With the release of his new chart-topping album, Dear Future Me, Gospel singer James Fortune makes it clear that his past does not define him.

“Dear Future Me is an album where you’re walking through this journey with me. It’s time to let go of the past and stop living in the past and being worried about the future and how you’re going to make it,” explains Fortune. “If you’re having anxiety about the future, speak positivity over your future. A lot of times we worry so much and we allow the past or who we were to control who we are now.”

“For this album, I didn’t want to do that. I want to stay focused on the future in a positive way because I realize that our life generally flows in the direction of our most dominant thoughts and our most dominant words. For my future, I want that to be thoughts of positivity. Thoughts of a new season, and just great things that God has in store. And not just for my future but for everyone who listens to this album.”

In order to let go of his past and really step into the future that God had for him, Fortune had to confront his personal issues. In 2015, Fortune pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife. In an interview with ESSENCE, James admitted he was an abuser and has taken the necessary steps to acknowledge his mistakes and heal from his past.

“I think for me it started with accountability. I really challenged myself. Not just to be forgiven, but to do really do the work to really experience the change that God wants to do in my life. Once I started to be accountable for things in my life and decisions that I made that were not right, that’s when God was able to do a change and I started to see growth.”

Part of his growth came from realizing he had to start with him. “At the end of the day, I stopped looking at other people, I stopped blaming other people, justifying and minimizing and I just started doing the hard work,’ says Fortune. Which included “going to therapy, going to counseling, learning how to process things, learning how to build my communication skills and learning the key components of healthy relationships.”

Fortune also explained that he had to identify his controlling behavior which is something he had to deal with personally in his private time. “Once I was aware of where the struggle was coming from, then I was able to be accountable and from that I started to see immediate change, short term and long term change.”
The road to getting to where he is today hasn’t been easy, but it was necessary for his future.

“I’m excited about the future me because I’m being blessed to be a blessing. So I’m working with other artists. I started my own record label and I’m excited to give other artists the chance to fulfill their dreams and reach their goals the way God has allowed me to do that.”

The main thing Fortune want you to take away from his album is: “Your past does dictate your future. The pain of your past does not stop the plans that God has for your life. When you hear the album, you’ll probably ask yourself a lot of the questions that I asked myself in some of these songs. And you’re going to get the answers as well. When you finish the album, you’ll realize that your future is so much brighter than your past.”

“I have a passion for ministry and I’ve been doing it since I was 5 years old. I’m always motivated by the need for people to be uplifted and for lives to be changed and for souls to be saved. I’m always getting messages from people asking for prayer who are going through and that continues to drive me and that motivates me to be the very best that I can with the gift that God has given to me.

Source: BlackDoctor.org

Date Posted: Friday, July 14th, 2017 , Total Page Views: 1619