Lessons From Elvis with Big Stu

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This is the Truth Network. Everyone's talking about the movie Elvis. I got to sit down with Big Stu, my dad, Stu Epperson Sr., and talk to him about it.

He's only one year in age difference from Elvis, and he was at the radio station working in radio when the records would come in from Sun Records saying, you got to play this record, and it was a hit. I talked to Big Stu all hour when I guest hosted earlier this week for a big national show, the Steve Noble Show. You get to hear that conversation right here and right now.

Don't worry about calling in. It is pre-recorded, but you'll hear why, whether you love this movie or hate it, whether you loved Elvis or didn't think much of him, it's an important movie and a lot of important life lessons. Ultimately, is it the king of rock and roll or the king of kings that we must find our satisfaction and our true delight in? So join us right here right now for Truth Talk. Thanks for being on board with us today and for listening.

Share this with all your friends when it comes out as a podcast. And thank you to all of our awesome affiliates brave enough to carry this program, Truth Talk. Now join Big Stu and Little Stu, me, as we are in the studio right now from a previous show this week, talking about Elvis. Okay, it's an all Elvis hour and we're all live here.

Honored to be with you. Elvis Presley, did you see the movie? What are your thoughts about this person? Elvis has left the building, but what kind of impact impression has he left on the world, on the country?

The number one selling artist single album or solo artist in history and the movie. Good or bad, what are your thoughts? What kind of impact did the movie have on you? Did you hate it?

Did you love it? Man, I'm hearing all kinds of people saying things like they couldn't stand the movie. Upset. Our own Christian car guy.

He's very frustrated and rightly so. Was there not enough gospel in there? Was there not enough the gospel music that he sang? Was there not enough of other genre of music that he was known for? Was it too boogie woogie? Was it too edgy?

Was it too dark? Talking about what everyone else in the culture is talking about. The man who was known as the king of rock and roll. Now, who better to talk to you about this than my mentor and a man who is... Okay, I gotta figure this out.

Is he one year older or one year younger than what Elvis would be today? And that is Big Stu, Stu Everson Sr. Mr. Everson, are you there? I'm here. Okay. Good to be here with you. Let's see. Okay, Pops, you there? I'm here. All right. Good afternoon.

Okay. So did you see this movie and tell us your thoughts on it? I saw the movie. I lived through the era. Elvis Presley was one year older than I was.

He was born in 1935. I was a disc jockey at a radio station in the Richmond, Richard, Virginia market. About 1955. We got a letter in the mail, got a little package in the mail, and it was a record. 45 RPM of someone named Elvis Presley. It was the Sun Records, Sun Records out of Memphis. And so we played it like we did all the records we get. No one had ever heard of the artist, which was Elvis Presley.

And one side of it was the Milt Cow Blues, and it had another side. But what was remarkable about that thing, I didn't have an opinion about him. No one had any opinion about Elvis Presley at that point.

No one knew him. I put it on the radio, WPVA, and I started getting these calls. Amazing. Complaint calls or happy calls?

No, people loved it. Okay. Now, Mr. Everson, put that phone right on your chin. We can't hear you too well in here.

Talk right into that speaker. All right. People loved it. Loved it very much.

Loved it very much. And so we kept playing, we kept getting records. A little later, Sun Records sold a contract with Elvis Presley to RCA Victor. And they sent out a record called The Jailhouse Rock. And that was the biggie. Every other call we got, every call. Back then in radio, gee whiz, it wasn't unusual to get 200 letters a day, people wanting to make a dedication to someone or hear a certain song.

And we just did that. That was a different era. And up to then, more of the music was more of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby. But suddenly, Elvis Presley hit the scene. And Jailhouse Rock was the first big hit he had. And it was phenomenal.

And after that, we started getting records in the mail. He had been just a guy who was playing as an extra on some of the shows, Furlong, Husky, and the Grand Ole Opry stars. He actually wanted to be a country music star. And before that even, he was singing in church. It turns out his family were very, very much Christian, especially his mother Gladys. And they went to an Assembly of God church in Tupelo, Mississippi.

And then they moved to Memphis where Elvis pestered Sam Phillips, whose son records to to actually gamble with him and put out a record, print a record and send it out for radio station. That was really the beginning. That was the beginning.

Nobody had any idea what was going to happen. But when Elvis came, it was like a big earthquake. It was a change. It was a huge, huge change in music. And that gave birth to a lot of people who started imitating Elvis. And suddenly we had what is known as rock and roll. Rock and roll, the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley.

