Welcome to Real Truth for Today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. Now, here's Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good morning and welcome to Real Truth for Today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here. Hope you're having a great morning. Wanted to read to you from first Peter, chapter four, verse 12. Peter says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory is and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in his name. Well, I'm sitting across the table from my good friend Doyle Dykes, guitar player extraordinaire, one of the best in the world, and I am so blessed to have him as a friend. And, when he comes to town, I tell him all the time, Doyle, you got a standing invitation for Real Truth for today. So, Doyle, welcome to the program.
Doyle Dykes: Thank you, Pastor Jeff. It's always a pleasure. of course I hear from you often. And you hear from me often. It's not just when we come together like this. You're a true friend, and it's good to see you again.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, it's always great to see you. Hold in your hands, your Pride and joy there for a moment.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So this is the last time, you'll be playing the Olsen, right? You're getting ready to sell that?
Doyle Dykes: Yes. you know, my daughter, we were helping her out. She's been through some things and gone through some trials and we were just praying about helping her financially. So I was going to sell a guitar and I started to mention on my program on YouTube and my wife and I put it on there and I said, what do you think of that? She said, absolutely not. We don't have to beg God or, you know, we don't have to beg people. We depend on the Lord. And I said, I've taken it off twice. This is the third time because I agree with you. And that day a, ah, guy called me and it was another guitar. I had said, all the money will go for Holly, but I didn't put it on there. Well, about two hours later this guy calls and said, I'd like to buy one of your guitars. And so I told I have just the guitar. And he said, well, no. Would you consider selling one of your Olson's? And I had gotten this a little less than a year ago. And so it's sort of my precious. And I was telling Jay I never even changed the strings on it has the original strings. That's not like me.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And but I played a little bit, put it in the case and you know. And about that time my signature tailor came in too. So I use it all the time on the road. But this is sort of one of those things that's kind of a lifetime achievement. Yeah, well, so anyway, I said, well, I'll pray about it. I sent him pictures. I thought he's not going to buy. It's too expensive, you know. And I don't even know how I got it. Just trading things off and working. but we were looking at a house for my daughter the next day to move into. And while I was there I got a text. I want your Olson. And I'm going, oh my Lord. And I showed it to Rita. Are you going to sell that? I said, well, you know, it's so strange. Just think about what we were doing. So I said, okay, I will. I'll do it. This is for family, you know, and help her out and bless us. And I'll give the rest to Rita for a kitchen or something, I don't know. And so that night we got home and notice our air wasn't working good. All of our air Units went out. Oh, no. Yeah, tens of thousands of dollars. And so, yeah, you know, if you add everything up. And when we were able to get all new air units in the house and also, and I knew nothing about that, but the Lord did, God knows he's always a step ahead. And also took care of Holly, got her in a beautiful home and she was able to, you know, paid her first month and deposits and moved her up there and the whole thing. And her son, my grandson, just turned 17 last week. And so the Lord blessed and he took care of all that. And we just thank the Lord for it. But you asked me when you can you come back when you come back to Texas. I didn't want to, mail this. And so, right after the show I'm meeting Gary, the man that bought it. He's coming up from Austin and I'm going down to Hawkins.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So Doyle, for the people that don't know, James Olson is a premier guitar maker.
Doyle Dykes: He's the best in the world at this type of guitar. And Bob Taylor would tell you that he and Bob are good friends or Krish Martin, any of those guys. I mean they all really highly revere him. He's built guitars for James Taylor, for years, you know, Phil Keagie, Paul McCartney. Oh, man, I mean everybody has that
Pastor Jeff Schreve: if they, you know, McCartney left handed guitar.
Doyle Dykes: Yes, he did. He built that for him. And so he's he's quite well known in this world. And in a good brother, he built his first guitars, in the church, in the back of church because he didn't have a shop. And they said, well, if you'll do the janitorial work, we'll give you a room for the shop. Because it was one of those old like roses kind of building, you know, that was, used to be a store and turn it into a church. And so that's where he built his guitars for a long time.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Well, let us know how it sounds. Play something for us.
Doyle Dykes: Okay, let me see. What. Oh, man. How about. Our Sorrows Forever and by his stripes we are here.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Beautiful, beautiful. You know, it's funny, I've told you this before, but, I like it when you sing. You're not. I, don't think anybody would call Doyle Dykes the Pavarotti of.
Doyle Dykes: My wife tells me all the time, nobody asks you to sing now, but
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I like when you sing because it's from the heart and you're singing to me, it's just like that's an expression. Of your love for the Lord. So, okay. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you. I think sometimes, Doyle, people see people like you. You're on stage, you're well known. You go to all these different events and concerts and meet all sorts of famous people, and they say, well, Doyle doesn't have any trouble in life. But, it was about, what, 25 years ago when you had a brain tumor?
Doyle Dykes: Yes, a little less than that. but I just turned. I was 50 that year, you know, so it's 22 years ago. And I'd never been in the hospital except to see some. Go see somebody else and pray for them, you know. And so I hadn't been to a doctor in years, except maybe an ent. And he was the guy that I said, you know, it was. A friend of mine, was a guitar player. He was a doctor. If I had a little cold or, you know, if I had to go out to, you know, some other country, you know, he would help me out, maybe give me a Z pack or something. So. Well, in case anything happens. But I said, you know, there's, a. There's a distortion in my ear. And, I was asked to go over to, Branson, and the Oak Ridge Boys had talked to me about maybe opening for them on some Branson shows. And, And so my daughter Hayley was there. I said. I said, it's a shame it's distorted and, you know, in a place like this. And she said, what are you talking about? I said, it doesn't sound distorted to you, like, as a speaker going on, oh, wow. And, she says, no. And I said, something's going on. And then that distortion, I could hear it. And then after that, for days. And so I went to him, and then he said, you may have something. It's probably not Doyle, but it could be a tumor. And that's, you know, the last case scenario. They. But in and of it was an acoustic neuroma. Tumor is a brain. They call it brain tumor. A lot of people have had them through the years. You know, a few people that have had their actors and different. And a lot of times it affects your face. You know, people have permanent, paralysis. I mean, you can have all kinds of. They can't shut their eyes and, can't smile anymore. And, But there was a risk of losing my hearing. So I took this particular. You know, I chose this particular way that they would go in and there's still a hole back here, but now, I lost my hearing on my right side, but I can still wink and smile.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: How about your balance?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I lost my balance nerve. It's connected to your balance nerve. Vestibular. And so it was, Bob Taylor told me this. Your left nerve controls your right side. Your right side controls your left side. And if you lose one of those, God made us this way where one will compensate for the other. And so for a long time, I had a balance problem. I mean, I had vertigo really bad. I mean, just throwing up and everything too. Residuals were really bad. And so I had to learn how to walk again. And so I'm holding onto the house and I get a call from Rick Muchow. You know, he was with Rick Warren back then. Hey, Doyle, can you be at our, you know, it was a pastor's or music conference. And I said, when is it? And I just got out of the hospital like the week before. And he told me, and it was like exactly half, you know, from the time that I was supposed to take in three months, it was six weeks. And I said, I'm going to do it.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: And I said, God's going to help me. And I did. And the Lord helped. But I remember being there that day and, Rick asked me if I'd play for the. And here I'm at Saddleback. He said, would you play? He had the whole orchestra there. And, it sounded I had never been on a stage since the operation. And I freaked out. And I just went to the back and I took my little amplified Bible. I call it the guitar player's Bible. But In Philippians, Philippians 4:13, it says, I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything. I am equal to anything in him who infuses inner strength into me, which is a medical term. I am self sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. And I read it three times, prayed about it, wiped the tears, went back out. And he said, you're good. I said, I'm good. And I never looked back from that time.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay, so how different was that, being a musician with an ear and now all of a sudden you're not hearing the stereo?
Doyle Dykes: Well, when I turned my head, the drums were coming from way out in the audience somewhere, you know what I mean? And the bass was just ringing everywhere. I couldn't hear, you know, because, you know, when you lose your hearing, you still have your hearing. When you lose it on One side, it's. There's nothing there.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You can tell where it's coming from. It's difficult.
Doyle Dykes: You lose all your perception of where things are coming from. You don't have that. And so I've had to learn through the years. My wife, we've been married 53 years and she asked me, I think on our anniversary. We were just writing and so, we've had so much going on with our daughter and all the things we're talking about, we just chose to stay at home and just relax. but she says, does it still bother you? And I said, what? She said, how do you handle that? Your ear and you still have a noise on your right side. I said, well, I didn't think about it till you told me. And so right now, I mean, it's very loud.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Does it ring?
