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This episode of Voices in My Head is brought to you by Podbean. With Podbean, you can create professional podcasts in minutes without any programming knowledge. Best of all, everything is mobile ready right from the start. Visit podbean.com/voices to find out more. That's podbean.com/voices. Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is where I discuss music, movies, books, pop culture, theology, and more with friends, colleagues, and sometimes just by myself. Now make sure to Please let me know what you think of today's episode by leaving me a review on iTunes or by tweeting at me @RickLeeJames on Twitter. And please join my mailing list at RickLeeJames.com where you can receive an email every time a new episode is released. By the way, in case you're interested in a daily dose of kindness and encouragement beyond this podcast, I also run the Twitter account @MrRogersSay. Where I post daily quotes from Fred Rogers, one of the voices in my head. Well, I guess that's it for the intro, so sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of Voices in My Head.

My heart is led to Calvary's hill to fling my burdens on your love and see them vanish in his blood. In valleys dark with earth Where shadows fall, 'neath mounts of shame, I fix my eyes on light above, where angels sing of Jesus' blood. Oh, precious blood. That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know but Jesus' blood, his precious blood. May hymns of praise for wondrous love soar with my soul to Christ above. I'll join the anthem of the Lord. His blood for me, my lasting song. Oh, precious blood, the grace you offer I ask of you, you're all about, I know, for Jesus Christ, his precious blood. At the At the cross you opened fully heaven's heart, poured out completely. Angels singing, hell now fleeing, roars of saints shout, Christ our victory! At the cross you opened And fully heaven's heart poured out completely! Angels singing "Hallelujah!" Roars of saints shout Christ our victory— ohh-ohhh! Ohh-ohhh!

Oo-hoo-ooh!

Jesus' blood poured out in love. The one who gave his life for me now bids me rest at Calvary.

The blood once spilled for mercy's sake Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host, Rick Lee James, and I'm very glad that you could take a few minutes to be with us today here on this podcast. Today I'm joined by Kevin King. Kevin is on staff at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois as the Director of Worship. He finds joy turning the hearts of a congregation to the Word of God through powerful melodies and solid text. His desire is that the gospel be uplifted and made known, and he enjoys maturing the gifts of artists to offer them for God's glory and incorporating that in worship, allowing unique individuals to aid in leading worship. On March 20th, Grace Worship, the music team at Grace Presbyterian Church, released a recording called Calvary's Anthem, which is available on digital and streaming outlets globally. It's the second single from the worship team's debut EP, Christ Be All, which is now available for pre-order from Grace Worship and The Fuel Music. Kevin is here to talk today about that new EP and about ministry in general in these interesting times that we are finding ourselves in. Kevin King Welcome to Voices in My Head.

Well, thanks so much, Rick. You gave me a great introduction, and so hopefully now I can live up to that introduction.

I'm sure you'll have no problem. I've really been enjoying listening to the music, and that it's been great because I got sent an advance copy of it before it released, and it really has been wonderful just hearing some of the arrangements of these songs, and, and it's really just well done. That's— I don't know what else to say other than You and your team have done a great job.

Well, thank you. It really was kind of a passion project that came— it wasn't like we unveiled this master plan. It was just that we had started writing songs. Our senior pastor, Brian Chapel, who's written a number of books and speaks at different conferences all over, is already a wonderful lyricist. And so he and I just kind of started writing together and it's like, man, the church is grabbing onto these songs and we really have a heart to help churches kind especially, uh, who are trying to unite the generations. We want to provide content for that. And, you know, our church is 150 years old.

Wow.

Which is just a blessing. So in our church, in our congregation, we have, you know, great-grandparents down to newborns. Um, and what is just special about our culture is that they really interact and they You know, that we're all together. And so we just realized that there's so much the church can unite over, but worship can be such a divisive tool. And so we really just have a heart to create content that unites the church to treasure Jesus. And, and so this song, this EP, really the songs, that's our heart, that's our hope, is that the church would be able to unite to treasure Jesus together.

