How close to disaster can fear take you?
A young lady was down the isle in a white dress ready to get married to a man she didn’t love, didn’t want to marry and really didn’t know, all because she let fear run her life. She was afraid of what people would think and afraid not to do what they thought. This girl couldn’t say “NO” and then again she couldn’t say “YES” because fear had tormented her into the corner of indecision. Maybe if she made no choices that would over-ride the free-fall she hoped was just a nightmare she would wake up from. At least being a silent victim would keep people happy and hopefully provoke God to rescue her, but no one was happy and rescue was not coming. As a child she went to Sunday school and heard the song “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”, but that wasn’t just a song it is God’s Word. Like Deuteronomy 30:19 says “Choose life…choose blessing”. Sadly she was choosing death by her silence and God was definitely not happy with fear destroying and directing His daughter’s life.
In one dramatic moment a lifelong course is set in motion.
Standing at the front of the church in a wedding gown, friends and family all there, Pam Thum did one of the hardest things she’s ever done and backed out of the ceremony. It was the right decision but right decisions have a way of amplifying all the terrible decisions that have lead up to that critical day. Pam says there were no smiles, just a lot of confusion and hurt. All of which she owned up to but now there was a new course set for hope. It was painful but it turned her down the road of courageous love, a road that carried her to the life of being a Christian singer and boldly confronting fear with the message of unfailing love all over the world. The same road of redemption has taken Pam into the arms of her adoring husband Stephen Marshall and absolutely knows for sure she’s in love with him. Pam encourages people that there is never a bad time to do the right thing and sooner is always, always better than later. To repent and do a one-eighty may seem like the ugliest, impossible, devastating and hard thing in the world to do but that’s the lie Satan wants us all to believe. The beautiful fruit that comes from doing that one-eighty will not only be a huge tree of life for you but a flow of blessing to many others. Pam knows this to be true.
What’s the distance between fearful and courageous? Pam says it could be just two letters “NO”.
Pam was in the class of new Christian artists that had fast-rising, almost meteoric careers. Her first album quickly achieved five top 10 radio hits, including a #1 song on the CHR charts. She also catapulted onto the pop charts to edge out Madonna in South Africa, and was quickly named Best International Female Artist by South African fans. She was nominated for New Artist Of The Year at the Dove Awards (gospel music’s Grammy equivalent). After she performed for the Dove Award telecast, CeCe Winans came up to her backstage and said, “Girl, you have got God all over you!” “That was way better than a Dove to me,” Pam recalls. Four successful albums followed, garnering Pam ten more chart-topping songs, including three #1 hits, and a song that stayed at #1 for over a month, becoming a signature tune for Pam. She was subsequently nominated for more Dove Awards, including Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year.
Sipping tea and talking about her new full 14 -song release Pam exhibits a sweet familiarity, and yet somehow, she’s different. The wide grin is still there, along with her intense eyes that easily tear up when she talks about how much Jesus loves her. but there’s a new quality to Pam that corresponds with her title choice for the new cd - COURAGEOUS. She wants every word in every song to impart and empower the listeners with courage to say “yes” to life. With her signature power ballads, along with in-your -face guitar driven songs and urban “you wanna dance” tunes mixed with multiple worship songs, (such as “Halleluiah Praise the Lamb”) and a few songs stripped down, raw, just-guitar and vocal’s , this album showcases a range of versatility not heard in her earlier efforts. This musical offering will exceed the expectations of her faithful fans and draw in a whole new audience daring to venture on COURAGEOUS ground. Her vocal quality altered somewhat by sinus surgery takes on a new dimension. Her range is wider now, her rich alto voice seems even more crisp and clear, but her signature emotive vocals are still there. As one programmer noted “You can always hear Pam’s smile”
Pam and her artist husband Stephen Marshall who has burst on the music scene with his first single “Truly Amazing” rising to #3 and staying there for 4 weeks have founded the growing B2W - Born To Win conferences. Including the heart stirring “Time To Rise” I think the chorus of that song penned by Pam Thum and Stephen Marshall paints it well.
Now is the time
The time you must rise
This is the moment to spread your wings and fly
So look up and soar reach for the prize
Now is the time
The time you must rise
The definition of Courageous according to the dictionary - Bold, Brave, Fearless, and Gutsy. May you listen, experience and be empowered to live COURAGEOUS!