Doyle Dykes: On the right side there's a ringing and it says, it's an incredible snowy kind of ringy sound. And it's loud and it's there all the time. 24 7.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: What do they call that? Tinnitus.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, tinnitus or tinnitus. Yeah. And so, even though I can't hear, you know, I have that when I do my eyes like this, it goes woo, woo, woo, woo.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's weird.
Doyle Dykes: And, why did you have to bring this up today? but you know what God has helped me through. And when I'm as late at night laying in bed or as you can think about it. But I have learned to trust him. And I never, he's never left me. He's never failed me. I don't feel like he has. If anything, I've gotten closer to him.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, amen to that. Well, it's an encouragement to all of us. You know, I don't care what people do for a living. I don't care how big we may build them up in our minds.
Doyle Dykes: People are people.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: People have troubles, people have problems. They have family problems. They have, you know, every. We're all the same before the Lord. So if you're out there and you're saying, well, you know, I'm having so many difficulties, nobody could understand. We do understand because we all face difficulties. As it says in Job, man who is born of woman is short lived and full of trouble. And we say amen to that. But, here's the good news. That Jesus, is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. He's a friend of sinners, and he will see you through every difficulty. Well, you're listening to real truth for today, Pastor Jeff Schrieve here with my friend Doyle Dykes. We'll be right back. Don't go away. Candace talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by PreBorn allows her to hear her baby's heartbeat. The sonogram sealed the deal for me.
Doyle Dykes: My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope. And I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside. I mean, that sonogram changed my life.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I went from just Candace to mom.
Doyle Dykes: Thank you to everybody that has given me these gifts. You guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love. Preborn currently has clinics that do not have ultrasound machines. Would you consider a leadership gift and sponsor a machine today?
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Doyle Dykes: than most centers can afford. Your donation will save countless lives for years to come. Dial 250 and say the keyword baby
Pastor Jeff Schreve: or go to preborn.com afr.
Doyle Dykes: This is real truth for today. Podcasts of the program are available on the podcast [email protected] now back to Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program, Pastor Jeff here talking to my good friend Doyle Dykes. We're talking about dealing with difficulty, fiery trials. One of the great verses in the NewSong Testament is when Jesus said this. in the world, you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. You're going to have trouble in life. I have trouble in my life. Doyle's had trouble in his life. trouble is just part of the deal. But, the Lord is greater than the trouble. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. And, one of my favorite verses, Doyle, is Romans 15:13. Now, may the God of peace fill you with all joy. The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. And believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Okay, we were talking about your brain tumor. As a musician, losing your hearing is a big, big deal.
Doyle Dykes: It is.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: did you ever have times in there where the fear overtook you thinking, is this going to end my career?
Doyle Dykes: Yes, absolutely. In fact, that time with, Rick's. Rick Machouse or Rick Warren. yeah, I didn't. I thought, how did I even. And I remember thinking, how did I even just fulfill my schedule? I had. I mean, because I couldn't even get up and walk, you know?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, I could hardly play. I had. I remember I had this old Les Paul and I'd put it up to my ear because I couldn't sit and hold it. I couldn't sit straight up, you know. And so it was. Yeah, it was a process going through, and the Lord helped me through every. Every step of the way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Ah.
Doyle Dykes: And so, But, yeah, I was wondering, can I still do this? but that scripture, I told you a while ago, I'm ready for anything. I'm equal to anything. It helped me through so much. And it didn't start there. I mean, I used that scripture, Lord, when I was on the Grand Ole Opry or I'd be on TNN Live or. I remember sharing that with Dwayne Eddy and, Rick Johnson and Tommy Emmanuel. A lot of people said, here's a scripture for you because everybody gets nervous. But when it's almost debilitating and you're so nervous, am I going to be able to continue this? I had one time, at Greg Lori's church. I was working with the choir, and they had a big orchestra and things like that. And I felt that fear, sudden fear. But then I put it under me and I said, thank you, Lord, for that, you know? And so God's so good to us. I remember Haley, went through a thing, too. She had this, She ended up with thyroid. She had thyroid cancer.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: Your daughter Hayley had to take that. Had that taken out. But she couldn't do anything for a long time because she was pregnant. And so she and Micah Ferrin had written a song. And so after the.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Micah's from here.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I know. He's from here. Texarkana. It's a beautiful song called Amazing still, because Amazing Grace was kind of always her song to us. But, he said, can you sing Amazing still this morning? The next day, she was going in for her operation. She had the baby and all that. And so any slip up at all, this nodule so big, sitting on her vocal cords, she'd never sing again. I said, did that thought occur to you? When he asked me that? She said, oh, yeah, Dad. I said, what did you do? She says, well, I get emotional. Think about it. Because she said, dad, I did what you always said to do. You know, I just put him behind me. Get thee behind me, Satan. I just put him behind me. But I sang like you said, sing to an audience of one. Sing to him. So I wasn't singing to the audience. I was singing to the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, I'll never forget that. And, oh, man, what a blessing that was. And she never looked back. and it's kind of funny, because I said, I Think your singing is
Pastor Jeff Schreve: better than it was.
Doyle Dykes: You know, it's funny, I was in a session one time with Jimmy Capps. Remember Jimmy was at the Opry for he was the sheriff on the, you know, Larry's Country Diner. But we were playing one time. He said, well Doyle, I think you're a better guitar player since you lost your hearing. I said, well, only on one side. He said, well, it did something. And but that was a great compliment for me.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, well, nobody would ever know. And yeah, you do set up your speaker on stage so you can hear it on that.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, everything's always on my left. Yeah, and I'll tell the guys, well make sure everything's on my left. And when I get there. I said, well, there's a reason for that. cause some people like, oh, he's one of those to take out all the blue M and Ms. Or you know, his water has to be from. His bottled water has to be from some remote island in the Pacific.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. So I watched the String along that you did with Tommy Emanuel and it was very entertaining and it was just fun to watch and just see you guys go back and forth. But I saw something that he has done recently where he said somebody was ask are you still as good as you were? And he said, well, there's songs that I have written back in the day when I was younger that I can't really play now because they're either too fast or whatever. And I asked you about that once.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I think you can still play everything you wrote, although some of them may
Doyle Dykes: be m. Maybe slow it down a little bit. You know who's telling me that was Billy Grammer. Remember? I played around and played around this old town too long. I feel like I've got to travel on. I don't know if you remember Billy. And he had his own guitar company too, the Grammar Guitar. He was an amazing guy and he was playing so well in his 80s. And I said billy, how do you place? Well, Doyle, I'm pretty much do the same notes and I just have to slow them down a little bit, you know. And I've noticed that for myself to be true, you know, Things like that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Is that twins?
Doyle Dykes: Twin six shooters. Yeah, I used to fly on that thing.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay, you used, you have the song 3. Three chords in a cloud of dust.
Doyle Dykes: Oh yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's super fast.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I can't remember. But anyway, I, I, I played it on a, I've done it on Telecaster and I Played on an old Gretch. So it's an electric guitar thing. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wabash Cannonballs. Pretty fast.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. Don't ask me to do that on. You know, Gary, the guy that bought this guitar said, maybe do. Can you make a video for me with you playing a guitar? And I said, well, he said, what do you want me to do? Well, try Wabash. And, it was late when I got it, and I was doing it a couple nights ago, and I. And I, you know, I do a string bend, and the first thing I did was jab my finger. That string went all over my finger, and I had to stop for several minutes for the bleeding.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Doyle Dykes: But, Yeah, I can't do that on this guitar.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So is Wabash. Is that an electric guitar?
Doyle Dykes: No, no, I played on my tailor. Yeah, that's. That's the one that. That's what really kind of got me going and doing opry things. I did those little string bends, and I should have brought my tailor in, too. But, there's a way that I, actually, just wrap the strings around, then I break them off where they won't cut you when you. Because I don't care how big a boy you are.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That hurts.
Doyle Dykes: It hurts.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, Yeah. but, that's just a little trick thing that I do.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Okay, so this particular guitar, you said this is really, tailor made for a finger style guitarist.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. You know, That kind of stuff. I mean, it really just sings out, you know?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right.
Doyle Dykes: And, Or my Sunday string along. Yeah, But it's good for Travis M.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, that sounds great.
Doyle Dykes: And then you got, you know, Chad Atkins. That's a jerry reeves song.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Is it?
