Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Come on,
[00:00:07] Speaker C: get him up now. That wonderful, wonderful music from Sean Rodriguez can only mean one thing. We have another episode of the KB Insider pod.
And we are so happy to be with you. I'm Mike Wing, I'm the associate director at Kingdom Bound. And as usual, my wonderful, amazing co host, Chris Parker. Chris, happy to.
[00:00:31] Speaker D: Good to be here.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Good to be here.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: An insider you are.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: I'm inside this helmet.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: An insider. You know what I think what the reason you're wearing that is, Is that what you had to wear to be in the mosh pit whenever you listen to your, your, one of your favorite bands pod?
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Yeah. You want to know a secret about me?
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: I didn't break a hundred pounds until the 10th grade.
[00:00:53] Speaker C: 10th grade.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: And mosh pits were one of my favorite thing in middle school.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: I loved a good mosh pit.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: So you gotta, you gotta know, you gotta be prepared.
[00:01:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Almost lost a tooth one time. Really?
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Did you ever do a circle pit? You ever been in a circle?
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Oh, I've been, I've. I've started a circle pit.
[00:01:10] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: I am the circle pit.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: This day in Christian Music History, 1974, Sonny Sandoval, lead singer of POD was born. They though good lord for that day.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: You know, there's that, that song Boom that's on the sonic track.
[00:01:26] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: It's by somebody else. But then Boom comes up by Pod.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: So now my kids are all like, boom. Here comes the boom.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:37] Speaker D: Ready?
[00:01:37] Speaker A: And now you come the boys from the south down.
[00:01:39] Speaker D: Boom, boom, boom.
[00:01:46] Speaker C: I had a friend, his name was Nick Pauline. Shout out to Nick Pauline who loved pod and he tried to look like Sonny Sanibo. He, he had the hair and the look.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Well, why wouldn't you want to be like a guy? So you know what my favorite was?
[00:02:00] Speaker C: What? Boom.
Well, I, I'm kind of picking that up.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Although Youth of the Nation was pretty good too.
[00:02:05] Speaker C: Yeah, that was a good one.
So in this episode, what do we got going on? We have some amazing stories for you.
These stories are from some of our favorite Kingdom bound artists that were with us at the festival last year. Who was there, we had for artists that are in this episode. Michael Peace. He's one of my all time favorites. All time, all time favorites. I don't if, if he's playing the main stage, I don't care what I'm doing, I'm listening to him.
We had Ant Lee, lakeisha Bridges, Chris Hopper. All these people are on the POD today. We're super excited for the stories.
But before we get to the Stories.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Yeah, we gotta do Kingdom News. Xantians have taken over the Ottoman Empire even though they control the same landmass. What will happen in today's episode of we the King Dumb Bound news?
[00:03:01] Speaker C: So in case you're just listening to this, you really should go number one. You really should go to YouTube and watch it because it's so much better. But in case you're only listening to this, the reason I'm laughing is because Chris is in. What kind of. What kind of helmet would you even say this is, Chris?
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Oh, it's night. Templar.
[00:03:17] Speaker C: Knights of the Templar.
So Chris is in the Knights of the Templar helmet. And so that's why I'm laughing, because I looked over and he had this helmet on.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Classic. So in today's episode, we'll be hearing from some artists that will be at.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: Favorite artists.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sorry.
Some of our favorite artists.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: So on today's episode, we'll be hearing from some of our favorite artists.
[00:03:42] Speaker C: Favorite.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Some of your favorite.
[00:03:44] Speaker F: Some of mine.
[00:03:45] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Everybody's favorites. From Kingdom Bound, you'll be hearing some stories.
[00:03:50] Speaker C: If Michael Peace is not one of your favorite artists, then don't be my friend.
And that's. I'm standing by that.
I'm standing by it. I'd rather have Michael Peace in my life than you.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: And welcome back to the Kingdom Bound Insiders podcast. And I. I've got to interview a lot of amazing men and women of God, performers, speakers, part of the operations team, the whole family here. But the next guest is a personal hero of mine. I want to welcome the one and only Michael Peace. Welcome, Michael.