Yeah, well, that's a wonderful goal, and you've— as I said before, you've done a very good job with it. It, uh, it has a different feel than a lot of worship albums that are out today. I, I— and this is no slam on any particular, uh, way that a lot of churches are doing albums, but they do all kind of feel— not all, but a lot of them feel kind of cookie cutter in the sense, in the way that they sound. And, and these have a very hymnic quality to them, for lack of a better word. And, and the songs are really songs that I think you can sing with a lot of confidence, and there's a lot of power to them, and they're very Christ-centered, and I just appreciate it so much. Um, you know, we— and we've, we've played one of the songs. Listeners have already heard, um, Calvary's Anthem whenever the, the podcast started today. But I wonder if you could just share a little bit about that song and where it came from in particular. Sure.

Yeah, that song is actually a great example of an avenue that we try to create through is this idea of being rooted and reaching. So we want to be rooted in our faith, right? Connect to those who've gone before us, who've written wonderful texts and melodies and have moved the hearts of believers for generations. And we want to be reaching in that God still inspires poets and artists and creatives today. And so I love that song because it's a wonderful hodgepodge. You have an Appalachian melody, so traditional Appalachian melody, then paired with Brian kind of reversed the text of the verses are from a Valley Vision prayer, Calvary's Anthem. So he kind of reworded those. So you kind of have some new-ish hymnody, and then I took the chorus from "Nothing But the Blood," gave same text, new melody, then wrote a new bridge, paired that with band-driven accompaniment as well as orchestral accompaniment, which is really atypical for a modern worship song. But we just thought, man, this is a wonderful way to show that it's all valuable. Yeah. That we have some new melody, new text, We're basing off of some old hymnody and old text with some what would seem like, you know, passed over or, you know, outdated arrangement or instruments that are now able to be welcomed and done in a fresh way. And so I hope it's just a wonderful nod. I think it's, you know, musicians can get scared that they just have to fit in a trend, but to have a song begin with a string quartet and piano and end the same way and then have some triumphant brass moments and timpani hits, and then also electric guitars and drums that are pretty heavy. It's just not too many people do that. And so it just, it kind of was our, again, our passion to be bold in our creativity.

Well, and honestly, the brass parts really stood out to me on this song. And I, it's interesting because that's a, you know, you don't, you, you wouldn't hear a brass section on a lot of contemporary stuff, but I think especially in the context of churches, it's, it's really a a great way to sort of broaden the— what a lot of praise teams are doing at times. We kind of get caught up in this mode of kind of little almost a GarageBand setting, and we forget the depth that can be added there. And I was thinking when I was listening to it as well, like, you know what, Mumford Sons did this on like their, their debut album with the idea of like, we're gonna take like a modern band sound and we're putting like horns to it and things like that. And it really worked. And, and it's something that, that really, I think, challenged churches in a lot of ways to go, hey, if, if they're doing that, why can't we be doing, you know, finding ways to connect really not just different generations but different kinds of music together, which does connect generations. And so I really appreciate that on this album.

It definitely does, and it allows for more musicians to be involved. I mean, maybe not every church has an orchestra, but you might have a trumpet player, and so to be able to include them where it fits the song, or you might have a string player. So I mean, it just, it allows allows for a greater reach of inclusion of your musicians, and it doesn't just speak to the congregation that, you know, only electric guitar and drums are what matter, you know. And typically you'll have your violinist or your trumpeter, and they would maybe come from a more classical background, and you get to mix those personalities, right? And so it's just another way that we can go like, the Lord is good, and it's not our preferences.

Well, and when you think about it, one reason that probably we don't always have these instruments together is we don't always know how to speak to each other musically. And there's so much to be said with that, even not just musically, but I think that's one of the struggles that churches have, like reaching on a cultural level to other people. Sometimes the reason that Sunday mornings are the most segregated places in the country is because we have forgotten how to speak to each other in some ways. And so, oh, true, like, like music can be sort of this illustration of the challenge in other parts of our, our lives too, learning how to talk to each each other well and how to speak and listen. And so I think it's a beautiful thing that we can have conversations like these. I do want to ask some specific pandemic ministry questions here in just a second. But just before I do, I did want to ask another musical thing too, because we have a lot of musicians as well as ministers that listen to this. The musicianship is such good quality on this album. Is this your church? Are these your musicians and singers that you play with on, you know, every month when you do it at your church, or did you bring in some outside help as well? I'm curious about where you recorded it as well too.