Doyle Dykes: Baby's coming home. Do I, Honey, You got me going now. I can do this all day.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. So after the. After the operation and all that you had to go through and the vertigo and all that, so six weeks later, you're playing, and then from there, did just your schedule fill up again and you were just able to keep going?
Doyle Dykes: Took it easy. Yeah, but. Yeah, but I had residuals, too. the doctor told me, so you'll have residual headaches and things like that. And my wife, I remember, she said, well, she says, if you take this procedure, the doctor told me. And my wife says, well, he's always. He's had. Even had child migraines growing up. He said, I'm not talking about a migraine. He said, I'm talking about something way worse than that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: And he wasn't Kidding. And, it would hit me on the road. Back then, Haley was traveling a lot with. With me all the time. But I remember. I mean, gosh, she would have to take me, like, from the NAMM show, and I had to go. Or, I remember one time we were way up on the. Oh, gosh, it was up in Vermont. And, we had to go to the hospital. In the middle of it, I was laid two, two or three days in a hotel. I couldn't get out.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: I was debilitated. And, you just get dehydrated, you know, because it's just hard to explain
Pastor Jeff Schreve: as medicine doesn't help it.
Doyle Dykes: It's three years, he said, you'll have. And he was right. I remember I was in England one time, and it hit me. I had one. And, dehydration. There's several little things that can cause it, you know, trigger. And there were. And when I'm talking. I was talking to people, you know, and that's when I hang around, usually always hang around to the last. I was there first, and I still leave last. It's that way, especially now. But there for a while, I had to try to get out as soon as I could because, I mean, I would talk to people, but, there would be times where I just had to go or I'd be sick. I'd just get sick. And so I wouldn't do, extended things like guitar camps or anything. I couldn't do any of that. Bluegrass festivals, if it's more than one day, I said, I can't do it.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Okay, Doyle. Most, This isn't true across the board, but many musicians are melancholy in their personality. And you. You look at the temperaments. They're very, focused in on what they do. They tend not to be really extroverted. They can go on stage. We were talking a little off camera, and you were saying you don't have any problem with a crowd of 500, 1,000, 5,000. It's not a big deal. But if you have to mingle, one on one with people, is that more draining to you?
Doyle Dykes: Oh, it is totally. And it can still affect me, you know, but. Yeah, it can. It can be totally draining. However, I am a people person.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: So I love that interaction, too, with people. And so it's hard sometimes to draw the line, but sometimes you have to. But, But for the most part, yeah. I mean, I'm. I am shy. I am a bit shy, to be honest with you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. You don't come across that.
Doyle Dykes: Maybe not. but I can be.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: we talked before about how good your son Caleb is on the guitar. But you said he doesn't like to get up on the platform and necessarily do that in front of a crowd.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, well, you know, it's funny. My wife and I, a couple nights ago, we were watching, he went to this little Baptist church, kind of a Primitive Baptist church. And good people, Good people. But you don't preach out of anything but the kjv, man, the King James version. but they're wonderful folks, but they're very conservative. And here's Caleb up there, and I'm thinking about that and all this kind of progressive things. And there he is playing his guitar with this guy that's singing to the Lord. and his wife was over there. She was. You know, and we're just like, look what happened to Caleb. Yeah, he's come a long way, and it's amazing. It's just amazing. And he says, you know what? I'll do it for him. And I do it for the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, But it took a while for him to get there, you know?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Well, I've heard you say, correct me if I'm wrong, but that Caleb is a better guitar player than you are because he's more versatile.
Doyle Dykes: He's more versatile than I am. Yeah. He can play. I mean, you know, I give him his run for. For the money on finger picking, but he can. There's some Jerry, reed stuff he does that I don't even play. I just never took time to learn it. But he did. And he can. I'm telling you, he's very good. But his, flat picking on bluegrass and also his jazz, his chord facilities. Amazing. It really is. Yeah. And, And I have a grandson is, too. It's funny because we're here in Scotland, Joplin area, right. And he played a Scott Joplin song and got in a music program at a university, and he doesn't even read music, really. And they said, well, how can you play all that you just played? He played it note for note. It was amazing if you heard him. And, he said, well, I just have a good ear. And they said, well, you can't get in our program unless you read music. This was in April, March, April. He says, well, I have until August. And he got in and he's playing and he was talking about rudimentary type theory and things this week. And I thought, wow, you have put your nose to the grindstone, you know.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, you were always A play by ear kind of guy, weren't you?
Doyle Dykes: Oh, yeah. I mean, totally. And Tommy as well. And so many musicians. You know, Chet said he read, but not enough to hurt his playing, you know. But no, I mean, I never knew I was just really going to do this. I just played because I love playing at church. And I learned the chords. I can play a chord chart. Okay. but then, you know, the Lord just gave me an ear. I can hear things in my head and some of the songs that I've written. Going down the road, I would write songs and some of the best songs I've ever written that way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, when you, when you hear it in your mind, can you correlate. You correlate that to notes?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So you know what note that is?
Doyle Dykes: Well, I could tell you. I could figure it out, but some of it's like, like an alternate tuning, and I would go, And there was a song I wrote.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Doyle, hold that thought. We're up against a break, but we'll be back with more Doyle Dykes. You're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here on American Family Radio.
Doyle Dykes: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhishheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here with my good friend Doyle Dykes. We're talking about, fiery trials. How do we deal with those things? And Doyle, before time, gets. Gets away from us, how did you deal with that? And how. How would you encourage a listener out there that's really struggling right now because life is so hard and seems to be caving in? You know, lots, of people just say, I just want out. God take my life. You know, guys, in scripture, Jeremiah prayed, that the Lord would take his life. What would your counsel be to somebody like that?
Doyle Dykes: Well, trust, you know, trust God and, you know, you trust him all the time, but you learn to trust him even more, in those trials like that. And you put your faith in him and your trust in him. And if you do that, you'll draw closer to him rather than. I, had a friend of mine told me, and he's a pastor preacher, a good preacher. He says, man, I'm just glad you didn't get bitter at God.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Doyle Dykes: Because he knows other, I think, ministers that did turned her back and God and her love. and I said, I never even considered that because it's just such a part of My life. I mean, you'll never have a good relationship with anybody unless you trust them. But if you really trust God, when that trial comes, it's just like when you're married. That trial comes. You and your wife are going to make it through. Or your husband and, you're a couple, and you believe God, and you've dedicated your life to him. And it's the same thing. You remember the song as a. Let me get this. I'm so glad I've learned to trust Him Precious Jesus Precious friend and I know that he is with me we'll be with. With me till the end. You know the song?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Doyle Dykes: Jesus, Jesus How I, trust him How I prove Him O and O Jesus, Jesus Precious Jesus Here it is. O for grace to trust him more and she wrote that right after seeing her husband drown, you know, trying to save a young man. They were on vacation, and her little girl, I think she was, I don't know, just seven or eight years old. And her, husband dove out in the Hudson river to try to save a boy. And she. They stood there watching both of them drown.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wow.
Doyle Dykes: It was right after that that she wrote that. I'm so glad I learned to trust.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Who was that?
Doyle Dykes: Louisa. Mr. Stead. She was a missionary from, England. Came over.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wow.
Doyle Dykes: And, she really wanted to be a missionary to China, but she came over here and she got sick, married this guy, but ended up later on. She remarried years later and became a missionary to Africa for the rest of her life. So God's good.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Hey, Doyle, when you play. Because you have so many songs in your head when you play those, are you thinking about the chord structure. Or you're just thinking the melody, and then it just plays.
Doyle Dykes: I think about her standing there with her little girl looking out at that. And then just, days later. Wrote such a song I'm not even thinking about really too much.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: But, I mean, when you play something, I throw out a song. Amos, Moses. I like how you just think in your mind. Okay. How does that song sound? And then you can play it.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. I mean, I have to listen to the. It. It's a Telecaster.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's a fun song.
Doyle Dykes: About 45 miles to the end. Yeah. What a song. Yeah. That guy's amazing. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: you know, Jerry was probably maybe most famous for the, Eastbound and Down song.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. And that was a lot of banjo on there. You know, I used to work with Grandpa Jones, and he had this, you know, thing on a banjo that was like. It was a Frailin thing. And Jerry kind of does that on the guitar, but he has a bass. Like, When you're hot, you're hot.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He had some great songs. Yeah, you know, he. He was the whole package because he could sing. He had this outgoing personality. He was a good actor. You know, Bert Reynolds sure liked him. That was.
