From childhood it was considered a burden on his family, when grew up he became a rich singer

As we begin the movie, we meet a boy named  Bart. He is a cheerful and lively boy who loves listening to music. On that one  day when he returned home after a fun time playing outside his house, he saw his  father burning some of his football equipment. Despite seeing the mess in the house, Bart did  not dare to ask about what had happened? His mother then asked him what he was carrying, and  Bart replied that the thing he was holding was a space combat helmet that he had made himself  from old

cardboard boxes. His mother appreciated Bart's imagination about things related to outer  space, but this was not the case with his father. Bart's father is a violent man, he often beats  Bart and always forbids him to do the things he likes, and to have dreams. According to his  father, there is nothing good about dreams, dreams only make a person avoid reality. Therefore,  when his father asked what he was holding, Bart said it was just trash and then his father took  it away and burned it alo

ng with other things. Later that night, Bart hears his parents having  a big fight. Bart then puts on headphones and listens to music, pretending to sleep because he  doesn't want to hear their quarrel. The next day, his mother asks Bart to join the church's  Camp. His mom wants Bart to enjoy the time by having fun, making new friends and creating  memories. Once at the camp, Bart meets a girl named Shannon. During the camp, he makes good  friends with Kent and Shannon. During the program, each

child gets a journal that they have  to fill in with whatever they think, just like a diary. But for Shannon,  the journal is not just a journal, but rather a piece that can make her mind more  organized, she can write about everything in it, such as her prayers, her problems, her  dreams and also things in her imagination. Bart is curious to see what's in Shannon's  journal, but Shannon shuts him out. Bart finally happened to see the contents of  Shannon's journal when Shannon accidentally drop

ped it when she collided with Kent.  Inside her journal, it is written that Shannon likes Bart. Bart quickly closes the  journal and then gives it back to Shannon. Before he goes to bed, Bart draws his thoughts  in his journal, a little boy with a monster. Out of the blue, Kent, who sleeps on the top bunk,  appears and startles Bart. Kent praises Bart's drawing skills, then he invites Bart to sneak out.  As it turns out, it wasn't just the two of them who were sneaking out, but also Shannon, who

had  been waiting for them all along. Kent then orders Bart and Shannon to sit on a bridge, facing  the north, while he leaves somewhere. At that moment, Shannon mustered the  courage to ask Bart whether he saw what was written in her journal, Bart then  lied and said that he didn't see anything. Shannon doesn't believe him, she then says that  she wrote about her feelings for Bart, because she hoped that one day the two of them would fall  in love and get married. After telling him that, Shann

on is embarrassed and runs to go after Kent,  but Bart holds her down so that she can't go, not because he's afraid, it's just  that Bart doesn't like being alone. A moment later, fireworks pop up, lighting up the  night sky. It was Kent who prepared the fireworks. The next day before going to their respective  homes, Shannon gives Bart a cassette tape that contains her favorite song called Never Alone,  sung by a singer named Amy Grant. Shannon tells Bart that one day she wants to be a singer 

like Amy Grant. In his journal, Bart writes that it was one of the best weeks of his life. Arriving home, Bart sees a movers carrying things from his house, he rushes into the house  looking for his mother, but his father says that his mother has run away. Bart then asks his  dad, when will his mom come back and his dad says for the second time, that his mom ran away  and won't come back. Knowing that his mother is often hurt by his father, Bart then asks  what his father has done to make her le

ave. Bart's question ignited his father's anger  to the point that Bart had to receive abuse from his father. Bart then runs out after the  movers, he screams for his mother's forgiveness and he asks what he has done so that he  has to be left behind with his father. Since then, his mother still occasionally  calls him to find out how Bart is doing. When Bart was in junior high school, he  lived with his mother, but his mother's fate turned out to be no better after being  married to her new hus

band, and one day, his father threatened to kill his mother's  husband, if he still dared to hurt her. After that incident, Bart was forced to return  home by his father. Throughout his life with his father, Bart tried to master the one thing that  his father cared about the most: football. Growing up, Bart became part of the school's football team  and had a good romantic relationship with Shannon, and continued to be friends with Kent. Despite  all of this, his father is still abusive. One day

