Sandwiched in the middle of John James’s new book – a memoir chronicling the rise and fall of his time at the Newsboys – is the gritty, vulnerable truth: “I failed myself.”
This honest confession in James’ upcoming book, The Newsboys: My Story of Hope and Second Chances, provides a window into his unique perspective amid the Newsboys’ latest scandal, which stirs allegations of sexual misconduct at the hands of disgraced former lead singer Michael Tate.
Another story is that before Tait took on the frontman role, there was Peter Farrar, and before Farrar there was James.
James, who hails from the coastal suburb of Mooloolaba in Queensland, Australia, recently appeared on CBN’s Faith in Culture podcast and spoke candidly about not only his past – the double life that led to his destruction – but also the heartbreaking legacy of the Christian rock band he helped form with Farrar and Wes Campbell in a garage nearly 40 years ago in 1985.
James, now in his early 60s, shared his honest and revealing testimony at the same time as Tate’s downfall. At the height of the Newsboys’ early success, James’s own life was falling apart. Caught up in the instant messaging craze of the 1990s, which led him into several compromising conversations that quickly devolved into Internet-based emotional affairs fraught with sexual conversations.
This, combined with a growing struggle with alcoholism, led James to make an unpleasant confession to Farrar during the making of the band’s seventh studio album, Step Up to the Mic, released in 1998. After leaving the Newsboys, James’ life continued to unravel. His first marriage fell apart, illegal drugs became his escape, and he suffered from severe depression.
Now remarried and devoted to missionary work, James said “genuine repentance” helped him get back on his feet, heal from drug addiction, break the chain of shame over past sexual sins and lift the burden of depression that had crippled him.
“It wasn’t because there was anything I could have done,” he said, “but because of God’s mercy and grace, God continually and lovingly drew me back to the feet of the cross of repentance.”
“It was more than just a prayer I said (at the altar),” James continued. “(It was) allowing the Holy Spirit to deal with the hurt and sin in my life.”
From there, he added, the singer “began to follow his repentance and bear fruit.”
James, who is now a missionary in the United States with his wife Tanya, cautions that the road to healing will not happen “overnight.” It was, and still is, a “long journey.”
His perspective, which leaves room for biblical salvation while being conscious of the need for accountability, gives James, who parted ways with the Newsboys 30 years ago, a unique opportunity to discuss the devastating Tate scandal that has dominated Christian news for the past year and a half.
Looking at everything that happened, James said, “It’s heartbreaking to see a legacy end like this.”
“My heart goes out to those who have been hurt, to the victims, to those who have been betrayed. It is truly tragic,” he began, adding that there are “absolutely” consequences to sin, but that “no one is beyond redemption.”
“I carry the consequences and scars of my mistakes and sins that ruined my time in the Newsboys. I will carry those scars for the rest of my life. But we cannot take redemption off the table.”
“My prayer for everyone involved in the Newsboys tragedy is that somehow God will weave a story of redemption out of this tragedy,” James said. “We don’t know how or for how long, but one day we’ll look back and say, ‘Oh, that was the worst thing that ever happened. But God, what a testimony, that forgiveness, repentance, mercy, grace, and healing came out of it.'”
Salvation from sin is God’s “specialty,” he added.
Listen to the entire conversation with James in the “Faith in Culture” podcast episode above.
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