Doyle Dykes: You know, he came. He really came back to the Lord. I remember a pastor told me when, he was a young man, he would go to his church and he would hang out, and he said they'd have an altar call. And Jerry, he said, well, if you don't mind, Pastor. He said, well, Jerry, you okay? And he said, yeah. He said, go ahead and lock up. I'll just hang around. He said, there was an old stump in back of the church, and he said I'd see him out there. He said he'd be out there till midnight. Pray out under the stars. And so, he said, I feel like he had a call of God on his life. And I'm, just telling you what someone told me, as this old preacher told me, that a long time ago. And then before he passed, he really, got involved with his church. And he'd go to Bible study every week. And he says, you know, they asked him, bring his guitar. Well, you know, I love playing my guitar. But he said, when I come here, this is what I want to do. I want to get to know him more. So if y' all don't mind, just talk about him and get in the word.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: And so that was,
Pastor Jeff Schreve: How cool. Well, that was kind of. Roy Clark came back to the Lord, right?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. His wife Barbara, is real, real special person, and she loves the Lord with all of her heart. Last time I went to see Roy, we had lunch together at his place. And, he said, barbara, come in here and play for us. You know, she's the head matriarch and spiritual leader, you know. And she came in and. And, boy, she prayed. yes, she did. And, But they're very special people. I love Roy. He was a good man.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Chet was a believer.
Doyle Dykes: He was. In fact, you know, he really talked more about it. He was very, very shy because there's so many. He was a, you know, a record producer for a major label, you know, and it was always, oh, yeah, well, he would have. He would have done good. But then he got religion, and, But he didn't say anything bad about it. He didn't want to interfere with that. You know what I mean? But he wrote a lot of great musicians. He said, yeah, they went into the church and didn't go into music business. But I remember a friend of mine that used to walk with him every day. His name was David Stringfield. And, in fact, at the Baptist hospital there, he was the administrator. They had a whole wing named after him. There's a story I have meeting Mr. Stringfield. He lived across the street from Chet, and they were walking one time, and Chet just kind of got on him about something. They were just talking, well, you Christians. And he said, said, wait a minute, Chet. He said, me? He said, you Christians? He said, aren't you a Christian? Well, yeah. He said, well, hadn't you accepted Christ? Weren't you baptized? He said, well, yeah, I took care of all that. And that was his way of saying, yeah, I am a Christian. He said, well, then don't ever let me hear you say you Christians again. He says, well, he said, what I'm trying to say is. And then he went on. But he says, we have a lot of talks and a lot of walks, and I can assure you, Doyle, that Chet knew the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, he knew. He was never, like, drinking and running around and doing that kind of stuff, was he?
Doyle Dykes: No. I mean, I don't know as much about Chet's personal life as other people do, but, I mean, the Chet Atkins I knew, I mean, he had a guitar called the Country Gentleman. And, that's kind of what he was.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: He comes across that way.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. I don't think he was. Was a perfect man. None. I mean.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right.
Doyle Dykes: I'm not either.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: We have one.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Jesus.
Doyle Dykes: That's. He's the only one that was. Yeah. And so, He was sure good to me.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: In. In all your travels, Doyle, have you met. Have you met people that really, they live it out, you know, so they're not after the show, going to the bars and that. You know, I watched, like the Johnny Cash movie Walked the Line. You know, you saw now, he came to the Lord later in life, but you saw the way he was living, and it was just like. That seems to be the story for so many, celebrities and musicians and things like that. You talk about in your book, the Lights of Marfa, the Elvis situation, and, you know, Elvis destroyed himself with drugs.
Doyle Dykes: That's true.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Did you run across, Obviously, there are a lot that fall into that camp. Did you run across some others that were more like yourself?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I think. I mean, you know, I just couldn't go that way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You know, Grandpa didn't do that stuff.
Doyle Dykes: No. I did a lot of church things with Grandpa too. But I mean, he, Oh, he was country, as I'll get. He was who he used to see on Hee Haw, you know. But at the same time, he was a real person. He was. I mean, he was well read. He quote Shakespeare, you know. It was funny to hear that coming out of his mouth. Grandpa, who are you? but no, he loved the Lord. I mean, you think about some of the songs that you. Fallen leaves that lie scattered on the ground the birds and flowers that were here now can't be found all the fruit friends that he once had Are not around they are scattered like the leaves upon the ground and the last verse. Some folks drift along through. No, I'm sorry. That's a good one too. To your grave. There's no use taking any grace, old. You cannot use it when it's time for hands to fold if you leave when you leave this world For a better home Someday the only thing you'll take Is what you gave away. Well, he'd get mad if he was here because he'd say. No passing chords. Doyle. No passing.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: What's a passing card?
Doyle Dykes: Oh, You know, the orange or. He didn't like this or. No, no, it was.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh.
Doyle Dykes: Oh, it's just maybe a. Maybe a seventh, not A minor.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. Okay.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, it was so funny. We used to. I used to do the, You know, they would. I'm in the way. The Bride and Shine way. I'm in the Gloryland way. We do those old songs on a tape recorder for Buck Owens and for Roy and Kenny Price. Or sometimes it'd be Tennessee Ernie Ford to sing with them. M. And, we do those, tapes for them to learn that and. Yeah, And we were on the opera one night in Tennessee, Said something to me. Here's Tennessee Ernie Ford. I mean, to me, he was. Oh, man, he was a hero, you know. And he said, you're the best introducer of a song I've ever seen, you know? Well, that's introducer. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. Something's come to my mind, and I don't think I dreamed this. Where Grandpa called you one day and said, get over here. And. Yeah, And Merle Travis was.
Doyle Dykes: Merle Travis. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That was the first time you met him?
Doyle Dykes: Yes, And I, always dreamed of meeting him. Of course, every day I'd go home and, you know, put on a Merle Travis or either Chet record. So I had. I mean, groove was all in, scratches all over. Trying to Learn his music, you know. But Merle Travis was. Yeah, he was a very gracious man.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. So they say, don't meet, your heroes because they'll disappoint you. But that wasn't true with him.
Doyle Dykes: Not personally, no, not with him. I mean, I know his lifestyle was way different. Different than Chet's or Grandpa's. And, you know, I heard a lot of stories about him and. And, you know, he wasn't the best example outside the guitar. and I. You know, I'm not trying. I'm not picking on him. But at the same time, he was very, very nice to me. And he was such a brilliant guy. You just have to go back to his raising, too, I think. And I remember, I was talking to Mark Jones, Grandpa's son. And, he. He. He said that Merle and his wife used to babysit him and his sister when Grandpa would go out of town. Grandpa, Ramona, they would. And Merle and his wife would. Would babysit him. And he said, well. I said, well, what? No, I never knew that we were. Right. I think we were in Texas when he told me this. Riding down the road. And he said, yeah. And he talked like his dad. Yeah, well, he was always busy, you know. So what was he doing? Well, you know, he used to do all that stuff for Cash and so. Johnny Cash. I said, yeah, you know, the train. The big train part, the train portion of his show. You know, there's a train, a combat. I forget what they call it. All that was written by Merle Travis.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, really?
Doyle Dykes: So he was a brilliant writer. He's a brilliant man, you know, and, But he had. Oh, yeah, When I went my way. Draw with me. And, you know, he just had a way, even with hymns, you know, So I know he knew, It was raised in church and everything. And so hopefully, before he passed, he accepted the Lord. I don't know. As much as I would like to.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. How old was he when he died?
Doyle Dykes: He wasn't that old, I don't think. He was only in his 60s. But, if you saw him, he had a. He had pretty rough life. Been around, but. But he sure was nice to me. I have a tape. Grandpa, took a bunch of pictures of us, and he looked at me play his big Super 400 special, you know, that he had. And he played my guitar. And Grandpa took pictures of, photos. And none of them turned out. I don't know. Oh, no. Yeah. not one of them. But he did record us on an old tape recorder, and I still have that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, that's cool. Well, Doyle, thanks for being my guest today. It's been a joy, just like it always is. And, pray God's blessings on your life and your family, my friend. And, thanks for listening to Real Truth for today. Go out today, shine for Christ, and share what great things the Lord has done for you. And God will use you as his witness. God bless you.
Welcome to Real Truth for Today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. Now, here's Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good morning and welcome to Real Truth for Today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here. Hope you're having a great morning. Wanted to read to you from first Peter, chapter four, verse 12. Peter says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory is and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in his name. Well, I'm sitting across the table from my good friend Doyle Dykes, guitar player extraordinaire, one of the best in the world, and I am so blessed to have him as a friend. And, when he comes to town, I tell him all the time, Doyle, you got a standing invitation for Real Truth for today. So, Doyle, welcome to the program.
