Ronnie Milsap Overcomes Negative Church Roots

Ronnie Milsap on the GAC special, How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites Live from the Grand Ole Opry. 2008 Copyright Grand Ole Opry, Photo by Chris Hollo.

March 11, 2009 — Ronnie Milsap released his first gospel album, Then Sings My Soul: 24 Favorite Hymns And Gospel Favorites, this week. Spiritual music means a lot to him, though it would be easy to understand if he'd turned away from anything church-related.

His mother gave him up because she believed his blindness was some form of punishment from God. In her place, he was raised by his grandparents, but some of his mentors in the community mirrored his mother's beliefs, saying his lack of sight was simply a lack of faith.

"My grandparents never told me that, but certain members of the church did, and they wanted to drive me to healing meetings," Ronnie told Christianity Today. "I was told all I'd have to have is the faith of a mustard seed, but I was not=2 0healed. What was a little disappointing was how nice they were to me when they took to me to the tent meetings and how disconnected from me they grew when I wasn't healed."

A lot of people in that situation would face the world with a huge amount of hostility. Not Ronnie.

"I never did get angry," he said. "I felt like it wasn't meant to be. It's not my fault, it's not God's fault — it's nobody's fault! It wasn't God's will for me to be healed, but that did not change my faith any way whatsoever."

Then Sings My Soul features a number of gospel standards, including "I'll Fly Away," "Amazing Grace" and "It Is No Secret." But it also puts a spiritual spin on some secular hits, including Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" and Ronnie's own "What A Difference You've Made In My Life."

Danielle
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