I've been playing live for more than forty years. For most of that time I went by the name Gregorious, and I played just about anywhere that would have me.

For generations, faithful Americans have carried the gospel to the ends of the earth. Missionaries who left comfortable homes. Churches that gave sacrificially so others could hear. Bibles printed and sent by the million. Hymns and worship songs sung in languages their writers never spoke. Ordinary believers in small towns who prayed for nations they would never visit.

Some years ago I came across a scene from an American TV drama called The Newsroom. Jeff Daniels plays a cable news anchor sitting on a university panel, and a young student stands up and asks a simple question: why is America the greatest country in the world?

A fair question When people hear that I've only recently started sharing my music and story, the question often follows, sometimes out loud and sometimes just in their eyes. Why now? Why start something like this at 55? It's a fair question, and I've asked it of myself more than once. The honest answer is that I'm not starting late. I'm starting when He said go.

People often ask me why I go by "Brother Greg." It's a fair question, and the honest answer is a simple one. Something about the sound of it has always felt like home. But there's a little more to it than that. The name carries a tradition I love, a reminder I need every single day, and a family I'm blessed to belong to.