[00:04:28] Speaker G: Thanks, Kev. Good to be here, man.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: I had to. I had to be bugging everybody that I knew was on stage. I said, you. You tell Michael he's got to come.
[00:04:34] Speaker G: Oh, they told me.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: I said, you know Kevin? You know who he is?
[00:04:38] Speaker G: Yes, they told me. That's why. Well, I said, I better. I better get on this.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: So I love this.
[00:04:42] Speaker G: It's good to be here.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: I had the privilege of going to church with you and your beautiful wife and. And just see everything you guys are doing at Betho Express.
[00:04:49] Speaker G: Yes, sir.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: And it's amazing ministry. How's the stage going? Tell us a little bit about.
[00:04:53] Speaker G: It's going really, really well. Actually, even day one was.
Day one felt like day three. In other words, it felt like if we had been here all along, it was just the first day we saw a significant number of people who were there just checking out what we were doing that did not have Kingdom Bound, bracelets on.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Because you guys are literally right in the park South. The amusement park.
[00:05:15] Speaker G: Yes. You don't have to be a part of Kingdom Bound to be here to be where we are.
We're smack dab in the middle of the park. So historically, I've treated it. Treat it like it's an outreach, you know, literally, or like a block party kind of a thing out there, because, you know, I like to reach the Lord and I like being outdoors, you know, with the gospel and everything. So it's been really good just talking to people. So I look for the people who do not have a kidney. Bound wristband. So I walk over, say, hey, how you doing? You know, you enjoying yourself? You know, can I get you a bottle of water? You good? You know, that kind of a thing we get in conversations, you know, let them know that they. When they. When that artist is done on the stage over there, if you want to meet them, I'll hook you up, you know, that kind of a thing. And just about everybody has said, yeah, well, I would like to do that.
[00:06:06] Speaker B: And they come over, they got the. We got to talk with Antlee yesterday. We were telling about his performances.
[00:06:12] Speaker G: He's a good brother.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: He is. Yeah.
[00:06:13] Speaker G: He's a good emcee. Real good emcee.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:16] Speaker G: Yep. So it's been good. It's been real good. I'm glad about it. Now. I do not disregard the people of God, of course. They're my family.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Right.
[00:06:24] Speaker G: I'm really looking for the loss.
[00:06:26] Speaker B: And that's the beauty of, you know, Keenan Bound has the big concerts, the big whoosh of Ted for the having you guys and the I am second gang who is just.
[00:06:34] Speaker G: We had them here.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: We're just talking about them. They're just. They're everywhere, you know, and they have the same heart that you do with that.
[00:06:42] Speaker G: They certainly do. They're world class. And Tanya, she's pretty much the big dog with I am second representation here at Kingdom Bound. And I told her she's my second favorite Canadian now.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:06:56] Speaker G: All right. She probably won't ever get number one because that's one of my closest friends on the planet.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: So who's the number one?
[00:07:03] Speaker G: Oh, I did. John Burkholder. Pastor John Burkholder from Sweater Spirit Church in Buffalo, New York.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: Beautiful. As a Canadian, my goal is now to track the top 10. That's it.
[00:07:14] Speaker G: Oh, well, Kev, you're way. You are easily in the top 10 then. I did not know you're Canadian. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You on my list. Up there, top 10. Anyway, I love that. Us, the nationalities, for real. But yeah, so Tanya, she.
I told Tanya that I. I've seen ministries, really good ones that are concerned about reaching a loss, have been strategic as to how they want to reach the loss and things like that and how they approach evangelism and outreach. And I told her, nobody does it like I am. Second that I've seen, you know, and they have the.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: The passion, they have the skill, they have the media.
Yeah. And they use all the tools.
