LOU GRAMM, lead singer with American AOR superstars Foreigner, has become a Christian. He spoke to Doug Van Pelt.

Doug: Yeah.
Lou: "I think that, for me, when I'm singing worship songs, whether with our small worship band, or just being part of the congregation, it's humbling, its supplication, it's really lifting his name. I enjoy it to no end. The songs that I've been hearing and now have come to know pretty well, particular ones, are moving music to me - lyrically and musically. They say the things that are on your heart."

Doug: How did it feel, as a young artist, to play in front of 300,000 at Cal Jam II?
Lou: "It was quite an experience. Those are things that, in their own way, are milestones and memories. All that stuff, those memories, number one records, multi-platinum stuff; if I could compare any of my memories to the moment I accepted the Lord, they pale. They just don't mean anything. It kind of put everything in perspective for me and what I'm here for. That's really cool. I wish more people would just look at the big picture."

Doug: How do you feel when you look out at the audience and you see people getting high, getting drunk, or being real rowdy?
Lou: "That's the kind of stuff that used to represent fun for me. A little bit, when I participated, and certainly, I acknowledged that it represented fun and a good time to them - the rock and roll spirit. I think I was a little bit in the dark in a couple ways, and it was a juvenile kind of existence I was living. I don't particularly look at it that way now. I have a little pity for them, because I know they're lost and for whatever reason they're buried in that for. It actually hurts now, to see that."

Doug: What is your outlook on Christian music?
Lou: "At first, when I started listening to Christian music and Christian rock, it sounded a little bit simplistic, or not quite derivative. The singers and some of the songs reminded me of pop songs that had already been written and had been hits. But the more I listened, the more interesting artists and songwriters started surfacing. I went from not ever hearing any Christian music, to just being inundated with everything that there was around. So, it took me a little time to start seeing how it differed from secular pop and rock. And, once I began differentiating the approach and what was trying to be accomplished, I began to appreciate it more. I found myself finding particular artists that I like to listen to and really enjoying it to the point where I'm beginning to feel moved and a little bit challenged to try writing a song or two."

Doug: You've got an interesting perspective on your life and your conversion...an experience in that not everybody, like the guy in your church who helps sweep up the church on Monday morning has got a whole different perspective on his conversion as far as other people go. It's no different in the Kingdom, but in this kingdom you're a famous person. You might even have the challenges of having wealth. What does that feel like to you? It has peculiar needs to it, I'm sure. What do you guard against, or what are some of your concerns about that?
Lou: "Well, obviously it's pride. Fortunately, my parents brought up my brothers and I to be humble and respectful and certainly not overblown egos, to appreciate the God-given things and to live a modest existence which for the most part I've always managed to do. I've never sought the spotlight. I've never sought the after-show bashes and rubbing elbows with every celebrity that's around. I've tried to maintain an existence that they would be proud that I was their son. I could live with having my children not think of me as anything more than Dad. That's important to me. I think I did a reasonably good job at that. My being saved has not only reinforced that, but redefined it again and I'm really grateful for that. The church I go to has people from all walks of life and we're all brothers and sisters in Christ. There's no special treatment and really no acknowledgement of what I do for a living other than that it is my occupation and I'm grateful for that."

Doug: In the past the church has made mistakes in taking a "celebrity" Christian and putting them up on a platform right away. It almost puts them in a position of like, "Okay, now feed us." How would you try to avoid being used by the Church as, "Here's another trophy. Look who we got."?
Lou: "I really try and keep a group of people, my Christian friends who've known me before and know me now - my pastor, my family -as a support group and people who can lend objectivity to all the things that are being asked of me now. Also, because I am new and not able to maybe be effective, or as effective as I could maybe be a year from now. And also understanding that I'm being hit really hard by the Enemy because I'm new, I just take baby steps in everything I do, and not try and do everything and be everything right away. I think it's more important for me -and they feel this way too - to understand what it is I'm talking about and to learn as much as I can before I just be a badge, or a trophy. That's not right. I feel vulnerable right now. I limit the type of things, such as you and I are doing right now, to very few and just try and maybe sing or give a testimony for some local youth groups or something like that. I'm just doing little things now and starting to feel comfortable with my Christianity, my salvation. I'm doing a lot of reading; I'm inundated with books. I'm soaking everything up like a sponge. I've got a real hunger and to me that's more important right now than spouting off about stuff that I barely know about."

Doug: It's almost, in some ways, like a honeymoon with your new bride.
Lou: "Yeah, you've got it. And I know he's already using me. I'm willing when I'm moved. I'm struggling with speaking up and speaking out for him when I know I should, knowing that I may end up in a confrontational conversation. Those are the skirmishes I'm dealing with now. To be put out on a major platform would be embarrassing and would not do justice to my beliefs."

Doug: I think anybody reading the interview here would be able to cull some things and start praying for you; but if you wanted to crystalise some of your prayer needs and how the Body can support you, what would some of those requests be?
Lou: "That's probably the toughest question. I don't know. Maybe...really just for my children. They're saved. But they're 12 and 16. They're also at a rebellious 'I don't want to know about it' age. So, it's a little tough for them. I'm really concerned that they see what I'm doing for the Lord, that it's different than the type of things that I'm doing for Foreigner. Just that I use discernment in everything I do and that my motives and my heart are pure - keeping an open mind, but that I don't bite off more than I can chew and end up backsliding. I don't want to do everything that's placed in front of me and end up being stretched beyond knowledge of the Lord and end up tail spinning and backsliding."

Doug: What would a reader expect if he went to a Foreigner concert now?
Lou: "The last album, 'Mr Moonlight', was written just before I made the commitment, but the lyrics are just laced with questions and references to our Lord and just things that go far beyond normal romantic relationships. I think it questions this world and why we're here and turning to the one who can really make a difference. I think it's kind of a transitional album, at least for me. I think when we play live, we obviously have to do the one's that people have come to expect, but I just think that it's not quite as... it's not jaded and dark. There's another side to us that's showing. I expect that the next album, you'll see more of that."

It will be fascinating to see how Foreigner develop in the years to come. Meanwhile, please pray for Lou and the challenges he faces. Even though he's not a rocker in his early 20s anymore, he's got a fresh new start on life and he's one foreigner who's no longer a stranger.