Doyle Dykes: Thank you, Pastor Jeff. It's always a pleasure. of course I hear from you often. And you hear from me often. It's not just when we come together like this. You're a true friend, and it's good to see you again.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, it's always great to see you. Hold in your hands, your Pride and joy there for a moment.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So this is the last time, you'll be playing the Olsen, right? You're getting ready to sell that?
Doyle Dykes: Yes. you know, my daughter, we were helping her out. She's been through some things and gone through some trials and we were just praying about helping her financially. So I was going to sell a guitar and I started to mention on my program on YouTube and my wife and I put it on there and I said, what do you think of that? She said, absolutely not. We don't have to beg God or, you know, we don't have to beg people. We depend on the Lord. And I said, I've taken it off twice. This is the third time because I agree with you. And that day a, ah, guy called me and it was another guitar. I had said, all the money will go for Holly, but I didn't put it on there. Well, about two hours later this guy calls and said, I'd like to buy one of your guitars. And so I told I have just the guitar. And he said, well, no. Would you consider selling one of your Olson's? And I had gotten this a little less than a year ago. And so it's sort of my precious. And I was telling Jay I never even changed the strings on it has the original strings. That's not like me.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And but I played a little bit, put it in the case and you know. And about that time my signature tailor came in too. So I use it all the time on the road. But this is sort of one of those things that's kind of a lifetime achievement. Yeah, well, so anyway, I said, well, I'll pray about it. I sent him pictures. I thought he's not going to buy. It's too expensive, you know. And I don't even know how I got it. Just trading things off and working. but we were looking at a house for my daughter the next day to move into. And while I was there I got a text. I want your Olson. And I'm going, oh my Lord. And I showed it to Rita. Are you going to sell that? I said, well, you know, it's so strange. Just think about what we were doing. So I said, okay, I will. I'll do it. This is for family, you know, and help her out and bless us. And I'll give the rest to Rita for a kitchen or something, I don't know. And so that night we got home and notice our air wasn't working good. All of our air Units went out. Oh, no. Yeah, tens of thousands of dollars. And so, yeah, you know, if you add everything up. And when we were able to get all new air units in the house and also, and I knew nothing about that, but the Lord did, God knows he's always a step ahead. And also took care of Holly, got her in a beautiful home and she was able to, you know, paid her first month and deposits and moved her up there and the whole thing. And her son, my grandson, just turned 17 last week. And so the Lord blessed and he took care of all that. And we just thank the Lord for it. But you asked me when you can you come back when you come back to Texas. I didn't want to, mail this. And so, right after the show I'm meeting Gary, the man that bought it. He's coming up from Austin and I'm going down to Hawkins.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So Doyle, for the people that don't know, James Olson is a premier guitar maker.
Doyle Dykes: He's the best in the world at this type of guitar. And Bob Taylor would tell you that he and Bob are good friends or Krish Martin, any of those guys. I mean they all really highly revere him. He's built guitars for James Taylor, for years, you know, Phil Keagie, Paul McCartney. Oh, man, I mean everybody has that
Pastor Jeff Schreve: if they, you know, McCartney left handed guitar.
Doyle Dykes: Yes, he did. He built that for him. And so he's he's quite well known in this world. And in a good brother, he built his first guitars, in the church, in the back of church because he didn't have a shop. And they said, well, if you'll do the janitorial work, we'll give you a room for the shop. Because it was one of those old like roses kind of building, you know, that was, used to be a store and turn it into a church. And so that's where he built his guitars for a long time.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Well, let us know how it sounds. Play something for us.
Doyle Dykes: Okay, let me see. What. Oh, man. How about. Our Sorrows Forever and by his stripes we are here.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Beautiful, beautiful. You know, it's funny, I've told you this before, but, I like it when you sing. You're not. I, don't think anybody would call Doyle Dykes the Pavarotti of.
Doyle Dykes: My wife tells me all the time, nobody asks you to sing now, but
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I like when you sing because it's from the heart and you're singing to me, it's just like that's an expression. Of your love for the Lord. So, okay. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you. I think sometimes, Doyle, people see people like you. You're on stage, you're well known. You go to all these different events and concerts and meet all sorts of famous people, and they say, well, Doyle doesn't have any trouble in life. But, it was about, what, 25 years ago when you had a brain tumor?
Doyle Dykes: Yes, a little less than that. but I just turned. I was 50 that year, you know, so it's 22 years ago. And I'd never been in the hospital except to see some. Go see somebody else and pray for them, you know. And so I hadn't been to a doctor in years, except maybe an ent. And he was the guy that I said, you know, it was. A friend of mine, was a guitar player. He was a doctor. If I had a little cold or, you know, if I had to go out to, you know, some other country, you know, he would help me out, maybe give me a Z pack or something. So. Well, in case anything happens. But I said, you know, there's, a. There's a distortion in my ear. And, I was asked to go over to, Branson, and the Oak Ridge Boys had talked to me about maybe opening for them on some Branson shows. And, And so my daughter Hayley was there. I said. I said, it's a shame it's distorted and, you know, in a place like this. And she said, what are you talking about? I said, it doesn't sound distorted to you, like, as a speaker going on, oh, wow. And, she says, no. And I said, something's going on. And then that distortion, I could hear it. And then after that, for days. And so I went to him, and then he said, you may have something. It's probably not Doyle, but it could be a tumor. And that's, you know, the last case scenario. They. But in and of it was an acoustic neuroma. Tumor is a brain. They call it brain tumor. A lot of people have had them through the years. You know, a few people that have had their actors and different. And a lot of times it affects your face. You know, people have permanent, paralysis. I mean, you can have all kinds of. They can't shut their eyes and, can't smile anymore. And, But there was a risk of losing my hearing. So I took this particular. You know, I chose this particular way that they would go in and there's still a hole back here, but now, I lost my hearing on my right side, but I can still wink and smile.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: How about your balance?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I lost my balance nerve. It's connected to your balance nerve. Vestibular. And so it was, Bob Taylor told me this. Your left nerve controls your right side. Your right side controls your left side. And if you lose one of those, God made us this way where one will compensate for the other. And so for a long time, I had a balance problem. I mean, I had vertigo really bad. I mean, just throwing up and everything too. Residuals were really bad. And so I had to learn how to walk again. And so I'm holding onto the house and I get a call from Rick Muchow. You know, he was with Rick Warren back then. Hey, Doyle, can you be at our, you know, it was a pastor's or music conference. And I said, when is it? And I just got out of the hospital like the week before. And he told me, and it was like exactly half, you know, from the time that I was supposed to take in three months, it was six weeks. And I said, I'm going to do it.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: And I said, God's going to help me. And I did. And the Lord helped. But I remember being there that day and, Rick asked me if I'd play for the. And here I'm at Saddleback. He said, would you play? He had the whole orchestra there. And, it sounded I had never been on a stage since the operation. And I freaked out. And I just went to the back and I took my little amplified Bible. I call it the guitar player's Bible. But In Philippians, Philippians 4:13, it says, I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything. I am equal to anything in him who infuses inner strength into me, which is a medical term. I am self sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. And I read it three times, prayed about it, wiped the tears, went back out. And he said, you're good. I said, I'm good. And I never looked back from that time.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay, so how different was that, being a musician with an ear and now all of a sudden you're not hearing the stereo?
Doyle Dykes: Well, when I turned my head, the drums were coming from way out in the audience somewhere, you know what I mean? And the bass was just ringing everywhere. I couldn't hear, you know, because, you know, when you lose your hearing, you still have your hearing. When you lose it on One side, it's. There's nothing there.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You can tell where it's coming from. It's difficult.
Doyle Dykes: You lose all your perception of where things are coming from. You don't have that. And so I've had to learn through the years. My wife, we've been married 53 years and she asked me, I think on our anniversary. We were just writing and so, we've had so much going on with our daughter and all the things we're talking about, we just chose to stay at home and just relax. but she says, does it still bother you? And I said, what? She said, how do you handle that? Your ear and you still have a noise on your right side. I said, well, I didn't think about it till you told me. And so right now, I mean, it's very loud.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Does it ring?
