Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Come on.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Hey, Kingdom bound family. My name is Mike Wing. I work for Kingdom Ministries and I am joined by my very special friend, Chris Parker.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Hello. Hello. Hello.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: I want to tell you a little bit about Chris because maybe you don't know him if you're in the Kingdom bound family. He's kind of new to Kingdom bounds.
Chris is a true renaissance man. He is a man of many. Get different gifts and talents. He does have his own painting business. We are cutting edge painting. Cutting edge painting.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: Cutting edge.
All your painting needs.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: If you need any painting needs, you.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Can go to Chris.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: I'm also a local pastor.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: He is a local pastor. He's been in ministry for a while. He does worship leading. He's an artist. He's creative. He's funny.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: I am turning red.
My seat's getting warm.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: And the reason why, Chris, I asked you to join me on the podcast is you see life and things just through a completely unique lens. Different lens than me.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Different glasses.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: So I think it's going to be a good mix here, a good balance.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: Thanks, Mike.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Chris Monks.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: I love you, too. I love you, too. Hello, everybody. Like he said, I'm Chris, local business owner, local pastor, and we're going to have some fun with this new insider show that we're tackling today. Today we're going to be talking about a bunch of different things. I'm most looking forward to the game we're going to play, I think again at the end, you know, because we like to have fun, don't we, Mike? We like to have a little bit of fun. I like to have fun. I like to laugh. We hope you do. I'm not funny, though, so don't get your hopes up.
Now, the other thing, we'd like to.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: Be funny when you don't try to.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: I don't. I've noticed. Yeah, it kind of just spills over sometimes.
But that's how life goes.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: So tell us what to expect today.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Yeah, today we're going to talk about a little bit about some industry news, some KB news.
We're going to have an interview in there with one of our insiders. We're also going to talk a little bit about AI and some of the noise that's been happening there. And you should.
You should tune in because it's a good one today.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Awesome. Hey, did you know what happened on this day in Christian Music History?
1996, John Cooper and Corey Pinkertour got married. John Cooper, the lead singer of the band, member Corey.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Oh, nice.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: They got married 1996, March 1st you.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Know, I'm sure someone out there has an actual skillet that's patina is just as old.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: You know, they sell skillets as merch at their concerts like that.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: You can use camping.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: I don't know if you can use it or not, but they sell them.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: Is it toxin free?
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Who?
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Carabines free?
[00:02:38] Speaker B: That's.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: That's because I see differently.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: So, like Chris said, we're going to talk some KB news, some industry news. We're going to talk about AI AI in the Christian music world. We're going to have an interview with Mike Gordon. We're going to rate Michael W. Smith's hairstyles, what I think are the five best. And Chris is going to try to guess what year they were in.
[00:03:02] Speaker C: We're going to do that.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: But before we do that, I'm going to nail it. You do? Yeah. We'll see you. For most of them. You weren't even born yet.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: I was born in 92. That's a good point.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: But before we do any of that, this podcast would not be possible without our good friends at Elam Fellowship, without Captain Neville. And so here's a little word from Elam Fellowship and some of the things that's going on in their world.
What a blessing to be in this conference. I'm grateful to be a part of this family and to be a part of what God is doing.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: This is a place of transformation. So just being around the presence of.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: The Lord is an opportunity to change.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: And it's just no greater place to be.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: The lines that have been changed, the prophetic flow over individuals in the services. This thing is so anointed.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: It's been a really powerful experience.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: God is. I think he's sowing the seeds of revival in the fellowship again. I see it everywhere I look, reaffirming the call to ministry on my life.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: So come on out and mark your calendar for 2026.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: So, Chris, one of the things that we wanted to do in this cod in this podcast was talk about stuff going on with Kingdom Bell.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Yeah. KB News.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: Always stuff going on with us. We try to keep things moving and grooving and so one of the things that I'm really excited about, someone big.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Is coming to town. Yeah.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: April 8th, Wesleyan in Hamburg. We got Oren Wells.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Oh, what a man.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: We have Jamie McDonald and Geo, an up and coming artist.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Tor Wells is a really fun Christian artist. And I went to the Dove Awards.
He's usually the host for that.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: And he was again, high energy.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: He did a set a song and the set was absolutely amazing. Looked it was so much fun. He's got a great message, high energy and you know he's a pastor.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: I did hear that.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So he's a pastor too.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Was he. Was he always a pastor? Did he just become.
[00:05:24] Speaker C: Oh, I like.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: How did it work? Something recent. I don't know how it worked. Maybe we when we see him. But that's April 8th at 95. You're going to want tickets for that. It's going to be at a Great show. Jamie McDonald Geo. So make sure you check that out. Go to kingdombound.org for ticket.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: April when April 8th.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: 8Th at Revive Wesley Revive.