, at his home, Bart shared his football  training with his father, and his father told him that, in the past, no one could knock him down  in a match. His principle was, if life hit him, he would hit back harder. His father also wanted Bart  to have the same mindset as him, therefore, during a match, Bart forced himself to stand his ground  to avoid falling when others from the opposing team attacked him. As a consequence, he broke his  leg and had to stop playing football for good. After being

discharged from the hospital, Shannon  and Kent help Bart enroll in other classes that he can take apart from football, and the only  class that is still available is the Glee club, and inevitably, Bart must enter the club. Glee  Club is a singing club that often features choirs and musicals. Since he was young, Bart  had been listening to music, but he had never actually sung. Therefore, the Glee Club coach  made him the assistant technical director. While Bart was in the performance hall, he f

ound a cassette player. He then tuned in  and listened to the song using headphones. Unknowingly, Bart sang the song along, his  unique voice booming throughout the hall. The club director was quite surprised to find  out that it was Bart's voice. The next day, all the students in the school congratulate Bart.  Seeing a confused Bart, Shannon takes him to the bulletin board. His name is written there as the  lead in the fall musical drama that will be held at his school. Bart then goes to see th

e club  director to say that he can't be the lead, not only because he never auditioned, but also because  his leg hasn't fully healed yet. The club director then convinces Bart that he can definitely do  it, after all, the show is still 2 months away, that's enough time for him to recover. Bart  keeps trying to refuse, he says he is Bart, a football player, he can't sing. The club director  then tells him that Bart has talent, if Bart does not want to join this musical drama, then he  will cert

ainly not be able to pass her class. And so the story goes, we arrive at the day  of the musical. At first, Bart feels awkward singing on stage in front of a large audience,  but over time he enjoys it more and more. He sang while acting out his role. No one expected  Bart to have such amazing singing talent. At the same time, Bart's father saw a flier for an opera  performance that included Bart's name on it. All of sudden, he experienced severe abdominal  pain that caused him to be rushed to t

he hospital. Upon examination, the doctor  suspected Bart's father had cancer, but further tests were needed to confirm it,  however, he refused to undergo any tests. After the play is over, Bart, accompanied  by Shannon, goes to the hospital to see his father. His father won't tell Bart what the doctor  actually said about his illness. He only said that his blood sugar was low. At that moment, for  the first time, Shannon is introduced as his girlfriend to his father. Bart wants to take his  fa

ther home, because he is worried about him, but his father says that he is fine on his  own. Before leaving, his father makes a small mention of the play, telling Shannon  that he never knew that Bart could sing. Shannon then tells him that Bart has very good  singing skills. Bart then apologizes to his father because he didn't invite him, he thought he might  not want to come to see him on stage. Not wanting to carry on talking about it, Bart's father said  they would discuss it later when they

got home. Bart is angry and disappointed, because whatever  he has done since he was a child has never been appreciated by his father. Once his father left,  Bart then went to attend his clubmates' party, without even bothering that he needed to see a  doctor to find out his father's medical condition. One Sunday morning, Bart is all set in his suit,  because today he is going to sing in church. His father tells Bart to have breakfast before  he leaves. As Bart begins to enjoy his meal, his fat

her smiles as he looks at the front page  of the newspaper, reporting on Bart's performance in the play. His father then makes a joke about  the clothes Bart wore in the performance. Bart, who never felt appreciated, instantly gets  angry when he hears he is only considered a joke. He then asks his father, what's  so funny? If he really wanted to sing, it was because he felt he really had the ability  to sing. His father then states that Bart needs to find something that he is really good at, so

that  he can earn a living properly. Bart then asks, how does he know what he can do, if he himself  has never heard him sing? And again, his father can't be outdone and replies to Bart's words by  saying that all he has heard from him so far, is whining and crying. Bart gets so annoyed  at his father, he then tells him the radio frequency where he can hear him sing in church. Their fight that morning continued until Bart's father could no longer hold back his anger, he  smashed the plate fille

d with food on Bart's head. Bart then attempts to stop his father's  madness because he is fed up with his behavior. With his head still bleeding, Bart walks  into the church and Shannon is very worried when she sees how he's doing. But Bart is  a very secretive person, especially about any problems he is facing. He tells Shannon that  he's fine. Shannon desperately wants to help him, but she doesn't know where to start because she  sees that both Bart and his father wear masks to cover up their

personal lives. At school,  Shannon says that she has always loved Bart and begs him not to leave her. In an emotional  state, Bart says that he never really loved her, when he graduates, he will leave her. Bart's  words certainly hurt Shannon and indeed, after graduating from school, Bart decided  to leave his house and also Shannon. Six months have passed, and Bart is now living  in Oklahoma. While he was working, he heard about a band, who were preparing to perform that day,  needing a vocal