We are taking a quick break. We have Big Stu, Mr. Epperson, my dad, who is just one year, one year has one year's difference in his life than Elvis Presley. He's still with us talking about this man, his legacy. And what do you learn from that movie? What do you learn about God? What do you learn about the fleeting nature of life? And what was your impact?

What kind of impact did the movie have on you? And here's a question. Was Elvis a Christian? You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com.

Wow, you want a little heartbreak? I can tell you this. Go to the Elvis Presley movie.

Now, I'm not saying don't go and I'm not just saying that to discourage your disparage, because I'm talking to a lot of people, including our guest, Mr. Epperson, who went and loved it. And because he grew up with Elvis literally one year apart in age and he was there at the radio stations when they sent the vinyls in from the record labels for DJs to critique the music and to play the music. It was a big marketing thing. Sun Records, then they went to RCA and he blew up, just became bigger than life.

And that's Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll. And so I went to this movie with my wife and wow, it was something. It was heartbreaking, but to see things you didn't see, particularly his love for African Americans growing up in that church scene, being inspired. I think one of the things I heard negative was there wasn't enough of the gospel songs that he was known for, that he was famous for, and that sort of thing.

I want to hear your feedback, your thoughts, and what is the biblical lesson? What is it that you take away from that movie from the life of Elvis? Say you didn't go, but you know about his life. Some of you go into the movies like going and seeing a movie like Titanic. You know how it's going to end.

You don't want to go through it. But why is this movie important? Why is this movie important? And if you thought it was horrible, tell me that.

If you thought it was great, there's no wrong answer. I'm Stu Epperson. In for my buddy Steve Noble. The number here is toll-free to call in and weigh your thoughts and opinions. 866-34-TRUTH.

866-348-7884. Now, there's some people that think he was a believer, that he was truly a Christian. Dad spoke in the first segment about how Elvis went to church and was very active. Singing gospel music is kind of what got him going. So I want to hear, was Elvis Presley a believer?

What is significant, important about the movie? Is it one big waste of time to bring up something from way back when, you know, 40 some years ago? Love to hear from you at 866-348-7884.

866-34-TRUTH. And let's bring it back on the air. Stu Epperson, Sr. So Pops, you saw this movie and you grew up a contemporary of Elvis Presley's. You're in the broadcast business. You're in the industry like your son is now and you are still very much involved in radio. But radio is really what gave birth to this legend, I guess, right? Everyone listens to the radio then. A lot of people still listen to the radio now, thankfully. But what was kind of going on that just led to suddenly, just like you mentioned, an erupting earthquake of Elvis Presley coming on the scene and being just an absolute craze for everybody. Everyone was literally women throwing their undergarments at him on the stage.

Well, nothing like this that seriously could ever happen before when this happened in the mid-50s. And there was even people who said, we'll ban Elvis Presley. The radio stations said we'll ban Elvis Presley.

The people who said it's indecent. Then Ed Sullivan invited him to be on the show and would only have the telecast show him from the waist up because he moved his legs while he was singing and like no one had ever done before. It was described by many people, commentators, as a white person singing like a black person. And much of his music came from black writers, songwriters, and so on.

To deny the influence of the gospel on Elvis Presley's life is to ignore the facts. He was a person who I believe, in retrospect, who wanted to serve God. There was a pastor in Akron, Ohio named Rex Humbard. He was the pastor of the Cathedral of Tomorrow, a large church there. And Elvis frequently called him to talk about spiritual things.

Invited him to come to Las Vegas and meet with him. And of course, Rex Humbard did. And when Gladys, Elvis Presley's mother died, this was an event that Elvis and his father were not ready, weren't prepared for that. And they asked Rex Humbard to come and preach the funeral and give them spiritual counseling, which he did. And it was just a, when she died, we all knew about it. And Rex Humbard said, I heard him say publicly that they were not prepared. They were not prepared as a family and as individuals to face the fact of death. But he was very hopeful that Elvis Presley retained his faith in Jesus Christ.

And I believe he did. Along the way, as happens to many very talented people who claim to be Christians and who are Christians, along the way there are people, promoters and people, exploiters, who come into their lives. They come into all of our lives and they offer something better.