Gonna be a great show. Super excited about it.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: See you there.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: Also got some news. Yep. Make sure that if you're going to our festival in July.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: That you buy your ticket soon because we have a price increase coming up.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: A hike. Yeah.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: March 31st prices are going up for our tickets.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Across the board. So make sure you go to our website.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Get that savings.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Got about a month to do that.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: That's enough time.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: And how do you feel about daylight savings time? Do you think we still need it?
[00:06:10] Speaker A: I mean I like consistency.
So no. It would be great to not have it.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Does it throw your kids off their sleep pattern?
[00:06:17] Speaker A: You know it wouldn't always throw lights. Especially when you like have to wake up earlier or whatever. You know.
[00:06:22] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:06:22] Speaker A: But I prefer when you get an hour back. That's nice.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: It is nice.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: That's a good little gift from. Yeah.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: But it's still with her. Wreak havoc in my house. The sleep pattern of my kids.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: Plus in the sun isn't out at like dinner time anymore. Yeah. So no. It wouldn't be my thing.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: It wouldn't. So to make daylight savings time a little more special. Enjoyable. We actually have a kingdom bound daylight savings special savings. Daylight savings savings.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: That's what you should call it.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: That's exactly what. That's what we are taking. Who knows.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Get on it.
[00:06:53] Speaker B: A daylight savings savings Cha Ching. So make sure you check that out.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: When is daylight savings?
[00:07:01] Speaker B: I didn't have to look this up and we didn't have to do a second take or anything. I knew right off the top of my head that it was March 8th.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Daylight Savings Savings.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: Kingdom Bound March 8th.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: Look for April.
March 8th.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: This is an email. It'll be in our social media posts. But yeah, we have a daylight savings savings Special.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: March 8th price increase March 31st. Make sure you get your tickets for the festival before then.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: That makes you an Insider.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: So we, we do want to talk a little bit about what's going on in, in the Christian industry with music. And Chris, you mentioned the whole AI thing. So for people that don't know about it, tell us. Yeah, so tell us what's going on.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: Like anything with AI, it's. It's evolving, it's fun, it's.
It's mysterious, but not that mysterious because it's simple. That to the top of the charts has floated in the CCM world and some country stations also, and these artists that are. Maybe there's someone at the stick or the mouse, but it's really just AI music. Yeah. You've heard about this, of course.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. So what do you think about.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah, so what Chris is talking about there. Yeah, you see a picture of it.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: He's very handsome.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: That is not a real person. That isn't what AI generated.
[00:08:25] Speaker A: I want to look like that person.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: That is the quintessential gospel artist musician that AI has created and given the name Solomon Ray. And the person that created them, his name is Christopher Jermaine Townsend, who is a rapper.
There he is. There's that picture of the actual person that like, is behind Solomon Ray.
And you know, he, he. His sister. The story goes like his sister was having a hard time and so he started writing the song to help her cope and, and he put into like some kind of AI generator to help him write the song. And out pops this amazing Christian song that rises to the top of the Apple music charts. And this album that AI Solomon Ray has made was on the top of Apple music for a week and it was the most downloaded song or streamed or whatever. Yeah, whatever. Whatever Apple music does.
And people were freaking out about it. Like Forest Frank said, you know, how can something with no soul have the Holy Spirit in it? It can't minister to people, you know, other, you know, there's radio stations, Christian radio stations that won't play it because.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: It'S not making King Bound host in. Could they do it? Could they pull it off?
[00:09:52] Speaker B: I don't think so. I don't think it would be worth doing. Yeah, you'd be better off putting like a big mask on your head if you didn't want to know people, to know who you really are.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Right, true.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: What are your thoughts about like a, like O generated Christian music? What do you think?
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Well, I think AI is fun. I think it's a great tool. I think, like with all tools, you know, they could be used inappropriately. I don't think this is Necessarily a moral issue, though. Do you think it's a moral issue, too?
[00:10:23] Speaker B: I don't think it's a moral issue, no. I. I think that. I think that this person did something to, like, connect with someone very special to them and then made it public and it just happened to take off. But, no, I don't think it's a moral issue. I don't. I don't know if. I don't know if I agree with, like, people who are saying, you know, it doesn't have the Holy Spirit in it, it doesn't have a soul. Like, that's why we should ban it. You know, I feel like.
I feel like.
Like, when you talk about morals, like, the question I ask, does it point people to Jesus or does it encourage people? Sure, if it does, then I don't see the harm in it. Sure.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: But it would be your preference, I would assume.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I would not. I wouldn't listen to it if I knew, I guess is.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: That's a. Would you, like. Would you download that album now that you know that?
[00:11:13] Speaker A: I mean, I've. I've created some AI songs. It's fun.
Definitely fun. I mean, you can.
Celtic Christmas. Boom, Right? You can.
You know, I could make a song about whether or not we call it Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas in the style of Bob Marley Harley.
