Embracing the Rain Interview with
 Blake Bolerjack
 

ETR:    Could you give me a brief biography about yourself? 

Music was a huge part of my life growing up.  I still have memories of my first concert when I was three years old, dancing to the music of the Continental Singers.  My Dad loved music and so we always had music on in the house and the car.  Believe it or not, I pretty much started out listening to music solely on a record player.  We are one of those families that take forever to switch from tapes to CDs and etc… So I was a young boy in the 80s, while every other person on this earth listened to tapes, we mostly had Dad's vast vinyl record collection of the great classic gospel artists.

Music was so influential to me growing up. I believe most of what I learned and retained about God's character and love for me was from memorizing and singing biblically based songs.  Music is an awesome gift from God and He has comforted me when I was in great trials through music.

I have known for most of my childhood that I wanted to sing Christian music, but I was embarrassed of it.  Many people did not understand my dreams and thought I needed a “reality check.”  It was not until I was in college that the Lord gave me the courage to unashamedly stand up and say that I wanted to sing for the Lord.  After all, music is what ministered to me and helped get me on the right path with the Lord and I knew I wanted to be a part of something like that.

My full-time concert ministry started right after I finished college. The Lord had been tugging on my heart for a long time to start this ministry and although it has always been my dream and goal to sing Christian music, I did not expect to start so soon.  I was doing the very best I could to wait on the Lord so I would not jump into something too quickly. But this time I watched as each door I thought the Lord was opening ended up closing, leaving only one door for me: I walked through and went straight into full-time music ministry.  I was scared to death and very much excited at the same time, but Lord was there the whole time and reassured me that I needed to take that step of faith.

ETR:   Is there a testimony or other word that you would like to share with our readers?  

My testimony is a huge part of who I am.  For most of my childhood and adolescence I mentally trashed myself by telling myself that I was no good.  I thought I was worthless.  I remember the horrible feelings I felt as a young child of being rejected by my peers and feeling abandoned at a young age so I countered by deciding I was not going to let that happen again and would do anything to feel wanted. 

I set high standards for myself and decided that everyone had to like me and I had to be perfect.  I had to have perfect grades, be the best in sports, and be popular with my friends.  If one person did not like me, I was a failure in my own eyes. I bent over backwards for people and therefore had many friends.  I did my best to make my parents proud in school, but in truth, I struggled so much.  It took me three times longer than other kids to do anything in school.  While my friends would finish their homework in a couple of hours and go outside to play, I would take the rest of the day trying to finish what they had done so quickly.  There was a reason for this I found out.  My freshman year of High School, we discovered I had a learning disability. But I still could never measure up to my own expectations.  I had so much anger from things that happened to me in the past and I still felt I was worthless.

The result of this anger was depression.  Deep and dark depression.  It escalated in my sophomore and junior year to where I was becoming suicidal.  In fact, I was hospitalized for my depression.

Through the prayers of my family and by the grace of God, I started to understand God's love for me while in that hospital.  I learned that I based my self-worth off of all the wrong things: I based it off of lies.  Grades, friends and how well I could perform through this life have nothing to do with my self-worth.  Even as a Christian you can believe lies—I did. God determines your self-worth and He is so crazy in love with you that He gave up his only son to take our place and die for our sins and inadequacies.  You are priceless.  It says in the Bible that the truth will set you free.  Now think about this, in turn: lies bring bondage.  If you base your life off of lies, you enslave yourself and it can only harm you, but if you start to know and believe what the Lord says you are then those chains will fall off and you will be free. 

I encourage anyone who is going through depression to examine themselves and find out what you are truly basing your life and self worth on and then ask God to reveal the truth to you.  When I did that, God changed my life and I rededicated my life to him.
 

ETR:   How does your music influence your daily life? 

Music has always been a part of my life.  When I was going through depression in Junior High and High School I would put a Gospel or Christian Contemporary CD in the CD player and listen to that uplifting and encouraging message and music. 
 
Gospel music and the message it carries about the Glory of Heaven and the Love of God are things that help you to enjoy your present life. We get to celebrate the fact that this world is not our real home, that we are expectant for our eternal home in Heaven. We have a maker who loves us no matter what and can't wait until we get to join Him.
I have to practice my music a lot and I listen to music almost constantly.  Music, especially Southern Gospel, runs in my blood. It is uplifting to my spirit and helps refresh my soul.  I only record music that speaks to me, uplifting to me, and whose message I completely agree with.  I feel that if the song means a lot to me, I can better communicate it and, through God's power, touch others with the message.  Music plays an important role in life and I encourage everyone to listen to music that is encouraging to you and glorifies our Lord.  It is a tool that can lead you into personal worship, revelation, and reflection.

ETR:  How do you seek to help those who are hurting through your music?

The songs I sing talk about God's Love for us.  Many of my songs tell specific stories about how God longs for us and wants us to be a part of His wonderful plan.  One song I sing, "Farther Than Your Grace Can Reach" by Connie Harrington and Steve Siler, is a great ministry tool.  My own testimony about wondering how God could still love someone who "keeps messing up" is completely encompassed in this wonderful song.  I've met so many people, in the church no less, who feel like they have to fix themselves before they can come to God.  But that's wrong; God wants you as you are, let Him fix you. 

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