I tried to be perfect

tried to be honest

tried to be everything

that you ever wanted

- Everything You Ever Wanted

by David Dodd

Lead singer Jason Dunn just wanted to rock ‘n’ roll.  But then God got a hold of him.  From the very beginning, the band’s faith led them in a different direction of others, the direction of the cross.  And even without saying a word, other bands knew something was different about these Canadian rockers in love with the Lord. 

     “From the very beginning as a kid, we all had dreams.  My passion was to play music, and to be honest with you, my goal wasn’t to play at Billy Graham crusades.  My passion was to be in a band. Now that our dreams are coming true, we now have the opportunity of watching kids come to Christ through our music.  We didn’t expect that because we’re a rock band, you know, but kids coming to Christ through us is just unbelievable, it just blows my mind.    

We’re all Christians by faith and I don’t leave my faith behind me when I go to work.  I used to work in a tollbooth, but I never went to work and said to my boss, “hey, you have to get saved.”  I’m not a radical person like that.  

     When I was 19, we started playing music full-time and playing bars every weekend in Toronto. We’d go on at midnight, playing on a bill with a lot of other bands.  They knew there was something different about us just through our actions.  It had nothing to do with our songs, but our actions.  We weren’t paid money in the beginning, all the bands were given three free pitchers of beer, that was our payment, but none of us drank. 

 We set rules for ourselves; we knew that’s not what we were there to do.  We had to set the standard. That was just a small witness to the other bands that we played with, and we played with a lot of the same bands in downtown Toronto so we got really familiar with each other.   

     You could totally tell the difference between our band and the other bands.  Most of the others were the foul-mouthed type of guys and before they went on stage they were totally hammered. We weren’t like that, and they started catching on

just through our actions and seeing how we were as people, that we were completely different from them.  After a few weekends of playing with them we could tell that they toned down a lot around us.  They were trying to not swear as much around us, and they weren’t drinking as much.     

     They knew that there was something different about us and that’s what we’re all about, our actions speak much louder than our words.  You know, you come across me downtown and I don’t come off as the most friendly looking guy.  Our actions must speak for our beliefs.”

“It’s one of the most amazing things ever created.  If there was no grace there would be no hope for any of us.  It’s so awesome that God has given me the chance because I’m nothing; it’s just so unbelievable that He knows all the hairs on our head and that he takes time to care about us.  We screw up and He’s going to forgive us.  If we betray a friend that friendship could be over forever, but not with God.  We’re so undeserving of His grace.