Voices In My Head Podcast #230: Andrew Greer, Randy Cox, David Mullins - Winds of Heaven, Stuff of E

Today's podcast is brought to you by Audible. Get a free audiobook download and 30-day free trial at audibletrial.com/voicesinmyhead. That's audibletrial.com/voicesinmyhead. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle, or MP3 player. That's audibletrial.com/voicesinmyhead. Give it a try today. Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is your source for discussions on music, literature, movies, pop culture, theology, and more. Now sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of The Voices in My Head podcast. And don't forget to let the voices in your head be heard by following me on Twitter @RickLeeJames and sharing your thoughts about today's show. Welcome back to The Voices in My Head podcast. As always, I am your host Rick Lee James, and I am on location here at Parnassus Bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee with three distinguished gentlemen. Uh, there is a book release that's happening today, September 19th, right? Okay, I, I didn't have that in my notes, but I should have. September 19th today, it's a book called Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. It's written by Andrew Greer and Randy Cox. And today on the podcast, we have Andrew Greer with us, we have Randy Cox with us, and we have Rich Mullins' brother David Mullins here with us today. So it's great to have all of you here with us today to talk about some significant things. And Randy Cox's daughter just walked in, so welcome, glad to have you here with us today. We are just getting started in this conversation. I just finished I just finished reading the book this morning, and I was kind of cramming it to get in, you know, but it's a really good book, and I really liked it a lot. I was moved by a lot of it. There's a story that I want to start with that's in the book that you share, and as I ask questions, we're going to be passing these microphones around so we can answer things. But the story that probably moved me more than any other was a story by Lowell Alexander in the book when he talks about driving in a truck with Rich Mullins, and they're on their way to a concert, and somebody just about runs them off the road and just sideswipes him. And as most of us probably would, Rich reacts poorly and he starts kind of mocking the driver. And then in that moment, yeah, yeah, he's doing the, you know, because the driver had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and so Rich kind of starts mockingly acting like he's smoking a cigarette. And as they're driving, Rich says, "That was Jesus." And Lowell says that he got so sad, as if that was Jesus and I failed, you know, in my reaction to him. And I thought the more that I read about Rich, I think that maybe is a pretty good summary of just maybe who he was in some ways. And so I really appreciated that being in the book because as we know, he was a person of extremes, but he was a person that was not flawless, But I think he was a person who was also characterized by a quick repentance too. And so I'm so glad to have all of you here to talk about Rich Mullins today. It's a bittersweet day because today is 20 years since he tragically died and was taken from us to be with Jesus. And the reason that all of us are here today is because of this "Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth" book. So many great things. I'm gonna let the guys here introduce themselves to you and tell you a little bit. I'm gonna start start with Andrew Greer, who really is the main author of this book and has put a lot together. But Andrew, tell listeners a little bit about yourself.

All right, I, uh, I'm Andrew Greer. We got off that subject of the Lowell story. I'm so sorry. I thought maybe we could do that.

Yeah, go ahead, go off of that.

But, uh, I— then we can introduce ourselves, which is fairly unmotivating. But, uh, I think, you know, you talk about that real life, the like living conflict between— um, we talked about this last night, what I wanted to bring up is there was a question last night that we did. Someone said, uh, do you know— and we directed it towards David— do you know what Rich's state of mind was like in, in towards the end of his life? And David, I kind of want you to re-answer that in response to this, if you will, because I think it perfectly examples, uh, which, if we're being honest with ourselves, we're all living within a great tension between the constrictions of our humanity and the eternal mindset of our heart, you know. And so I think in that story that Lowell shares, there's a lot of expression of that because I think my immediate reaction, I'll speak for myself, is from the confines of me. But my intended desire, my intentions, my want, and how I express myself to others and how I want God to express himself through me would be from the eternal mindset. But maybe if you kind of went off that prompt from last night, it might be interesting just as far as talking about Rich himself.

So yeah, the question last night, yeah, was, what was his mindset? And, you know, no one knows. But the thing that struck me was over the last few months of his life, there were a lot of things that he— I think he knew he was in a transition, but he didn't know to what. He had been living on the rez. On the Navajo Reservation about the last 3 years and was developing a plan for a ministry he wanted to do. And I don't know, the summer before the accident, somewhere along the way, I believe he was talking to one of the Kidd brothers, Eric Houck, and told Eric, he said, "You know, I really want to do this. I want to see it done, but I know I'm not the guy who's going to do it." And was asking Eric if he would take on the Native ministry thing. His last time to be at my mom's house. As he was leaving, he said something about, "Well, I guess I'd better get home." And she was like, "Well, where is home?" And she said he just kind of stared off for a little bit and then said, "I don't know." And there's just a number of things that some of his good friends that he would meet with, they— from his time in Cincinnati, college days, They said he always was looking down the road and knew what was out there. And the last times that he talked with most of them, he was like, sure. I don't know. I don't have any— And I think his calendar was empty shortly, coming real quickly.

