Tauren Wells
By Ashley Andrews-700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –WHAT REMAINS
"The divorce is final" - and with that, Tauren's home was torn apart. At ten-years-old, he could not process exactly what the divorce meant, nor could he see just how it would affect the rest of his life. All he knew was that his parents would no longer live together. Even worse, Tauren was forced to choose which parent he wanted to live with. "That reality was painful, devastating," he shared. But one thing he has learned since that day is that, "God loves to build on what remains in our lives."
During the time of the divorce, Tauren became a regular at church. As he described, "I was immediately passionate about Christ and being involved in serving the small congregation in my hometown. There was no better feeling than coming out of the cold waters of baptism, covered in the name of Jesus, free from whatever past a 4th grader can acquire." From that moment, his outlook, his faith, his entire life changed. "It is really church that kept me, saved me even. My life was changed when God filled me with his spirit...." And it was then that he discovered a talent - a gift that he had no idea he had. "I started singing solos and playing instruments," he remembered. "This was becoming a way of life for me. Serving in my local church through music and youth ministry. I knew that God had called me to serve my generation." He credits his pastor, David Morehead, for inspiring him to realize God's purpose for his life. He encouraged Tauren to embrace His calling and follow after God. "I didn't realize the immensity of the calling, but I was ready for God to continue building on what remained in my life."
God's calling on Tauren's life eventually led him to Indiana Bible College - a small school that, he says, made a big impact on his life. It was there that Tauren met three guys that would make up the band Royal Tailor. Since their college days, God has continued to build up the band. "We have toured with several national acts, been Grammy and Dove nominated, played in venues and churches all of the country and seen God's hand at work in it all!"
As for Tauren's family, God also built upon them. As he shared, "My parents found incredible people that they could be committed to. I found a bond with my 'step-mom' and 'step-dad', with which, those terms seem far to formal and distant for the depth of relationships we share. And we all found Jesus." Today, Tauren is thrilled to have a platform to share his testimony. "I'm grateful that the same hope I've found is available to others. Now I live to tell others that their devastation isn't final. That failure isn't fatal. That God is at work putting together anything and everything that was once broken if we'll let him. If God can put a broken home back together, He can do the same with a broken heart. He doesn't ask for what we can't give Him, all He asks for is what remains. And whatever remains is enough."
ROYAL TAILOR
Tauren (lead vocals), Blake (bass guitar), Jarrod (drums) and D.J. (guitar) make up the band Royal Tailor. Their sound is a blend of pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop and worship, and their energy is contagious. According to Tauren, that's how they like it. "We like to get down...that's how we roll, he laughed. "If you ever spend any time with the four of us, you will be dancing. If it's the Electric Slide, the dougie, free styling or whatever, at some point we're going to turn up the music, and we're going to have a good time. That's just who we are."
Once the band hit the road, they received offer after offer, performing more than 300 shows in less than two years. During that time, they discovered a lot about themselves. But more importantly, the team realized just what they were meant to do. "The overarching message is a call to action," says Tauren. "A lot of our songs have to do with being Christ in the world. We want to create a culture where students are doing the ministry. They are creating the ideas. They are dreaming the dream, and then they are actually going out there and doing those things."
With that, they agreed to create positive music - music that would shed some light in the current entertainment industry. Recently, they released their album, fittingly titled, "Black & White." As Tauren shared, "This record is pressing against the flow of the mainstream market...We have nothing against mainstream artists, but some of the messages and values coming out of mainstream music today are poisoning the culture. We hope to be a remedy to that, to stand up against that and show people this is not normal. There's something greater for you than just partying. We hope to press back against that and create some awareness and awakening in our listeners." And as it turns out, the band seems to be doing exactly that. The band's latest single, "Hold Me Together," is climbing up both AC and CHR charts. "It's been a great response so far," Tauren shared. "It's resonating with a lot of people. I think it's ministering to people that are going through some situations in their lives." And the band could not be happier.
But behind their energetic, fun music, Tauren and his band members remain dedicated to ministry. "We want to communicate the Gospel," he asserted. "People need to hear that there is a savior, a rescuer who can reach down and take them out of whatever circumstance they're in. They need to know that there is a God who loves and cares for them, but they also have a destiny, and that destiny requires action. We have to walk in purpose and understand the ultimate call that God has for us. We want to create cultural influence that emanates throughout the body of believers. We want to show people that there is something greater to live for than yourself."
"HOLD ME TOGETHER" - POTTER'S HANDS
When describing the inspiration behind the band's new hit song "Hold Me Together," Tauren shared a story from his childhood. "When I was a kid," he remembered, "I kind of developed this reputation at my house as the breaker. I broke everything...there was one time in particular, my sister had given my parents this special ceramic plate. And...one day, I accidentally dropped it." Like most twelve-year-olds at the scene of a crime, Tauren ran and hid in his room till the inevitable happened. Moments later, he heard his dad calling his name. When his dad asked him what had happened, Tauren said he was faced with two options - 1) lie and try to get out of it. Or 2) Tell the truth. "I decided to just take the high road...And then," he continued, "my dad looked at me, and I will never forget it. He said, 'It's okay. I think I can fix it.'" For Tauren, that one memory serves as a parallel between us and our relationship with God. It's just like his story - "We drop things in life. We mess up. Things happen, and He can fix it." But this led Tauren to consider another side to this life. "What about the moments we aren't necessarily responsible for? What about when life drops us? What about when circumstances go out of our control and there's nothing that we can really do about it?" This is where Tauren turned to the Bible.
As he shared, "There is a place in Scripture that talks about God as a potter. In the book of Jeremiah, God actually speaks to Jeremiah and tells him to go to the potter's house because He had message there for him. So, Jeremiah goes to the potter's house, and he sees this potter making this vessel. There, the Bible says that, 'In the hands of the potter, the vessel was marred.' So while the potter has his hands on the vessel he was making, something happened - an imperfection came to the surface. But the potter does something crazy. He just...remakes it again, out of the same clay using the same thing. Then, the Lord speaks to Jeremiah and says, "I am able to do this same thing...with you because you are clay in My hands." The simple story left Tauren in complete amazement. "It really shocked me...This problem came to the surface, but it wasn't a big deal. The potter just made it again." And God is no different. In fact, He is our potter. So as far as Tauren is concerned, "It doesn't matter if we make bad things happen, or bad things happen to us...He's going to be right there to hold us together."