Teddy James
AFA Journal staff writer
September 2015 – It is not uncommon for art to become better known than its creator. This is certainly true for Dennis Jernigan. While his name may not be familiar, his songs such as “You are My All in All,” “Who Can Satisfy My Soul,” and “I Stand Amazed” are.
The story of Jernigan’s life is one of fear and shame, redemption and hope. Understanding the heart behind the lyrics adds to their beauty and meaning.
You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
In an interview with Tim Wildmon and Ed Vitagliano on Today’s Issues, heard daily on American Family Radio, Jernigan said, “By the time I was five years old I was already thinking of myself as being different from other boys.” That feeling was reinforced when he entered a public restroom where a grown man exposed himself and told Jernigan to touch him. He immediately ran out of the restroom to tell his mother.
Jernigan said, “I stopped before I got to her. I wondered what was wrong with me? Why would that man think he could do that to me? The enemy got his foot in the door of my mind with that little thought, Something is wrong with you.”
That experience left Jernigan weakened. His peers reinforced the thought by harassing him and calling him homosexual slurs. By the age of six he was experimenting with other boys.
In junior high, Jernigan found solace in his grandmother’s piano. In his DVD Sing Over Me, he recounted how he would escape the torturous environment of school to find peace at the keyboard. He said, “I learned pretty quickly that if I was at the piano, no one would bother me.”
Being raised in a Christian home, Jernigan was torn between God’s law and his sinful desires. He recalls listening on the front steps of his childhood church one morning as men discussed homosexuality. They plainly said homosexuals belonged in hell. During his interview on AFR he said, “Here were these men I knew to be men of God, men I looked up to and respected, saying I was going to hell. They didn’t know they were talking about me, but it hit me: I’m going to hell.”
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I’d be a fool
You are my all in all
After high school, Jernigan had an opportunity for a fresh start at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He began singing in the Bison Glee Club, started dating Melinda Hewitt, and built a healthy friendship with Chuck King. He felt his life had changed, though his temptations were still present.
While dating Melinda, Jernigan would encounter other men with same sex attraction. He said, “We would just find one another and fall.” After each episode, he and Melinda would break up. And the cycle would repeat.
His senior year at OBU, Jernigan moved into an apartment believing he would escape temptation. He did well. He found encouragement when an older man began investing in him. In his book, Sing Over Me, he said the older man was “a Christian leader in our community – husband, father, religious fixture, a well-respected citizen.”
The man told Jernigan, “One of the callings of my life is to come alongside young men like yourself and help you. If nothing else, I can pray for you, or at least be a sympathetic shoulder to lean on.”
Jernigan had never felt so valued and loved. One night after refusing the advances of another man, he called his mentor. They met, and Jernigan broke down, expressing his weakness to his friend, mentor, father figure. The man nodded with understanding and then made a pass at him.
Betrayed, confused, and defeated, Jernigan went home and turned on the gas stove without lighting it. He lay on the floor, waiting for what he thought would be the peace of death.
He gave up.
Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
In that moment, lying on the floor and awaiting death, Jernigan felt God whisper to his spirit, “Dennis, are you ready for eternity?”
He turned the stove off. He knew what waited for him in eternity but decided to stop combatting his temptations and fully embrace the homosexual lifestyle. He expected peace. It didn’t come.
He graduated college still searching for Jesus and for release, and decided to enter seminary. Three days before classes started, Chuck King called. He said, “Dennis, the Lord came to me in a dream. Your music is going to be sung by people all over the world. My mom had the same dream. Would you consider coming to live with us in Oklahoma City?”
Three days later Jernigan moved in with King, taking a job driving a school bus. He struggled daily between the Jesus that King told him about and his unwanted desires.
His remembered a story from his childhood about how King Saul would ask David to play the harp when he was beset by evil spirits. Every morning after his bus route he would run to King’s piano and play through the Psalms. “I did it to save my own sanity, “ he said.
When I fall down you pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all
On November 7, 1981, Second Chapter of Acts, a worship band, came to Oklahoma City. Jernigan liked their music so he showed up early with a cassette recorder.
During the concert, Annie Herring, one of the singers, said there was someone in the audience who had gone through things he never thought he would have to endure. Jernigan knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to him. Herring said to make today like Christmas and give your burden to God. She said on Christmas you also receive gifts. She said to ask God for whatever you need. Jernigan’s only response was to openly weep.
His deliverance was caught on cassette tape.
At that moment Jernigan began a new life. His music is sung by people across the world, and he shares his story in churches and conferences across the country. When he returns home, he is welcomed by his wife Melinda and their nine children.
Outside his Oklahoma home sits a small tombstone. It reads “Jernigan, November 7,1981. On this date Dennis Jernigan died to sin and was born again by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s servant lives in the house at the top of the hill.”
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name 
The DVD Sing Over Me and Jernigan’s interview on Today’s Issues are available at afastore.net.
The book Sing Over Me is available at online and retail bookstores.
Dennis Jernigan will join Star Parker, David Barton, and Kelvin Cochran for AFA’s Retreat at the Cove at the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, North Carolina, September 28-30. For more information or to register, call 800-950-2092 and select option 2 followed by option 1.
For more of Dennis Jernigan’s story, visit dennisjernigan.com.
