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Matthew West is one of Christian music's most decorated singer-songwriters, with 38 No. 1 songs, five GRAMMY nominations, an Emmy nomination, and honors from
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Launching the Story House Podcast 0:02 Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. 1, 2, 3. Hello. My name is Matthew West, and I'm the host of this podcast. It's0:14 called the Matthew West podcast. I really hope you like it.0:28 I really hope you like it.0:36 And so it begins. Oh, man. You have no idea how excited I am right now. I've been waiting for this day to come. I've been working behind the scene and keeping this secret for months,0:48 but I can finally share with you today that the Matthew West podcast, it's real. It's a thing, and it's coming your way right now. You're listening to it right now, and you're about to hear episode 1. But before we1:00 get into all that, just in case you missed the trailer that we posted, I thought I'd share with you what you can expect with every episode of the Matthew West podcast. You might be wondering, why now? Why in the year of1:11 our Lord 20 20 would you choose to release your very own podcast? And the answer to that question is simple. I did months and months of painstaking research in the podcast world. I love listening to podcasts, and I came1:23 away with 1 conclusion. There simply are not enough podcasts in the world. I decided the world needed just 1 more podcast. And I'm Matthew Weston here1:34 to faithfully answer that call. Okay. Okay. There's plenty of podcasts in the world, but this has been a dream of mine for a long time, and this was the right time to do it. And I hope you love it1:46 as much1:49 as I do. What can you expect1:49 from every episode? Well, I'm glad you asked. We're going to be investigating unsolved crimes. We're going to be unearthing conspiracy theories and mostly discussing highly divisive political topics.2:04 Just kidding. None of that's gonna take place on this show. There's plenty of other podcasts for that. Okay? But if you like a good story, this is a podcast for you. I'm coming to you from my home studio, which2:16 is called The Story House. And in every episode of the Matthew West podcast, we're gonna be diving into the power of a story. But not just any story. I'm talking about the story that's being written with each 1 of our2:28 lives. In every episode, I'm gonna be interviewing some of my favorite people, influencers, authors, artists, athletes, people whose stories have inspired me, and I know they're gonna2:39 inspire you. You see, I've been passionate about the power of a story for a long time, and a lot of that passion comes from my travels around the country. I've met so many people who've been made to feel like somehow2:50 their story is insignificant. Their story doesn't matter, or maybe their story is disqualified from being used by God, and that's simply not true. God has a plan for every single 1 of us. He's3:02 the author of all stories, and God loves a good comeback story. So I hope every 1 of these episodes will inspire you to go live a more meaningful story with your life. So let's get started. When I3:14 decided I wanted to do a podcast, I couldn't think of anybody better for the first episode than somebody who's actually never done a podcast interview before, which actually was shocking. But3:26 this guy is a close friend of mine, and I know many of you are huge fans of his music and his ministry. Mark Hall is the lead singer of Casting Crowns, 1 of the biggest artists in contemporary Christian3:38 music history. No joke. They've sold more than 10000000 records, and they've had countless number 1 songs. More importantly than that though, Marc knows his story is not3:49 defined by his musical accomplishments. He's the most unassuming rock star you will ever meet, and that's what I and everybody else love about him. I'm honored to call this guy4:01 my friend. We've written a bunch of songs together, and I love that we're gonna get the chance to hang out. So let's go to the story house with Mark Hall. But first, I have to tell you about the4:13 amazing work that my friends at Simply Earth are doing. Simply put, Simply Earth is the reason why my studio smells amazing right now. Not only does it smell amazing, but I know that the4:25 air is becoming toxin free thanks to the incredible essential oil boxes that they send to my house every month. My wife and I love that Simply Earth is helping to make the air in our home toxin4:37 free. Every month, this box comes to your house. Right? It's over 150 dollar value for just a 39 dollar monthly subscription. You get 4 full size essential oils and all the ingredients you need to make4:49 6 natural recipes. They put the recipes in the box. Each box has a different