It would have it instantly, and it'd be very fun. It's a good time. But in terms of, like, I'm not. It's not my preference for. No, no. Not my preference.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: I was talking to an agent about this last week at the We Are Messengers concert. He made a really good point. He talked about, like, the song might be great and people might love the song, but it's. There's nothing. There's no person to, like, connect with.
And so how could this person, this AI thing, like, it's not like, it could go on the road. Like. Like, we. Like you said, we can't have it at Kingdom Bound. Like, there's nothing. There's nothing to create community. I think after seeing a lot of what happens at these concerts that I have to work at and get to be a part of and the festival, people go to concerts and they follow bands because there's some kind of, like, connection there. And a band and a speaker, like, they can create community.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Let me read you this and tell me how this sits with you. So Adam Russell, he's a vineyard guy, pastor person. He creates a whole argument, but then he ends it by saying maybe the real crisis isn't that AI Lacks the Holy Spirit. Because that was one of Forest Frank's point. Yeah.
But that we've grown accustomed to worship that could take or leave him.
When I heard that, I was like, oh, wow, yeah, preach as we say, Mr. Pastor Adam Russell. And yeah, I just, that really resonated with me when I read it. And then his, his argument there is that because of the fact that nobody noticed for a while. That was his thing.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: And so like.
And I guess it depends on where you're coming from from the theological perspective here, but I would say that to me does feel like the bigger issue when it comes to this topic at hand. The critique of the critique, you know.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: So how does that sit with you?
[00:13:38] Speaker B: No, it makes complete sense. It's like if we don't know what the imposter is.
You know, it's the whole thing of when people study. When bank tellers study a dollar bill. Like they, they don't study what the fake dollar bill looks like. They study what the real dollar bill looks like. We've all heard that sermon analogy. And so yeah, like if we, if, if we're so easily tricked, if we're so. If we don't really understand what a song is that's filled by. That's. That's created by someone filled with the Holy Spirit, we don't know the difference between a song that's not.
Who's that on? That's not on. That's not on AI. Right. It's on us. That's a good point. I like that.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Yeah. I do wonder what the minimal threshold is there. Right. Because like even, like most churches, not all, but you know, even backing tracks, even, you know, it's not AI, but it is pre recorded and like sometimes. Well, who record that? Was it. Was it a real Jesus believing bass player or was it just your crazy Uncle Ran Tim? That doesn't bother me either way. Just to be clear. But the, the argument around this whole thing is I'm confused where that minimal threshold is. Like there's a lot of gray area between. Yeah. Like how much, to use your analogy, CGI is, is, is the thing that makes it non Holy Spirit filled in that example or in a different example, like not human enough.
And you know, obviously there's a lot of lawsuits associated with all these things and probably we. There is not an answer yet until like those things really. Because, you know, follow the money. So once the lawsuits fall into place, then we'll have some more language there probably. But I'm wondering like, because I don't I don't personally have a problem with it at all. And if someone loves that song by what Was a Solomon Ray, yeah, that's great.
[00:15:31] Speaker B: If it encourages them. Right. If it points them to Jesus, it can't be like the, the, the attempt in itself isn't a bad thing. Yeah, I guess, you know, there's, it's a slippery slope. You know, it's. I, I could understand why artists are, are concerned about it because, you know, that's their bread and butter, that's their career, that's their industry. And so I understand the concern there and I think, I think you spoke to it a little bit too, of where their concern comes from. It's kind of like, are people going to be able to tell the difference between a Forest Frank song, a Casting Crown song, songs that are like, people put their time and effort and energy and passion and prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit, Are people going to be able to tell that apart from just someone sitting on a computer and typing in a box what they're looking for and out pops this song? And I could understand the concern there.
You know what?
[00:16:30] Speaker A: They would always be able to tell the difference between what Michael W. Smith and A.I.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: Yes.
But before we get to Michael W. Smith and my ranking of my five favorite hairstyles, we do have an amazing interview with a very special friend of the program. His name is Mike Gordon, and Mike has been a speaker at Kingdom Mound for a long time. He speaks all across North America and he's writing a book. And so I had a real special opportunity to sit down with Mike for a few minutes and just kind of catch up on life and where, how he's doing and what he's been up to and kind of what the book is going to be about. So take a minute and, and check out this interview. You're here in Lockport, New York. You text me a couple months, a couple weeks ago that you had an open night in your thing. So thank you so much for, first of all, coming to our area.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: First of all, thank you for having me. And yeah, this is what happened. So, like, I'm speaking and with my schedule, I thought I was done for the year, you know, and then I had one invite to speak at a Christian high school. Okay. And that turned into, I think, seven other speaking engagements all in around two days. Basically, without embellishing, I'm kind of wrapping up for the year, you know, and which is a good thing because I'm already ready, ready to hit the ground running in 20, 26. I mean, this year, I think I did about 130, 140 engagements and then finished writing a book in the process. And as mentioned to you, just before we started recording, kind of jumping into the TV world a little bit too. And I love it. But my problem is if I don't stop, like, I just keep going and going and going. So it's a bittersweet season for me right now where things are slowing down, but I know they will ramp up very quickly.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Well, that's one of the things I wanted to ask you because you. Like you said, it's a bittersweet season because things are ramping down. Like, a lot of people this time of year, they look at the end of December and they're like, I don't want to go to Lockport on a snowy night freezing my butt off. And like, you had this open night, you're filling your schedule with as much things. What keeps you on the grind, like, what keeps you motivated just to minister. Get in front of as many people as you can. Like, what pushes you? What is inside of you that says, instead of taking the time off or going Christmas shopping or going to a Christmas party, why are you here in Lockport, New York? Why are you in Niagara Falls ministering? Like, why do you keep pushing this much that you do?