[00:07:52] Speaker G: Yeah. And they do it. They. They do it world class. They really do. And I. I've enjoyed. This is our second year with our partnership with Hussein as Kinnabel. It's our second year with a partnership with them, and I hope it just remains because they are.
All of them are just special people over there, man.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: And Michael talking about, you know, the history of kingdom boundaries. I was saying before you all, there is the Kingdom Bound. I remember my first year, I came in 1988, which I think was the second year.
[00:08:23] Speaker G: Yes.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: I remember seeing you on stage. You know, I didn't know who you were at the time, but little did we know you're going to become, you know, the grandfather of Christopher Ralph. You know, that really, really paved the way for every generation that we see here today.
But Kingdom Bound has been part of that all the way through for you, hasn't it?
[00:08:40] Speaker G: Yes, the original.
Well, the original.
Slow down, Mike. The founder and the original executive director of Kinnabau, Fred Caserta at the time, he was also my agent. And so of course he got Julia and I all over the country and other parts of the world for that matter. He's the one that started Kingdom Out. So of course, naturally I was going to be at the first one as a result of that. And so I've been to every Kingdom out we've ever had. I remember the one, the infamous. We call it Rain fest.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: That was 92, right.
It was just mud everywhere.
[00:09:22] Speaker G: I'm not easily discouraged. Disappointed, bothered, agitated, ticked off. Not very often. You can ask anybody who knows me, but I have to tell you, man, I was just miserable. That rain, I won't forget because back then the backstage was a different area of the park than we have right now. And there's a small body of water back there. Man made body of water. And I remember, you know, just looking over the water and I said, lord, if it rains one more day like this, I am going into town, I'm going to buy wood and I'm going to build me an ark.
[00:09:57] Speaker B: That's right, man. This is a message from God. Right?
[00:10:00] Speaker G: Oh, man, the rain was so bad. But my personal claim to fame is the first kingdom. About 1987. October 5, 1987. It was a Saturday.
I was on this stage, and it started snowing.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: The famous snow year where you were actually performing.
[00:10:19] Speaker G: I was literally doing that.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: What did people do? What did you do?
[00:10:22] Speaker G: Well, while I was up there, we were getting the window, so I was like, okay, Lord, what I'm doing is of you, unless this is a sign
[00:10:30] Speaker B: that it's not right.
[00:10:31] Speaker G: You know, but. So that's who. But people stood around.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:10:35] Speaker G: You know, I had a little bit of fun with it, you know, and I think it snowed for probably a little less than five minutes.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Right.
[00:10:44] Speaker G: You know, but it was real snow.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:46] Speaker G: Actually, it began to hail a little bit or sleet a little bit.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
[00:10:50] Speaker G: So it's fun.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: We've had some guests on that were there that year.
You know, it's been one of the hottest years this year.
[00:10:58] Speaker G: Hallelujah.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: We were saying, okay, well, maybe we could use a little snow now, but.
But you guys didn't let those years discourage you, right? The kingdom bound has been going on. It's one of the longest festivals.
[00:11:09] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Even close. Covid couldn't take it down. Snow couldn't take it down. They changed the date wisely.
The rain couldn't stop it. We didn't need a knock after all.
[00:11:18] Speaker G: That's right. Hallelujah.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: You guys have been faithful all the way through.
[00:11:21] Speaker G: Yes, sir.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: Thank you so much for that.
[00:11:24] Speaker G: Yeah, it's been great.
And, you know, I'm looking at your setup and everything here, man. The Lord is, you know, really utilizing you greatly.
You know, just keep doing it, because this is the kind of stuff that it's made of, you know, getting the word out. And, you know, people have told me who have been on your broadcast, you know, how much they enjoyed it and everything. So, yeah, we just.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: We tell the stories and thank you for being part of it. It was fun. Even when I came to see you, I was, you know, with a friend, and she's like, oh, yeah, Michael. He goes to my church. I go to a church in Rochester called Bethel Little knowing that, what, 30 years later, I'll be able to work there with your team there.
