My Tribute To Jamie Grimsley: To God Be The Glory For The Things He Has Done

On Saturday, July 31, my dear friend Jamie Grimsley made it to heaven before I did. This is my tribute to him.

I suppose that for every beginning of something very special, there must be an end as well. This is especially true with a deep and abiding friendship. They begin, and then one day, they end. My friendship with Jamie began in 1972. I was 16 years old, new to the almost brand new West Florence high school, and working on collecting a brand new set of friends. It was my good fortune that in the early stages of my important task, my friend collection had Jamie in it.

In keeping with our common love for music, Jamie and I first met when I was directing the school’s pep band. He wanted to play his bass guitar. We never had a bass guitar, but it sure would have been cool to have one (a personal disclaimer here: I was known by many of my peers as “Doc” as in “Doc Severinsen” of the Tonight Show fame. My life goals were high: either to replace Doc when he retired or to join Lawrence Welk’s Champagne Orchestra. I am happy to report that none of those dreams came true). So I told Jamie, “Welcome aboard!” Little did I realize that our lives from that time forward would be joined at the hip in music, in friendship, in ministry, and in our mutual love for the Lord Jesus.

The formative years of our relationship were forged in a ministry called Reach Out Incorporated in Florence South Carolina. Through the kindness and generosity of Drs. NB Baroody, Meyers Hicks and market place businessman Knox Sherer, a Christian coffee house was opened. Young people caught in the wave of a spiritual revival flooded “The Door.” During the decade of the 1970s, we and a host of other young adults were given a place to learn more about the love of Jesus. We built a community of friends, many of whom remain so to this day. We were afforded an awesome place to use our gifts and serve people in places that we could have hardly imagined. For Jamie and I, it was a group called the Reach Out Singers. We were given a wonderful forum in which to use our love for music. Over the years, we sang in churches, conferences, coffee houses, concert halls, television studios, and parks. We sang in the city, the country, in front of a few and in front of thousands. We traveled a few miles across town and caravanned over the entire southeastern United States. And along the way, memories of our friendship were layered upon one great experience after another. Some of my favorite concerts were when Jamie and I were in the same equipment van on the way to the next destination. In would go the eight-track tape, and then Jamie would sing over it and sound a whole lot better than the guy on the tape! Yes, I had a front row seat to enjoy his amazing gift of song (please bear with me on this: some would even call these “car tunes”). I was his captive audience for the ride that always seemed to end too quickly.

I suppose one of my fondest memories of Jamie was when The Reach Out Singers sang at the Presbyterian Family Life Conference every year during the week of July 4th in the mountain community of Montreat North Carolina (I really cannot prove this, but my hunch is this is God’s summer home). Without fail, the Lord saw fit to anoint our music in Anderson Auditorium during the conference. The only time He did not bless our music was when we were singing in a coffee house on the campus of Montreat, and we forgot to include the Lord in our singing. This is the truth: we were flat in our music but even worse, we were flat in our humility. Our mentor, Knox, gave us a loving rebuke that challenged us to keep our eyes on the Lord and not on ourselves. We got the message, and the next night at the conference, the glory of the Lord fell down upon everyone in the auditorium.

Other significant life experiences that Jamie and I shared were the many lay witness missions we attended with our dear friend Dr. Morris Anderson. Both Jamie and I matured in our gifts because, to a large degree, Morris trusted us to follow the Lord. Morris trusted Jamie to pick the right songs and to sing them at the right time and in the right way. God was worshiped and all the people went home knowing that the Lord was in that place. Morris trusted me to invite the youth team members who would come and share what Jesus had done in their lives. Trust is a big deal in ministry. It’s a big deal in relationships. It was a big deal between Morris, Jamie and me. Because we trusted the Lord and we trusted each other, only heaven knows how many lives were touched by His Spirit. When I reflect back over those times, my heart is warmed thinking about how the Lord used imperfect men and women to bring others closer to Jesus.

A blessing that grew out of Morris’ lay renewal team was the time that Cliff Camak, Betsy Covington, Tim McAneney, Jamie, and I spent the entire day in the Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte North Carolina recording the album “Count It Joy.” It never made the Billboard Charts, but we believe that because of its eternal message and its beautiful music, many were drawn closer to Jesus.

Our many trips together consisted of everything from carpooling to college to heading to the next coffee house or church for either a concert with the Reach Out Singers or a solo gig Jamie had scheduled. On occasion, I confess that Jamie and I would play a game of chance as we carpooled to Francis Marion University: if the traffic light at the school was red, we would turn right and head on to class; however, if the light was green . . . need I say more? We cut class and headed to the beach in either his old white cargo van or in my red Chevrolet cargo van, lovingly nicknamed the “Holy Ghost Traveling Salvation Van.” As the years went by, we did find enough red lights in order to graduate!