[00:18:59] Speaker C: Well, yeah, I guess I could be doing other things. Very true. But like, my heart to serve. Just my heart, you know, I. I love Jesus, I love people. And for whatever reason, God has given me this little speaking ministry, which I think just brings both worlds together. You know, you get to share Jesus and hang out with people. Great opportunity. But my heart is really to serve. Like I mentioned when, when I was a little younger, new as a speaker going back maybe 13, 14 years ago, I think I looked at speaking as speaking gigs. And what I meant by. What I mean by that is I felt like I had to get gig to boost my profile and boost my network and get my name out there. And it was almost like a check mark of like, okay, did my 200 gigs this year and whatnot.
And just that, me being honest. Yeah, but. But over the years, you started realizing, like, you know what, I'm doing ministry. I knew I'm doing ministry, but just kind of change and, you know, a heart of serving. It's now, it's not.
I want to speak to help my profile now. I want to speak so I can just serve these amazing ministries like here in Lockport or Kingdom Bound as well. My heart to serve. And I know at Kingdom Bound, for example, for whatever reason you keep booking me, I'm gonna keep saying yes until. Until I'm an old man.
But I tell you every time I say, you have me, use me. Yeah, you know, my heart to serve. You know, if you want me to go speak on that big stage or that tiny stage or, you know, help, whatever, that's just my heart by behind what I do. And it's really changed the ministry because, you know, I'm coming in not with a, how do I boost my kingdom. With, how do you be a part of God's kingdom? I know, like, that's a silly thing to say. Going back 14 years seemed obvious, like, oh, of course it's God's kingdom. I can probably look back in the season of my life as a speaker where I would have looked at an opportunity. Tonight as a, oh, here's another network that I can maybe, you know, get my name out there. It might lead to bigger things. Yeah, no, no, Tonight was, hey, I had a night off. Here's a ministry I want to serve, and great people I know surrounded by that ministry, and here we are. So that's what. That's what motivates me. Serving, ultimately, sharing Jesus and loving people.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: It's. It's really neat. It's been really neat to watch you have that heart to serve and then also, like, improve in your skills and get better. And I think God has blessed your heart to serve, and so it's been really neat. Now, you said you had 135 speaking engagements this year. Is that 130? And on top of that, you wrote a book?
[00:21:31] Speaker C: I heard a book.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: What is. How did that come about? Tell me, why did you wake up one morning and were like, I have a book inside of me. Tell me about that.
[00:21:39] Speaker C: I wish it was that easy. You know, I think for me, I had an idea for a book a long time ago, but I had no desire to actually write a book. I know it sounds really silly. You know, maybe I did not want to work hard at it.
[00:21:54] Speaker B: You know, I'm not sure what it is.
[00:21:55] Speaker C: Or maybe P.S. you know, PSTD, you know, like, you know, I failed, you know, too many English classes, you know, and, you know, grammar checked. I'm not sure what it was, but for a long time, you know, I wanted to write, but didn't actually want to physically write again. Very silly.
What inspired this whole writing journey I started was a couple years ago, you know, I was in 2019.
I'm about to speak at a. At a Christian conference, a pretty significant conference to Me at least. And the day before I'm rushed to the hospital, you know, and I'm hoping it was just a minor situation which wasn't the case. Like, um, I ended up being in the hospital for almost, almost 25 days. Almost literally almost lost my life in the hospital. And that's not embellishing like a circumstance.
Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah. And like a doctor gave the whole like 30% of people die in your situation. So like you might.
Yeah. Hang in there.
I'm not sure if. I'm not sure if he said hang in there, but good luck. You know, that actually inspired the book. How many well meaning people message me during that time trying to explain why it happened, so why I was in the hospital and why I was almost dying and why I had to cancel in 81 city speaking to her because of it. Like, wow. Seemed like everyone had an answer to the why and to me none of those answers made sense.
[00:23:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:18] Speaker C: And they're all very different.
