Did you know that Ricky Skaggs was a passionate, outspoken Christian? Maybe you did. For some reason, I had no idea. That is, until he started showing up at Thunder School, the three-month prophetic worship intensive I had enrolled in back in 2007.
When he first came around with his wife Sharon and daughter Molly, everyone was a little starstruck. As part of the intensive, we all volunteered for a monthly meal for the homeless hosted by Harvest Sound Church. One night while serving the homeless, Ricky came strolling in and started passing out food and loving on the homeless. It was a little shocking for all of us who had watched him on TV or seen him on billboards to suddenly be standing next to him passing out soup, but he was so down-to-earth and kind that it quickly seemed normal. He apparently had been doing it for years.
Ricky continued to show up, not just for Meal of Hope, but for worship nights, and just to hang out! He would teach and preach for different sessions in the intensive, and he always encouraged and loved on the students. He and his wife had a heart to be spiritual parents to the next generation. I remember hearing him give one of my friends, who was a musical artist, his phone number. He told him (to the best of my memory), “When you’re ready, really ready, call me on this number.”
It got to where we didn’t think twice about having him around. He was just part of the crew. He invited us to his home, let us play his collection of guitars, and even produced demos for some of the students in his home studio. On the day of our graduation and commissioning ceremony, he was there praying for us and encouraging us.
He and his wife prayed over me and began to prophesy (this is from memory, but I did write it down as soon as I got to my room), “You are a communicator for the Kingdom of God. You really do hear from God, and God says to quit doubting because you really do hear from Him. Communicate the things that God tells you and don’t doubt. You have a compassionate heart and you are a shepherd. You have a desire to father the fatherless, to love the loveless, and to lead the leaderless. God is going to send you many sheep.”
I received many words that night that meant a lot to me and have stayed with me all these years. One of the words prophesied over me was from a woman whom I’d never met, and I don’t even know her name, but she said, “You are going to receive words and messages from God. I pray that you will have a pen and pencil when the messages come. You are like a scribe with a feather quill pen documenting and recording holy messages and words from God.”
Now, nearly 20 years later, as I’m preparing to release my first book, these words from the Lord give me courage, like seeing your dad in the stands give you two thumbs up and mouth, “You got this.” Whatever the Lord desires, I surrender myself to His will. May His will be done!
That word about being a scribe is a big part of why I wrote Is God Mean? If you’d like to be one of the first to read it, get notified the day it releases, or start with the free video series in the meantime.
