Rick Stokes – a brief history
I was born in Suva, Fiji, in 1962 to missionary parents, and after moving back to New Zealand grew up in Nelson, nourished by a Christian family background. At the age of 10 we moved down to Christchurch - Dad following a job offer there.
Christchurch was a tough re-start for me, not being good at making friends, becoming quite a lonely, withdrawn boy, right through high school. About that time I discovered rock music on the far end of the radio dial and fell in love with it. University lasted only one year for me, as the world's offerings of a debauched lifestyle were too attractive. Over the next few years things went seriously downhill into the drug scene, but my love for music just grew. I had been playing around with a guitar my uncle had given me for years, but I began to get a bit more serious with it, until I ended up getting work helping out as crew for a friend in a small band.
Before long we were the top act in the city, and we accepted an offer across the Tasman in Newcastle, then Sydney, Australia. Life was tough over there, starting off at the bottom of a big heap. After a short while we began to do some big supports and play in all kinds of places that much more famous bands than us were doing. Perhaps the reason for this quick success was the strange kind of power that used to flow through us as we did the gigs. Sometimes the whole place would go ballistic, people screaming, etc, a bit like what happened at Beatles concerts. I never knew exactly where this power came from, just arrogantly assuming it was from me - until the devil began speaking to me and making demands. When I said no to him, he took the power away.
Even though I had been running from all Christian concepts - it just “wasn't my reality” - I was forced to see that the things I'd learned as a child were still true. The devil managed to “scare the Hell out of me”
Through a combination of drugs, bad relationships, demonic harassment and fear, I came to a place of seriously considering ending my life. As I took stock of my reasons for living there wasn't much in the positive, but I remembered a song my Dad used to sing to me as a little boy. “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” As these words rolled through my mind, the Lord began speaking to me and revealing the true sinful state of my life - a frightening experience. I remember saying, “How could You love me?” Then a verse I'd learned to parrot off as a child suddenly thumped into my heart: John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Suddenly I was confronted with the reality of the cross of Jesus Christ. Faced with a life and death choice between continuing on down the slippery road to destruction, or making an abrupt turn toward Jesus.
It was then that I responded to this powerful and clear revelation of the love of God by confessing my sins to Him, and handing over my entire life to Him - letting Him take over the “driver's seat” in my life. For the first time I could remember, true peace came flooding into my being. A sense of cleanness and freedom rolled over me, as my sins were blotted out of God’s record book. It was such a relief to know for sure that my name was finally written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in Heaven. That I was no longer headed for an eternity of torment in Hell.
From then on I have had a reason and purpose for living. Now the desires of my heart, programmed in there by God before I was born have been coming to pass, as I have begun to delight myself in the Lord, my Creator. I've been telling others about what Jesus has done for me. He has given me many songs to write: listening songs that cause people to look to Jesus, and praise and worship songs that give the Body Of Christ a vehicle to come near to Him with.
Since then I have done many kinds of work, including radio announcer, youth pastor, gardener, photographer; I’ve been in many church music groups, and music director in one recently. At the moment(1999) my wife Susanne and I are living Nelson region of New Zealand with our two boys, Shiloh and Jordan and our little girl Jemima. We are endeavoring to step out and trust God in the area of full time music ministry, which is an exciting dream we've had for some time.
We have recently recorded a live praise and worship album, Songs Of Deliverance, which God has used to be a real blessing to many people and churches around the globe. It found its way up to #7 in GoldUSA.com's top 100 Christian albums charts, and has been played on many radio stations worldwide. The best thing about the album, apart from the simple, singable songs is the fact that somehow the Spirit of God got Himself onto the recording. That is what blesses us the most when we listen to the music.
I've also just finished a second album, Process of Illumination - this one is more listening songs than praise and worship, with songs that will hopefully touch and encourage people’s hearts. It has taken 4 years to complete, with recordings in 6 different studios. Much of the album was recorded at my own studio, now in the Lower Moutere area of the Nelson region. I have enjoyed being able to record songs and albums for other Christian musicians.
I have found it tremendously satisfying to travel around New Zealand and overseas training and encouraging church music teams, doing weekend seminars and practical workshops. Worship leading and teaching in churches is also a big part of what I have found myself doing over the past 10 years or s
2017... I've just released Hidden Treasure Volumes 1 and 2, 33 mainly Bible-verse songs for kids of all ages.
Feel free to contact me if you'd like to talk to me more about any of these activities.
God bless you and yours,
Rick Stokes.
