Sid: I tell you when you hear my guest’s music I have to tell you we have prayer meetings once a week and we just played some of Dennis Jernigan’s music at our prayer meeting and we had reactions that we have never had before. So Dennis, I know that God had worked with you a lot and I know that there is a presence of God on you. And we are going to get into that this week, but the question I pose to you Dennis is “How have you kept that first love?” How have you kept that full presence and anointing of God on your music?”
Dennis: Well, first of all I don’t consider myself a song writer so that should tell your listeners something right there. I consider myself a receiver and what I mean by that is my goal and what has kept me honestly throughout all the years of my life is that intimacy with Jesus in knowing that apart from Him I have nothing; apart from Him I am nothing. So if I walk in relationship with Him then I’m going to be listening for what He has to say for me. In fact Psalm 45:1 says “My tongue is the pen of a ready writer,” and I address my verses to the King. So my reasoning with that is if the Lord has gifted me to receive in the area of music then I better be walking with Him in such a way that I listen for Him. And what’s so awesome about that into the walk with the Lord for me in my particular giftings is that His word says in several places that specifically Psalm 32:7 that “He is our hiding place and he surrounds us with songs of deliverance.” And Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord Your God is in Your Midst and He’s a victorious Warrior and the verse ends by say that He rejoices over you with singing.” So within a sense I sing to Him but then because I’m in a relationship with Him I don’t do all the talking, I listen for what He’s singing over me. And if I’m praying, more often than not I sing my prayers to Him and a lot of times when I’m in intercession with other people, for other people I will sing, you know what is that they need; well I’m going to sing that to the Lord. And then I’ll say “Okay, Lord what do they need to hear from you; what is the song of deliverance for them and their situation? Please let me hear that.” And that’s in a nutshell what I do and I think that’s kept me from that mentality of thinking I have to perform for anything. I never have a set time to sit down and write, I just say okay Lord, I’m ready whenever You are just like Psalm 45:1 says, I want to be ready. So if I’m on an airplane I have something to write music on; if I’m riding my horse; I have something with me to write that song.
Sid: But you know something, even as you’re sharing with me Dennis, there is such a strong presence on your spoken word. You know rather than talk about it; I want them to hear a little bit. Tell me about the song that you received from heaven; and that’s what he’s saying if you didn’t catch it. The song he received from heaven called, “Hearing Your Presence.” What’s that about?
Dennis: Well, we always say, “Look come into the Lord’s presence.” But my belief is, I’m being sincere here, I don’t believe, I ever leave His presence. The reality is He is with me wherever I am so that stand to reason then I’m either refusing to acknowledge His presence or I forget that He’s there. Well, I never leave His presence and David said it like this in Psalm 139; “Where can I go from Your presence, Lord? If I go to the highest mountain, you are there, if I go to the most remote place on earth even there your hand can reach me.” So that’s the reality of the song and what I was meditating on the day I receive it. It was just the fact that man, there’s no place I can go and that gives me a lot of hope. There is hope knowing that I am never, ever alone.
Sid: And so many people that just sit under the anointing of this music get set free from emotional problems, from physical problems. And in fact one of our staff when they heard your music they said, the scripture that came of them is “The anointing destroys the yoke.” Any yoke on anyone can’t stand against this anointing. Let’s hear the song, “Here in Your Presence.”
Dennis song excerpt (5:06 – 8:09
Sid: I don’t know about you but the presence of God is so thick on Dennis’s words and Dennis’s music because if does come from heaven. But I believe Dennis that one reason that God uses you so much is you love Him so much. And one reason that you love Him so much is He set you free from so much. When you were five years old, just an innocent thing; a man exposed himself a man exposed himself in a restroom. You had problems with receiving the love your parents had in particular your father and you went the route of homosexuality. Back then, you’re a Christian, you love the Lord, you even as a young boy you were gifted in music and I believe my staff told me that when you were nine years of age you started playing piano in church. Did you have a problem with knowing what the word had to say and knowing the way you were and knowing that Jesus was real?
Dennis: Oh, for sure, that was the major conflict of my life and one of the main major reasons I never got any help was that the enemy was always there whispering, that if anyone ever finds out what you’re really like you are going to be humiliated; you are going to be rejected; you are going to be exposed and your life is going to be ruined. So I played the outer games where I was Mr. Goody two shoes on the outside but I was miserably dying on the inside. Because here’s the deal, when I was about ten or eleven years old I already knew what my struggle was; I had already failed sexually with other boys by that time believe it or not and I’m not proud of that I am very ashamed of that. But the reality is I also overheard some of the men who taught me about God from the time I was a little boy all the way through high school one day they were discussing what they thought of homosexuals and I realized that they’re talking about me and they just don’t know it. And these, when you’re ten years old and you hear that and these are the men that taught you about God, guess what you think God thinks of you. I thought that God hated me.
Sid: Well, I have some people that are friends that are still in the gay lifestyle and they have talked themselves in theologically that God over looks that. Did you go that route?
Dennis: No, because…
Sid: You knew.
Dennis: I knew. Sin is sin and regardless of what labels we put on it. Sure, so I had to get to that place in my life where I just, had pretty much abandoned all hope; I really did feel hopeless all of my grown up years all the way through college I felt utterly hopeless. I thought that there is no way. And then when I was a senior in college I finally had a mentor who was investing himself in my life and just pouring himself into me; praying for me; just really taking care of my emotional needs and there came to a point that I practiced John 8:32 “You’ll know the truth and the truth will set you free.” First step of truth is always our own honesty, so I got honest with him and then I felt this such a flood of relief and hope flood in just by sharing it with one other person that that was shattered in an instant because then my mentor made a sexual advance on me. And that’s when I honestly feel; I understand hopeless now from that point; I actually went at that point went and tried to take my own life. And the only problem with…
Sid: I am beginning to see how God’s using you; you were just totally broken vessel saying take all of me. I don’t want any of me; but we are getting a little bit ahead of our story. But I’ll tell you that there hope in any situation that you have.