Doyle Dykes: On the right side there's a ringing and it says, it's an incredible snowy kind of ringy sound. And it's loud and it's there all the time. 24 7.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: What do they call that? Tinnitus.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, tinnitus or tinnitus. Yeah. And so, even though I can't hear, you know, I have that when I do my eyes like this, it goes woo, woo, woo, woo.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's weird.
Doyle Dykes: And, why did you have to bring this up today? but you know what God has helped me through. And when I'm as late at night laying in bed or as you can think about it. But I have learned to trust him. And I never, he's never left me. He's never failed me. I don't feel like he has. If anything, I've gotten closer to him.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, amen to that. Well, it's an encouragement to all of us. You know, I don't care what people do for a living. I don't care how big we may build them up in our minds.
Doyle Dykes: People are people.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: People have troubles, people have problems. They have family problems. They have, you know, every. We're all the same before the Lord. So if you're out there and you're saying, well, you know, I'm having so many difficulties, nobody could understand. We do understand because we all face difficulties. As it says in Job, man who is born of woman is short lived and full of trouble. And we say amen to that. But, here's the good news. That Jesus, is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. He's a friend of sinners, and he will see you through every difficulty. Well, you're listening to real truth for today, Pastor Jeff Schrieve here with my friend Doyle Dykes. We'll be right back. Don't go away. Candace talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by PreBorn allows her to hear her baby's heartbeat. The sonogram sealed the deal for me.
Doyle Dykes: My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope. And I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside. I mean, that sonogram changed my life.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I went from just Candace to mom.
Doyle Dykes: Thank you to everybody that has given me these gifts. You guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love. Preborn currently has clinics that do not have ultrasound machines. Would you consider a leadership gift and sponsor a machine today?
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Pastor Jeff Schreve: or go to preborn.com afr.
Doyle Dykes: This is real truth for today. Podcasts of the program are available on the podcast [email protected] now back to Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program, Pastor Jeff here talking to my good friend Doyle Dykes. We're talking about dealing with difficulty, fiery trials. One of the great verses in the NewSong Testament is when Jesus said this. in the world, you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. You're going to have trouble in life. I have trouble in my life. Doyle's had trouble in his life. trouble is just part of the deal. But, the Lord is greater than the trouble. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. And, one of my favorite verses, Doyle, is Romans 15:13. Now, may the God of peace fill you with all joy. The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. And believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Okay, we were talking about your brain tumor. As a musician, losing your hearing is a big, big deal.
Doyle Dykes: It is.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: did you ever have times in there where the fear overtook you thinking, is this going to end my career?
Doyle Dykes: Yes, absolutely. In fact, that time with, Rick's. Rick Machouse or Rick Warren. yeah, I didn't. I thought, how did I even. And I remember thinking, how did I even just fulfill my schedule? I had. I mean, because I couldn't even get up and walk, you know?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, I could hardly play. I had. I remember I had this old Les Paul and I'd put it up to my ear because I couldn't sit and hold it. I couldn't sit straight up, you know. And so it was. Yeah, it was a process going through, and the Lord helped me through every. Every step of the way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Ah.
Doyle Dykes: And so, But, yeah, I was wondering, can I still do this? but that scripture, I told you a while ago, I'm ready for anything. I'm equal to anything. It helped me through so much. And it didn't start there. I mean, I used that scripture, Lord, when I was on the Grand Ole Opry or I'd be on TNN Live or. I remember sharing that with Dwayne Eddy and, Rick Johnson and Tommy Emmanuel. A lot of people said, here's a scripture for you because everybody gets nervous. But when it's almost debilitating and you're so nervous, am I going to be able to continue this? I had one time, at Greg Lori's church. I was working with the choir, and they had a big orchestra and things like that. And I felt that fear, sudden fear. But then I put it under me and I said, thank you, Lord, for that, you know? And so God's so good to us. I remember Haley, went through a thing, too. She had this, She ended up with thyroid. She had thyroid cancer.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: Your daughter Hayley had to take that. Had that taken out. But she couldn't do anything for a long time because she was pregnant. And so she and Micah Ferrin had written a song. And so after the.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Micah's from here.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I know. He's from here. Texarkana. It's a beautiful song called Amazing still, because Amazing Grace was kind of always her song to us. But, he said, can you sing Amazing still this morning? The next day, she was going in for her operation. She had the baby and all that. And so any slip up at all, this nodule so big, sitting on her vocal cords, she'd never sing again. I said, did that thought occur to you? When he asked me that? She said, oh, yeah, Dad. I said, what did you do? She says, well, I get emotional. Think about it. Because she said, dad, I did what you always said to do. You know, I just put him behind me. Get thee behind me, Satan. I just put him behind me. But I sang like you said, sing to an audience of one. Sing to him. So I wasn't singing to the audience. I was singing to the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, I'll never forget that. And, oh, man, what a blessing that was. And she never looked back. and it's kind of funny, because I said, I Think your singing is
Pastor Jeff Schreve: better than it was.
Doyle Dykes: You know, it's funny, I was in a session one time with Jimmy Capps. Remember Jimmy was at the Opry for he was the sheriff on the, you know, Larry's Country Diner. But we were playing one time. He said, well Doyle, I think you're a better guitar player since you lost your hearing. I said, well, only on one side. He said, well, it did something. And but that was a great compliment for me.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, well, nobody would ever know. And yeah, you do set up your speaker on stage so you can hear it on that.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, everything's always on my left. Yeah, and I'll tell the guys, well make sure everything's on my left. And when I get there. I said, well, there's a reason for that. cause some people like, oh, he's one of those to take out all the blue M and Ms. Or you know, his water has to be from. His bottled water has to be from some remote island in the Pacific.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. So I watched the String along that you did with Tommy Emanuel and it was very entertaining and it was just fun to watch and just see you guys go back and forth. But I saw something that he has done recently where he said somebody was ask are you still as good as you were? And he said, well, there's songs that I have written back in the day when I was younger that I can't really play now because they're either too fast or whatever. And I asked you about that once.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I think you can still play everything you wrote, although some of them may
Doyle Dykes: be m. Maybe slow it down a little bit. You know who's telling me that was Billy Grammer. Remember? I played around and played around this old town too long. I feel like I've got to travel on. I don't know if you remember Billy. And he had his own guitar company too, the Grammar Guitar. He was an amazing guy and he was playing so well in his 80s. And I said billy, how do you place? Well, Doyle, I'm pretty much do the same notes and I just have to slow them down a little bit, you know. And I've noticed that for myself to be true, you know, Things like that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Is that twins?
Doyle Dykes: Twin six shooters. Yeah, I used to fly on that thing.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay, you used, you have the song 3. Three chords in a cloud of dust.
Doyle Dykes: Oh yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's super fast.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I can't remember. But anyway, I, I, I played it on a, I've done it on Telecaster and I Played on an old Gretch. So it's an electric guitar thing. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wabash Cannonballs. Pretty fast.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. Don't ask me to do that on. You know, Gary, the guy that bought this guitar said, maybe do. Can you make a video for me with you playing a guitar? And I said, well, he said, what do you want me to do? Well, try Wabash. And, it was late when I got it, and I was doing it a couple nights ago, and I. And I, you know, I do a string bend, and the first thing I did was jab my finger. That string went all over my finger, and I had to stop for several minutes for the bleeding.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Doyle Dykes: But, Yeah, I can't do that on this guitar.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So is Wabash. Is that an electric guitar?
Doyle Dykes: No, no, I played on my tailor. Yeah, that's. That's the one that. That's what really kind of got me going and doing opry things. I did those little string bends, and I should have brought my tailor in, too. But, there's a way that I, actually, just wrap the strings around, then I break them off where they won't cut you when you. Because I don't care how big a boy you are.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That hurts.
Doyle Dykes: It hurts.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, Yeah. but, that's just a little trick thing that I do.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Okay, so this particular guitar, you said this is really, tailor made for a finger style guitarist.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. You know, That kind of stuff. I mean, it really just sings out, you know?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right.
Doyle Dykes: And, Or my Sunday string along. Yeah, But it's good for Travis M.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, that sounds great.
Doyle Dykes: And then you got, you know, Chad Atkins. That's a jerry reeves song.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Is it?
Doyle Dykes: Baby's coming home. Do I, Honey, You got me going now. I can do this all day.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. So after the. After the operation and all that you had to go through and the vertigo and all that, so six weeks later, you're playing, and then from there, did just your schedule fill up again and you were just able to keep going?