Wow.

And so, yeah, yeah, I think he was— I think he definitely knew, it seems, that what had been wasn't going to continue.

Yeah.

But where it was headed, he didn't really know.

Interesting. Man, that's real interesting. You guys share that, Mike and Randy, and I'll share this one. Well, that's a great story and great to hear. And you know, you know Rich better than any of us, I'm sure. He was in your family, so I'm thrilled to have you to get to share some things with us today. And Andrew, why don't you quickly introduce yourself because you're the author of this book, and we'll go around. But you've done a great job of compiling this book. It's not quite a biography, and it's not really quite a memoir, and it's not just reflections, but it's a little more than that even.

Sure, yeah.

You've done a great job with it.

So tell us. Randy, you can piggyback off this. Randy can speak a lot about the genesis of how the book came to be, and it was definitely you, Randy, were the motivation for even that it's here and tangible. That's due to you. In writing the book and in compiling a lot of contributors, I think exactly what you expressed, what I had noticed, because what you wonder after someone has been gone from this life for 20 years is there's always a diminishing audience. It doesn't matter who that person is. It doesn't matter how rich that legacy is. So who is our— who would potentially still be compelled by these conversations or would be compelled— would be able to get into the conversation and be compelled forward? And what— since I was in junior high when Rich died, you know, I'm one of those people who never met Rich, was in maybe the same company as far as being in the audience of a show and definitely in the company of his music through recorded product, but not ever shoulder to shoulder. And there's so many of us nowadays, some who are songwriters, some who are authors, some who are artists with their own significant platforms like Rich, whose influence of his life and lyrics have continued to live through him. So more than a biography, something that I think has been done very well in the past, especially a devotional biography, you know, and have been well consumed and well received. And so on every front has been done well. Instead of replicating that, okay, what are the conversations that as I began to talk with others about their experience with Rich, some who did live alongside of him like David and some other musicians and friends, and then people who were just influenced by him, what were the conversations that he was beginning during his lifetime? And as I began to look into those conversations, there were 3 main ones I felt that came out. And one was this idea of inclusivity from a more broader perspective than what we kind of have termed it with today in the sense of everyone, you know, the communion table has been set by Jesus, we're all invited to it. And then relationship versus religion, so meaning, you know, having a dialogue rather than— like dialogue being more important than doctrine, you know what I mean? And a face-to-face relationship being the key, at least how Jesus exampled God through his life, right? And then what I think Rich seemed to be compelled by, at least in his better moments in his life. And then what I felt like, David, was what I felt like I was sensing was kind of this almost obsession with, if not death, and something of an eternal perspective and that kind of trajectory that seemed to be unstoppable. And I think we talked about this last night, and Randy, you could confirm this, but there were people who had lived alongside that when he died, it's a There was sadness, there was grief, there was a gap of Rich gone in their lives, but there wasn't necessarily always a shock that he had, one, died young, and two, that he had died in the fashion they had it. So I think that's interesting to talk about, this kind of urge towards eternal things, but again, being settled here. So then the contributors were a lot of people who are newer generation of people that have been influenced by him. Our idea was to continue the conversation.

Yeah. And, and, and, sorry, let me borrow this just a second. And Randy, if you could tell us, because you were the— sorry, we're borrowing, we're swapping mics back and forth. If you could tell us, sort of, because you were, you were Rich's first publisher and you were the one that brought this book idea about in the first place, kind of tell us the genesis of all this and how this book idea got started for you.