And they offer business for the betterment of mankind or some lofty ideal. And Elvis was no exception with a God-given talent he had. If you don't think he has God-given talent, just pull up on the internet, pull up Hymns by Elvis Presley. Hymn after hymn after hymn, gospel song after gospel song. And then of course you've got the rock and roll song. And they were never, they were never at the level of immorality that we hear on the radio now.

They were never as suggestive as we have now. But he was kind of the gateway that broke the ice that caused that because of, I think, his handlers. And you get caught up in that. That's what Christians do.

They get caught up. It's like when Satan said to Eve, as God said, Satan said to Eve, as God said, that God really saved him. There's nothing unattractive about the apple that he offered, that Satan offered to Eve through the serpent. There's nothing unattractive about the pink Cadillac that this colonel told Elvis he'd be able to buy his mom, and everybody knew a pink Cadillac.

That was part of the allure, the deception, when you fall in with the wrong people and it ends up being bondage and destroys you. What about the movie Elvis Presley? Everyone's talking about it, one of the hottest movies in the land right now. Well, Big Stu, who grew up in the same era a year apart from Elvis Presley, is on the line. And we're talking about the king of rock and roll, what it has to do with the king of kings, and what we take away from that movie. Your questions and thoughts at 866-344-TRUTH, coming up right after this. Hang on.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. The golden voice of the king, Elvis Presley, talking about him, his life. What do we learn from a life like Elvis's? What about the challenges he had? What about the gifts he had? What he used with his talents?

What about the company he kept? All these things have come full center with a lot of people who grew up with Elvis, listening to Elvis, even going to his concerts. Mr. Everson, Big Stu, my dad, Stu Everson Sr., he played Elvis records on the radio, and he didn't know who this young whipper snapper from Memphis was in black leather until the vinyl showed up.

He put it on the air and it was a hit, and the phones rang off the hook. Play more of that. Play more Heartbreak Hotel.

Play more Hound Doggy. Elvis Presley, who bought his first guitar at 11 years old, wanted a rifle, but his mama, who was a staple of his family, we talked a little bit about her in the last segment, convinced him to get a guitar instead. In 1947, local radio show offered Elvis, at age 12, a chance to sing live on the air, but he was too shy to go on. At age 18, he paid four dollars to make his first record a gift for his mama. He auditioned with a group called the Songfellows, a gospel quartet, in 1954, and they said no, but they regret that to this day. If they're still around, then he was labeled Elvis the Pelvis when he got on after going on Milton Burrell's TV show in 56, and I tell you, his gyrating hips, the outrage caused all kinds of outrage all over the U.S., and that's when he got that nickname, Elvis the Pelvis.

Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll. A movie is out. It's like the top movie in the land right now. Why so popular? It's, is it love them, hate them, like them, or lose them, or leave them, or what? What do you think?

Stu Epperson in for Steve Noble. If you want to phone in and give us your thoughts, and if you can give me a Bible verse that embodies this movie, or a spiritual principle, as my dad's doing such a good job of with us, he's our special guest this hour, I would love to hear from you, and love to hear your thoughts. 86634 Truth. Did you see the movie? What did you think? Why is this, if you think it is, an important movie to go to?

I'm talking to people. It's crazy. I hated it. I didn't like it.

Oh, it was terrible. Others are like, wow. Well, Mr. Epperson is in the fan category. He thought the movie was good. Now, dad, you know, one complaint, and thanks for being on with us this hour, it's fun to talk to a contemporary, a guy who used to play Elvis's records in the radio station as a young man in radio, from a family of radio folks. But, dad, what did you think about the criticism that I'm getting from some folks, that they don't show the gospel singing? They don't show some of the rich sacred songs that Elvis sang.

I mean, they show a little bit of him going into that Pentecostal African-American church early on, and that was kind of cool for people to see, and important, but there's just not a lot of him singing that genre, which you feel like really made an impact on you. Well, it was like a hurricane. It came through. There was just nothing you could stop it. Some radio stations said we won't play Elvis Presley. In some municipalities, they tried to arrest him, but they thought it was evil, and it was a hurricane.

Nothing could stop it. It was just unbelievable, and within a short time, people were listening to it and embracing it. It was the new era of music, and it was the place Dane Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and all of those people.

They became a thing of the past. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and so it was no way to expose this, and I think the guy had a good heart. He wanted to help people. For example, the Denver Police Department, he gave everybody here at Cadillac.

