<\/p>\n
Tucked smack-dab in the middle of John James\u2019 new book \u2014 a memoir of his rise and fall with the Newsboys \u2014\u00a0is a gritty and vulnerable truth: \u201cI had disqualified myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
That honest admission from James\u2019 forthcoming book, \u201cNewsboy: My Story of Hope and Second Chances,\u201d offers a window into the unique view he has amidst the Newsboys\u2019 latest scandal,\u00a0disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct\u00a0at the hands of its disgraced former lead singer, Michael Tait.<\/p>\n
Another piece of the story is, before Tait took on the role of frontman, there was Peter Furler, and, before Furler, there was James.<\/p>\n
James, a native of the coastal suburb of Mooloolaba, Queensland, in Australia, recently appeared on CBN\u2019s\u00a0Faith in Culture Podcast<\/em>, where he spoke openly not only about his own past \u2014 the double life that led to his undoing \u2014\u00a0but also the heartrending legacy of the Christian rock band he helped create with Furler and Wes Campbell in a garage some four decades ago, in 1985.<\/p>\n Now in his early 60s, James is sharing his own testimony, an honest revelation coinciding with Tait\u2019s downfall. At the height of the Newsboys\u2019 early success, James\u2019 own life was falling apart: he was caught up in the instant-messaging craze of the 1990s that led him into several compromising conversations, which quickly devolved into internet-based emotional affairs rife with sexual dialogue.<\/p>\n That, coupled with a growing struggle against alcoholism, led James to an uncomfortable confession to Furler while the band was working on its seventh studio album, \u201cStep Up to the Microphone,\u201d released in 1998. After his exit from the Newsboys, James\u2019 life continued to unravel. His first marriage dissolved, illicit drugs became an escape, and a deep depression took over.<\/p>\n Now remarried and dedicated to missionary work, James said it was \u201cauthentic repentance\u201d that restored him, healing him from his drug addiction, breaking the cycle of shame over his past sexual sins, and lifting the heavy weight of depression that had crippled him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t because of anything I could do,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it was the mercy and grace of God, that He constantly and lovingly drew me back to the foot of the cross in repentance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was more than just a prayer I said [at the altar],\u201d James continued. \u201c[It was] allowing the Holy Spirit \u2026 to address the brokenness and the sin in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n From there, he added, the singer \u201cstarted to bear fruit in accordance to repentance.\u201d<\/p>\n James, now\u00a0a missionary to the U.S.\u00a0alongside his wife, Tanya, cautioned, though, the path to healing isn\u2019t one that can be traveled \u201covernight.\u201d It was \u2014 and is \u2014 \u201ca long journey.\u201d<\/p>\n That perspective, one that is aware of the need for accountability while making room for Bible-based redemption, gives James \u2014 who parted ways with the Newsboys 30 years ago \u2014 a unique opportunity to speak into the devastating Tait scandal that has dominated Christian news over the last year and a half.<\/p>\n Looking at all that has unfolded, James said, \u201cIt breaks my heart to see the legacy end this way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy heart goes out to the people who were wounded, the victims, the people who were betrayed, just absolutely tragic,\u201d he began, noting there are \u201cabsolutely\u201d consequences to sin but that \u201cno one is beyond redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cI carry the consequences and the scars of my mistakes and my sin that shipwrecked my time with the Newsboys. I carry those scars for the rest of my life. But we cannot take redemption off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy prayer for everyone involved with the Newsboys tragedy is that, somehow, God would weave a redemptive story out of it,\u201d James said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how, I don\u2019t know how long, but one day, we would look back and think, \u2018Man, that was the worst thing that ever happened. But man, what a testimony, God, of forgiveness, of repentance, of mercy, of grace, of healing that You brought out of that.’\u201d<\/p>\n Redemption from sin, he added, is God\u2019s \u201cspecialty.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to our entire conversation with James in the\u00a0Faith in Culture Podcast<\/em>\u00a0episode above.<\/p>\n As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for\u00a0Faithwire\u2019s daily newsletter\u00a0and download the\u00a0CBN News app.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tucked smack-dab in the middle of John James\u2019 new book \u2014 a memoir of his rise and fall with the Newsboys \u2014\u00a0is a gritty and vulnerable truth: \u201cI had disqualified myself.\u201d That honest admission from James\u2019 forthcoming book, \u201cNewsboy: My Story of Hope and Second Chances,\u201d offers a window into the unique view he has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[238,1646,226,9649,4374,5610,1261,330,4496,4338],"class_list":["post-29190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jesus","tag-gods","tag-james","tag-john","tag-newsboys","tag-original","tag-redemption","tag-scandal","tag-sin","tag-singer","tag-speaks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}