ist. Bart then offers himself to be the vocalist in the band. From then on, Bart  joined the band called MercyMe. Using a minibus, MercyMe toured around, taking as many jobs as  they could. At one of the venues where they were scheduled to perform, Brickell, the manager  of Audio Adrenaline, was there to watch MercyMe perform, after Bart sent him some letters about  the band. After the performance, Bart approaches Brickell. Brickell's first impression of Bart  was that he was a man who talked to

o much. Regarding MercyMe's performance, Brickell felt it  was not enough to convince him to become MercyMe's manager. He said Bart does have talent and  potential, but he has yet to find his own song. Brickell praised Bart's last performance when he  performed a gospel song, he saw that Bart had soul in it. Unfortunately, that kind of song is not the  type of song MercyMe usually performs. Brickell hopes Bart can write a song, like the one he  performed in his last performance. Not wanting to w

aste the opportunity, Bart then invites Brickell  to come with him to Texas, for the next show, in their minibus. As odd as it may seem, Brickell  accepted the offer. Before leaving for Texas, Bart, with the support of his friends, invited  Shannon to join his band on tour. They then went to Shannon's house, but Shannon declined his  invitation. Apparently, that's not what Shannon expected from Bart's arrival. Shannon tells Bart  that she wishes him the best every day. Since Bart left her, she a

lways hopes that Bart can find  whatever he's looking for in the world out there. Bart and his band then start traveling to Texas  and every time they make a stop for a break, Bart and his friends prepare a new song to  attract Brickell's attention. Their efforts finally paid off, Brickell was finally willing  to give MercyMe a chance to do a bigger show and Brickell said that he would invite some people  from the record label to watch them perform. While his relations with Shannon were not  goo

d, Bart still often contacted her and left messages for her. On the day of the  long-awaited show, before going on stage, Brickell introduced Bart to some of the  famous legendary singers of the time. Well, as the story goes, after the show,  the MercyMe personnel gather around, waiting for the outcome of the discussion between  Brickell, as their representative, and the people of the record label. Unfortunately, Bart is not  one to wait patiently, so he goes to Brickell, who is in the middle of

a discussion with the  record label people. Bart says he wants to hear directly from the label's people about their  performance. Hoping that the results would be good, but in fact MercyMe was considered still  not good enough to be able to sell records. Bart seemed unable to accept the decision, he  then told them all that MercyMe had successfully performed seven well-attended shows, and had been  selling their own albums for years. One of the label people then asked Bart to accept the reality

  of his band's inability to get signed to a record label. When Bart heard those words, the image of  his father who always asked him to grasp reality instead of chasing stupid dreams, appeared in his  head. Bart was angry, he thought people didn't understand, and didn't appreciate the hard work  he and his friends had put in. The person from the label then explains to Bart that they have  worked with many bands, they can recognize which band will succeed and which one will fail. Bart  again sho

ws his disagreement with the other guy's opinion, according to him, how can people say  they won't succeed, when they don't know them. Shortly afterwards, Bart goes back to his friends  who are waiting for him and at that very moment, Bart decides to quit MercyMe. Brickell walks  up to Bart who is alone, he asks, is Bart sure he's going to quit after all the effort he's put  in? Bart then answers that he is tired and has nothing left. Brickell then describes how Bart  looks on stage. According t

o him, sometimes Bart seemed like he was singing someone else's music,  even though it was his own song. But there was one moment where he saw something authentic from  Bart, but when it appeared, Bart looked scared and it then just disappeared. Brickell then asks what  Bart is trying to hide? what he's running from? and Bart tells him that he's running  from his father. Brickell sees the pain, fear and hatred that Bart feels, he then tells  Bart to let the pain emerge and inspire him to write a

song. That way, Bart will have a song that  can touch the hearts of people who hear the song. Brickell later on says, he may not always believe  in the music Bart sings, but he believes in Bart. At that point, Bart makes his way back to his  friends, he apologizes and says he wants to get back together with MercyMe, but before that, he  has to go back to his home to settle some matters, and fortunately, his friends accept  him and are willing to wait for him. When he returned home, Bart was sur

prised to see  that his father's demeanor had changed from what he used to be. He looks better than ever, his  appearance is neater and he has become more thoughtful and religious. His father tells  him that he has listened to some preachers on the radio and read the Bible, and although  there are many things he doesn't understand, God has answered his prayers for him  to see Bart again. Not only that, his father was also trying to fix his jeep, hoping  to drive it with Bart someday. Up to that

point, Bart is still confused by his father's drastic  change. Actually, during the time Bart left home, his father always sent him letters, but Bart  always threw them away, without even reading them. Apparently, the big change that happened to his  father was based on his father's desire to have memories and improve his relationship with Bart.  However, Bart still finds it difficult to accept these changes, considering that his father has  given him bad memories for most of his life. Bart late

