tell people, please pray for me on your prayer lists, because it is terrifying. I’m talking about having to deal with my fear. Oh yeah. It’s like a crash course in like fear and trust.
Sarah Taylor: And then your other daughter is like, not too far behind, like, does she have her permit?
Jeremy Camp: She gets her permit in a week.
Sarah Taylor: How do you have enough cars for your family? Are they like borrowing your car? And you’re like…
Jeremy Camp: So that’s it. I’m like you remember the last guy we’re going to have to get a car, another vehicle for sure though. So, we’re looking at vehicles right now and I’m like kid highest safety rating in the world.
Sarah Taylor: Wrap them in steel.
Jeremy Camp: Oh yeah. In steel and bubble wrap. You know, all of it.
Sarah Taylor: Egan is how old?
Jeremy Camp: He’s 10 now. He’s a Lego master. Basically. He’s like one day… I got to tell you the story. He’s like Dad, I created something. He goes, I made an airport. I’m like, oh, that’s cute. I just thought like, this is probably a year and a half ago, so I walk in and I looked down and wait a second. He literally, cause we’ve flown so much and traveled so much, there’s like the person at the desk with the computer sitting on the desk, the conveyor belt behind her, where the bags go. Then there’s a security thing with the guy sitting behind the computer.
The little thing where that the luggage racks go. The thing you walk under, where it beeps. There’s the gate where there’s seats a coffee shop and then an airplane behind the gate. What in the world. And it was amazing. So, sorry. That’s my son.
Sarah Taylor: Oh, my word. No, I was completely like, I was just thinking, I love the way his brain works. Like what about the way that he’s wired? Do you see, come through with that?
Jeremy Camp: Yeah, I think that he, he’s very creative and imaginative and so, and he likes to put that imagination to, uh, come to fruition. Like even whatever it is he’s doing, he sees something and he’s like, oh, I want to create that. So we were like, well, maybe he’s going to be an architect or engineer or something like that.
Sarah Taylor: It’s basically your whole family because what you’re describing is how you feel about music, how your daughters do with music. He just happens to do it in like a different way, but it’s the same expression.
Jeremy Camp: They all are very creative. My wife’s super creative as well. My daughters are creative in different ways and Egan can actually sing as well.
I mean, he has a beautiful voice and can really sing, loves music has great rhythm. So, everybody in the family, I thought one kid I’d be like how that poor kid that can’t sing. And I was so thankful. I’ll be honest. We help our kids to all like be musical. Cause that would just be hard for one kid to be like, I don’t know what to do.
Sarah Taylor: Oh, they definitely are. I’ve heard your daughter’s music and their voices are captivating and you can tell their heart behind the song. Right. They’re not just like singing a song and like trying to showcase their vocal range. They are, it’s just the outward expression of what they’ve got going on in the inside.
Jeremy Camp: That’s a good way to put it because you know, they could have easily kind of following our footsteps and you know, well, I might as well be in music cause my parents do. It was their choice. We never force them. I mean, we helped them when they said we want to learn piano or learn guitar or whatever, we help them, but it was their choice. So, when they wrote these songs, it was from their heart. They wrote the lyrics, the music, the melodies, all that from them. And so,
Sarah Taylor: And remind everyone where to find like the, you have the titles, their names, all that.
Jeremy Camp: Yeah. So, my oldest daughter is Bella Camp. And it’s all, all streaming and it’s called Carry You Through. And then my other daughter is, um, Arie Camp, and it’s What We Need, all streaming on iTunes.
Sarah Taylor: I feel like, I feel like we could end it there, but we can also talk about your new record, Jeremy,
Jeremy Camp: I guess. Yeah. I can talk about my family all day though.
Sarah Taylor: So, I know it’s like, I, um, when I interviewed Steven Curtis Chapman, he’ll give you the spiel about what you want, but as soon as you mentioned Colony House, he lights up.
Jeremy Camp: That’s how I feel. The new stuff is exciting because it’s from the depths of my heart, but I’m watching my, I think as I get older, the next generation, like you really, we all need to pour into the next generation. It’s discipleship. It’s, it’s raising them up because we need a next generation of kids that love Jesus, that pursue him, that know his word and that’s their desire.
Sarah Taylor: I couldn’t agree more. No, you’re not allowed to say sorry to that, because you said, sorry, now you have to talk about it more.
Jeremy Camp: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I think that we have really great and that’s what we really did during this time is we, we sat down, and we would go through hard questions.
Like they would ask hard questions, we’d go through the Word, and we’d share with them things. And it was really incredible because I felt like things growing up, I’ll be honest, I probably wouldn’t be able to ask because I think my parents would be like, no, you don’t ask this question. Just this, this is why. We were able to explain why and the things that we’ve seen in our own experiences. And then put it to God’s word and say, this is the truth. This is why this is the truth. And so it really has been amazing to watch their maturity, um, especially this past year.
Sarah Taylor: Well, in our final few minutes, uh, let’s talk about the imagery shift from desert to color for your album when you speak, which by the time this releases, your album will be in the wild.
Jeremy Camp: Perfect, in the wild. I like that because it is kind of just let’s see what happens. So I’ll take that question and I’ll try to be brief, but how that song came about and then we’ll go from there. So, my last record was a little more desert theme. And I feel like I went through a desert season and there was a lot of, yeah, it was dry, but also it was beautiful because in the dryness you dig deeper to find water.
And I feel like that I was sharing with you earlier, I can’t, I still can’t remember if that exact reference was, but it says that I will lead you into the wilderness, the desert, and I will speak softly to you and I will bring back your vendors. And that’s what he did. It was like going through all this, of course, I still was writing the songs through all this, but then as I was coming out of the desert and God started speaking to me, it was right during COVID,
and I remember being like, Lord, I want to get through this so bad. And that’s not a bad thing. Of course, when we get through it. But God has said, Jeremy I want to get through to you during this. And it was just this shift of a mindset for me that I allowed him to speak to my heart and allow him to just go, okay, Lord, what do you want to do?
And really once that happened and I felt life speaking to me, that’s, it’s like the video of when you speak at the end, you see me walking almost on desert and then the pans up and there’s a city. Album is color and bright and joy and dancing almost, you know, like my dance moves are in there, which are terrible, but, you know, just show like, Hey, I’m excited, but that’s what happens.
Like there’s freedom, there’s healing. There’s peace, all that, and joy when God speaks. And I think that is the life that they brought into me.
Sarah Taylor: Well, I wish you all the best with it and your family. Thank you so much for your time today.
Jeremy Camp: Thank you so good talking to you again,
Sarah Taylor: Our thanks to content coordinator, Rebecca Beckett, our producer, Scott Karow with Terra Firma. Thank you also, if you’ve rated us left a review, I have one here from Matt. He said, “I lost my job unexpectedly this year, and I’ve been spending a lot of time asking God to guide me to work I love and have a passion for. The stories shared on this podcast have been such an encouragement and companion for me during this season of my life.”
So, thank you, Matt, and I wish you all the best. I’m sure that you are going to land exactly where you are supposed to. All right, you are welcome to also leave a review and thank you so much for listening to the Passion Meets Purpose podcast powered by Northwest University. My name is Sarah Taylor, and I will see you in two weeks.
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