...and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Genesis 2:2 NKJV

…then He listened to some really cool music.

Growing up in a Baptist family in the Bible Belt (Akron, OH), going to church was something a young Scott Stine "had" to do, not really "want" to do. His Grandma was a Sunday School teacher at what was, at the time, one of the largest Baptist churches around. So, when the doors were open, Scott and family were there.

But family issues, including a strained relationship with his dad, led to a very rebellious young man and a further alienation from the church and faith in God. After having to leave friends behind in Akron to move to San Antonio, Scott was left to live what he terms his "angry years". His attention turned to his guitar, which gave him a focus and kept him out of the major drug scenes that thrived in the community around him. Anger and passion for his instrument fueled his fire and he sought to control his own life through music.

Life, it seemed, started going his way. After moving to Dallas, he was signed to Shrapnel Records in early 1993 (with Tommy Lamey). Being signed to Shrapnel Records was a goal that he had set for himself early on. He imagined himself so successful on Shrapnel, hanging out by the pool with all the good-looking chicks around him - just as he imagined guitarist Paul Gilbert was doing while on Shrapnel (someone ask PG what he was really doing back during the Shrapnel days!) Also, though he was not looking for love, it found him. In the summer of 1993, Scott and Lori started dating.

Their paths had crossed before because she was a bass player in bands around town. He had tried to meet her a couple of years prior, but said that she completely dismissed him. If you ask her, she'll deny this, but claim it is his story so let him keep it. It was during the next few years that Lori (who had grown up in church, but like Scott, rebelled and walked away) started feeling a little tug to re-establish that relationship with God.

In his music life, doors were seeming to close at every turn. The distribution and push from the record label wasn't what he was expecting, most of the companies he went to seeking endorsements turned him away, band members were going their own way, and his direction in the sense of musical style was going haywire. He took over his brother's position in another Shrapnel Records band and tried again to force open the closed doors. A couple opened for him and again, life seemed to be going his way. But the real "success" that Scott had imagined kept eluding him.

One door had consistently stayed open for him - Lori. On a Christmas Eve, in front of family, Scott proposed, and she joyfully accepted. But it was then that the little tug that she had felt all along became a loud voice in front of her. If a future was to be spent with this man, she knew they could not do it alone. She told Scott that she felt very strongly about being married in a church, and one they called home - not a "rent-a-church." So she started visiting churches in their area to see what fit best for them. On Easter Sunday in 1996, she found the one: Grace Community Church in Plano, TX. They had a full band on the stage playing songs she had never heard played in a church before. This would be the one she could get Scott to go to.

But Scott wasn't quite ready to step back into the "church thing." Every Sunday morning for six months, Lori would ask Scott if he wanted to go with her, and every Sunday he responded with a plain and simple "no." Then one morning the "no" changed to "I don't want to have to get dressed up to go to church" (remembering the suits he had to wear as a kid going to church). But Lori explained that this church didn't expect you to get dressed up...you could even wear shorts if you wanted to. That was unheard of to him, but it got him thinking. In late September of 1996, Scott stepped back into the doors of church.

After attending for a while, he knew that this band could use his help and that if God truly gave him the talent that he had, then he really needed to give some time back to God. He started volunteering his time and playing for services. When a new music director came in and recognized Scott's talent, he pulled Scott aside for a talk about Scott's spiritual walk. It was during this time that Scott decided to re-commit his life to Christ. Shortly after that, in January of 2000, the church hired him as the Instrumental Music Director.

After the birth of his son in 2001, Scott started to question his success again. But when it was pointed out to him that he was able to have a career playing music, owned his own home, was able to work from home and spend time with his family, it dawned on him that success was not necessarily a financial number. Life was not Scott's to control, but to turn control over to God and let Him lead.

Scott never battled the things that haunt many musicians, like drugs, alcohol, depression, or disease, but he did battle emotional issues like pride, anger, cynicism, and sarcasm. And sometimes these things can be as deadly to a person as the previous list. It has been through his continued walk and his relationship in Christ that Scott has learned to face these demons and turn them over to God. As anyone who has suffered an addiction can tell you, it is a day by day walk - never ending. It is in this that Scott has really grasped that success can be the day to day joys that truly living life can bring.

In this aspect, Scott Stine has been extremely successful!