Country Star Granger Smith fears God more than man, remains outspoken about faith in new film
DALLAS — Country singer Granger Smith is the star of the new film “Moonrise” and said the film shows viewers there is a way to move forward after suffering the loss of a loved one. The singer knows the feelings that come with grief and absence all too well following the death of his young son in 2019. Since then, the musician has dedicated his life to sharing his hope in Jesus.
“Moonrise,” a new AFFIRM Originals movie streaming on PureFlix and featuring Smith, depicts the grief and struggles that families go through during the holidays and other significant dates, including birthdays and anniversaries.
Smith plays Will Brown, “a former country singer who has pushed away his family, fame and faith following his wife’s death. It’s his daughter, Ellie (played by Piper Clurman), and a talented horse trainer (played by Sonya Balmores), who show him strength, forgiveness and grace to live life again,” the film's synopsis reads.
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Smith is no stranger to grief following the tragic death of his 3-year-old son, River, in 2019 from a pool accident.
And the "Backroad Song" singer wants audiences to know that there is a way forward after suffering a loss or unexpected tragedy.
"The ultimate message of this film is going to be there is hope,” he told The Christian Post. “There is peace; there is rest on the other side of grief. You will feel joy again. In fact, you could feel joy now simultaneously with grief. You just don't always see it because we got our face down, and we're just kind of stuck.”
Smith grew up in a Christian home and identified as a Christian, but it was only after the death of his son that he anchored himself in the Word and grew in his faith.
"I realized I was a cultural Christian. That's what I claimed to be. That wasn't what God claimed me to be,” Smith explained, celebrating the richness of being immersed in God's Word and experiencing what God created him to be.
Prior to the tragedy that struck his family, Smith described himself as a “dog tag Christian.”
“I just had Christian printed on my dog tags in case I died and they needed to know what kind of priests to hire. That was it. I've been on rock bottom. I have felt pain of the worst kind of my life. Tried to fix it; tried to heal myself, tried to read self-help books, tried to get up early, tried to work out, tried to eat right, tried to meditate, tried to medicate, tried to hallucinate. ... I did them all until I finally realized there was no fixing myself; I could not fix myself,” he told CP.
One day, after hearing a Billy Graham sermon on YouTube, he realized there was more to the Christian faith than being a believer in name only.
"I was driving in my truck one day. It was on March 1, 2020, and I remember the blue sky and my hands on the steering wheel and the pastor was talking. He was preaching out of John 14 and was reading and he said, 'The disciple asked Jesus, Lord, why is it that you manifest yourself to us, but not to the rest of the world? Jesus replied to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word and I will love him and my father will come to him and we will make our home with him.' And the pastor stopped and he said, 'That's not unconditional love, that's profoundly conditional.'”
“Right there I thought, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep my Word.' I thought, 'What's His Word?' I don't know what His Word is,” he lamented.
Smith said even before he committed his life fully to Jesus he still felt love, that he was an adopted son.
“I felt like I had an identity in Him and I didn't even know His words. So I just wanted to go home right then. I wanted to stop everything else, do it, and pick up the Bible and start reading and start craving and start going page after page because I didn't want to miss any words in His Word,” Smith added.
The Texas native is not only a successful musician, but he also hosts a podcast where he often shares his Christian and conservative views.
Smith declared that he will continue to be bold about his faith in mainstream platforms “because I fear God more than man.”
“I'd rather please My God than please a man,” he noted.
Smith concluded his interview with CP by saying that he wants viewers of “Moonrise” to know "there is a way out, there is a way forward from the deepest, darkest grief that they're in right now. There is light on the other side.”
Viewers can watch the film now on Pure Flix
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: [email protected] She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