Yeah, Grace is a— I mean, again, it's a historic church, and so it's had time to build, uh, you know, a tradition and a legacy before I even came. I mean, I've been here for 5 years. Before I came, it was definitely the reputation of a a high music church, you know, that they really, the music was a high quality and value to them. And so I remember when I came here, when I moved here, I was 29 and I just go, oh my gosh, there's so many toys to play with here as a musician, you know? And so yeah, all the vocalists are ours, the band players are ours. We even produced it in-house. We were just blessed to have our electric guitarist. He owns his own production company, so we recorded it in his studio. He's the one who produced the album and really came up with a lot of just the fun sounds that you hear as well.

Yeah, terrific.

And so even the arrangements, so I orchestrated Cowrie's Anthem, but then some of our other orchestrations were done by another staff member, Sean Degenhardt, who just is a phenomenal arranger. And so, yeah, we were very, thankful.

Yeah.

Oh, what a position that we do.

Yeah, what a blessing.

Yeah, not every, every church does. Um, and so we wanted to still make it where the songs could be done, you know, you could do these songs without an orchestra, or you could do them without it, you could just do them acoustically. And that was really, um, a hope for us, which is why we did Christ Be All, a studio version and a live version, to show like you don't need, you know, pump to make this acceptably stripped down and still work.

Well, that's the thing about it. I think these songs are very versatile to a lot of different settings. But I also wonder, are they also going to be available like through places like maybe a loop community or something where if a church does have a few of the instruments but doesn't have them all, where like churches could play along with the tracks you provided?

Oh yeah, this Friday actually they'll be releasing it on multitracks, so you'll be able to get our stem tracks. And I don't know when this podcast is gonna play, so this Friday April 24th.

Right, right. Okay.

That's the weekend that the album releases. April 24th. Yeah. So you'll be able to get all the content, the stem tracks there.

Awesome.

We'll be on CCLI, we'll be on PraiseCharts. And so you can get all of our stuff there. And right now you can get all of our content on our website at GraceWorship.com. The stem tracks aren't there, they'll be on Multitracks, but you can get all of our orchestrations and chord charts, lead sheets, and choir scores and everything. We really wanted to be— just be able to resource the church.

Well, that's great. And actually, this podcast will come out just a couple days after that, actually. So we're— we are speaking to the future right now. So that's terrific. Well, good, because I know I do that sometimes at my congregation. And you know what, honestly, in this time of of pandemic, this will be a great transition. I just don't have the pool of musicians, you know, that we would because we can't all be together in the way. But I think things like, you know, those tracks from Loop Tracks and stuff and the stems can actually make a way sometimes for you to have a bigger sound without having everybody you need to have there. So I appreciate that, knowing that's out there. Well, let's, let's, let's ask or have a conversation about some of the challenges that we're facing right now. I think all of us who are in ministry in some way or another, we're learning new ways of being together when we can't be together. And that's a— that must be especially difficult for someone like you, who I know that a lot of what you do must be training up musicians and working closely with people who are making music and singing and things like that. What are some of the challenges that you personally have been facing in this time of continuing to do your ministry?

Ministry? Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll tell you, I'll give you a brief insight into what is our norm and then so how that's different. One of our values in our worship ministry is development. And so we will have like quarterly worship collectives where the entire worship ministry will be invited and we'll dine together, we'll do a catered dinner together. I'll do a message on one of our values and then we'll worship together. And that's a way because, you know, our ministry is larger. We have choir, we have orchestra, we have band, we have singers, and we have other directors and leaders. And so I just, I needed a space where we could all be together and not be like, oh, well, I'm on the band. Oh, I'm on, you know, and that we're all just even having a meal together is so special. And then to be learning and growing within the same, you know, learning under the same vision was really helpful. We also, I regularly mentor different rising worship leaders. And even last year, I'll do that one-on-one with some of the guys that we have. And then last year I did a group with all of our women on the worship team. We have some different conductors and also just vocalists, instrumentalists. And that was awesome to do this kind of medium-sized development group. And we go through curriculum together. They share stories. It's a beautiful thing to watch even within that, the generations come together and really just be for one another. And so development is a huge value for us. Sure. That it's continuing, it's ongoing, we're always staying students, we're always wanting to grow. And I, as their leader, am looking for ways how do I shepherd my flock, how do I love them. And so without being able to be physically together, You know, a lot of those things have been stripped away.