Doyle Dykes: Took it easy. Yeah, but. Yeah, but I had residuals, too. the doctor told me, so you'll have residual headaches and things like that. And my wife, I remember, she said, well, she says, if you take this procedure, the doctor told me. And my wife says, well, he's always. He's had. Even had child migraines growing up. He said, I'm not talking about a migraine. He said, I'm talking about something way worse than that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: And he wasn't Kidding. And, it would hit me on the road. Back then, Haley was traveling a lot with. With me all the time. But I remember. I mean, gosh, she would have to take me, like, from the NAMM show, and I had to go. Or, I remember one time we were way up on the. Oh, gosh, it was up in Vermont. And, we had to go to the hospital. In the middle of it, I was laid two, two or three days in a hotel. I couldn't get out.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: I was debilitated. And, you just get dehydrated, you know, because it's just hard to explain
Pastor Jeff Schreve: as medicine doesn't help it.
Doyle Dykes: It's three years, he said, you'll have. And he was right. I remember I was in England one time, and it hit me. I had one. And, dehydration. There's several little things that can cause it, you know, trigger. And there were. And when I'm talking. I was talking to people, you know, and that's when I hang around, usually always hang around to the last. I was there first, and I still leave last. It's that way, especially now. But there for a while, I had to try to get out as soon as I could because, I mean, I would talk to people, but, there would be times where I just had to go or I'd be sick. I'd just get sick. And so I wouldn't do, extended things like guitar camps or anything. I couldn't do any of that. Bluegrass festivals, if it's more than one day, I said, I can't do it.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Okay, Doyle. Most, This isn't true across the board, but many musicians are melancholy in their personality. And you. You look at the temperaments. They're very, focused in on what they do. They tend not to be really extroverted. They can go on stage. We were talking a little off camera, and you were saying you don't have any problem with a crowd of 500, 1,000, 5,000. It's not a big deal. But if you have to mingle, one on one with people, is that more draining to you?
Doyle Dykes: Oh, it is totally. And it can still affect me, you know, but. Yeah, it can. It can be totally draining. However, I am a people person.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: So I love that interaction, too, with people. And so it's hard sometimes to draw the line, but sometimes you have to. But, But for the most part, yeah. I mean, I'm. I am shy. I am a bit shy, to be honest with you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. You don't come across that.
Doyle Dykes: Maybe not. but I can be.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: we talked before about how good your son Caleb is on the guitar. But you said he doesn't like to get up on the platform and necessarily do that in front of a crowd.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, well, you know, it's funny. My wife and I, a couple nights ago, we were watching, he went to this little Baptist church, kind of a Primitive Baptist church. And good people, Good people. But you don't preach out of anything but the kjv, man, the King James version. but they're wonderful folks, but they're very conservative. And here's Caleb up there, and I'm thinking about that and all this kind of progressive things. And there he is playing his guitar with this guy that's singing to the Lord. and his wife was over there. She was. You know, and we're just like, look what happened to Caleb. Yeah, he's come a long way, and it's amazing. It's just amazing. And he says, you know what? I'll do it for him. And I do it for the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Doyle Dykes: And, But it took a while for him to get there, you know?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Well, I've heard you say, correct me if I'm wrong, but that Caleb is a better guitar player than you are because he's more versatile.
Doyle Dykes: He's more versatile than I am. Yeah. He can play. I mean, you know, I give him his run for. For the money on finger picking, but he can. There's some Jerry, reed stuff he does that I don't even play. I just never took time to learn it. But he did. And he can. I'm telling you, he's very good. But his, flat picking on bluegrass and also his jazz, his chord facilities. Amazing. It really is. Yeah. And, And I have a grandson is, too. It's funny because we're here in Scotland, Joplin area, right. And he played a Scott Joplin song and got in a music program at a university, and he doesn't even read music, really. And they said, well, how can you play all that you just played? He played it note for note. It was amazing if you heard him. And, he said, well, I just have a good ear. And they said, well, you can't get in our program unless you read music. This was in April, March, April. He says, well, I have until August. And he got in and he's playing and he was talking about rudimentary type theory and things this week. And I thought, wow, you have put your nose to the grindstone, you know.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, you were always A play by ear kind of guy, weren't you?
Doyle Dykes: Oh, yeah. I mean, totally. And Tommy as well. And so many musicians. You know, Chet said he read, but not enough to hurt his playing, you know. But no, I mean, I never knew I was just really going to do this. I just played because I love playing at church. And I learned the chords. I can play a chord chart. Okay. but then, you know, the Lord just gave me an ear. I can hear things in my head and some of the songs that I've written. Going down the road, I would write songs and some of the best songs I've ever written that way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, when you, when you hear it in your mind, can you correlate. You correlate that to notes?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So you know what note that is?
Doyle Dykes: Well, I could tell you. I could figure it out, but some of it's like, like an alternate tuning, and I would go, And there was a song I wrote.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Doyle, hold that thought. We're up against a break, but we'll be back with more Doyle Dykes. You're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here on American Family Radio.
Doyle Dykes: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhishheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here with my good friend Doyle Dykes. We're talking about, fiery trials. How do we deal with those things? And Doyle, before time, gets. Gets away from us, how did you deal with that? And how. How would you encourage a listener out there that's really struggling right now because life is so hard and seems to be caving in? You know, lots, of people just say, I just want out. God take my life. You know, guys, in scripture, Jeremiah prayed, that the Lord would take his life. What would your counsel be to somebody like that?
Doyle Dykes: Well, trust, you know, trust God and, you know, you trust him all the time, but you learn to trust him even more, in those trials like that. And you put your faith in him and your trust in him. And if you do that, you'll draw closer to him rather than. I, had a friend of mine told me, and he's a pastor preacher, a good preacher. He says, man, I'm just glad you didn't get bitter at God.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Doyle Dykes: Because he knows other, I think, ministers that did turned her back and God and her love. and I said, I never even considered that because it's just such a part of My life. I mean, you'll never have a good relationship with anybody unless you trust them. But if you really trust God, when that trial comes, it's just like when you're married. That trial comes. You and your wife are going to make it through. Or your husband and, you're a couple, and you believe God, and you've dedicated your life to him. And it's the same thing. You remember the song as a. Let me get this. I'm so glad I've learned to trust Him Precious Jesus Precious friend and I know that he is with me we'll be with. With me till the end. You know the song?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Doyle Dykes: Jesus, Jesus How I, trust him How I prove Him O and O Jesus, Jesus Precious Jesus Here it is. O for grace to trust him more and she wrote that right after seeing her husband drown, you know, trying to save a young man. They were on vacation, and her little girl, I think she was, I don't know, just seven or eight years old. And her, husband dove out in the Hudson river to try to save a boy. And she. They stood there watching both of them drown.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wow.
Doyle Dykes: It was right after that that she wrote that. I'm so glad I learned to trust.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Who was that?
Doyle Dykes: Louisa. Mr. Stead. She was a missionary from, England. Came over.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wow.
Doyle Dykes: And, she really wanted to be a missionary to China, but she came over here and she got sick, married this guy, but ended up later on. She remarried years later and became a missionary to Africa for the rest of her life. So God's good.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Hey, Doyle, when you play. Because you have so many songs in your head when you play those, are you thinking about the chord structure. Or you're just thinking the melody, and then it just plays.
Doyle Dykes: I think about her standing there with her little girl looking out at that. And then just, days later. Wrote such a song I'm not even thinking about really too much.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: But, I mean, when you play something, I throw out a song. Amos, Moses. I like how you just think in your mind. Okay. How does that song sound? And then you can play it.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. I mean, I have to listen to the. It. It's a Telecaster.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's a fun song.
Doyle Dykes: About 45 miles to the end. Yeah. What a song. Yeah. That guy's amazing. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: you know, Jerry was probably maybe most famous for the, Eastbound and Down song.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. And that was a lot of banjo on there. You know, I used to work with Grandpa Jones, and he had this, you know, thing on a banjo that was like. It was a Frailin thing. And Jerry kind of does that on the guitar, but he has a bass. Like, When you're hot, you're hot.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He had some great songs. Yeah, you know, he. He was the whole package because he could sing. He had this outgoing personality. He was a good actor. You know, Bert Reynolds sure liked him. That was.
