Skaggs the preacher just as great as entertainer

With 13 Grammys under his belt for his Bluegrass brilliance, country music superstar Ricky Skaggs could and should rest on his considerable laurels.

But Sunday at Corinthian Baptist Church in Nashville, Skaggs held the congregation and several pastors spellbound with his preaching about the Kingdom of God and our role in it. Skaggs, who along with his just-as-inspired wife, Sharon White-Skaggs, is a member of the First Baptist Church of Hendersonville. And he is considering pursuing instruction as a church deacon.

Pastors of Tennessee beware. Someone already gifted at music may well take your job at the pulpit.

Skaggs spread forth many measures of Holy Spirit-filled wisdom Sunday, including this pearl he uttered after the service at our lunch table: "The Bible does not say that once you see God you die. Once you see God, you die to yourself."

Amen to that and more.

The preaching of Skaggs about the coming on the Kingdom of God on Earth and our role in it was the most moving religious experience of my life, along with the preaching of the Rev. Enoch Fuzz and Skaggs' wife, Sharon White-Skaggs.

They joined Sunday at the kick-off event for the organizing of the Music City Inaugural Charity Ball on Jan. 20 to support the presidency of Barack Obama and what it can do for Nashville and the nation during these most precarious times.

I realize that it takes a lot for people of prominence to expose their religious faith to the general public outside of their home church. So I feel very protective of the Ricky and Sharon-White Skaggs and their faith -- lest it be abused by overzealous and starry-eyed believers or targeted by non-believers.

Their kind of faith is a most precious thing. That is what makes it so powerful. And that is what makes it most necessary to protect. I feel called to do that and more.


(photo by Tim Chavez)