Yeah.

And it's a lot harder, right? And I think in the beginning you go, okay, well, I don't know how long this is gonna last anyway, so I don't need to make all these big grand plans. But, um, but thinking through, at least in our state, you know, it looks like we're not gonna be back together for a while.

Yeah.

And so for, at least for our planning right now, we're anticipating we won't be meeting in large church through the summer. Now who knows if that means smaller gatherings can happen and we can start doing like home churches with, you know, the livestream. Who knows? Obviously we're taking it day by day. But some things that we've done, or that, you know, we've done in our ministry just in the past couple weeks to keep connected is, one, we've done a couple passion projects in light of this release. That's been really fun. We've produced two music videos that are that highlight the songs that we're releasing this weekend.

Terrific.

One is we did a Christ Be All Home edition that we just got some of our team together and we all played our parts, you know, separately and put it together. The second one that will be soon to be released, and by the time this podcast airs will be released, is Psalm of Thanksgiving. We did a music video to that in a really, really fun way. And so that's been a fun thing to to again bring the church together. Our choir, and within our choir we have section leaders, and those section leaders have been doing weekly like Zoom calls and prayer times with their sections. We've also been having like some of our worship leaders record devotions and send those out. And so we're trying to at least keep connected, but obviously it's not to the same extent Yeah, so you just kind of— you can become creative and you, you think of different things. Um, I don't have all the right answers, but, but we're learning as we go and wanting to be creative as we go. And, and just again, think like, how in this time, how do we point people to treasure Jesus? Because right now, for this past month, um, it's just been just me on Sundays, just me and piano singing. Um, and, and that could change soon, but we just kind of erred on the side of caution. And exactly. Just gonna be a one-man band this month.

Sure. Well, and I don't think any of us in churches especially, I don't think we need to be pioneers in rushing out to, you know, fill rooms again, just because we do want to care for our people among us and do the best that we can to serve them. And it's so hard right now being like at a distance and saying, but that's because we love you and we don't want you to get sick and get this terrible virus that's going around. And you know what, our church has been doing a similar thing. I've been leading not only by myself, but almost. I've had maybe one other person, and we do an online service on Sunday. And then we also just added a couple weeks ago, we bought an AM transmitter, so we now have in our parking lot on Sunday morning—

Oh, that's really unique.

Yeah, so our theme is, "Come as you are, but stay in your car," you know, that type of thing. We can still kind of get together. And, and it was fun this, like, Palm Sunday. Obviously we couldn't, like, have kids come in waving palm branches, so every— everybody started honking their car horns when we're singing Hosanna. It was kind of a flash of flashing their lights and things like that. So it's, it's just a time of, you know, all of us are trying to experiment and be creative and, yeah, and connect. And, and so I know these are, these are challenging days for everybody to figure out how to do that, but I also wonder there must also be some signs of hope too that we're finding in this time. And I know that there are certain things that maybe we're learning to do better and maybe are having some time to plan out some things we just didn't have time to plan out before too. I'm wondering if you're finding any kind of hopeful moments that you're seeing for the future that, that maybe you're finding, hey, this was, this was actually a good thing to come out of this.

Yeah, you know, I'm actually really excited to hear the stories that come out of this time. I mean, the Lord is so good to us, and we, I mean, we drink from his blessed fount every day, you know, whatever comes from his hand. But on days when the sun shines and we're with our family and everything's great, it can be hard to to be reminded of thankfulness, but in months of isolation or loneliness or sickness, I mean, that's where the Lord really can shape a heart. And one of the songs on the album quotes Psalm 73 where it says, "Whom have I in heaven but you?" Right? And nothing does my heart desire but you. You're my portion forever. Or my, yeah, my flesh might fail. I'm thinking of the lyrics now that I've altered it. I'm misquoting.

