One time Creed man Scott Stapp makes unequivocal declaration of faith.

ONE TIME leader of multi-million selling Creed, Scott Stapp spoke recently about his Christian faith. He said, "Over the last two years I've come full circle, spiritually. Unfortunately, it took a lot of heartache to get to that point but I've always been a little hard-headed. I had to finally get to the place where I wasn't being influenced by how I was brought up (Stapp's legalistic, religious upbringing has been well documented.). I had to finally stand alone as a man and see Christ from my own perspective and choose him for myself. When you grow up in church, especially the kind of church I did, it's sort of like, 'Your name is Scott, and your faith is Christianity.' I didn't get to choose my faith any more than I did my name so it was time to come to terms with where I stood, what my commitment would be."

When reminded that he seemed to be expressing those same sorts of sentiments seven years ago in the lyrics to "My Own Prison", Stapp responded, "My dad used to always say, 'It's a matter of 12 inches. There's 12 inches between your head and your heart.' There have been plenty of times when I've cried out to God in the past but it was almost always when I was in a jam, when I wanted to make a deal with God. In my head I knew it was right to call on the Lord in a time of need but I wasn't ready to give him my whole heart, to recommit my entire life to him. That's what's different this time around. I've stepped back into the arena of faith, of faith in Christ. I'm not just looking at God as a way out of a jam I've embraced being a Christian as what shapes my values, my worldview, my morals. My commitment to Christ is what establishes my priorities, how I will raise my son, my whole person. The important thing for me now is that I want my heart to be renewed, which is what I was trying to express when I wrote the song 'Relearn Love'. I saw the movie The Passion Of The Christ while I was going through all of this and it really brought home the idea of how I needed a new heart, that I needed to relearn what it means to love. For me, that's what salvation is - asking God for your heart to be reborn."