Family was important to Jamie, and Jamie’s family was important to me. Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley became like a second set of parents to me. They loved me like one of their own, because in their mind and in mine, I was. Countless meals were served in their home that I was invited to sample. My given nickname, “Skinny Denny,” was given to me by Jamie and Earle Sims (who were known in our group of three as “The Chump” and “Earle the Pearl” respectively. If you did not know us, you might misunderstand that the nicknames were terms of endearment and were treasured by each man—even today). But how I stayed “Skinny Denny” for many years was no fault of Mrs. Grimsley. She did the best she could to fatten me up.

Please understand that I did not have a flesh and blood brother. The Lord provided that in Jamie. Over the course of our friendship we laughed together, learned together, cried together (especially when after experiencing a concert where it seemed that heaven itself came down and gave us a preview of what heaven will be like), played together, and yes we prayed together too. You see, Jamie was not just another brother in Christ. He was a man who walked with me as we approached the Throne of Grace. When you pray with a person, you really gain a window into the person’s soul. For me, Jamie was my soul brother.

I count it as a personal blessing to have attended Trinity Presbyterian Church when Perry Mobley was the pastor. On the staff was our youth director, Don Stephens, Jamie as our minister of worship, and yours truly as the pastoral assistant to Perry. Some of the sweetest worship services I can recall were on Sunday nights as Jamie would lead us in song, Don would accompany him with a piano that was not only in tune with the musical notes, but even more in tune with the Holy Spirit, and I had the opportunity to play my trumpet. As I look back now, I really did not fully appreciate what was taking place. I was experiencing worship; a quality of worship that I miss.

As the years passed by, our lives went in different directions. We went to different churches. We began our families. Life got busier with our jobs, but whenever we would see each other, he would give me the “Grimsley Hug,” a bear of a hug that not only left an impression on you, but had you desiring another one just as soon as you caught your breath. I vividly remember a visit Jamie made to see me. The circumstances were difficult. In the summer of 1998 I had a massive heart attack and bypass surgery at the age of 41. To this day, I remember the warm smile (we all remember his smile) that stood at the end of my bed in the intensive care unit. I’m not fully sure how the Lord worked to restore my broken body, but I suspect smiles like Jamie’s went a long way to promote my eventual healing.

The last time I saw Jamie was at a benefit concert for the earthquake victims of Haiti earlier this year. He was doing what he loved so much: hanging around those who loved music and with those who loved the Lord. Standing behind the soundboard stood a man who had been in the fight of his life. I gazed at my weathered friend who had been waging a courageous battle against an enemy I hate even more today than I did before. I was hoping, praying, believing that the Lord would give Jamie the weapon that would slay the cancer in his life and extend his life for many years to come. I took note of this mental snap shot of Jamie and compared it to the robust and energetic man that I had loved for years. Then I walked over to him and gave him a hug. My regret is that I did not hug him more and tell him how much he meant to me. I commit to do this: when the Lord calls me home, I’m going to look up my friend and give him a hug. Then we will find a place to sit and reminisce about our friendship and retell our stories for eternity.


A Postscript: I am sure that Andrae Crouch did not have Jamie Grimsley and the Reach Out Singers in mind when he wrote the inspired song that has found its way into many Christian hymnals today. Andrae did not have us in mind, but the Lord Jesus sure did. This song became the signature song of Jamie and the Reach Out Singers. The words are inspired. The musical notes are tremendous. But more often than not, when we sang this song a supernatural anointing of worship came upon not only us, but also fell upon those who heard it with us. Our gaze was set upon the Savior who changed all of us and gave us this fresh perspective: To God be the glory; for the things he has done, is doing and will do. This is my tribute to my friend. To God be the glory, Jamie. Lets’ sing it again brother. Lets’ sing it again.

My Tribute (To God Be The Glory) Words and Music by Andrae Crouch
How can I say thanks for the things
You have done for me?
Things so undeserved yet You gave
To prove Your love for me
The voices of a million angels
Could not express my gratitude
All that I am, and ever hope to be
I owe it all to Thee

To God be the glory, to God be the glory
To God be the glory for the things He has done
With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me
To God be the glory for the things He has done

Just let me live my life and
Let it be pleasing Lord to Thee
And if I gain any praise, let it go to Calvary

With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me
To God be the glory for the things He has done
for the things He has done.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/celebrating-jamie

(Note: Permission is granted to distribute this Tribute to Jamie by both electronic and printed means)


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