Journey songwriter Jonathan Cain, the man behind the hit song “Don’t Stop Believin,’” recently discussed how two near-death experiences influenced his Christian faith.

In a video posted to YouTube last week by the Christian nonprofit I Am Second, the 72-year-old artist discussed his faith story, including how his father was a devout Christian.

“I would go to church with him and watch him pray. And he would pray so fervently, and the tears would come down his cheeks. And I wanted that so badly, and I said, ‘Can I go with you to Jesus?’ And he said, ‘You have to get your own walk with Jesus. Get your own relationship, Jon,’” Cain described.

As he moved forward in the early stages of his relationship with Jesus, Cain talked about two near-death experiences he had as a child. The first was when Cain nearly drowned on a family trip in Arkansas after he stepped into a large hole in the bottom of a lake.

While struggling to survive, the songwriter recalled a hand pulling him out of the water, and someone gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Cain said, “I said to my parents, ‘I nearly died, and it was only because of God, I’m here. It was also a wake-up call that God was preparing me to face life. You know, like this is not going to be easy.”

The second near-death experience came in 1958 when the Catholic school he was attending burned to the ground, killing over 90 kids and three nuns. Cain recounted, “There was a terrible fire that broke out. I was in third grade. And I watched 92 children die right next to the house of God and three nuns. And I felt just so lost.”

Despite being grateful for leaving untouched by the flames, Cain said that following the incident, for the first time in his life, he experienced a glimpse of doubt, saying, “I wondered what happened that day. [There] was a big question [in my mind], ‘Did Jesus abandon us that day? What happened?”

Witnessing his son wrestling with faith prompted Cain’s father to take action. The artist shared how his father encouraged him to pursue music, the outlet that would take him full circle back to Jesus. “[My father] led me straight to music. He said … ‘Son, you were saved for something greater, and that must be music.’ He got me straight to music school. And music seemed to be a redemption for me. I was able to set myself free,” Cain said.

Cain, who is married to televangelist Paula White-Cain, said his musical gifts landed him a spot in the band The Babies, which allowed him to co-write many songs for the 1980s Union Jacks record. “My father always said, every time I had something great happen … ‘This is just a stepping stone to something greater, child.’ [And I would ask], ‘What do you mean Dad, [by] just a stepping stone?’ My dad wasn’t impressed. He goes, ‘This isn’t it. There’s something else coming,’” Cain said.

Never forgetting his father’s remarks, Cain joined the famous rock band Journey in 1973, serving in various roles, including writer, keyboardist, and vocalist. When his father died years later, Cain recalled hearing the voice of God as he was weeping at a piano and realized that he should have been thanking God for his music.