r says that his father's change into a good  person and acting as if nothing ever happened, won't work to improve their situation. His father  then asks Bart, what he should do? He wants to try it. Bart then tells him that God can forgive you,  but he can't. As his father used to tell him to stop dreaming, Bart asks him to stop dreaming  about having a good relationship with him. Bart then walks out of his house and is getting  ready to leave his father, but just as he is about to leave, he acci

dentally discovers his father's  diagnosis that he has terminal pancreatic cancer. Bart returns home and sees his father destroying  the Jeep that his father has been trying to fix. Seeing his father suffering, Bart is finally  moved to give his father a second chance. Bart flips back to the journal of the camp he  attended when he was young. He remembers the words of a pastor who at that time told all camp  participants to write a line that reads, "Lord, tonight I choose to forgive". Back then,

Bart  didn't know who he should forgive, but this time, he confidently wrote that his father was the  person he wanted to forgive. At that moment, the Pastor said, it is difficult to forgive people  who have given us many deep wounds in our lives, but if we have been forgiven by God, then God  will give us the strength to forgive others. From then on, their relationship improved. Every  day, they spend time sharing stories with each other. Bart's father regrets his absence at  every important m

oment, such as on the day of Bart's graduation. When his father found out  that Bart was no longer in contact with Shannon, he told Bart to get Shannon back, he believed that  Bart and Shannon were destined to be together. After spending a long time fixing his father's  Jeep, Bart finally managed to fix the car. The two of them then drove around in the Jeep. Time  passes and his father's condition begins to deteriorate. Upon arriving at the hospital,  his father tells Bart that since Bart left,

he loves to listen to Bart sing in church on  his radio, he listens to every word Bart says, and after the singing is finished, he will  continue to listen to the preachers. For him, Bart's singing has saved him and helped him  to change. His father then explained why he had always told Bart not to have dreams.  So far, his dreams had never come true, but he realized that Bart was not like him.  Bart had real talent and he was proud of what Bart was doing. Bart's father then gave Bart  his savin

gs and life insurance. He wanted Bart to use the money to pursue his career.  After some time, Bart's father passed away. Bart resumes his adventure with MercyMe and  brings along all the journals he had back when he was a kid. One thing he discovered  was that he had written the word "Imagine" and the phrase "I can only imagine" on most  of his journal pages. That's when Bart got the inspiration to make a song with the title "I  Can Only Imagine", a song he made for his father. Bart later sends

the song to Brickell and the song  manages to make Brickell can't stop listening to it. After much consideration, the song was planned  to be sung by Amy Grant. Bart wants his song to be heard by many people. Prior to singing his song,  Bart told Amy Grant about his life, he told her that since he was young he always thought of his  father as a monster, but he clearly saw that God was able to turn the person he hated the most into  the person he wanted to be his best friend ever. Afterward, Bar

t told Shannon about his new song  through a voicemail. He also apologized to her for hurting her. Upon hearing Bart apologize,  Shannon immediately picked up the phone, but unfortunately, Bart had hung up. The song "I  Can Only Imagine" will be performed for the first time at Amy Grant's comeback showcase. Bart  left a message for Amy Grant to tell everyone that he made the song for his father. Out of the  blue, after introducing Bart as the songwriter, Amy Grant instead asked Bart to sing the

song  himself. Bart managed to touch the hearts of everyone who heard his song. At the end of the  song, Bart earns an enthusiastic ovation from the audiences, and he saw the glimpse of  his father there, smiling at him proudly. By that time, the tapes of the song that  were already in the shipping process had to be withdrawn, as the song would eventually  become MercyMe's first single. As soon as it was played to the public, the song managed to  become the most heard song on various music platf

orms and was requested on almost all radio  broadcast shows. After singing the song, Bart saw Shannon among the hundreds of audience members  who came, he then immediately ran over to her. At the end of the movie, the epilogue tells us  that Bart proposed to Shannon at Camp Glorietta, and they were married on November, 8 1997. The  week Bart received his last check from his father, I Can Only Imagine became the number one Christian  song in America. It is now the best-selling, most-played Christ

ian single of all time. Scott  Brickell manages MercyMe to this day. He named his home property as Imagine Acres. Bart and his  mom have grown closer over the years. Today, she is her son's biggest fan. MercyMe has gone  on to record 21 number 1 hit songs and counting. On February 2nd, 2017, Bart had a chance  to share his story with the President, Vice President, members of the House  and Congress, and world leaders.