Former country singer shares story in churches

Marty Raybon wants to be remembered as a soulwinner and not so much as the former lead singer of the country music group, Shenandoah.
   
Raybon recently led revival services at Oak Hill Baptist Church in Oxford and said, “There is a lost and dying world that has not heard the gospel. I believe the greatest gift is to tell people about Jesus so they can receive the gift of salvation.”
   
In thinking about the legacy he will leave behind, Raybon stated, “I heard Junior Hill (Hartselle evangelist) say once that he was going to have ‘He that winneth a soul is wise’ put on his tombstone. I want that too and a soulwinner’s crown!”
   
Shenandoah, which was formed in Muscle Shoals, peaked in popularity in the early 1990s with Raybon at the microphone.
   
“I saw people get saved while I was in Shenandoah, including our guitar player and his wife, but as long as you are glorifying God you can go anywhere,” said Raybon, who accepted Christ March 15, 1991, “I did not formally surrender into full-time service until three years after I was saved,” Raybon said. “I told my pastor I wanted to be an evangelist, and he told me he thought that is what I had been doing all along.”
   
His pastor knew what every person attending a Shenandoah concert from 1991 through 1997 knew. That was that Raybon would talk about the saving grace of Jesus sometime during the performance. Raybon left the group in 1997.
   
Today his ministry includes full-time evangelism and singing. “God gives us enough instruction and that is to love the Lord. I love telling people about Him, whether I am preaching or singing.” 
   
His bluegrass CD, Full Circle, will be released March 11. “I did this for the same reason I did my last gospel CD, because I cut my teeth on it (bluegrass).”
   
Raybon has always enjoyed speaking to people about the reality of how God changed his life.
“I would have died, spiritually and physically. If God can save a sorry rascal like me, He can (save) anyone.”