Yeah, exactly.

But it's that I'm weak, but you are strong. You are my portion. And that line comes through a psalm where much of the psalm was him complaining. And so the Lord does such a good work in our hearts when there is lament or when there is hardship. And so, yeah, I actually think this is a very hopeful time because our God cannot be conquered. Occurred. And even just in everyday, I mean, all the earth is at his feet. And so we have a good king who loves us, who's faithful to us. And so we can be sad. I think that's what's wonderful about the Christian faith is we can be sad and we can grieve. I mean, there are families who lose loved ones because of COVID and it's a dark time, and that's sad, right? And there's loss there, but we don't grieve without hope. And so that is what's so wonderful. And so actually, in an odd way, only because Jesus is so good do I look forward to the ways he will be shaping hearts and writing stories through this.

Yeah, and you know, that brings up another interesting point, like the idea that we are having families now, at least in our area, that are affected by this and the COVID-19. Matter of fact, there's a lady in our church who— her grandson, he's not from our city, but this is the church connection— he's, he's in ICU on a ventilator right now with, with this. And he's, I think, probably late 30s, early 40s. Wow. And, and from what we're hearing, you know, and this is not to be doom and gloom, and— but they're saying once a person gets to that point on a ventilator, usually they don't come out of it.

Yeah.

And then we're finding that even after I just read a report yesterday saying, you know, people's organs aren't necessarily ever going to recover. Like, there's just different, different aspects that are coming out of it. And so one thing that, that I was talking— I have a chat with several pastor friends that we keep in contact, and one thing I brought out was, you know, it's, it's, it's such an interesting time right now because we may actually have to say to our people, because they're projecting something like 80% of our population will have this before it's all said and done.

Wow.

The idea that we would say right now we are the people of God, and we not only have the responsibility to talk and to sing into people's lives about what it means to live as Christ, but also we also have the responsibility to say, what does it mean to die as Christ, you know? And what does it mean for us to, to, to, to talk about walking through the shadow of the valley of the shadow of death in a most literal way, you know? And for the Lord to shepherd us in that time. And I just think it's maybe much more present to us than what we have thought about before in the past. So it's something that I've been thinking about more, and I think songs like what your church is presenting right now, you know, May Christ Be All and I Be Nothing, these are good words for us to like latch on to and make the prayers of our hearts for certain. And And, and you're right, I didn't mean to actually go like to a dark place when I was talking about that, but, but I, but I do see like that's some of the hope that comes out of it too. We're reminded like this, there's so many passages in scripture where people are crying out, and, and honestly, maybe we've just been sheltered from that in a long way. And yeah, the hope of it for me in some ways is that the Lord seems to have said to the entire world right now, be still. And it's, it's, we're kind of in this place like, are we gonna stop and actually listen. Because if we're not careful, we could spend this whole pandemic on our phone, you know, like not listening, playing games, watching videos, and not, not actually taking advantage of this moment that God has given to us.

So yeah, yeah, you know, I think it'll be a different world whenever— you can't even say we get back to normal, we're not gonna get back to normal— whenever there's the new, the next phase.

Yeah.

Because I think things like the family meal have become, you know, a much stronger moment. Yes, yeah. In such a weird way, when so much is stripped from you, you kind of go, "Oh," like your head comes up from the clouds and goes, "Well, what was I spending my time on?" And so yeah, I just know there's been really sweet moments for us being at home. And you know, we just had our first our first child in January. So he was born right when this was all happening. And it's been an odd blessing to be home for his early months.

Yeah, amazing.

Sometimes I wish we could go somewhere.

Right.

But it's actually been very sweet to be here. And so, yeah, I think the value of family knittedness will, hopefully we come out of this and go, wow, like the Lord had a good design for this. Us, and we've forsaken it in a lot of ways.