He was constantly doing good things for people. He gave a lot to charity, and in the movie, his leader, Tom Parker, Colonel Parker, was, I think I got that right. The influence, you got to sing, you got to make money, you got the house, they had a policy of no deadwood.

That means no vacancy in concert, which means that they bought the tickets. If nobody else did, his manager bought them. So it was announced that every house was a full house for Elvis Presley concert. Well, his manager, Colonel Parker, he was the king of promotions. It's said that he actually, before discovering Elvis, reportedly painted sparrows yellow to sell them as canaries. So he was somewhere between a genius promoter, like a Barnum Bailey figure, and a con man. And really, the courts and the court decision speaks for itself as to how that ended up. After Elvis passed, he was completely removed from the estate, and it was not a very flattering role or character. Even based on the movie, played by Tom Hanks, and one of our guys is mad at Tom Hanks for playing the role of this guy who seemed a villain, but he also made Elvis big. But that speaks to the kind of company you keep.

I mean, Dad, how many people have you seen all these years? They're this huge rising star, but they fell in with the wrong manager. They took advice from the wrong people. They had a Colonel Parker in their life that took him down fast.

And I want to hear from, if you saw the movie, what's your thoughts about Elvis? What lessons can be learned? What do we pass on to the next generation who don't even know who this guy is? Phone in if you'd like. It's live.

Call in 866-34-TRUTH, 866-34-87884. My dad's a senior who's been in radio all his life, practically, and I've been, by merit of that, been in radio all my life, and now I'm hosting this crazy show today. You saw this guy come out of nowhere, Pops, and you saw him, suddenly he's a star, an international superstar. They're still playing, didn't you tell me there's a whole channel dedicated now to playing Elvis record songs, and it's making money? Satellite radio has nothing but Elvis 24-7, and they really make a lot of money on it. You hear the range of music that the guy actually has the gift to play rock and roll, country and western gospel, urban gospel as we call it, also almost classical, People Never Walk Alone, How Great Thou Art, every kind of, every genre of music he sings very well. He never sang, never made a bad recording. We had a program, we have a, in the movie, interestingly enough, in the movie, at the very last scene, at the very last scene in the movie, Elvis was playing live in Las Vegas, he had this kind of jumpsuit on, and he was singing Unchained Melody, a song made famous by Al Hitler, and so as he was singing this, he was looking at the camera, and camera was very close up, and I saw something in the movie that moved me more than anything has moved me in a long time.

I saw a guy trying to smile, trying to be pleasant, trying to communicate, and it occurred to me, this is a pitiful guy looking for help, pitiful guy looking for spiritual advice, searching for something, saying, please, please help me, and no one helped him. Maybe some people advised him a little bit, but when you're big like Elvis Presley was, as a Christian, you'll find that very few people will tell you, frankly, your situation. They want to cater to you, they want to say pleasing words to you, and I guess that's what we all human beings have a desire to do to anybody, but Elvis was looking for help, and he died a little short while later. He died of a heart attack, was the official notice, but by then he was on all kinds of what they call uppers and doubters, drugs that were prescribed by different doctors that would make him feel better, and then after a concert, it would help him go to sleep.

After a concert, it would go back to the room. Hey, we gotta take a break. Hang on with that big stew. More coming up. We got callers calling in. We'll go to Janet, and it's a couple lines open. After this, Elvis Presley, by the way, was he a believer.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. So that's how the movie ended, and that's what we're talking about today. Shortly after that, the life of Elvis Presley on this earth ended. What is his legacy? What pops into your mind? What about Elvis Presley?

We're talking about all hour long here. Stu Everson in for Steve Noble guest hosting today. By the way, Elvis paid $100,000 for Graceland Mansion in 1957, named by its previous owner after his daughter Grace, so that's what he named it after. Elvis made the least amount of money in his career when he earned 78 bucks a month during his brief two-year stint drafted in the U.S. Army. During that time, he was unable to access his music-generated income of $400,000, which is a lot of money back then.

What ought to make a lot of money is the state probably still collects a lot of money, recorded more than 600 songs. We're talking about him all hour long. There's a big movie out about Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. Big Stu, my dad, Stu Everson Sr., is on the line with us. We have some callers that want to weigh in as well.

We've got one line open at 866-34-TRUTH. A lot of folks are asking the question, do you think Elvis Presley was a Christian? Don't want to ask that in a fatalistic kind of way, but he did sing a lot of gospel music, and as Big Stu pointed out earlier in this show, he had a lot of influence in his life from pastors like Rex Humbard and others that spoke into his life.