theme. I've actually got a box right here and the theme is good vibes, which is perfect for my studio, dude. But you know what?5:01 It's not just my studio. It's not just my house. It's my home away from home, I e, the tour bus, which is the stinkiest place known to man. I mean, imagine my band and crew after a summer festival,5:13 hundred degrees, hot, sweaty. That tour bus starts smelling like buffalo wild wings and feet in a hurry. But thanks to Simply Earth, we are magically whisked away to a field of wildflowers,5:25 and that tour bus smells like lavender and happiness. You know what I'm talking about? Most importantly, I know the air we're breathing in is toxin free, which is more important now than ever. Can I get an5:37 amen? So here's what I want you to do. I want you to go check out the 100 percent pure and natural Simply Earth ingredients. You can get them delivered to your door by going to simply earth dot com5:48 slash west. That's simply earth dot com slash west. Here's what they wanted to do for my listeners. When you use the code west, you get a free 20 dollar gift card with your first recipe box.6:00 The last thing I'm saving the best for last. Check this out. 13 percent of their profits are donated to end human trafficking. That's why I wanted to support this organization. When you6:12 subscribe to Simply Earth, you're gonna help end human trafficking, and that is something I can stand behind. So go to simply earth dot com slash west and subscribe today. This is the6:24 crazy thing about us talking to each other right now is we're supposed to be together on tour buses right now on stage doing concerts.6:33 Yeah.6:33 Can you believe, though, Mark? It wasn't long ago that you and I were in Albany, New York on a Sunday. I thought6:39 it was Trenton, New Jersey.6:41 Wait. What did I say?6:42 You said Guatemala. Are you okay?6:44 Do you need6:44 to lay down?6:46 Oh, man. Too long of a quarantine. So we were in Trenton, New Jersey. Yes. Before that, we were in Albany, New York.6:52 Yeah. That's the last 1 we did. Right. And then we were in Trenton. We're all set up, and then Melanie called us all into the arena area to have a little meeting because we all knew it was coming, and it was the7:04 official we're done.7:05 Melanie, your tour manager?7:07 My tour manager for7:08 life.7:08 Yes. She's also your wife.7:10 Indeed.7:11 That's right. And she told us that not only were we not gonna be doing a concert that night in the only Jesus tour, but the whole tour had been postponed. Yeah. I think we were all looking a little dazed and confused and7:22 certainly concerned about what's going on in our world. And, obviously, everybody knows what's unfolded now. But Yeah. I tell you what, I was looking forward to singing on stage with you every single night. And so it's7:34 just good to hear your voice. Thanks for joining me.7:36 Man, thanks for having me on, bro.7:38 Am I understanding this correctly that you've never done a podcast interview before?7:42 I have never done a podcast interview ever.7:44 Well, you're 1 of my favorite people in the whole world, and I was thinking about the chance to chat with you in a different light. And, again, I would think people might expect that we would spend all of our time7:54 talking about the music that you've created, and we're gonna get to that. But Yes. You know, we are supposed to be on tour together, and 1 of the things that I was enjoying so much on our tour was a moment where I got to8:06 sit on the side of the stage and watch you put the microphone down, pick up some pencils and paintbrushes, and you began to create the most incredible portraits of8:18 the face of Jesus. And I was absolutely and totally blown away by this, like, secret talent that you all of a sudden put on display in front of8:30 sold out crowds every night. And it was such a moving experience to see how you created these portraits, how you went about these sketches. But, I mean, I just have always known you as an amazing singer and8:42 speaker and songwriter, and all of a sudden, this guy starts creating these incredible sketches. Mhmm. I wanna start there, and I wanna hear about how that even came out of you and how you discovered you had that talent.8:54 Well, in school, drawing was kind of all that I was able to do halfway well. Came up in all the LD classes. I have dyslexia and ADD, so school was not a happy place for me. They just kinda showed me what9:06 I wasn't. So I would just draw and doodle all the time. I didn't know at the time I had a gift of any kind for it. It's just the only thing that I could do. So I drew growing up. That's what I kinda thought I would be,9:17 and I was gonna go to school and do that full on, and God called me into ministry instead. And I kinda thought the drawing thing would kinda go away. And, I actually started writing songs in