[00:23:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:20] Speaker C: So I think what came out of that season was, you know, is there an answer to the why? And I think maybe sometime we go through hard circles, circumstances, and maybe there is. Here's why it happened.
I feel there's other times in life you may not get an answer. So that little season of my life stuck with me and the idea of wanting to write a book. Oh, by the way, I didn't mention wanting to write a book. I had no idea what to write about. You know, that was also problem number two. But just seemed like the two worlds came together now. I had the desire to write, but now something to write about. The whole book is really about when you go through a hard time. What if you never get an answer? What does that look like? So, you know, it takes on some heavy topics and emotions.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: However, if you heard me speak before, I know you have.
I have a very twisted sense of humor and I love storytelling and it's just weird all around.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:12] Speaker C: This book is like a really weird read of like, there's some heavy stuff and tons of fun stories and.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: You know, I'm just thinking of the person going through a hard time. It just feels like they can't get out of bed or maybe they're going through a brutal like divorce or going through, you know, chemo and somehow my book landing in their hands. And I. I picture people bursting out in laughter.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: Not tears, but laughter.
[00:24:35] Speaker C: Reading the book, you know, in the hardest time of their life, laughing. And I want to bring joy to people, you know, with the book. But also Give them peace, knowing sometimes you might not know why it happened. That's okay. Doesn't change the fact that God loves you. Does not change the fact that he sent his son. Jesus died for our sins. Like, those things are still reality and true no matter what you're going through. So that's the motivation behind the book. That's why I wrote and hopefully hoping maybe it can help bring joy into someone's life who's going through a hard season.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: We want God to use, like, all the things that we think we're good at the most. Like, we want him to shine a spotlight on those things. But you didn't have anything to write until you went through the worst season of your life that you've ever been.
And isn't it interesting how God will use those really tough times or the times that you do your best to avoid, or the days that you dread, or the days that you look back on and you just question.
But that's what God gives you the book to write about, 100%.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: And I think I had some good people come alongside me, rather give me that wisdom. I'm Canadian, so I'm not very bright. Gave me that wisdom and said, hey, you can use this story. You can use, you know, how you saw God through it and a lesson you learned to maybe help other people.
I don't want that to be in vain. I don't want that to be a situation where it's almost died. It's like, I'm fine now. I think there's more to it. I think I can take that and was able to kind of package it into some words and hopefully can use that to just encourage that person who doesn't know why they're going through what they're going through. Keep following, you know, don't give up on Jesus.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: All right, so the last question, the most important one, the one we want to know the answer of the most, the one that we're going to ask all the people that we interview on our podcast.
Is a hot dog a sandwich?
[00:26:21] Speaker C: I have never heard that before. Is a hot dog a sandwich?
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Is a hot dog a sandwich, in your opinion?
I feel this is a long. I can't believe you would be. Maybe it's because you're Canadian, but this.
[00:26:32] Speaker C: Is a long, debated. Well, I'll say like a sandwich. I'd eat a sandwich with two hands.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Yeah, a hot dog.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: Eat with one sometimes.
[00:26:40] Speaker C: Maybe it's a big one. Yeah, like a foot long. I.
Oh, that's not a sandwich, man.
[00:26:44] Speaker B: No, no.
[00:26:45] Speaker C: I I think a hot dog is not a sandwich.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: So Mike Gordon says a hot dog is not a sandwich. That's probably. Okay, good. So we can put that on the. On the fact we'll mark it down.
Hey, thank you so much, man. Seriously, thank you to Freedom Church for hosting. But seriously, thank you for reaching out, for texting me, asking me if. If we had something available.
Thanks for coming. Thanks for your time here.
This is kind of something we're trying to get off the ground. And when we started thinking about our podcast, I said one of the first people I want to reach out to is Mike. So thank you so much.
[00:27:14] Speaker C: Well, thanks for having me. And I love what you're doing. I love the ministry that you do personally, and also Kingdom Mound, and what you have is special. So thank you for allowing me to.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Come and hang out.
[00:27:24] Speaker C: And I can't wait to see where it all goes. Absolutely.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: All right. Thanks, man. As Christians, we are tasked to introduce Jesus Christ to every person.
Operation Christmas Shout gift boxes. Open those doors.
The greatest gift you can give anyone is a knowledge of God and his son, Jesus Christ.
Through the gift boxes, we are helping churches to see this as an outreach to those that have never heard the gospel.
We are seeing children coming to the Lord, taking the gospel back to their families. And the gospel continues to go places.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: Where it has never gone before.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: Every box is an opportunity for a child to hear that Christ came to this earth for them. Keep packing these boxes and continue to pray for these children. God bless you.