Yeah, well, you're right about that. And by the way, congratulations, because that's a wonderful time. Everything's new at that stage. My son is 7 now, but I can still remember. It just seems like 7 days ago he was that old, you know? I mean, it's not been that long. And we were talking briefly before about, you know, it'd be interesting that that your child is not gonna know that this is a new normal, whatever it looks like after this. There's a sense in which a lot of us will remember the world before 9/11 and the world after 9/11. And then there's kids now that don't remember it, and so it's just like, what do you mean? I don't remember anything before.

Oh my gosh, yeah.

There is some hope in this too, that the world will continue and it will go on, and it's still a place that, that God is still in control of. But we just, we need to, to make the most of these moments of, man, how do we listen best? And I love that you brought that out about the family. And, uh, and so many— you're right, because we've, we've had a lot more meals together at home. We've made food together a lot more. Um, I, I think we've only maybe, maybe 3 times have, you know, done a pizza or something from carryout since we've been home. So it's, it's just for forces to actually be together. And yeah, but, but you know, in some ways that might be something we have to prepare for as ministers too. Like there is this challenge of, like I heard that out of China, once people start coming out of quarantine, divorce rates just skyrocketed.

Holy moly!

And so I'm thinking now, like, what about the people maybe who are in our community whose home is not a safe place? And this has really been a trying time for them too. Absolutely. Like it's really a time for churches to really be the presence of Christ in those places and in those times in the best way that we can. So I just think there's a huge mission field out there, and maybe one of the hopeful aspects is we can see it more clearly now, maybe more clearly than we have in decades. And I hope that that'll be something that we can find as a result of it. So how is life as a new father then? You enjoying it?

Obviously it is a joy, and I'll say that there's beautiful moments that I just relish in. You know, one of my favorite moments of the day is like when we're just kind of doing the bedtime routine and, and I'll sing to him and he just smiles. There's something in him that, you know, he can be wailing and then I, you know, turn on "You've Got a Friend in Me" and start singing that and he just, he's all smiles. And I'm like, thank you, Lord, for this. Yeah, somehow, you know, but at the same time It is also a joyful struggle in that they don't do what you want them to do, you know?

Yeah, exactly.

They're not on your schedule. That's right.

They don't sleep that much.

And, um, and so it, yeah, I just think that the Lord designs this for your holiness. Mm-hmm. And, um, and so that you can again rely on him, rely on his strength. I remember when he was first born, my wife and I were doing some, uh, devotions together and we were reading Colossians. And now I can't even quote the verse, but, uh, It said something to the effect that like, he's the one who gives you energy. Like he was the one that would energize you to do this. And we're like, oh Lord, we need the energy, right? Just to get through each moment. But you're thankful, right? You're thankful that you don't do it alone. And then even, I was reading in Titus where it says that his grace trains you. And so thank you, Lord, that there is grace for each moment that even as I'm doing the dishes, or as I'm changing a dirty diaper, or as I'm getting up at 3 in the morning, or as I even wrestle. For me, I'm, you know, I really to a fault can idolize work and progress and efficiency. And being home with a 3-month-old and both, you know, my wife and I working full-time, my efficiency is not as much, right? So there's grace for even that moment where I go, Lord, I just release this to you. It's more important that I just sit here and hold my son and rock him to sleep sleep, then answer that email or get that done. And so it has very much slowed me down, and I find my, my identity a lot of times in my work and output. And so thank you, Lord, that you train me with your grace, right? That even this child screaming in my ear is a grace to me because it points me to Jesus and, um, and it allows me to love, you know. Yeah, yeah.

Well, and then you know what, there's a certain certain wonder that they have about them too, about the world, that, you know, that it forced me to stop and, and look at again. We're, we're almost being called worldwide to, to stop and be still by God. Um, but I can remember when my son was that age, and, and he's just discovering things. And I can remember things like, why is he staring at that corner? Like, he's just sitting in the hallway, something in there has caught his imagination for some reason. And I, and I'll stop and look at it. I go, I don't get it. But for You know, but there's a, there's a sense in like, you know, everything is brand new and there's a real sense of wonder. And so I think the best thing about being a father, for me anyway, is that I'm getting to see the world through his eyes, through new eyes again. And so this is, in some ways, this is a really cool time. I'm actually kind of envious of you getting to be home with him in that way in those months because they go by so fast and they, and they are hard at the beginning. But man, you look back at them and you just like, oh Oh man, I wish I had those days again.