college. I had9:29 sort of decided for myself that actually, I never thought I couldn't be a writer. It never occurred to me to try. Because the way I was brought up and the way school raised me was this is not your thing. Right? So when I9:41 got to Bible college, I had to write creatively for some of the first times and saw that I was drawing pictures with words. And that sort of drew me into another way of drawing. Because when I'm writing a9:52 song, I'm seeing it. It's like a movie.9:54 Wow.9:54 Yeah. Actually, you and I have joked about that because I'll always kinda storyboard on a sheet of paper. I'll kinda draw things out of what I wanna see, you know, said, and then it's, like, 45 minutes long, and you dial10:05 me down to a normal song. But do you have to say all of that, Mark?10:09 But they need to know the sky was blue that day.10:12 So I started writing songs, and that just sort of became the way I did it. And art just kinda went to the sidelines. And when cancer happened about 5 years ago, there was some downtime, and I found myself10:24 drawing a little bit again. But then was it 2 years ago when my voice problem started? Yeah. And I wasn't able to speak for a little over a month Wow. Because I had surgery on my vocal cords, and I had a,10:36 paralyzed nerve in the vocal cord. So here I am not only can I not sing I can't talk either, we had just recorded the record Only Jesus? We're about to launch this thing out10:48 Right.10:48 And I'm silent. And it was a tough few weeks. We had to cancel a Christmas tour. And in that time, I took my daughter to Italian restaurants. You know the Italian restaurants,11:00 they have the paper on the table? Yeah. Yeah. And, the server will come up and go, my name's Gretchen, and they'll write it upside down. And you spend the rest of the time with the crayons trying to figure out how to11:08 write your name upside11:09 down. Right.11:10 So I grabbed 2 crayons, and Reagan was sitting across from me. I'd never tried it before, and I just with both hands, since she was across from me, I drew it upside down. Come on. And I drew a face with both hands for11:22 her, and it it wasn't anything special. It was just kinda scribbly. And she just like, dad, what did you just do? And, I said, I don't know. I've never done that before. And that night, I came home and started just11:34 trying it and trying to draw. And I've never really tried ever in my life to draw Jesus. It's never been something that I like doing portraits and stuff. I guess it just was the moment that only Jesus was the11:45 song. And I remember going down in my room, and I was pretty low and, just trying to figure out how is this gonna work. The the tour just got canceled. I don't know if I'm gonna sing again. They're not making me any11:56 promises. And when I sat down to draw, that's what started, and it was just the picture I have in my head. There's nothing magical about it. I didn't see it on a piece of toast. It doesn't speak to me. It was just a12:07 drawing. Okay?12:08 Yeah. Yeah.12:09 Let's don't get weird, people. Alright?12:10 That's awesome.12:11 But I just started drawing, and I remember watching his face just happen on this sheet of paper, and it was just something I I realized, this needs to be part of this journey. This is how I'm gonna worship for now.12:22 Wow.12:23 I can't sing. I can't do my thing. And I remember even asking God, like, God, you gotta fix this. This is kinda what I do. You know? To the point that I was even saying things that I know better than to say. Like, god,12:34 this is who I am. And it's like the lessons I've been teaching and the songs I've been writing, my feelings ran away with me instead.12:41 Wow.12:41 And God had to remind me, no. Actually, you are not a singer. You are mine. You're my child, and you sing. Wow. So singing can come and go, Mark, but you are mine, and you12:53 worship me, and you trust me. And, it's kinda like when Jesus looked when they asked him, like, what about him? I think he was talking to they were asking about John, maybe. Yeah. What's he gonna have to do? He goes,13:03 what does it matter to you? You follow me. And in the moments that we're in a dark place, we're like, well, this isn't fair. Look at everywhere else. And Jesus says, hey. You just follow me through this. And I remember13:14 thinking, alright. This is how my worship's gonna happen. So every night I'd go down in the basement and I would draw this picture just over and over, different styles, different ways. And when my voice started coming13:25 back and we're trying to figure out how to do the tour, I'm talking to Kyle Lawless, and he's putting video together, and we're talking to my doctors. Zach Williams is coming out on tour with us. And we remember13:36 thinking, okay. How do we do this? You probably can't sing all the songs like normal. So