NASHVILLE - Today, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee delivered the keynote address at the National Prayer Breakfast, joining President of the United States Donald J. Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and thousands of elected officials, faith leaders, and guests from across the country.

In his remarks, the Governor shared his powerful life story of tragedy, hope, and redemption. He also spoke about pardoning Grammy-Award winning artist Jelly Roll, learning that their lives had intersected in prison ministry decades before, and the eternal pardon that God offers each person.

Excerpts from the Governor’s remarks:

“He [Jelly Roll] came to my residence on the day of his pardon. We sat down and he began by saying, ‘You don’t remember, but we met in 2008.’ He said, ‘I was in prison and was invited to a gathering in prison by a ministry called Men of Valor. You were the guest speaker. You shared your testimony, the story of your life, and I cried all the way through it, and I’ve never forgotten it. And in 2008, you weren’t the Governor, and I wasn’t Jelly Roll, and here we are 17 years later!’”

“There are moments in life when God reminds you that there are very few things in life that matter, and we have to be about those things.”

“I think that every human being has this innate sense that we all need a pardon. The pardons I give as Governor are earthly, but there is a pardon that lasts for eternity. There is One who can grant us that pardon, and He has to be asked. I, for one, am grateful that He has pardoned me.”

“Sometimes a life following God doesn’t always mean it works out the way we wanted it to. After all, He did say that ‘in this world you will have trouble, but I have overcome the world.’ In my life, that truth became real… He became a Healer, a Redeemer, and a dispenser of hope.”

“The most tragic days of my life were strangely becoming the most transformative… I began to believe that to the degree a man was broken, he could experience wholeness. To the degree a man experiences sorrow, he can know true joy.”

“I came to know that when Jesus said to me that He had come that I might have life abundantly, that abundance was joy in the mist of sorrow, peace in the midst of turmoil, and hope in the midst of tragedy.”

For more than 70 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has brought elected officials and faith leaders together to pray collectively for our nation, the President of the United States, and other national and international leaders.

You may view the video of the Governor’s keynote address is available here.