And there was a profession of faith along the line somewhere there, but what about how things ended? Janet, are you there? Let's welcome Janet to the Airwaves. Hey, jump on in here, and we're talking about the King of Rock and Roll, and what do we learn from his life from this movie in a redemptive way? Well, I liked Elvis because he took us to exotic places in his movies.

I liked him because he sang Peace in the Valley with the gospel quartet, and he was alike, like all young people, actually, at the time. Okay, wow. Dad, can you relate to everything Janet just said? Absolutely. Hit it right. He got the quartet, the Jordanaires, to back him on songs, and after each concert at Las Vegas, the story goes, for two or three hours, he and the quartet would sing gospel songs, Peace in the Valley, Crying in the Chapel, or In the Chapel, How Great Thou Art. And the question, you know, I asked from this movie, for the life of Presley, Elvis Presley, God has given each of us unique talents, and everyone who has a unique talent, talent unloaned from God, as Rush Limbaugh used to say, talent, and God intends us to use it in a right way. But invariably, something comes along that reports to offer you a better way to use your talent.

And it happens to every Christian all the time. And someone has said, what does it take, what will Satan or the forces of evil give you in exchange for forsaking Christ and going on a different way? The answer is, whatever you want.

Yep, everything you want. All the wealth, you can imagine, he had anything he wanted, gold embossed, he had any kind of platform, any kind of stage, any kind of jet to go around. Lived in a mansion, of course, traveled, women, you name it, he had it. But did that satisfy the deepest parts of his soul?

And what can we learn from that when so often we settle for the allurements of this world and take that short-term, you know, forbidden fruit, as opposed to what God has best for us? As we talk about the life of Elvis Presley, the big box office, no surprise in a movie about Elvis Presley, would be a huge box office hit. Let's talk to Ann, who's calling in. Jump on in here, Ann, you're on with Stu Everson Sr. and Stu Jr. trying to bring some biblical light into this whole Elvis Presley legacy and what we learn.

And what do we tell our young people who are tempted by, even more than we were tempted upcoming? I mean, I don't think... What was Elvis Presley's Facebook page name? What was his social media account? What did he do on Twitter? What was his cell phone when you texted him? He had no cell phone.

He had none of that. Yeah, look at how he was so, you know, he's so tempted in how he had, you know, lost so much ground, you know, spiritually, to all of that stuff, and yet we have so much today that can pull us away from God. Ann, what are your thoughts? Hi, hi Stu, this is Ann. I'll tell you real quick, first of all, that I used to do a lot of commercials in California for your... I mean, for Salem Communications at KKLA.

I used to work there all... Yes, so it's so fun to hear the two of you talking. Well, God bless you.

KKLA 99.5 FM. Amen, brother, and just such fun. But I so agree with what you're saying about Elvis, because he was a tortured soul. It's just like in, you know, Pilgrim's Progress, you know, where the woman in a cage, but I don't believe he was in a cage. But I agree, when you see the movie Love Me Tender, he was just a simple kind of farm boy in that movie, if memory serves.

Sometimes it does. But he was just... he had such a tender spirit, and I think he was duped by the enemy. But I also, in my heart of hearts, I just believe we'll see him in heaven. Yeah, wow, and we sure hope so.

And who are we on this side of attorney to dare, you know, condemn one way or another? But, you know, there obviously wasn't a whole lot of fruit, but there's that... Dad, you talked about that kind of emptiness that, like, you saw in his eyes. He knew there was something more. He knew that he had gone astray.

Like, there's just this brokenness. And like that song, which was meant to be kind of a fun song, where one of the lines of that song is, caught in a trap. He literally was caught in a trap. And what does the thief do? John 10-10, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Dad, what do you think of that? Yeah, do you have that song called in a trap? Yeah, I'm trying to find it. Is it called that? Actually called that? Or is it called by a different name, but that's one of the lines in it?

Yeah. I'll find it and I'll play it, if I can find it, you know? One of his more famous songs, for certain. And it's all throughout the movie. Maybe it's Suspicious Minds.

Maybe that's it. We'll see if I can pull it up here. I'll pipe it in here.

Go ahead, Ann, your thoughts on that. Yeah, I was going to say, even the thief on the cross, I mean, let's think of it. His thief on the cross, can you still hear me, Stu? Yes, ma'am.