I guess in a way it goes back to the '80s when I saw Rich to his first publishing deal, and we worked through song ideas together in my office, and he scared all the secretaries away because he always played fortissimo in every idea that he ever played, leg crossed. But initially, when I first came to Worthy Publishing, I personally represent 11 songs that were completed that left that that Rick's left uncompleted, and Lowell Alexander and Phil Nash finished those songs. And Lowell— it's interesting because Lowell Alexander is known in Christian music industry as a phenomenal songwriter, but he's never been an artist. And that's why a lot of people don't know his name, and yet they would know his songs. But Rich actually brought Lowell to me. They met at a concert in Georgia, and he invited Lowell to come up, and then he ended up living at the cabin with Rich. And so that's why we've got some of these great stories behind the scenes. But the 11 songs that I represent that were completed in the last few years There were several. In fact, Andrew, I think there were 4 that you chose to be the kind of the impetus for each focus, a chapter focus or chapters focused on things like "Love Alone," "Thunder," "Joy of Jesus." And it was the song, it was the lyric that propelled me to go to Worthy Books, because as I stepped back away from the demos and hearing Rich sing part of the song and then hearing the demos, I started looking at the lyric sheets and it just reminded me that he is one of the greatest poets of our generation.

Yeah.

And I had the good fortune of helping him learned the craft of writing. And I say that with all humility, but he said it, so I guess I can say it. But it's basically based on the pilgrim poet that he was to me. Even in the '80s, he was still a pilgrim. He was searching. He was looking. But he was digging deep. And when you dig deep, you get poetic lyrics and you get great music that lasts last much longer than any of us do, and he, as he has. Yeah.

Well, yeah, let me borrow this mic back again. And by the way, listeners, you hear some noise in the background. There's some kind of truck spraying something on the ground, so that's what the noise is in the background if you're wondering. Today we are interactive. That's right, it's interactive listening here in the bookstore. Uh, it sounds like Thunder, you know, you just mentioned that song, so there you go. Um, I, I want to ask you a question, Randy, before we go far into this because you might be able to answer this better having been a publisher that's been working with artists and songwriters for close to 40 years now.

40, be sure and pronounce it.

40, not 14, but 40.

14 plus.

14 plus, that's right. What do you, in your opinion, what sets Rich apart from other artists that you maybe have worked with or just maybe even artists you haven't worked with? What do you think that to you sets him apart? And then I'd also like to know what impact he had on you personally, because you were friends with him.

The impact he had on me personally is, is every time I listen to one of his songs— I have, I have several of the CDs in my car that, in fact, I'm going out of town this weekend. I'll be driving 2 and a half hours I will be listening to Rich Mullins songs for 2 and a half hours. And then I'll, on the way back, I'll put in some more music of Rich Mullins. And so I'd say from the time I met him, as quirky as he was, he was a hard worker and he was a dreamer and he was a, he was searching for the great ways to portray his heart for the gospel. And I think the lasting value is just the fact that the songs set him apart from others. Keith Green was, you know, unusual in that kind of respect, a West Coast guy. But Rich being a Midwest guy, was the first one to come along in a long time and become this singer-songwriter-poet. And he's the finest poet that I have ever worked with. And the second best is Lowell Alexander. And so the connection there is— does not fall on deaf ears. And I think that was a real God thing that Lowell was willing to come up here and move and live in a cabin that I think they rarely used heat out there in the winter. And in the summer, I don't even want to know. But it's that longevity of the lyric, and I'm very lyric-oriented. I think that's what I work with with the songwriters that I work with. With on my song consulting business. I start with the lyric, and when we get the lyric right, then we form the music around that lyric because it paints pictures, and then the music paints pictures, and then they're both together as one.

Yeah, well, that's a great answer. You want to take a stab at that as well?

No, I'd love to ask a question if I can.

No, please.

Of David about I was hearing Randy talk about how Rich has impacted him. I think one of still the most interesting things to me is because I think all of us have a similar connection with how Rich impacted us because it was from a distance, a lot of us.

I was going to ask that same thing.

Well, then you ask it.

OK. All right. Well, we're on the same— that's all right. You can. No, yeah, that's the question. The impact on your life as someone closer to him than anyone else in this room, That's for sure.

Yeah.

Well, being my big brother, he had what I can only assume is a typical big brother impact. I was telling somebody, they were asking me a little bit ago about a story when he was, you know, he was in high school and I'm in kindergarten. When he'd get home from school, he'd come off the bus and come in the house and fix 3 bowls of ice cream, one for him, one for my brother Lloyd, and one for me. And then he'd go, "Okay, let's race and see who can eat it the fastest." And then he would wolf his down, and then he'd tell me, "Lloyd's beating you. Do you want me to help you?" Yeah!

I don't want to lose!