[00:11:58] Speaker G: So God only. God only.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: How are things going with Bethel Express?
[00:12:03] Speaker G: I'm glad to be able to say so things are going very well with Bethel Express.
During the summertime, we.
If you have to look at it like this, numbers Wise, the numbers are very low during the summertime. Our kids are in summer camps that, that are required because their parents may be a part of a program but requires their attendance.
Then we have kids who are with the other parent for the summertime and we have some kids that are in other programs.
So we meet every other Saturday.
But even in that, our numbers are very low. But that's okay, though.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: And back. And for those that don't know, Bethel Express is a mentoring ministry in Rochester, New York.
[00:12:49] Speaker G: Every church is outreach ministry where we mentor kids and raise them up to become champions in society in Jesus name. And so. But you know, come the fall, everything. Well, you know, the numbers would be, you know, back to where they usually are. But we've been taking trips, you know, locally and things like that.
I have a big thing about urban kids knowing what's going on in their city and things that are happening in their city that they're totally oblivious of
[00:13:20] Speaker B: happening right down the street.
[00:13:21] Speaker G: Literally?
Yeah, literally from where we meet, I think it's eight blocks from where we meet.
On one side of the street is the George Eastman House. Then you go down four more blocks and it's on the left hand side of the street and it's the Rochester Museum and Science Center.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah, right there on East Avenue. You got the Play Museum down the road.
[00:13:40] Speaker G: Exactly.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: It's a beautiful area you're in.
[00:13:43] Speaker G: And the festivals, you name each.
I just don't want them to miss out on any of those experiences, you know, because this is the city that they live in and they need to experience those things.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: And that's beautiful. Beautiful that you're part of it. Did your, did your jazz. Is it a quartet or is it. Did you guys get to play the Jazz Fest this year at Rochester?
[00:14:02] Speaker G: Well, no and yes. Yes and no. What we did was what they didn't. They did not invite us.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: But a block yourself.
[00:14:10] Speaker G: That's right. A block off of East Avenue on Eastern Union. We call it Jazz on Union.
New Hope Free Methodist Church. We're in partnership with them. They allow us to use their parking lot. And so it's close enough to the festival, but far enough from the festival that you don't get caught up in the press and the grind of the.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Nobody gets offended, but people still get to enjoy the music.
[00:14:37] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah, we've had a good time. Yeah.
[00:14:40] Speaker B: Michael, what's the future for Kingdom Bound for you guys? Where do you see it going from here?
[00:14:45] Speaker G: I think we're going to.
Well, we have a debriefing meeting every September and we're always trying to figure out how we can better serve God's people and better reach people who are just around anyway. But I think what's ahead for us is Keenan Boundaries as a ministry, I think, is that we more than likely would do be even more intentional with some of the seminars that we do. I mean, we do some amazing seminars, you know, we have some amazing speakers. And I think we'll do more of that because we're becoming more aware of some of the needs of the people of God as well as people in general.
So we'll be even more intentional with that aspect of who we are as a mini spree.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Michael, thank you so much. Thank you for being on the podcast. What you do, pass love to your beautiful wife Julia.
[00:15:41] Speaker G: Will do.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: We'll see you next year at Kingdom of Hell.
[00:15:43] Speaker G: Appreciate you, man.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: God bless.
[00:15:44] Speaker G: God bless you, too.
[00:15:45] Speaker D: And great to be here. Christopher Hopper, I am from the Thousand Islands of northern New York, and it is a hot day here.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: It is hot. Don't you wish you were back by those Thousand Islands right now? Got the cool St. Lawrence breeze.
[00:15:58] Speaker D: Hey, you know it?
[00:15:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I'm from Canada, so that's sort of a. Between Toronto and Montreal.
[00:16:03] Speaker D: So beautiful. On the other side, part of the world.
[00:16:05] Speaker B: Well, welcome to the Kingdom Bound Insider podcast. And you are definitely one of the ones to talk to because not only have you been coming for so many years, you haven't just been an observer, you've been on that stage, you've been introducing, you've been speaking. Tell us a little bit about your history with Kingdom Bound.