So in March, I had the opportunity to go with Operation Christmas Child Samaritan's Purse, on one of the trips to hand out shoeboxes. And it was absolutely incredible. Incredible to see what they do. The kids that get them are blown away. They're so blessed by it. But what people don't know too about it is every kid that gets a shoebox is connected with a local church, and that local church offers them a 12 week discipleship class that teaches them the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and all the stuff in between. And these kids are not just getting a gift, they're getting discipled, but they're also getting connected to the local church. So I firmly believe in Operation Christmas Child. It's not just a sponsor. We really do feel like we're partnering with an amazing opportunity. So thank you. Operation Christmas Child A for all you do for for this planet, but also for just being a part of the kingdom bound family.
All right.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: You know what that means?
[00:29:21] Speaker B: I do know what that means. It's time. So I Don't have a lot of hair, obviously. I lost.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: I love all your hairstyles.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: I.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: All of them.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: I lost my hair when I was, like, 18. It was really early on.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: All of it.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Most of it. My wife will tell you all of it. I am in denial that.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Was there a chemical accident or.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: It's just in my family, it's genetic, you know, so is that how that works? So I'm very jealous of good hair. Oh, I feel like you have good hair.
[00:29:45] Speaker A: Wow. Thanks. Yep.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: So for this episode, what I thought I would do is give you my ranking of Michael W. Smith's best hairstyles throughout the year.
Just because that man is a handsome man.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: He's a handsome man, and he's had.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: A lot of different hairstyles.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: How old is he now? He still looks good, man.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: I don't want to guess because I don't want to offend anybody.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: 36. Yes.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: That's a great guess.
So what I want you to do, though, is I want you to try to guess. And we're going to show a picture. Sorry to those who are just listening, but we're going to show a picture of the album cover. Yeah. And you try to guess the year.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Sure.
I was born in 92.
So.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: So that. So he's just given you a little. This. This might not go great. Michael W. Smith. We're sorry, but this is. I think this will be fun.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: That's. I'm looking forward to it. Let's see it.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: And I've named each of them.
[00:30:41] Speaker A: Oh, but I have to pick the year.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: You have to try to guess.
[00:30:44] Speaker C: All right, here we go.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: All right, I'm down.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: So the first one.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Let's see.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: I call it the Karen.
[00:30:50] Speaker A: The Karen.
Michael W. Smith. Wonder.
[00:30:53] Speaker B: What do you think the year was?
[00:31:03] Speaker A: 2001.
[00:31:05] Speaker B: 2001.
[00:31:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't let me know if I'm right because then it will affect, you know, the other ones. You should wait till the end or.
[00:31:12] Speaker C: Maybe let me know.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: I'm gonna let you know. That was 2010.
I feel like that hair.
[00:31:17] Speaker C: Haircut.
[00:31:18] Speaker B: That hairdo. Yeah. Is screaming. Like he just wants to give you his opinion about how coffee in the lobby is too worldly or fog machines are demonic. That's why I call it the Karen. I feel like.
[00:31:29] Speaker A: Oh, sure, sure, sure.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: Like if you had that hairdo.
[00:31:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Forget AI.
[00:31:35] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: 2010.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: 2010. I also.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: Off to a great start.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: I also. What do you think about this? Like, I feel like if you had that hairdo in 2010.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: Are his tips frosted?
[00:31:45] Speaker B: I It seems like it.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: I mean, that seems good look.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: But I feel like if you had that hairdo, the brace, the bracelets came with it.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Oh, sure.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: Remember those bracelets? I feel like you had those bracelets.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: I did not.
I, I, I didn't even dress myself today. My wife dresses me.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: She did a good job.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Thanks.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: So that's 2010. I call it the Karen. And that's the fifth best.
[00:32:09] Speaker A: That's a great pin. For me to do better.
I wonder if I can do better. I think I can.
The Karen.
[00:32:20] Speaker B: All right, here's number four. Number four. I call this one the Worship Wave.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: That's the same guy.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: That's the same. Wow.
[00:32:27] Speaker A: That's like Tron.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: So I made this, and I'll give you a minute to think about this. I'm thinking some context, why this one? The reason I gave this one number four.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Is it really is a personal reason.
It's nostalgic. My dad had that same exact hairstyle.
[00:32:42] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, he looks like all the people in that movie, that Jesus people movie.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: I could show you a picture of. Of my dad with that same exact hairstyle pretty much from the same year that this album came out. What do you think? What do you think? This one's.
[00:32:58] Speaker A: I want to go with this.
[00:32:59] Speaker B: This album is called the Michael W. Smith Project.
[00:33:02] Speaker A: So is it his first one? I'm gonna go. 1983.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Are you serious?
You nailed it.
[00:33:10] Speaker A: You.
[00:33:10] Speaker B: You didn't know? You really didn't know?
[00:33:13] Speaker A: No.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: The backdrop also reminds me of every school picture I ever took.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: Even the Tron bits.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: You've, you've had to. You had to have a school picture with that backdrop?