Then he'd help Lloyd, and so he would eat about 2 out of 3 bowls. I can remember him chasing us with a pitchfork through the barn and different things like that. He, for me, I would say apart from my parents, he probably impacted my view of life, my faith, my understanding of what it means to be in the ministry, a lot of my understanding of who God is, and through him. So, and you know, his music was a key part of that. Somebody asked me if I listened to it, I'm like Yeah, it was kind of the soundtrack of my life.

Yeah.

So, so yeah, I can say I don't know too many aspects of life that he didn't influence.

That's great.

What a wonderful answer. I'm so glad we have your perspective on it today because most of us, people like me and Andrew who never got to interact or meet with him, we know this music and there's almost a sense in which which we can almost think of the music as the person, and yet we know there's, especially from reading this book, there's so many facets to him. And it wasn't that he was a flawless person, but I think one thing that makes him unique, and I see it again and again through the different people who wrote about him, whether it's Amy Grant or, you know, Andrew Peterson, people who knew him, people who didn't know him, people who met him along the way, they share about, not that he was flawless, but that he was so open about his flaws. And that can make people at once love it and at the same time be nervous, like, about that. Why do you think that is, that we react that way when someone is that open about their flaws?

Well, I would say even— and David, you can correct me— but I would say even more than open about his flaws, I think it goes even deeper. There's a certain element of exhibitionism, and especially in our culture today, social media, where you can tell the details of your story, but you may actually not even know your own story. The idea of the work that is required through our flaws, you know, to actually go deeper, delve deeper. Why do I do what I do? Not just what do I do? And so I think what I experienced with Richard— I think this is what you're alluding to as well, from stage, etc.— was he got to more of asking, why do I do what I do? I don't know that I know many details. Even as I was thinking about the book, you know, I kind of like salacious things, so I was hoping, you know, like I could be the first bearer of some unknown truth or whatever. I don't know. But you can scrap that. But the idea that it still— that is what's so relatable, right, is not just to be vulnerable for the sake of vulnerability, but where does vulnerability move us into? Where does transparency move us into? And hopefully it's moving us into closer and closer to some sort of Christ-likeness, you know, is what I keep thinking. And I feel like we were talking about this today on Moody's, like the idea that his platform— he played a clip of Chris Fabry of Studio B, an introduction where, where Rich was like I don't even know why you listen to Christian music, you know, or something to a bunch of Christian music fans. And he said, he was talking about how people could recite more of his lyrics, or it's troubling if you can recite more of my lyrics than you can the Psalms or the scriptures. And I think the idea was not that there wasn't some impartation in these lyrics that could compel us towards God, but it was that it should compel us towards God. And so what I feel, with Rich's vulnerability was a movement through, not stopping with Rich, not here's the details of my story. So now there's almost some kind of glorification in here's all my crap, you know. But instead, here's the story of redemption that actually, you know, is turning that. Yeah. Oh, sorry.

Please take note.

I don't know, maybe I may be stepping out on a limb, but when you guys were talking just now, and I see the redemption story carried on his back as if he were carrying a cross. And it was his choice, and it was his choice to be who he was, though he fought against it. It's this image of carrying what burdens you have in life and how you're made and what our flaws are, and yet still walking that road to Calvary, walking that road to the end, to our great rising to our end in glory. And I saw Rich especially in the beginning, because that's my point of view, when he was younger and really, really kind of beating himself up, even when we would listen to songs together, you know, but he was receptive, so it was just this other side of him, and okay, which cross, are you carrying the cross of, daily life, or are you carrying the cross because you feel like you could take it instead of Christ carrying it?

Hmm. Wow.

David?

Yeah, I don't know.

Follow that, right? Yeah.

Or don't.

Or don't. Well, I do think last night someone asked me asked the question of what was a common misconception of him. And one thing I think is, I think people had the conception that he was really, really transparent all the time. And I know I heard an interview with him where he's like, "Oh no, if I really told you what was going through my mind, no one would listen to me." Yeah. And so I think he had an ability to share the struggle and repentance and the love of God in a general sense that made people be able to identify with the struggle and the hope. And I see other people who seem to be able to do one or the other of those, really identify the struggle in a way that people can identify with it and get it and recognize it or hope. But I don't see a ton of people that seem to be able to walk in the middle of that really well. At least that's what he did for me. Yeah, like I was able to see the struggles, and, and I don't know what all of them were for sure. I don't want to know, don't need to know. But, but something in him never left me going, oh well, he just struggles. Yeah, it was always, no, there's the love of God and the hope that's there.

