Nov. Hymn 'Wine Into Water' T. Graham Brown and sobriety: ‘It was a miracle to me’

    This is not a Hymn but a story of a Country Music singer and his addiction and how Christ can have an impact on ones life if they let him.  Excerpts from “The Ties That Bind Us” By Steve Wildsmith | October 8, 2018     County star T. Graham Brown was coming off of a four-year stretch of hits in the late 1980s when he found himself sitting in a group therapy session with his old friend, the late Keith Whitley.   “I remember us sitting in this group therapy circle, and everybody sounded like they were whining, and Keith and I were just looking at each other, rolling our eyes and thinking, ‘Come on, y’all, get over this. We gotta go have a drink.’”                                                                                                              In May 1989: Brown was at home with his wife, Sheila, when the phone rang. It was Jack McFadden, Keith’s manager,“T., Keith’s dead,” McFadden said, bursting into tears. Brown was stunned, In the days afterward, he began to see just how bad his friend’s drinking problem really was, but the tragedy didn’t slow Brown’s own descent into the bottle, he added. “I later found out that Keith would drink nail polish remover, cologne; he would drink anything,” Brown said. “But that didn’t straighten me out one bit. It didn’t make me reexamine my life. You would think that if one of your best friends dies from it, that you might sit around and reflect a little bit and straighten up, but it didn’t even faze me.”                                    In the 1990s, however, his substance problem began to overshadow his success. “The first 40 years were fun, but when I started pouring vodka in my coffee, I started thinking, ‘I don’t know if this is right or not,’” he said. “I did that for a long time, because the only way to get over a hangover is to start drinking again, and that was my deal. I just got to be pitiful. When I looked in the mirror, I would say, ‘You’re smarter than this. You’re about to lose everything.’                                  His 1990 record, “Bumper to Bumper,” did modestly well, but 1991’s “You Can’t Take It With You” included only one single that charted, and that same year, he left Capitol. He didn’t return with another studio album until 1998’s “Wine Into Water,” the title track of which has become his most personal and poignant song to date.                                                           “I would get on the horse, ride for a while, then fall off, and when I wrote the song with a couple of buddies of mine, I was still drunk and smoking pot and taking pills or whatever, and I didn’t want to sing it,” he said. “One day, we were out at Loretta Lynn’s, and Sheila said, ‘You’ve got to sing this song. God has used it to help a lot of people.’ “Loretta, she was married to a man who drank, too, so she and Sheila had that bond, and she loved the song and eventually started doing it in her own shows,.................... so I know it’s helped a lot of people,  I would sing it and just feel like such a fake.”           He doesn’t remember the exact date, but he does remember the moment his life changed: He had almost given up on sobriety. He was on the road, miserable and surrounded by booze. His band members drank and dabbled, but Brown was absolutely miserable. “It’s a corny story, but I looked in the mirror, and I was hung over and looking rough, and I was just sick and tired of being tired and sick,” he said. “I asked God for some help, and from that minute on, I haven’t had one craving. I didn’t go to any kind of meeting, but it was like it was gone all of the sudden. It was a miracle to me.  When you ask for help, you’ve got to be sincere. God knows what you’re thinking, and it’s stupid to try and con God. I know, because I did it for a long time! But if you’re sincere about it, if you’re asking for forgiveness, he’ll be there for you.”                                      These days, he sings “Wine Into Water” with all of the conviction he can muster. It’s usually the last song in his set, and before he does it, he gives his testimony. It’s his hope that the song, as Sheila pointed out all those years back, help others as much as it has him, and the feedback he gets from fans is a testament to its power. Drinking, he added, is the furthest thing from his mind.
    “Even some days, when I’m saying my prayers, I’ll forget to thank God for my sobriety!” he said. “It just went away, and I don’t even think about it. I have no idea what day it was, what month, even what year — I just never cared. I just don’t think about it anymore, and I’m doing great, man. Sheila and I have been together 40 years, and now that I’m finally able to come around and stay sober, our relationship is great. She’s my best friend, and we have a lot of fun, especially now that our son has grown up, gotten married and moved out. She travels with me now, and we just have a good time. I had to straighten up everything in my life, but when I did, everything got better, man. It’s amazing.”    Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.                                                                Hebrews 4:16                                                            You've heard a multitude of prayers on my behalf
I pray one more is not too much to ask
I've tried to fight this battle by myself
But it's a war that I can't win without Your help
                                                                                                Tonight, I'm as low as any man can go
I'm down and I can't fall much farther
And once upon a time, You turned the water into wine
An' now, on my knees, I'm turning to You, Father
Could You help me turn the wine back into water?
                                                                                                   So many times I've hurt the ones I love
I pushed them to the edge of giving up
They've stood by me but how much can they stand
If I don't put this bottle in Your hands?                Tonight, I'm as low as any man can go
I'm down and I can't fall much farther
And once upon a time, You turned the water into wine
An' now, on my knees, I'm turning to You, Father
Could You help me turn the wine back into water?
                                                                                                                I shook my fist at heaven for all the hell that I've been through
Now I'm begging for forgiveness and a miracle from You
Cause tonight, I'm as low as any man can go
I'm down and I can't fall much farther
And once upon a time, You turned the water into wine
                                                                                                               An' now, on my knees, I'm turning to You, Father
Could You help me turn the wine back into water?
Could You help me turn this wine back into water?
Yeah, yeah                                                            “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”                  James 4:10