There are times in life when our faith in something is severely tested. 

That something could be law enforcement. Remember George Floyd?

It could be a political party. Imagine being a traditional Republican these days.

It could be the government. Remember the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments? 

It could be our fellow humans. Remember the Capital Hill Insurrection?

It could be a close friend who lets you down. 

Or... it could even be God.

In Part 2 of The Church Boy Who Encountered Troubled Waters, we’ll see what happened to the Stephens family after a tragic loss. 

We’ll also see the beginning of an amazing transformation that took place in the life of little Johnny Stephens.

If you’ve not read Part 1... please do so before reading Part 2. Otherwise, you'll be lost in the sauce.  

Part 1 is only a 6-minute read. You can get to it by clicking on the link below.

If you have read Part 1, keep reading. As you'll see when we're done, Johnny's story is an amazing one.

The Church Boy Who Encountered Troubled Waters - Part 2

A Second Piano Falls

When Johnny’s grandmother passed away (far too soon) at the age of 59, it set in motion a series of events that would change their lives in ways that no one could have foreseen.

As you might expect, the Stephens family and their church were grieving the loss of their mother, grandmother and First Lady.

But an age-old question haunted their innermost thoughts.

WHY? 

Why did this happen? 

Why take a sweet, humble, God-fearing woman at such a young age?

Why take a woman whose entire life was dedicated to serving the Lord?

And why take someone doing good while allowing evil doers to continue blissfully living their lives?

WHY? 

What's going on?

How can this be?

It’s a question that's been asked by mankind for thousands of years. 

Personally, I've often asked the same thing about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. 

Why take them? 

We needed our heroes then. 

And we certainly need them now.

But as is often the case... the Stephens family didn't get an answer. 

Just silence.

A Downward Spiral

Johnny’s mother was the third of six children... all of whom were devastated by the loss of their mother.  

But Johnny’s mother, who strove to emulate her mother’s life of service and motherhood, took it the hardest. 

Like her siblings, she cycled through the full range of human emotions. 

Shock, grief, sadness, depression, but also…

Anger.

And... disillusionment.

Ultimately, she ended up in a place that no one could have ever predicted.   

So great was her pain and disillusionment that this mighty woman of God ended up leaving the church.

That alone was incomprehensible.

But then the second piano fell.

Johnny’s mother didn’t just leave the church.

She left the family.

With her once powerful faith shattered into pieces, she descended into the dark abyss of depression, drug addiction… and even prison.

From their point of view, an apt comparison would be T.D. Jakes doing something similar.

It was mind boggling.

At the age of 10, Johnny had lost the two most important people in his life.

The two people who’d had the greatest influence on his life, music, and education were gone like the wind.

Rolling with the Punches

As hard as it was to believe, the Stephens children now had to grapple with a second traumatic event. Their mother had left them. 

They wouldn’t see her for 10 years.

Johnny’s father was left to pick up the pieces and try to hold the family together.

With their dad having to work to support them, Johnny and his siblings became latch key kids.

They had to grow up fast... toughen up quick... and pitch in.  

For his part, Johnny learned how to prepare meals. He became the family cook. 

Years later, he would say, “Thank God for Hamburger Helper!”

In addition, with their mother gone, Johnny and his siblings were forced to go to public school.

It was the first time they’d ever attended a regular school.

Culture Shock

The experience was a shock that left them feeling like foreigners in a strange land. 

For his part, Johnny tested so far ahead of his peers that the school decided to skip him two grades.

That meant he was only 12 years old when he entered high school.

And that meant he was at least a foot shorter than all of his classmates. He looked like a little kid.  

In truth, he was a little kid. 

He hadn’t even begun puberty yet.

His classmates took to calling him Doogie after the little boy who was a doctor on the TV show, Doogie Howser. M.D.

Some called him Doogie affectionately. Others called him that to make fun of him. 

Whatever their intent, Johnny took it in stride. This was his new life and his new name. He would just have to deal with it.

Lifted by the Storm

It has been said that the winds of a powerful storm are what help eagles fly above it.

The updrafts keep lifting them higher and higher until they are above the storm.

The storms coming against Johnny did the same for him.

For three reasons, it was Johnny's music that lifted him above his trials and tribulations... and ultimately over his troubled waters. 

First, the church had lost their two primary musicians in one fell swoop. 

With no one else to take over, little Johnny had to do it.  

Just 10 years old, he now had to direct a choir of adults and play the keyboard. 

Being the director of music for an entire church meant selecting music, arranging vocals, running rehearsals, and coming up with ideas for what to sing and how to sing it. 

In short, he was the one in charge of making the church service move and come alive. 

And all of that at age 10!

Because circumstances demanded it, Johnny had to assume leadership and musical responsibilities that were far beyond his years.

And because of that, his confidence and capabilities as a musician accelerated in an incredible way.

The Church Bubble Pops

Second, being in public school meant Johnny was out of his church bubble for the first time in his life. 

This led to his musical horizons broadening dramatically.

With his mother being absent, no one was stopping him from listening to the radio anymore. 

And now that he was attending public school, he began listening to what everyone else was listening to.

To his delight, there were many genres of wonderful music besides gospel. 

He loved turning on the radio and listening to artists like Jodeci, Boys to Men, Whitney, Luther, Lionel Ritchie, Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

His dad began loosening up too. He started playing albums of popular music from his era and sharing it with the kids. 

He introduced them to crooners like Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis. 

He especially loved Motown and helped Johnny fall in love with an entire generation of old school R&B singers. 

Among them were Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson, Al Green and The Temptations.

Each of these artists and their vocals penetrated deep into Johnny’s being to the point he could hear their music in his head throughout the day.

He was in music nirvana. 

Your Talent Will Make a Place for You

Third, in a school where he was so much younger than everyone else, and a square peg in a round hole (pun intended), music became a way for Johnny to connect and earn the respect of other students.

The responsibility of being music director of a church at such a young age was turning him into a master musician.

Although he was nerdy and painfully shy, he began entering school talent shows that gave him a chance to showcase his musicianship.

One of his “go to” songs at talent shows was, “A Ribbon in the Sky” by Stevie Wonder. And boy could he sing it!

Conversations in the audience would go like this.

Hey... everyone was standing, and I couldn't see. Who was that singing?

That was Doogie man.

Doogie? The little, nerdy, black kid?

Yeah, little Doogie.

Dang!

Yeah... dang is right.

What Doesn't Kill You...

Friedrich Nietzsche famously said, "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Black people have been through many things that have almost killed us... and therein lies the source of our strength.

Unfortunately, it's only useful if we tap into it.

And it's easier to tap into if we know our stories.

Next week, we'll pick back up on the story of Johnny Stephens and how he continued becoming stronger, and stronger, and stronger... until he began to SOAR. 

So, join us next Sunday for The Church Boy Who Encountered Troubled Waters, Part 3.