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CBN.com – The roar of the crowd, the flash of lights, and the sound of music was echoing across the stage. At the tender age of seven, Jacob Clemons fell in love with music and on the shoulders of his father, he experienced his first music concert. His uncle, Clarence Clemons played with Bruce Springsteen.
"They introduced my Uncle Clarence Clemons. 'And now the big man, Clarence Clemons,' and the crowd went crazy. It just totally blew me away, and I remember walking out of there and I was like, 'Dad, I want to play saxophone.This is what I want to do.' "
Jake grew up to do just that -- playing music and chasing fame became his life.
"I had this desire in me to play music. I don’t know why, but the desire for fame was there, and it was big, and it was serious, and I was virtually willing to do anything to get there," he says.
Jake grew up believing in God, but now he wanted to run his own life. He wanted to be a rock star, and no one was going to stop him. Success was sweet. He played for bands like Dave Matthews, Will Smith, and P.O.D. Jacob’s dreams were coming true. But the rockstar lifestyle began to take its toll.
"I was going to be a rock and roll star, so I was going to do anything that I could to be a rock and roll star. So naturally I got into alcohol and a lot of drugs."
What happened here? Did he step off the stage or trip over a mic cable? One wrong step changed the course of Jake’s life...
"I was laying on the ground in excruciating pain, and I didn’t know what happened, and it hurt really, really bad. But, I also knew that it couldn’t stop me. So I just tried walking it off for three days, with two torn ligaments, and half a knee cap. It got to the point where it got too excruciating and too painful, and the guys were like, 'You are going home. You can’t stay out here like this. I felt like it was up to me. If my leg got cut off, I didn’t care. I wanted this.' "
Jacob flew home and was rushed to the hospital.
"I remember waking up from surgery, and I had this verse in my head. I knew how God worked, and I wasn’t going to read it. I don’t know what it said, but I knew that it was Romans 11:25. I wasn't going to read it," he remembers.
For two weeks that verse played over and over in his head. Finally, Jacob gave in, and he opened his Bible.
"It was Romans 11:25 and it said basically, 'God will take wickedness away from Jacob.' And I was completely freaked out and scared."
"And I just felt that it was too clear. It was too blatant, straight into my head. If I wanted to fight it, it was going to get much worse. So, I gave in, and I just broke down. It was like, 'Alright God, I don’t know why You allowed me to have these desires, but obviously I am not doing it right. I give it all to You completely.' I surrender all of my dreams and all my goals. I felt Him calling me for quite a while. I essentially spent the next two years virtually laying music down. I realized that this rock and roll thing was worthless."
As Jake spent time building a relationship with God, he realized his love for music never faded.
"God has this gift of music that He imparted on me. It was my idol, and it was something that I did well. I said, 'Let me do it, let me do it,' and God was like, 'No, I will do it, just love me. Follow me, love me, and pursue me. And I will take care of the rest.' That is when things started to change, and before I knew it, my phone was ringing off the hook. It would be this band from New York that was looking for a horn. Then, another band would call. I then started to realize... Man, His Word is true! Pursue Him, and He will do the rest. And it has just been constant."
"Since giving my life fully to the Lord and since giving my dreams to the Lord, He has done wonders and amazing miracles. Through them, I have have played with people I couldn’t have dreamed of playing with because God has ordained it. He allowed it. He opened that door. I didn’t even have to knock," Jakes says.
But, Jake won’t be going alone. His wife, Jackie will be joining him. His goal this time is not to acquire fame, but to bring glory to God.
"Let me play with the Holy Spirit behind me. Let me play with the full power of God behind me. Let it be wondrous, and let it be amazing. And if people see it and are wowed by it... what greater opportunity do I have to say, 'Why should you be amazed? Don’t you know the God I serve?' "
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