[00:16:23] Speaker D: Wow, great question.
Yeah, I think, honestly my earliest memories are attending as a teenager, as a young teenager here at Kingdom Bound, back when Freddie Caserta was the head of it. And I, I guess you might say I, you know, knowing that I loved music and wanted to be in the music industry and was also the son of a pastor and a speaker that I imagined myself one day being on the stage.
But, you know, life has a way of interrupting plans and. And takes you near and far.
And suddenly about 20 years ago, was invited to start leading worship here with my wife Jennifer and our band.
And then that eventually shifted gears to where they're like, I think basically they thought, christopher, you're too old to hold a guitar anymore, which is very understandable.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: They make straps for that these days, you know, I mean, they do.
[00:17:18] Speaker D: And was invited to be the emcee for a lot of the events and also share some messages here and there. As time availed itself to me. For that. And it's been an honor. It's really been. I can't actually think of a summer that I wasn't here. So when you were asking me earlier, how long has it been?
It's been a couple decades.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: I love that this is part of your. Not only your yearly routine, but your life now. Yes, but now you said God takes you through interesting paths. Paths. And you were a pastor for a number of years.
[00:17:52] Speaker D: I was.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: You know, what was that like?
[00:17:56] Speaker D: Pastoring is one of the most challenging and difficult things I think a person can choose to do and be called to do it.
You're meeting most people on the worst day of their life. Now, that's not to say there aren't highs and there aren't wonderful things that happen in the life cycle of a church, but as a pastor, and I think the right kind of pastor, you're helping people through hardships.
That took a toll on me. It might not on others, but I know that for me, it definitely took a deep toll. And as I reached my 23 year mark in the pastorate, I remember thinking, I want to make a change.
And not only that, but I felt like God was saying, hey, what do
[00:18:38] Speaker F: you want to do?
[00:18:39] Speaker D: The problem was I couldn't answer that question, Kevin. I didn't know. I couldn't yet imagine my life outside of the pastorate and the ministry.
And as much as I loved it and looked fondly on that season, there was also this great sense of fear because I didn't have a good answer for God when he's asking, what do you want to do next?
[00:19:02] Speaker B: But if you look at this, you know, it took the natural progression. You know, you were a teenager, you came, you performed, you sang, you worshiped, you emceed, you hosted, you became a pastor. And the next logical step is to become a professional sci fi book writer. Right?
Isn't that how it normally goes? I think that's exactly what most pastors do with their time. Yeah, but that is true. Tell us, fill in the gap. How did that actually happen then?
[00:19:31] Speaker D: So I ended up taking a sabbatical at the end of 2018, which I'm very, very grateful for.
Our board at that church and the senior leadership there for offering that to me. I needed a break, I needed a rest, and I needed time to figure out what did I. To answer God's question, what do I want to do next?
And through lots of therapy with both mental health professionals and spiritual direction, realized that I had been leaving a trail of footprints in the snow as it Were which I think a lot of times we don't realize we are walking somewhere. There is a pattern to our behavior, but we often don't notice it until we look backward and see this trail in the snow. And I realized I'd been a storyteller my whole life.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: That's the one thing all of this had in common. Amazing.
[00:20:27] Speaker D: And whether it was telling stories through song, or whether it was telling stories through being on a stage with a microphone, or I had this little side hustle, I loved to write. I'd loved creative writing since I was in grade school, but it never be. It never dawned on me that it would be a profession.
So during that sabbatical, I had someone reach out to me and say, would you like to start writing science fiction?
And you know, we'll. We'll help publish you. And I actually turned them down because I thought it was so outlandish and
[00:20:58] Speaker B: I didn't think it could ever happen.