No, no.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: Mine were mostly gray, blue, brown.
[00:33:30] Speaker B: Back in my day, like, that was the background for pictures, for school yellows. Yeah. Just that style here. I have Ever seen the original Tron?
[00:33:39] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I checked. That's.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Is that why you knew the year?
[00:33:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, no, but I guessed.
[00:33:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: There's also an album of his that says the best of the decades. And then it's like 1983 to 2003 or something. So I was like, maybe that's his first album.
[00:33:57] Speaker B: That was.
Here's the question I have, I guess, is that hairstyle, that wave and that beard, is it coming back in style? I feel like it is. I feel like I see that now.
[00:34:08] Speaker A: There was a hot minute where, like, the pole cut was back too.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:13] Speaker A: Like, you know, you just gotta be. You gotta be. You gotta wear really baggy jeans to pull that off. I think yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: All right, here's my number three. I call it the Don Draper. That's just.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: That's just classic Don Draper. That's.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: If I had men. Yes. Yeah. If I had hair, this is what I would want. And that's why I gave it the number three ranking, because this is probably.
And then you throw in that suit, the double breasted suit with. With. With the. With the vest. That is just. That's a handsome guy right there.
[00:34:50] Speaker A: Handsome.
[00:34:50] Speaker B: The Don Draper. Michael W. Smith and friends. The spirit of Christmas. What do you think that was?
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Well, if the. If that first one was 2010, I'm going to put this one at 2015.
[00:35:03] Speaker B: You're getting good at this.
[00:35:04] Speaker A: Really?
[00:35:05] Speaker B: That was 2014.
That picture right there, it screams, I look good and I know it.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: He does look good, and he knows it.
He plays piano good, and he knows it.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: He does everything good.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: He should be the next model for our next AI Song. Look at the.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: Look at the artists he had.
Bono.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: Bono, Lady Antebellum, Amy Grant, Carrie Underwood.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: This dick has a Rolodex.
[00:35:35] Speaker A: Do you know what year was this? 2014. Yeah, I know. A Rolodex.
I heard you imagine, like, calculating contacts in his phone.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: With that hairstyle, this guy is unstoppable.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: He probably plays hockey, too.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: He picks up the phone and everybody.
[00:35:50] Speaker A: Answers, even on FaceTime.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: Partly because of his hair. Even on FaceTime.
[00:35:56] Speaker A: All right, so that's number three. The Don Draper.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's number three. Okay, here's number two.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: I've only gotten one correct, so.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: Yeah, you were close on that Zeno.
This is. I gave this the second I called the Ducky Dale.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: He probably draws a Firebird in that picture, too.
Well, if the other was 83, he's got, like, early Seinfeld vibes.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: I made the last two really difficult.
[00:36:21] Speaker A: So I'm gonna say 19. Oh, but it says greatest hits.
[00:36:24] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:36:24] Speaker A: So I almost. That's like that assignment when your. Your teacher gives you the. Oh, if you read the directions, you're just supposed to sign your name and hand it in. If I wouldn't have seen greatest hits, I would have said 89.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Well, you should have. You have to remember, this is Michael W. Smith we're talking about. This man has many hits.
[00:36:39] Speaker A: Yeah, true.
[00:36:39] Speaker B: By 1989, he had.
He had a lot of songs.
[00:36:43] Speaker A: At least that many. 25.
[00:36:44] Speaker B: Good.
You were right on the nose, 89. Wow. When I think of the 80s, just in general, that's the hairstyle that I picture in my.
[00:36:53] Speaker A: You should reverse osmosis that hair? You know, just.
[00:36:57] Speaker B: What are you. What do you mean?
[00:36:58] Speaker A: Like, you know, grow out the sides have the top gone. Oh, wait, that's just the traditional thing.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: It looks like he just got done auditioning for Pretty in Pink.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: He probably did lost it.
[00:37:12] Speaker B: The album says greatest hits, but that might have been arguably his greatest hair.
[00:37:17] Speaker A: It's pretty handsome.
[00:37:18] Speaker B: Would you ever rock that?
[00:37:20] Speaker A: Sure, why not?
[00:37:22] Speaker B: The style is definitely coming back in with the blazer and the jean shirt.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: Yeah, right. Right there.
[00:37:28] Speaker B: All right, you're ready for my number one.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: Number one.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: I called the Barry Gibb.
This is Michael W. Smith. When I think about Michael W. Smith, that's the hairstyle that I picture.
[00:37:38] Speaker A: He looks like he. He belongs on the soundtrack of Stranger Things or something.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: Michael W. Smith turned to Barry Gibbs and he said, hold my Aqua Net.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: Oh, go west.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: Yep, go west, young man.
[00:37:53] Speaker A: That hair. 91.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: Close 90.
That hair has more layers than a youth pastor's sermon. Look at that thing.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: Onions. That's some layer upon layer. Beautiful hair.