we're gonna have to have you sing a song or 2, and then have Megan sing this 1 instead, and Melody can sing this 1, and even Zach13:47 could come out, and he's gonna do 1 or 2 of your songs.13:50 So that your voice could slowly build its strength back up.13:53 Right. So I was just gonna baby step into this, and then he said, well, what if we had some videos to use? And Kyle saw the drawing. He says, dude, you're doing that on the stage. And I said, dude, no. I'm not.14:05 Wow. So it ain't gonna happen. And, I said, it takes me like an hour or 30 minutes to do this drawing. I said, people don't wanna watch anything for 4 minutes now, you know, much less 30. And, he said, well, you gotta14:17 figure out how you're gonna do it. And literally, the first day of the tour, in rehearsal, I sat a sheet of paper up and tried it for the first time doing it super fast because I needed14:29 to do it in 8 minutes.14:30 Right.14:30 And that day, I'd never painted before. I found watercolor pencils, drew it, and colored in with the pencils and painted it from there, and that's when it started. So, really, the first14:42 successful 1 of those done was at the very first concert of the tour in front of several thousand close friends.14:48 That's incredible. That's incredible.14:50 So as nervous as we get when we sing, now it's like I'm starting all over again for the first time. I'm like, please. Like that new kid walking into the middle school lunchroom.14:58 Can somebody love me? Anyone, please?15:01 Can anybody see those sketches somewhere? You don't really post them a lot on your Instagram feed, do you?15:06 You know, I did do a few they're on the Mark Hall's TV 1. There's even some videos of me doing it, like a time lapse kind of a thing. But we had Meghan sing, and she sang Who Am I15:18 Yes.15:18 While I drew and painted the picture. And just recently, I was at a fundraiser for a ministry, and I drew it and painted it while talking and sang the song who am I while painting it. And I feel like this is just15:30 gonna be part of my story that that's gonna be in our concerts from now on.God's Power in Weakness and Youth Ministry 15:36 But because of who I am, but because of what you've done, and not because of what I've done.15:46 I've gotten to know you over the years and to be able to consider you a friend, and I always talk a lot about how God wants to speak through the stories of our lives. Our stories have power, but we might be surprised15:58 by which chapters of our stories God's getting ready to shine the brightest through. And I think a lot of times people get fooled into thinking that, okay, well, God's gonna use my good stuff, my successes, my16:10 special talents, the most put together parts of me, the most put together chapters of my story. And yet a recurring theme in your story is how god has shined through maybe the16:22 less than perfect parts of your story. I mean, your battle with cancer, you just kinda glazed over a minute ago sharing about being dyslexic and how school was difficult for you. And it's just I see in you16:34 time and time again the living, breathing example of how God can speak through the chapters of our our stories that if it were up to us, we might have cast those aside and said, oh, no. There's no way God could use that.16:45 Yeah. Totally. It seems like I have everything picked out for how God could use everybody else. You know? I'm like, oh man, that guy would be great because he's a good talker, and this guy would be good because he's16:56 talented, but we never see ourselves in it. Yeah. I think that's a great place to start. That's that's gotta be where you start is, God, I don't see how you're gonna use me.17:04 Wow.17:05 Because a lot of folks will go, you know, I'm pretty awesome at this. How can I give this to him? I don't usually see those people go to many places. But the people that aren't sure of themselves have to depend on God,17:15 because we're like, alright, God. I'm going down if you don't do this.17:17 Man.17:18 You can camp out there too long and just tell stories about what you should've done and what you could've done. But when you finally do jump out there like David did. Right? When when he faced Goliath, he went back and17:29 he said, man, this 1 time a bear tried to to get my sheep, and I said, oh, uh-uh. Right? There's 1 time when this lion tried to come, and he he had these lion and bear stories, and he'd had the little things17:41 that he had trusted God with. So when the giant came, he was ready to jump.17:44 Wow.17:44 But we wanna go to the giant now. We're like, alright, God. I'm gonna trust you this 1 time. I want you to give me my shot. I want everybody to see it. I want 1000000 people to love me. Man. And I'll trust you with it if17:54 that works. And it just doesn't work that way. I don't know anybody's story that happens