When it happened at that point was, it killed the fear.

It made me feel like that I could dance better,

I was better looking.

The things that, in my life, that I

was worrying about, being accepted, he kind of made those

go away.

NARRATOR: As a child, Jason Fowler

vowed he would never become an alcoholic like his father.

But not long after taking his first drink at 15,

he was following in his father's footsteps.

It started out as, OK, we'll have a good time.

And then it went from there to, OK, if I'm not feeling good,

I'll drink.

Or I'll just drink because I'm bored.

Or I'm a little nervous.

And so I would use it medicinally.

NARRATOR: Jason's heavy drinking and eventual drug use

made for easy acceptance among his friends.

He also discovered his love for music, and at 16,

started playing the guitar.

My uncle taught me how to play a couple different chords

and a couple of different scales,

and it was a new way for me to find attention.

NARRATOR: Jason continued playing

and dropped out of college to pursue a music career.

I found that the better I did, the more attention I got,

the more I felt I was loved.

For a long time in my life, I ended up

searching for that love through music.

NARRATOR: Jason traveled with several bands,

living the life of a musician.

But he still drank excessively, causing problems

on and off the stage.

I actually got kicked out of one of my bands for drinking.

And I never thought that that would be possible.

How do you get kicked out of a rock and roll

band for drinking?

NARRATOR: Afterwards, he started his own band,

and began attracting the attention of fans and record

producers.

We ended up winning a quarter million dollar record deal.

We went into Muscle Shoals.

And I felt like oh, I had arrived.

I felt like this is it.

I finally made it.

But the problem was I was still there.

The problem was I still had a huge alcohol and drug problem.

NARRATOR: The band recorded the album,

but the label was sold before the album was released.

I placed everything in music, so much so

that I had forgot about everything else important to me

in my life, including myself.

I thought that if I had made it, everything was going to be OK.

And once we got the record deal and lost it,

I was so distraught and hopeless,

I didn't know where to go, what to do.

NARRATOR: Jason pushed on and landed a solo record deal,

but by now he was too drunk and strung out to perform

and lost the deal.

Just three years after making it big,

he was living on the streets.

I was getting the money for drugs and alcohol play music

wherever I could, mainly for the drug dealers.

I wanted to be that 15-year-old boy looking in the mirror

and saying, you're going to be somebody.

But the problem was, I was looking in all the wrong places

to find that love.

NARRATOR: Jason wandered the streets for two years,

and ended up sleeping outside his drug dealer's house.

But even he didn't want Jason around and forced him to leave.

I'll never forget that time, because I realized

I had a moment of clarity.

I realized that nobody had done this to me.

That I wasn't my dad.

It wasn't my family.

It wasn't my friends.

It wasn't God.

That I had done it to myself.

I said, God, whoever you are, whatever

you are, please help me out.

I had my guitar and nowhere to go,

and I hadn't seen like the most important people to me

in my life.

I hadn't seen myself in a while, and I wanted somehow

to go home.

I wanted to go home.

NARRATOR: Jason called his parents who brought him home.

By now, his father had gotten sober

and helped Jason get into a Christian rehab program.

A few months later, Jason attended a men's conference,

which ended with an invitation to accept Jesus into his life.

And at that moment, I said, you're

the love I've been looking for.

Jesus, you're the love I've been looking for.

And I asked him into my heart, and I

told him to take everything that I had, and just

do what you will with me.

I'm going to give everything to you.

NARRATOR: Jason stayed in rehab for another year,

and grew in his relationship with Christ.

It was amazing because it is like a country song backwards.

I starting getting everything back in my life,

instead of losing everything.

And he was making it even more wonderful

than I could have ever imagined.

NARRATOR: Jason has been sober for 10 years,

and today leads praise and worship at his church.

He and his wife run a homeless ministry,

and he is recording music again with a very different focus.

Jesus made a place in this where he fits perfectly.

He's the one that fits there.

He's the one I've been looking for.

And he's the one that, when I finally asked for help,

he's the one that helped me.

He's the one that made my life new again,

made me a new creation

[MUSIC - JASON FOWLER, ''YOU GIVE ME A REASON'']

JASON FOWLER: [SINGING] I was walking down the road,

broke down, stuck with a heavy load.

It is just amazing, the life that I have today.

I'm just finally giving it up to him.

[MUSIC - JASON FOWLER, ''YOU GIVE ME A REASON'']

JASON FOWLER: [SINGING] --back to my home.

I was lost and out of place, and I had no