I know, it really is sweet. And you already go, gosh, she doesn't look like a newborn anymore.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it happens fast. But they are the best thing we'll ever do. I'm convinced of that, our children. So, well, Kevin, this has been great getting to chat with you today. I do want our listeners to make sure if they go to voicesinmyheadpodcast.com, I'm going to have links to all these different different projects that we've talked about today and the new EP Christ Be All. By the time this episode releases, it won't just be a pre-order anymore, it'll actually be— you can order it and get it. So, so that's terrific, and I hope lots of churches will really use this. I can't wait to share some of these in my congregation here in Ohio. I think it's going to be awesome, something that our people will really love. And, um, is there anything, uh, that you'd like to add at the end any websites or any special place that you want to point people to specifically before we end our time together?

Yeah, I mean, I guess you can always go to our website, which is just www.graceworship.com, and there again you'll be able to find any of our musical resources, but you can also find our development resources. And so the collectives that I mentioned earlier, all of the messages that we've done, they're on there too. And so if you're— maybe you're a worship leader and you're looking to train your team and you're just kind of wanting some ideas or something, that you'll get to know our vision and our values. We also have book recommendations on there. We just really want to be a place that can help equip the church to worship and to treasure Jesus together.

Terrific. Well, Kevin, thank you so much. It's been a real joy, and I appreciate you being one of the voices in my head this week.

Yeah, sure. Thank you so much.

Oh, to be empty and lowly, meek and unnoticed and unknown, and to God a vessel holy filled with Christ. And Christ alone. How great is God, his grandeur endless. How frail I come before his throne. I am lost in love relentless. That Christ be all and I His own. May Christ be all and I be nothing. His glory shines in vessels weak. May Christ be all and I be nothing. This is my home, not I, but Christ in me. This is my home, not my Christi. I am poor and I have nothing. All my deeds cannot avail. But Christ endured the Father's crushing He bowed his head as mercy bled me to prevail. He bowed his head as mercy bled me to prevail. Make Christ the all and I be nothing. His glory shines in vessels of clay. Make Christ the all And I being nothing. This is my hope, not I but Christ in me. This is my hope, not I but Christ in me. Bring me low, my heart low. Lords, still, that your grace my pride release. May these words resound loud until every tribe and tongue believes. Bring me low, my heart, Lord, still, that your grace my brighter years. May these words resound loud until every tribe and tongue can sing. May Christ be all and I be nothing. His glory shines in vessels Make Christ be all and I be nothing. This is my goal, not I but Christ in me. This is my goal, not I but Christ in me. On golden shores of sure salvation, I will run to meet my King. Freed from shame and all accusation, He'll give himself, nothing I'll bring. He'll give himself, nothing I will bring. May Christ the only life be nothing, his glory shines in vessels weak. May Christ the only life be nothing, and lacking nothing. This is my hope, not I, but Christ in me. This is my hope, not I, but Christ in me.

Thank you for joining me here this week on Voices in My Head. I hope you'll visit me on my website at RickLeeJames.com, where you can find out more about me, get my music on vinyl and CD, follow my blog, and even schedule me for a concert or a speaking engagement. Better yet, even a book signing in your neighborhood. You can find all that and more at RickLeeJames.com. Also, it would mean a great deal to me if you could write a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast will be online. And now for the benediction: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. God bless you, and thank you for listening to Voices in My Head. This is Rick Lee James, and the music you are hearing is from my new album, Thunder. The title track, Thunder, is a never-before-released song by the late Rich Mullins. There are also 12 other tracks made up of original music, hymns, and readings to guide the listener on a journey. You can buy Thunder today on clear vinyl and CD, or stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, and almost every other music streaming service. Thunder, hear it today at rickleejames.com.