Ties That Bind - The Best Christian Country - Various Artists 320cbr (Big Papi) 1994 Ricky Skaggs

Singing high tenor and playing a mandolin is something that Ricky Skaggs, a 14-time Grammy winner and a former Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, does better than anyone.......

A man of faith

A born-again Christian, Skaggs doesn’t shy away from sharing his faith.

With so many performance dates, Skaggs said his family and band find much of their Christian fellowship outside a typical church setting. Skaggs and his wife, Sharon White, now married for 27 years, attend services near their Hendersonville, Tenn., home when their schedules permit.

Sharon performs at the Grand Ole Opry most weekends with her family, The Whites, and Skaggs is constantly on the road. But if he can make it home in time for a late-morning Sunday service, that’s what he does.

Skaggs chooses to look at it as how God has chosen to use him and his God-given gifts.

“It’s part of the call that’s on my life,” Skaggs said. “You can do both. The church is us, it ain’t a building. Jesus said ‘In my father’s house, there are many mansions’ and I think those mansions are us. He’s building his church and we are temples not made with hands. We know where the Lord resides."

However, Skaggs never encourages others do likewise.

“I have a strong relationship with the Lord and with my friends,” he said. “We usually attend prayer meetings through the week and have a normal Bible study at the house on Monday that gives us a lot of fellowship outside the church building.

“It’s not conventional or traditional,” Skaggs said. “Most people really feel an urgency to be in their home church every Sunday. Come hell or high water, they are going to be there, but some of that can be out of a religious spirit that makes you feel better just because you showed up.

“To me, if you’re not there out of a pure heart for the right reasons, it doesn’t mean much. God would rather have you there one time a month with a pure heart than four times trying to show off for your neighbors,” he said. “It’s not what people think anyway, it’s our relationship with the Lord that matters.”