Now, that's not something that's back in style, though.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: So if you. If you had to take the five, which one would you put at number one?
[00:38:16] Speaker A: Based on Hera, Only it'd be the Tron.
Oh, yeah.
[00:38:19] Speaker B: You go with the wave.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean. I mean, I want to lead a cult, so.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: You want to lead a cult, you.
[00:38:26] Speaker A: Gotta look like that.
That's my aspirations.
[00:38:31] Speaker B: A Christian cult, though, Right?
[00:38:32] Speaker A: Well, that's called in.
[00:38:33] Speaker B: How are you in Christian talk? That's called a con.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Isn't that how you get rich quick?
I think so. That was definitely the Toronto. What year was drawn? 83.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: Put that in there because my dad had it. I wouldn't. That wouldn't have made the cut if my dad didn't have that. Well, that was 83.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, the very good one's good too, though.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: That's classic.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: That's probably because of the Firebird that I'd want. Yeah, it would be all electric now.
Firebird.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: What do you mean by all electric? What is that?
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Like a car, you know?
[00:39:06] Speaker B: Oh, an oled, like, that's what it would be nowadays.
You plug that bad boy.
[00:39:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:13] Speaker B: I don't understand the. I was talking to somebody the other day about electric cars, and they're like, yeah, yeah. It only takes about three hours to fully charge. I'm like, what do you do if you're on a road trip?
[00:39:22] Speaker A: You get to one of those superchargers.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: Yeah, but it still takes like 45 minutes.
[00:39:27] Speaker A: I don't know. I haven't tried.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: It just seems silly to me.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: I think I'd put one in if the state paid me.
That's how it works, Right?
[00:39:39] Speaker B: So you do the. You do the wave for your number one. What was the worst that you thought was in there?
[00:39:45] Speaker A: Probably number one, but that might have just been because of my performance. Yeah. I'm not sure. Okay.
I don't know. It just gives me vibes of like, I'm not sure I want to talk to that guy. Which is why you named it the Karen.
[00:39:58] Speaker B: That's exactly why I named it the care.
[00:40:00] Speaker A: It's funny how style changes, isn't it? Yeah.
I'm gonna make fun of myself someday for exactly how I look.
[00:40:06] Speaker B: You'll look at a picture and go, like, what was I thinking?
I've done that.
[00:40:09] Speaker A: I'll forgive you.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
Much better guessing Michael w. Smith's hairstyle years than I thought.
[00:40:17] Speaker A: Renaissance.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: That's how I describe you.
[00:40:20] Speaker A: I'll take it all day.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: Hey, thanks for hanging out with us.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: This has been fun.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: So it's been fun for us. Hopefully it's been fun for you. We got a couple things to look forward to in our next episode. Our next episode is going to be a bunch of stories from people who have been a part of the kingdom bounce family for a while that were captured at our past festival. I'm looking forward to hearing just from some 25. Your friends.
[00:40:41] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: Your friends and family. Kingdom mound family. I feel what I say is Kingdom mounds like a family reunion every year. And these are people that come back for the reunion and they've been doing it for a long time and they got some stories. What else do we have on our next coming up episode?
[00:40:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:57] Speaker B: But we do need something from you down the pipe.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Coming down. Remember Carmen?
[00:41:02] Speaker B: I do.
[00:41:03] Speaker A: So that's not exactly who I'd pick, but we're gonna do this little fun thing that we'd like to hear some impact or impact, Dear lord. We're gonna do this fun little thing that we'd love to get some feedback from from y'.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: All.
[00:41:16] Speaker A: And if you take a look at the little banner at the bottom, you'll see where you can email us.
[00:41:20] Speaker B: We'd love to know. KB Insider Pod gmail.com kbinsiderpod gmail.com for those who are just listening, that is.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: A detail that we knew ahead of time. Now. Now what we need from you there is we'd love to know just a little input. Hey, who could you bring back if you could like artist wise Carmen, maybe?
[00:41:42] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: It was just something that popped in my head. Now I remember Carmen.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: I used to go to a summer camp, and every year they would do a puppet show. The Carmen Song Champion. And then they would.
Yeah, then they would do an altar call. And everybody would get saved. Me up a year, and I went up every year, right? It would. Scared the heck out of me.
[00:42:01] Speaker A: How many times you've been saved?
[00:42:02] Speaker B: Seven or eight. At least.
[00:42:04] Speaker A: Not nine.
[00:42:06] Speaker B: Six or seven?
[00:42:08] Speaker A: Six. Seven.
[00:42:11] Speaker B: All right, folks, that's it. That's all we got.
Thanks for hanging out with us.
Mike Gordon says that hot dog is not a sandwich. So that's 1 0. We'll see what our future guests have to say. See ya, Man.
[00:42:30] Speaker C: We got that joy.