[00:21:00] Speaker D: No, no. And actually this is a really beautiful part of the story, which was I began writing science fiction seriously while telling the church I was done. I gave them nine more months that I would help serve. And they were incredible. I mean, just the most supportive that you could imagine as. As I made a transition. In other words, not all retirements and endings have to end ugly in the church. They can be beautiful. And mine was beautiful thanks to very mature men and women in leadership.
And so as I was processing out that, that nine months, I was also writing full time. So I was effectively doing two full time jobs.
And it wasn't until we made some decisions to go back to that friend publish together that I got an email while here at kingdom bound in 2019 about my first paycheck.
And.
[00:21:56] Speaker A: And it.
[00:21:57] Speaker D: Kevin, it blew my mind because, you know, I like most pastors, you are a lot of times hand to mouth with paychecks. You know, we don't do this to become rich.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Especially as a new author. I know my first book, I'm still waiting for my paycheck. There you go.
But that must have been just such a surreal, beautiful moment.
[00:22:19] Speaker D: It was a surreal, beautiful moment. Well said.
[00:22:22] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:22:22] Speaker D: And so. And that was really.
By September of 2019, I was officially off payroll and that season of Life had closed. But I found myself in a new season of writing general market science fiction for people all over the world, whether they were reading on Kindle or they were listening on Audible.
And found myself doing something that I benefited from in my final years of ministry, which was I needed an escape.
And audiobooks in particular were my escape. And it wasn't until I heard an interview, a podcast interview, with two of my favorite sci fi authors, Jason Anspach and Nick Cole, who write some of the greatest science fiction you could find, Galaxy's Edge.
And they said, well, we'd like our listeners to know something about us. We're both born again Christians.
[00:23:17] Speaker F: Wow.
[00:23:18] Speaker D: And we feel it is our ministry to give space people something to escape with.
And I remember, Kevin, I pulled my car over. This is during the sabbatical. I pulled the car over and just started crying because I'm like, I want to do that. God, I know what I want to do next.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: And what a freeing thought. You can feel the lightness and the beauty in that.
That it's like he gives us the desires of our hearts.
[00:23:45] Speaker D: For sure.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: You know, and those could be light, they could be exciting, entertaining. And he's always going to bring us back around. But yes, giving you permission to do that.
[00:23:54] Speaker D: Giving permission, reigniting some of those things. I think maybe another message in here is the seeds that are planted when we're young.
Don't ignore them. They might not be a professional seed. Right.
I have a friend. I always say they give the best hugs. Unfortunately, you don't get paid for giving the best hugs, but if you could monetize it. Yeah, but I get. I happen to be paid for storytelling now, which started all the way back as a very, very young guy in upstate New York.
And that is. That is a privilege. And the number of. Of correspondence I get, the amount of correspondence I get from people who say, christopher, I'm on the worst day of my life.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: I'm.
[00:24:37] Speaker D: I'm in the hospital. Double knee replacement surgery. Just had this come in. It's the darkest season of my life. And your books are keeping me alert and awake and hopeful. Thank you.
How do you respond to that?
[00:24:51] Speaker B: Thank you so much for being on the show, Christopher. It's truly an amazing story. And we know that it's only.
This is only the intermission. We're definitely going to hear more. Thank you. God bless you.
[00:25:02] Speaker C: Thanks for coming back, Chris. I apologize for saying that about Michael. Peace. And you. Sorry that it offended you.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: I love you.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: Okay. I'm glad we're. We're back. Okay, we're good. Hey, those are some amazing stories. We have more to come, but first, check out this amazing video from Operation Christmas Child.
[00:25:18] Speaker E: Even if I have to crawl, I am coming here to help get that box into the hands of that child.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: I like packing shoeboxes at Suburban's Purse for Operation Christmas Child. Because I like sharing the love of Jesus Christ and being around other believers.
[00:25:35] Speaker D: And it's just a great encouragement.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: It's a great way to spread the gospel to all different types of people across the world. What he said. It's great to help other people that
[00:25:43] Speaker C: don't have as much as you.
[00:25:47] Speaker B: You really feel like you're part of the action, part of the movement, part of the kingdom work.