that way. Even people think that casting crowns just exploded 1 day. Dude, If We Are The Body was 8 years old before anybody18:06 in any kind of record world ever heard it. Are you serious? I've been singing it to teenagers. There's 3 or 4 different versions, musical versions of If We Are The Body. And it didn't become a legitimate song because18:15 radio played it. Wow. It was pouring into people, and there are youth pastors and pastors now because I'm just in a room with 18 kids using my gifts like I can. Man. Don't get me started.18:27 No. You're getting me fired up. And you're speaking right to me because, I mean, so many times I've been lulled into thinking that it's what I'm bringing to the table. And when you get to rely on what you're bringing to18:38 the table, then you get lulled into thinking that it's you that's gonna be able to make the impact in the world if you do a good enough job.18:45 Totally.18:46 Millions of people have been impacted by the music that the Lord's created through you, the songs, the ideas that he's inspired you to write. And yet, what do you do? You come to the table, and18:58 on the list of how you might describe yourself to other people, if you made your own resume, I don't even think musician would be number 5 on your list. You you always start by telling people that19:10 you're a youth pastor.19:11 Yeah.19:12 And I'm so inspired by that, and I think that resonates with people in such a big way that you're clearly not defining yourself by the applause of the crowd. And being a youth pastor is a title that really matters a19:24 lot to you, doesn't it?19:25 Yeah, dude. It really does. And, yeah, just hearing you say these things, it takes me back to when you and I wrote Only Jesus. Ugh. No hero in the Bible ever got up in the morning thinking I wanna be a hero. Mhmm. I19:36 don't think it ever happened. Some of them did. I think it was a Simon the sorcerer. Hey. Hey. Give me some of that power you got so I can go be awesome.19:42 Yes.19:42 And he walked away without it. But you see everyday people going, alright, God. I love you, and I'll do whatever you say. Wait a minute. You've gotta be kidding. Right? This is what I'm supposed to do, and we have to19:53 just trust him with it. What was it? Paul, he said, I decided to know nothing among you, but Christ and him crucified. He said, I didn't come at you with wise and persuasive words. Well, he didn't say that because he20:03 didn't have wise and persuasive words. Remember, he was the Hebrew among Hebrews. He was excelling in Judaism far above anybody else. He's a sharp guy. So he probably could have debated the debaters under the table. I20:15 mean, he's like quoting philosophers in scripture20:17 Right.20:18 Again, showing them how it doesn't work. But Paul was studied, and so he tells them, I've decided to know nothing among you. The the word decided is a big word Mhmm. Because I think Paul got it. The20:30 closer you get to Jesus, the more you realize I don't have anything to bring to the table. The best I can give you is not gonna change you. So it's not about humbling yourself. It's just being humbled and realize that I20:41 can't change anybody's life. I can't heal your affliction or your situation or your addiction. All I can do is give you Jesus because he can. So when anytime somebody starts going on about you, how homey you are, even20:52 then you better be careful. Because that's a rose being handed to you that is not for you.20:56 Right.20:57 That rose is not for you. You better pass that right on up to Jesus. You're on stage right now, and you're standing between God and his people. You better be very careful how you tread right here.21:05 Yeah. It's easy to be humble when you're being praised.21:08 Yeah. So if you're feeling called to do a ministry, but for some reason, every time you say it, it says in front of 1000 people, I don't know about you, man. I don't know. I think if you're called to do this ministry and21:18 write these songs and send these songs, you need to do it right now21:22 where you are with the people21:24 you're with. When I decided I wanted to do my own podcast, I was only sure of 2 things. 