So yeah, I, you know, it— his relationship with God was obviously a huge part of who he was, and it came through in his music, it came through when in these clips that I get to hear from him on stage. But something I've been thinking about too is, is just not only the spiritual side of Rich but his impact on music as a whole. And one of my friends, Matt Litton, said to me the other day, he said, "You know, what Bob Dylan is to secular music, Rich Mullins is to Christian music." You know, when you think about it, I thought that's a pretty good thing. I told you that beforehand, and you said, "Yeah, but Rich is a better poet." Yeah. Than Bob. But I do, I think there's a lot of truth in that. And so I was thinking the other day too about I was thinking about different cultural touchstones that makes my life different from maybe my parents or anything else. Things that my parents didn't have growing up that I did. And one thing I thought about was my parents grew up in a world where there wasn't Star Wars. I can't imagine that. I grew up in that world where there wasn't Star Wars. And I was trying to think of musically your world that's different. And Randy, This asks you a lot to think about, but how different do you think like your trajectory as a publisher would have been if there had not been Rich Mullins, you know, his music coming to you at some point? Do you think the road would look different in some ways? I mean, because I at this point can't even imagine right now like thinking of Christian music without Rich Mullins being there, you know, it's just always something that's on there. Do you have any thoughts thoughts about that? And yeah, or I know you're looking for something in the book.

That's okay. I was looking for a— I was looking for a love alone. We'll find it.

We'll find it.

You'll find it for me. Um, I think people are still discovering Rich, and I think this anniversary is bringing to the forefront once again what a lot of people, and maybe even a generation missed. And for me, my signing Michael W. Smith and publishing most of the Amy Grant recordings as the publisher of the songs, and many, many others, there's no one I've ever encountered like Ridge. And there's no one that I would rather celebrate sitting at this table than Rich Mullins. Michael W. has gone on to have a 40-year career, which is an amazing accomplishment. It just does not happen in Christian music. But Rich will have a lifetime of memories and new discoveries of his music that will continue to change future generations. And this year is calling attention to some of those songs, maybe the lesser-known ones, the ones that didn't really get the church, you know, the church singing them. Everybody knows "Awesome God," and then a lot of people don't know "The Color Green," and, you know, or "Creed," or whatever else it might be. But they're discovering them. Yeah. And it will continue.

When you said, you know, that y'all were talking about how, yeah, except he's a better poet than Bob Dylan, and I would even say a more focused poet. Oh. Because I think, you know, in lyrical content, and Randy in his years of experience knows this, but with a spiritual focus, like I think when music is happening, whether that's in a live setting or we're listening to it through recording, consuming it through a recorded manner, that I think for some reason music has just been infused with God, or God has infused music with himself. Why that medium? Why music? I'm not sure of all that. That's a bit mysterious. So even then, when we're at a huge concert, it could be some arena concert of whoever, whatever, you know, and we're singing the lyrics in the songs, or just experiencing the music and taking it in, I think there's an element of worship worship there. Now maybe it's unfocused, but it's there. And so what I would say with lyrics like Rich's, from a poetic standpoint, that there's a focus poetry there, which is what David was talking about, Randy, we've all been talking about how there's that focus and line of it's taking us somewhere to, you know, there's something to listen for, not just to, in my mind.

Thanks. Great point.

Though I love Bob Dylan.

Well, yeah, I do too.

Yeah, in case he's listening.

Yeah, he listens all the time. Yeah, that's funny. Bob Dylan, if you are listening, you're welcome on the show anytime. We're really glad to have you.

We'll take unposted poets on.

That's right.

But we're only going to play Rich Mullins songs.

That's right. That would be the album we would love to see. Bob Dylan Plays Rich Mullins. Mullins a little bit. Whoa. Maybe from his saved period.

From his saved period.

That's right.

Well, you can tell from the Jesus record demos that he was listening to Bob Dylan a lot at that point because you can hear the—

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. That's a lot of it.

That's awesome.

Well, this has been a rich conversation. I didn't even mean that to be a pun. I did not mean that to be a pun. No pun intended. It came out that way. I'd love to just sort of, and I know Randy, you want to share the lyrics of "Love Alone" here, but I want to ask sort of a general question to all of you. How do you think that readers will be affected by spending more time learning about Rich in the pages of this book? I'd really like to hear your thoughts on that.

