Josh Turner Shares His Incredibly Moving Testimony

It’s always interesting when artists give us insight into their personal lives, dreams, and hopes. Josh Turner does exactly this in his touching testimonial, telling his viewers how he got to where he’s at today and who exactly he has to thank for that.

“Singing country music, that’s what I’ve always dreamt of doing as a young boy. Growing up in South Carolina, it was out of the ordinary to dream such a dream,” Turner started off. “Singing allowed me to express myself in ways I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. I don’t feel God called me to be a gospel singer, he didn’t call me to be a Christian singer; he called me to be a country singer and I just happen to be a Christian.”

The native South Carolinian credits Randy Travis’ Storms Of Life album as his inspiration to play country music. “God inspired me to write ‘Long Black Train’,” Turner said about his first big hit that really put him on the map. “I wrote this song by myself, in my apartment, and it came to me in a vision. It’s a vision of this long, black, beautiful, shiny train and people are standing out to the sides of the track, watching this train go by, and just craving to get on it. At the same time, they know that this train leads to destruction, it leads to emptiness, it leads to nowhere, but yet they still want to get on it. This train was a physical metaphor for temptation.”

Turner initially thought that no one would want to hear his song because it was too “old fashion”. Ironically, it became his first major hit and the title track of his debut record. Because this song touched a lot of people, he realized something very important: “That was the moment that I realized it’s not about the money, or the fame, or the glory. It’s about changing people, it’s about touching people and influencing people in a positive way. So from that point on, it’s what I’ve tried to do.”

Josh is proud to be a Christian and isn’t afraid to say it to the world. “I’m thankful to have Jesus as my savior. My relationship with God has always been one to where I’m talking to him all day, every day, about anything and everything. It’s just a continuous, ongoing conversation that I have with the Lord and I feel like that’s brought me closer to him. It helps me think through things clearly. I feel like it’s given me wisdom about other people, about myself, about the life that I live. Ultimately, I get my joy from him and always put him first.”

It’s obvious that Mr. Turner is a very humble and thankful person. He definitely deserves every ounce of fame he’s received and it’s beautiful that he’s touched so many lives with his music. Good for you, Josh!