1, I'm passionate about the power of a story. And 2, I'm excited about getting that story to the people.21:35 All the other details, well, I had no clue. That's where Anchor comes in. Anchor is the easiest way to make a podcast. Let me explain. First of all, it's free. Tell me what else is free right now21:47 in our world. Go ahead. I'll wait. Well, Anchor, it's free. They provide creation tools that allow us to record and edit our podcasts right from our phone or computer. Like I said, easy.21:59 Anchor then distributes your podcast for you so it can be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and many more. You can even make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership. Listen, Anchor is everything that I've22:11 needed to make a podcast, and it's all in 1 place. Guess what? It's the same for you. So if you've got a story to tell and you wanna turn it into a podcast, Anchor is what you need. Download the free Anchor app22:23 or go to Anchor dot f m to get started. Remember, Anchor, so easy that Matthew West can use it. Obviously, everybody knows Casting Crowns.22:35 Everybody loves their music. You could devote your entire life to touring around the world with your concerts, and yet you go back home to Georgia, to your church, and you22:46 disciple your high school students 1 on 1, and you're back at church on Sunday, you're leading worship, and you're pouring into the lives of your youth group. Why does that continue to be so important22:58 to you? And the church and everybody would even understand, like, hey. You know what? Mark's got this other platform. He's got this other stage. What keeps bringing you back to that when you could easily just move on and23:10 focus on your platform as a recording artist?23:13 Well, I know you asked that question knowing the answer, so I I don't wanna turn it Yeah. Back on you. But I think we can always see that in other people's lives seeing that, you know, you could easily do that. But the23:23 moment that you see your own life that way, you're in trouble. The moment you see your life as I could easily do this on a much bigger scale. Yeah. You try that. Go give it a go. See how that works. Right?23:34 Wow.23:35 So for me, personally, I look at what I'm doing as this is what I'm supposed to be doing. So any off ramp I take right now is not where God wants me. So there are some artists that need to be on the road full time, and23:46 they're doing what they're doing. They need to keep rocking.23:48 Right.23:48 But I know that for me, if I'm not pouring into kids, those songs won't happen. Wow. I'm not gonna think those things. I'm not gonna teach those things. Those are coming out of me because I'm blooming where he's got me23:59 now. So if I try to skip that24:01 Yeah.24:02 If I try to skip this local body and these people that God's got me around to go get to a bigger group, it's not gonna happen. And if it does, it won't mean anything. So for me, it's not a noble thing. It's not a check24:13 me out thing. It's just I know. Yeah. I know it's not in me to write those. I've got some talent, but it's not gonna be anything life changing unless I'm where God wants me to be. And I know you know that, but I'm just24:24 saying, you know, when I start seeing myself as, man, I could easily do that, then I'm reading the wrong websites, man.24:30 Yeah. My pastor in Nashville, 1 of the online services, he made a statement. He said, you know, many of you are trying to make decisions without God's guidance. He says, you're good, but you're not that good. And I think24:41 about that in light of what you're talking about. But, you know, you're so right about what happens and what you come out when you come to Nashville and when we write songs. Now, this is what I want the listeners to24:52 picture right now. We all have these leather bound journals, and I call my journal the journal of good intentions. And the reason is is because when you and I get together, you come to town25:04 and you are determined not to open a laptop, but you have this awesome pen, and you've got this incredible leather bound journal.25:13 Dude, it's a fine tip Sharpie. Come on, man. It's It's not that funny.25:16 I always joke that I imagine, like, when you open that journal, it's like a ray of light shoots out, like, some sort of superhero movie like Thor. And then I hear, oh. But25:28 you come to town, and I start writing in my journal because I wanna be like you. And 5 minutes in, my laptop's open and my journal's back in the car. But you keep writing and drawing. And and when you open that journal,25:40 you come to Nashville and you come with these ideas. Would you say most of your song ideas really actually come out of your experiences with the youth group, your teaching, your 1 on 1 discipleship,25:52 and what the Lord shows you through that?25:54 Yeah. Any song you name, I remember when I spoke part of that first, and it'll be a chunk or a nugget or just 1 thing that I said that I saw that resonated, and that's when I know this needs to26:06 be said again. So I know that if I wasn't pouring into kids throughout the weeks, that these ideas wouldn't just happen, and it's gotta happen. I gotta be with my teenagers.Show more In this video 0:00 Launching the Story House Podcast15:36 God's Power in Weakness and Youth Ministry26:25 Redefining Legacy with Only Jesus39:30 Miracle Stories and Strength in ChristDoes the Federal Reserve Have Demonic Roots? with Laura Sanger Russell Gray
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