The Power of Simple Obedience
How Cameron Current Uses His God-Given Talent to Honor the Lord
By Nate Roten with Cameron & Judy Current
This story is a testament to God’s grace in the life of an individual in our small mountain community. It testifies to the change, calling, and effect that this grace produces. That is why we call it a testimony. Usually, when we think of a person leaving a life of sin, repenting, and turning to Jesus for true life, we think of a roller-coaster ride. Maybe it is because we live in a culture that is addicted to thriller novels, action & adventure movies, and traveling adventures. We love the ups and downs of an exciting story and a tumultuous character arc. We tend to think the most powerful conversion stories are ones where God pulls back a person from the crumbling edge of the cliffs of self-destruction. I know that sounds like I’m being a bit too dramatic, but I’m willing to bet you still resonate with what I’m saying.
What if, instead of a dramatic swing, a story of God’s grace was woven through a life of simple obedience? What would it look like for God to work through a life that didn’t have to rebel to the point of moral bankruptcy, but instead, demonstrated a consistent fidelity and obedience to a call and a desire to please the One who gave the call? What would that look like?
That is why this testimony you’re about to read is such a breath of fresh air. We can all fall into the trap of thinking our personal testimony of God’s grace has to be dramatic. Furthermore, we can subtly buy into the idea that if our testimony doesn’t involve coming to the brink of ruin, then it isn’t truly impactful.
Cameron proudly sits as the pianist at the First Baptist Church of West Jefferson.
Praise God, we don’t have to walk to the cliff’s edge and nearly dash our lives against the rocky crags of sin to have a meaningful witness to the love of Christ. In reality, each story of a liberated soul is a powerful one, and this one is no exception.
Cameron and Judy Current are residents of Ashe County, where Cameron has a chiropractic business, which is aptly named Current Chiropractic. Day in and day out, he helps patients get back to a normal life with every alignment, adjustment, and stretching routine. He uses his gift of medical knowledge, anatomy, and skeletal structures to relieve pain and re-center the parts that are out of joint. But that is not all he does. He also uses another gift both inside and outside of the office. Instead of realigning bones and joints, he helps others realign their hearts and mind toward God as a pianist.
His love of music started at an early age. Cameron grew up in church at Fletcher Memorial Baptist Church as a child and First Baptist Church of West Jefferson as a teenager. His parents made sure of it. They were deeply involved with their church community; always connecting with others, serving, and playing music. Seeing their level of dedication rubbed off on their young child. The faithfulness of his parents became a sort of cornerstone in his own life that he built his spiritual life on, even at a young age. He was also heavily influenced by the pianist that played every Sunday. The music impacted him, and little did he know that this person was planting a seed in him that would grow into a fruitful tree for years to come; nor could his young mind comprehend the magnitude of that influence and how God was going to use it to bless others.
As Cameron grew, he wanted to learn to play the piano, so he started taking lessons as a youth and took any and every opportunity that came his way. Because Cameron was impacted by the power of music (and the piano in particular), he knew he wanted to make the same impact in the church himself one day. Church life and service were in his DNA.
He had always believed in God, but like everyone else, he had to make a personal, intentional choice to fully put his faith and trust in Jesus as his Savior. Because of faithful parents, he grew up in Christian community. But it was at the end of a full week of Bible School at the age of twelve where he fully gave his heart to the Lord, because he felt God’s draw on his life.
Dr. Current with his wife Judy and their two children, Camden and Caroline.
It wasn’t an overtly supernatural moment. Angels didn’t appear. A beam of light didn’t shine on him from heaven at that moment. He simply confessed what the twelve years of his life had built up to and continued to serve through music. As he continued through high school and into college, practicing music and taking classes illustrated how the love of the piano had him firmly in its grasp.
Eventually, Cameron had to leave home to attend chiropractic school. This would be the first time he had left his community, being separated from his church home. It was unfamiliar territory and he quickly began to notice his difficulty connecting with campus or church communities. As a result, his spiritual life began to dry up. He quickly felt the void of a wholesome connection to a church body. However, by the grace of God, he didn’t take the low road of filling this void by sowing his wild oats as some do. Instead, this deprivation led to a yearning which slowly fueled his desire to use his gift even more. Though it was a difficult season of life, it produced a desire to be filled spiritually through the gift of music which, in turn, would eventually ensure others around him were spiritually fed.
Cameron’s biggest desire has not been to make a name for himself or be a professional artist. His desire is to simply serve Jesus Christ and His people with his gift. His story is one of simple obedience.
Once his schooling was finished, God provided an opportunity for Cameron to share with his church family by playing piano selections for worship service and eventually taking on the role of the church pianist. This is where he has faithfully served since the mid-90’s. Ironically, in doing so, he had come full circle from being that small child who was impacted by the pianist to becoming the pianist who was making the same impact on others. He also played an important role in maintaining worship for the church throughout the COVID pandemic.
Dr. Current at the entrance to Camp New Hope, where he volunteers to play piano for the visiting kids.
He doesn’t just play exclusively for his church, though. He also plays the keyboard as a volunteer at Camp New Hope in Ashe County, which is a camp for special needs children. Here, terminal children and their families are given the opportunity to get away from the stresses of their everyday life and be catered to by the Camp New Hope staff as if it were a family vacation. Time after time, it has been a wonderful experience of fellowship between Cameron and the kids, as his piano music calms their minds and souls while the interaction fills his own.
Even though Cameron serves in these many capacities, the outpour of his musical talent doesn’t stop there. It also spills into the chiropractic office. As his own cup is filled through serving, it naturally affects the way he interacts with his patients. He has noticed that his musical gift makes him a better doctor. It grounds him, making him more patient and compassionate. Music fuels his sense of purpose in his professional life as well as in his Christian witness.
This is what a steadfast life of simple obedience looks like. The world needs to hear more testimonies like this one. Not every story needs radical changes in personality and attitude. Sometimes all we need is to know that there are faithful believers around us that have a simplistic obedience to their life that is attractive and winsome. We need rocks that provide stability. We need devoted friends that know what their gifts are and how to use them. We need dependable members of our community that we know we can lean on and not break. Don’t you want someone like that in your life? That is the power of a life of simple and faithful obedience.
Be on the lookout for our video interview with Cameron Current, coming soon!