There's some just really thoughtful toys people put in personal notes. I like to see the creativity.
One box might bless dozens of people. People that I'll never meet until heaven.
[00:26:03] Speaker E: Oh, the joy in this place. And then we stop and pray over all these boxes. I love that. I love the pray part.
[00:26:11] Speaker G: By experiencing a gift given by somebody they don't know, receiving that gift and
[00:26:16] Speaker H: that correlation just is the epitome of the gospel.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: We get to go into countries where the gospel is not allowed.
[00:26:24] Speaker E: Places I would never be able to go.
In Jesus name. In Jesus name.
That's why I do it.
I just love it. I just love this ministry. I love it.
[00:26:37] Speaker C: You want to hear a really cool Operation Christmas Child story? I know I told one a couple episodes ago if you want to hear another one.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: You, man?
[00:26:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:45] Speaker C: So this was on the trip that I was on. This happened on the trip I was on.
There was a girl there and she had this, like, skin disease.
And her parents took her to the doctor, and doctor says, well, we have this. There's this lotion that you could use to get rid of this skin issue that you're having. And the family. And it was very expensive, so the family couldn't afford it. And so the girls got this skin issue. You know, her skin's really bothering her.
And, you know, fast forward a couple weeks.
She comes to this party at this local church in the Dominican Republic and she gets a shoebox. And nobody knows who these shoe boxes are going to. It's totally. Well, it's random to us. God knows exactly who they're going to. So this girl gets her shoebox. She opens the shoebox.
Guess what's in there, man.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: It's gotta be the cream.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: It's the lotion. It's the cream.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:27:42] Speaker C: And it's the exact cream that she needed.
[00:27:45] Speaker F: Wow. And
[00:27:48] Speaker C: there's so many stories that I've heard just like that.
And so pack a shoebox, number one. And when you do, pray about it. Pray about what you put in there and let God lead you. But definitely be a part of this amazing ministry.
[00:28:01] Speaker F: Back to the Stories, Aunt Lee. And I'm coming from Canada, originally from the states. Orlando, Florida, Maryland, D.C. area. But I'm so glad to be here, man.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Antley, so great to have you.
Now tell us a little bit about. You've already performed a number of times.
[00:28:19] Speaker F: Yeah, so I got here yesterday, performed at the IM second stage, and then today I had another performance. And then tonight we're gonna be on the main stage doing a rap cypher, just representing the Kingdom of God, man.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: That's beautiful. Now, do you write your own or.
[00:28:35] Speaker F: Yeah, I write my own songs, write my own lyrics.
I've been in music for a long time, but most people that see me in person, they'll recognize something about me because of my height. So for those of y' all that don't know. Cause y' all see me sitting down. I am a pro basketball player. I've been playing for 10 years, so I've been playing around the world, but I currently play in Canada the last two years.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: What team do you play for?
[00:29:00] Speaker F: It's called the Kitchener Waterloo Titans in Kitchener, Ontario.
But God has also opened up doors for me in music and to be able to preach and share the word and just do it in an innovative way, you know, for the young people and the people that's wanting to hear.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: Amen. So both basketball and then you're starting to get. Have you done any recordings yet? Do you have.
[00:29:21] Speaker F: Yeah, so I have a lot of singles. I'm on all distribution platforms.
I go by Ant Lee, so you can follow me on Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio, all those things. And then I also.
Yeah, I got mixtapes out. So I've been doing a lot of stuff. God's been opening up doors for me to get the music out and being able to share it everywhere.
[00:29:41] Speaker B: Beautiful. Now, what made you. What brought the connection with Kingdom Bound? How did that come about?
[00:29:45] Speaker F: Kingdom Bound? So I am here with. I am second, y' all see, I'm representing. I am second.