Doyle Dykes: You know, he came. He really came back to the Lord. I remember a pastor told me when, he was a young man, he would go to his church and he would hang out, and he said they'd have an altar call. And Jerry, he said, well, if you don't mind, Pastor. He said, well, Jerry, you okay? And he said, yeah. He said, go ahead and lock up. I'll just hang around. He said, there was an old stump in back of the church, and he said I'd see him out there. He said he'd be out there till midnight. Pray out under the stars. And so, he said, I feel like he had a call of God on his life. And I'm, just telling you what someone told me, as this old preacher told me, that a long time ago. And then before he passed, he really, got involved with his church. And he'd go to Bible study every week. And he says, you know, they asked him, bring his guitar. Well, you know, I love playing my guitar. But he said, when I come here, this is what I want to do. I want to get to know him more. So if y' all don't mind, just talk about him and get in the word.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, wow.
Doyle Dykes: And so that was,
Pastor Jeff Schreve: How cool. Well, that was kind of. Roy Clark came back to the Lord, right?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. His wife Barbara, is real, real special person, and she loves the Lord with all of her heart. Last time I went to see Roy, we had lunch together at his place. And, he said, barbara, come in here and play for us. You know, she's the head matriarch and spiritual leader, you know. And she came in and. And, boy, she prayed. yes, she did. And, But they're very special people. I love Roy. He was a good man.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Chet was a believer.
Doyle Dykes: He was. In fact, you know, he really talked more about it. He was very, very shy because there's so many. He was a, you know, a record producer for a major label, you know, and it was always, oh, yeah, well, he would have. He would have done good. But then he got religion, and, But he didn't say anything bad about it. He didn't want to interfere with that. You know what I mean? But he wrote a lot of great musicians. He said, yeah, they went into the church and didn't go into music business. But I remember a friend of mine that used to walk with him every day. His name was David Stringfield. And, in fact, at the Baptist hospital there, he was the administrator. They had a whole wing named after him. There's a story I have meeting Mr. Stringfield. He lived across the street from Chet, and they were walking one time, and Chet just kind of got on him about something. They were just talking, well, you Christians. And he said, said, wait a minute, Chet. He said, me? He said, you Christians? He said, aren't you a Christian? Well, yeah. He said, well, hadn't you accepted Christ? Weren't you baptized? He said, well, yeah, I took care of all that. And that was his way of saying, yeah, I am a Christian. He said, well, then don't ever let me hear you say you Christians again. He says, well, he said, what I'm trying to say is. And then he went on. But he says, we have a lot of talks and a lot of walks, and I can assure you, Doyle, that Chet knew the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, he knew. He was never, like, drinking and running around and doing that kind of stuff, was he?
Doyle Dykes: No. I mean, I don't know as much about Chet's personal life as other people do, but, I mean, the Chet Atkins I knew, I mean, he had a guitar called the Country Gentleman. And, that's kind of what he was.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: He comes across that way.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah. I don't think he was. Was a perfect man. None. I mean.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right.
Doyle Dykes: I'm not either.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: We have one.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Jesus.
Doyle Dykes: That's. He's the only one that was. Yeah. And so, He was sure good to me.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: In. In all your travels, Doyle, have you met. Have you met people that really, they live it out, you know, so they're not after the show, going to the bars and that. You know, I watched, like the Johnny Cash movie Walked the Line. You know, you saw now, he came to the Lord later in life, but you saw the way he was living, and it was just like. That seems to be the story for so many, celebrities and musicians and things like that. You talk about in your book, the Lights of Marfa, the Elvis situation, and, you know, Elvis destroyed himself with drugs.
Doyle Dykes: That's true.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Did you run across, Obviously, there are a lot that fall into that camp. Did you run across some others that were more like yourself?
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, I think. I mean, you know, I just couldn't go that way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You know, Grandpa didn't do that stuff.
Doyle Dykes: No. I did a lot of church things with Grandpa too. But I mean, he, Oh, he was country, as I'll get. He was who he used to see on Hee Haw, you know. But at the same time, he was a real person. He was. I mean, he was well read. He quote Shakespeare, you know. It was funny to hear that coming out of his mouth. Grandpa, who are you? but no, he loved the Lord. I mean, you think about some of the songs that you. Fallen leaves that lie scattered on the ground the birds and flowers that were here now can't be found all the fruit friends that he once had Are not around they are scattered like the leaves upon the ground and the last verse. Some folks drift along through. No, I'm sorry. That's a good one too. To your grave. There's no use taking any grace, old. You cannot use it when it's time for hands to fold if you leave when you leave this world For a better home Someday the only thing you'll take Is what you gave away. Well, he'd get mad if he was here because he'd say. No passing chords. Doyle. No passing.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: What's a passing card?
Doyle Dykes: Oh, You know, the orange or. He didn't like this or. No, no, it was.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh.
Doyle Dykes: Oh, it's just maybe a. Maybe a seventh, not A minor.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. Okay.
Doyle Dykes: Yeah, it was so funny. We used to. I used to do the, You know, they would. I'm in the way. The Bride and Shine way. I'm in the Gloryland way. We do those old songs on a tape recorder for Buck Owens and for Roy and Kenny Price. Or sometimes it'd be Tennessee Ernie Ford to sing with them. M. And, we do those, tapes for them to learn that and. Yeah, And we were on the opera one night in Tennessee, Said something to me. Here's Tennessee Ernie Ford. I mean, to me, he was. Oh, man, he was a hero, you know. And he said, you're the best introducer of a song I've ever seen, you know? Well, that's introducer. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Okay. Something's come to my mind, and I don't think I dreamed this. Where Grandpa called you one day and said, get over here. And. Yeah, And Merle Travis was.
Doyle Dykes: Merle Travis. Yeah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That was the first time you met him?
Doyle Dykes: Yes, And I, always dreamed of meeting him. Of course, every day I'd go home and, you know, put on a Merle Travis or either Chet record. So I had. I mean, groove was all in, scratches all over. Trying to Learn his music, you know. But Merle Travis was. Yeah, he was a very gracious man.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. So they say, don't meet, your heroes because they'll disappoint you. But that wasn't true with him.
Doyle Dykes: Not personally, no, not with him. I mean, I know his lifestyle was way different. Different than Chet's or Grandpa's. And, you know, I heard a lot of stories about him and. And, you know, he wasn't the best example outside the guitar. and I. You know, I'm not trying. I'm not picking on him. But at the same time, he was very, very nice to me. And he was such a brilliant guy. You just have to go back to his raising, too, I think. And I remember, I was talking to Mark Jones, Grandpa's son. And, he. He. He said that Merle and his wife used to babysit him and his sister when Grandpa would go out of town. Grandpa, Ramona, they would. And Merle and his wife would. Would babysit him. And he said, well. I said, well, what? No, I never knew that we were. Right. I think we were in Texas when he told me this. Riding down the road. And he said, yeah. And he talked like his dad. Yeah, well, he was always busy, you know. So what was he doing? Well, you know, he used to do all that stuff for Cash and so. Johnny Cash. I said, yeah, you know, the train. The big train part, the train portion of his show. You know, there's a train, a combat. I forget what they call it. All that was written by Merle Travis.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, really?
Doyle Dykes: So he was a brilliant writer. He's a brilliant man, you know, and, But he had. Oh, yeah, When I went my way. Draw with me. And, you know, he just had a way, even with hymns, you know, So I know he knew, It was raised in church and everything. And so hopefully, before he passed, he accepted the Lord. I don't know. As much as I would like to.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. How old was he when he died?
Doyle Dykes: He wasn't that old, I don't think. He was only in his 60s. But, if you saw him, he had a. He had pretty rough life. Been around, but. But he sure was nice to me. I have a tape. Grandpa, took a bunch of pictures of us, and he looked at me play his big Super 400 special, you know, that he had. And he played my guitar. And Grandpa took pictures of, photos. And none of them turned out. I don't know. Oh, no. Yeah. not one of them. But he did record us on an old tape recorder, and I still have that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, that's cool. Well, Doyle, thanks for being my guest today. It's been a joy, just like it always is. And, pray God's blessings on your life and your family, my friend. And, thanks for listening to Real Truth for today. Go out today, shine for Christ, and share what great things the Lord has done for you. And God will use you as his witness. God bless you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve welcomes renowned guitarist Doyle Dykes for a heartfelt conversation about facing difficult seasons with faith and trust in God. Doyle shares his experience overcoming a brain tumor, losing his hearing on one side, battling vertigo, and continuing his music ministry despite fear and physical challenges. He also reflects on God’s faithfulness to his family, the importance of trusting Christ in times of trouble, and the influence of fellow musicians who lived out their faith. Through stories of perseverance, Scripture, and God’s provision, listeners are encouraged to trust the Lord and remain faithful through every trial.
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