Who knows, you know, in total, but the hope I think is that there will be there will be an open-mindedness and an open-heartedness, you know, an expansion of that in the reader. I certainly think that as I get older, there's a continuing of that for me, that hopefully my mind is continuing to open, my heart's continuing to open, and somehow that's a better, more accurate, however you want to say it, reflection of who God is and his character. Somehow I'm more reflecting his character rather than mine. And I would say this, you know, even when delving into this book, that even this past year has been a part of some of that evolution for me, you know, in helping— some of the conversations I feel like have been stirring in me a lot, especially culturally speaking, that I've felt kind of shut down sometimes by my evangelical neighbors and sometimes by my very non-evangelical neighbors. I feel there's this very— this polarizing force in our conversation or lack of conversation, but that the center is that to be heard and to listen. And so I would hope that people would be inspired by Rich's— the prompts that we received from Rich, that would then prompt them to listen and to be heard, to dialogue.

Randy, you want to go next?

What do you want me to do?

Just answer the question.

Yeah, answer our question just about why you think readers will be affected or how you think readers will be affected by spending time learning more about Rich through this book.

Well, in a way, I could say that probably compare a lot of the subject matter with the Psalms. The hurting, the needs, the wonderful things God does. The Psalms are full of agony and ecstasy and real life experience. And I think a lot of Rich's songs Rick Lee James somehow relate the Psalms to me in ways that I don't— I think people could listen to Rick's lyrics and get more from the lyric than they could from reading a few Psalms. It's just because his lyrics are so succinct and the poetry is so refined. And then you add the musical component. It's forever. I'm a fan, I guess. I've always been a Rich fan. I've always felt like he was one of the— one of my proudest moments was to be able to spend time with him and working with him on songs.

Yeah, great. Do you have any answers to that question, Dave?

Yeah, I think a little bit like Andrew said, well, for instance, for me, there's a group of guys that I meet with like every other week, and we typically are reading something and discussing what we've been reading. And so I think my hope for the book would be that it would stir thought and a turning towards God more. In people. And then, and then great conversations. Yeah, that it doesn't, that it doesn't stop. That it's, oh wait, what did you get from that? Oh, what did God stir there? And just how the Spirit continues to move in from one person to the next. And so that would be my hope. Yeah.

Awesome. That's, that's a wonderful hope to have. Well, Randy, I think as we close our conversation out today and we start to wrap it up, you've got the lyrics To Love Alone. And one thing I'm excited about with this book is that we're getting to hear some songs that we didn't even know were out there by Rich Mullins to some extent. I'm going to be recording one in November that I'm real excited about. You've got other artists in line that are going to be recording some songs, and I'm excited to let the world hear some of these things. And, and there's, there's a beautiful poetry to them. Would you want to close out our, our time today by reading the words to Love Alone. I think you have it there open in the book. I just want to make a push to everyone who's listening today just before we do that to pick up a copy of Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. I left my mind for just a second. Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. The author Andrew Greer and Randy Cox. It is a really great read. I finished it this morning and I'm going to go back back to it again and again just for some of the great stories that are there. So if you wouldn't mind, maybe close us out today just by kind of reading those words if you would like, and you can even reflect why they mean so much to you if you'd like.

Of course, I listen to the music and you won't be able to hear that, but the music is just such a companion to the text, to the lyric. This is called "Love Alone." The song was broken on the silence. The day fell deep into the shadows. Torn from his heart, the music echoed, "I love you." The prayer went out and then the candle. The grave was sealed, the promise sleeping. And through the dark, The quiet whispered, "I love you." And broader still than time and space is love alone through heaven's grace. One sacrifice for every life. Our sin atoned by love alone. The stone was moved and eyes were opened and joy came walking from the sadness. Now in our hearts Still his voice lingers, I love you. And then the chorus again: And broader still than time and space is love alone through heaven's grace. One sacrifice for every life, our sin atoned by love alone.

I think that's a beautiful way to to close out this conversation today. So as I say to all my guests every week on Voices in My Head, Randy Cox, David Mullins, Andrew Greer, thank you for being the voices in my head this week. Thank you for joining me here this week on the Voices in My Head podcast. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com. Follow me on Twitter @RickLeeJames. Like my artist page on Facebook at facebook.com/rickleejames. And keep up to date on what I'm writing at my author page on amazon.com. Make sure to follow my calendar on the website, and if you would like to have me come to your town to do a concert, a speaking engagement, or a book event, you can book me through my website by clicking on the link for Pare Booking Agency. That's P-A-R-E Booking. And finally, it would mean the world to me if you were to leave me a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast is on the internet. And now the benediction: May the God of peace, who raised Christ from the dead, strengthen your inner being for every good work. And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and dwell within you this day and forevermore. Amen.