Okay, even the thief on the cross, I mean, he was being crucified for his sins, and yet Jesus said to him, today you'll be with me in paradise. There is a flicker, and you see that flicker in Elvis Presley. Yeah, and you've done stuff in Hollywood. You've been in social pictures, TV commercials, television, and you know the allure, the temptation. You're surrounded by it, and my dad, you've mentored a lot of young people, and they're just one piece of advice.

You think about Elvis cruising down the road in that old 50s or that old Chevy coupe, and one of the band members early on says, hey, yeah, try this Elvis, this will make you feel better. And with that one pop of a pill, the one decision, how many of us as a young child, as a young teenager, can be waylaid into a life of addiction? You know, dad, can you see that? What would you challenge the young people out there, Mr. Epperson?

Challenge them to, yeah, stay close to their parents, stay close to God, stay active in church, and don't listen to these things that pull you away from God. There is one song that I play whenever I'm talking about mentoring, and this is the song that ends the movie, by the way. It talks about a child that's a fatherless boy. What's the name of the song? Cats in the Cradle.

The Cats in the Cradle. Okay, oh, well, it'll come to us later. We're almost out of time, but that's another thing. The movie portrays his dad as being very passive, and maybe could have protected him better. There's a lot there.

I mean, there's a whole lot of, and I'm getting texts from awesome musician friends who helped me get kind of on the right track on the actual history, and the movie doesn't get into a lot of that, which upset some people. But at the end of the day, Ann, can you, Big Stu, can you agree what Jesus said? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? And that's what it means to be caught in a trap, and every single one of us is one mistake away from getting ensnared by the devil. May we turn to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and may we look to Him, and let's get around these young athletes.

Had lunch with a young athlete earlier today. I said, look, listen to, get, surround yourself with godly people. Psalm 1, delight in God's Word, run away from the counsel of the ungodly, and lay up your treasure in heaven for what really matters. Hey, Dad, thanks for being on. Ann, thanks for being on. God bless you. God bless you guys. Yes, ma'am. Take care. Dad, thanks for hanging out with us a little bit here.

So what's the conclusion of the matter? This movie is just a brilliant picture of what we might call idolatry soup. The Elvis movie, you have people, human beings, fans throwing their undergarments at Elvis Presley while he's on the stage. They idolized him. You have his managers idolizing the money and the gambling and the other things that came with the fame of the one they followed. He carried and supported so many people.

You have the idolatry of Elvis himself who felt like, thought at some point he could find his happiness in all the people fawning over him and all the gold embossed limos and jets and everything he ever wanted he had. He had life by the tail, but on the inside he was empty. Just a great picture of that verse. Jesus said at Mark 8, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? So the conclusion of the matter, the preacher says in Ecclesiastes, is fear God. Look to him, Psalm 34 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Wow, Elvis had all kinds of gospel influence early on in his life.

Big student. I talked about that in the show today. Rex Humbard, other pastors spoken to his life. He seemed to have a profession of faith early on. He recorded with some of the greatest gospel singers ever.

J.D. Sumner, so many others. The movie doesn't show a lot of that, unfortunately, tragically, but we know he was exposed to that. But sadly, the voices of evil, the bad advice, the counsel of the ungodly drowned those other voices out. And then we have a man all by himself, so lonely that he did die in a heartbreak hotel at the end of his life, 42 years old, dead from a drug overdose, all kinds of addictions, all kinds of problems. Here's a question for you.

What's your idol? Well, you're maybe like, well, I'm not like him. I'm making a difference.

I'm doing this. Well, are you truly finding your satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you truly living Psalm 34 8? Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Blessed is the man that trusts in him. We all are one decision away from ending up like Elvis Presley. And so many of us say, oh, if I only had that fame, if I only had that fortune, if I only had all those, all the wealth, the women, all the other things.

Well, not so fast. How about this? What if you only had Jesus?

Is he enough? Just listen to some of the great gospel songs that Elvis sang, Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound. He was just renowned for his gospel vocals.

The number one netting gospel or really vocalist of all time sold more records than anybody else was Elvis Presley. And what's the show for it? So this movie, whether you love it, you hate it. You don't like the way it portrayed the guy you grew up watching and listening to.

Well, whether you love it, whether you hate it, as Big Sue said earlier, it's an important movie because of the lessons we can learn and we can pass on to our young people who may not even know who Elvis was, you know, that are coming up. So just a great lesson. Thank you for being with us today on the program.

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