Two BULLETS could NOT KILL Young Saint!

Near death experience leads artist to new ministry path

Three. Two. One. Click....CLICK!

Dan Otterson should've died. A hit-man broke into his apartment, pressed a gun to his scalp and pulled the trigger - twice.

"It happened so quick," Otterson said. "He was right behind door when I walked in. I thought, 'This is it. This is how I'm going to die. This is how I'm going to end up.'"

Otterson, a Christian rapper known as Young Saint, remembers the words clearly: 'I know who you are and I was sent here to kill you.'

"The words are clear as crystal and I can still hear them today," he said. "The only thing on my brain was that gun, and that was it." When someone shoves a gun in your face there's a good chance they'll shoot you. But when they pull the trigger only Superman, or in this case God, can save you then.

"The gun jammed on him," Otterson said of the shooter. "Nothing came out of the gun. When it just clicked, he was as surprised as I was."

"That's when I just barreled right through him and ran out the door," he said. "Realizing I had a split second opportunity to get out of it and run from him was almost like winning the lottery. You have an adrenaline rush like no other. I didn't even feel myself just nail him."

For Otterson, it was a life-changing experience. Previously, the Southern Illinois University student was selling drugs, which led to the murder attempt. After the gut-wrenching experience he took some time off to piece his life back together.

"You think you can't be touched and then all the sudden something like that happens," he said. "All the short term [drug dealing] doesn't pay off in the long run. I need to be doing things differently."

"I started building relationships with my family," he said. "My whole life had revolved around myself. [The murder attempt] has shown me I really need to be there for other people as much as I can."

Eventually, Otterson started rapping again, but this time for God.

"Initially I was rapping about everything else everybody was already talking about - cars, girls, jewelry. I started thinking, 'What am I doing this for?' Some artists are glorifying a lifestyle that they have never lived. The record labels make it up for them. They never lived one day being broke or living in the 'hood.'

"For me glorifying a lifestyle that almost got me killed was pointless and stupid. I knew I needed to look at what I was writing and put a different twist on it for sure." Unfortunately, that new twist isn't exactly found within the traditions of religious music, which has become a struggle for the Christian musician who is on fire for God and wants to spread the truth.

"In Christian music so many guys talk about glorifying God, and nobody ever says, 'I've been where you've been,'" he said. "In Christian music people are too afraid to say they've screwed up. So there's a chance for me to reach them and tell them that God can reach them, and no matter what they've gone through and done they're not beyond God's help."

"If you don't follow that social norm, church people look at you differently and I'm sick of that, personally," he said. "Those non-conformers are people who can turn around and reach more people if given the opportunity."

With his new album, "Under Construction," Otterson hopes to pave a new path and "break up the social norm of what people think about church and who Christians really are."

"'Under Construction' talks about my transition from where I was to where I am now," he said. "I wanted to shine the light on a lot of things in church that a lot of people don't want to talk about, such as people being hypocritical and judgmental. People use church for a lot of reasons, but they don't use it to go and talk to God. I wanted to be controversial. That was really my goal. It's about going to build a relationship with God and grow in our faith."

With Young Saint, the lyrics are much more powerful - and controversial - than the beats. "Fake Church," "Altar Poppin'" and "Individualistic" are three top songs designed to spark change in churches across America. Those songs and more can be found at www.youngsaint.net <http://www.youngsaint.net/> .

Young Saint could have rolled over dead, but he didn't. God had a plan for him and Young Saint is grabbing a hold of it full-heartedly with a heartfelt and authentic CD.

by Tim C Devaney