They have had a huge opportunity and having their own stage. And so they got connected with me last year when they heard about some things that I was doing in Ontario with my concerts and all of that, and they thought to invite me this year to Cannonball. And so, you know, I've been here rocking it out and just, you know, giving the music, giving what the people need and desire that they need for hope and encouragement.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: I love that. And I know that stage has been one that Mike Peace has been traditionally
[00:30:21] Speaker F: shout out to Mike Peace.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:22] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:30:23] Speaker B: So I remember I used to come back in 87, when Mike Peace was kind of first getting started.
[00:30:27] Speaker F: Wow.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: You know, and I was just sort of enamored by what he was doing. And then he just really went on to be the grandfather of hip hop and Christian, you know, rap.
[00:30:36] Speaker H: So.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: And I actually went to church with him for a number of years, so just an amazing man of God.
[00:30:40] Speaker F: So, yeah, so it's been good to meet him for the first time and to see everything that he's done to just trailblaze what's going on. It's good to be a part of this, and I look forward to coming back and doing many more.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: That's wonderful. Now, do you. Do you have a tour that you're going to be going on? How does that work with your basketball schedule?
[00:30:58] Speaker F: So basketball for me is it starts November, end of November, and it ends end of April, early May.
So in between that, you know, that gap of the year, I'm pretty much playing basketball. And if I get called upon to speak at schools or speak at churches, I try to do it, you know, where it doesn't conflict with any basketball things that I have going on. But once it hit spring and summer and the beginning of fall, that's when I'm able to do a lot more concerts and shows and stuff like that. So I just been blessed to, like, walk in it this year. So hopefully next year, God just gives more favor and open up even more doors.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: That's beautiful. As both your ministry grows and your professional sports grow, you know, you can really sort of throw yourself into one in one season and then throw yourself into the other and the other.
[00:31:49] Speaker F: Yeah, I think they all work together. I feel like God uses the basketball skill that he's given me to open up the other doors, to just be able to get into different rooms, get into other places to then share the gospel or just, you know, be a light where I'm not probably being preachy, but I'm able to, you know, give an encouraging word and just use my influence of basketball and do things that will uplift people.
[00:32:14] Speaker B: And I think it's really beautiful that you're part of the IM Second gang. You know, even their same message is, you know, God has blessed us. God has given us a stage and a platform, but even there, we know he gets the glory. You know, we're second to Him. How did you get connected with them?
[00:32:30] Speaker F: So, yeah, like I said earlier, I got connected because they heard about a concert that I did called Light up the City. So the Lord gave me this name called Light up the City got this fly in my face.
[00:32:41] Speaker B: I know I've got one in my face too.
[00:32:42] Speaker F: I think that it's called Light of the City City and.
And the Lord gave it to me. It's out of Matthew 5:16, where it talks about letting our light shine, among others.
And so what he did with giving me that was to go into different cities, put on these concerts where it's not only Christian rap, but praise and worship. It's a combo for going into the cities and making it a collective thing where churches are coming together as well, church youth groups, church young adults. Because I know in Canada, you know, we have a lot of worship nights, praise nights, but there's no nights where it's just like Christian hip hop. So I just thought merging that together and where the young people can also get turned up for Christ and then there's actual substance to what's being said. Because when after the music stops, you got to be able to give a word, you know, and really, really point people to Jesus where it's not just all hype, but they're also getting something to take back home where they can really want to find out what Jesus is really about from what they experience.
So taking that to every city. So I am second saw that they love what I was doing, how I'm connecting with the young people, young adults. So whenever I go and speak in schools or wherever I'm doing a concert, they're pretty much coming along and sharing what they.
What they do. And so we've carved it together in that.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: Andy, I love that. I think you really hit the nail on the head, you know, when the music stops, you know, when every eye is on you and you have their attention, you really get to bring the gospel of Christ even more. So.
[00:34:18] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:34:18] Speaker B: That's beautiful.
[00:34:19] Speaker F: Yeah, man.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for being on the show.
[00:34:22] Speaker F: Thank you for having me, man.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And we're going to be cheering you on tonight. I can't wait to hear you on the main stage.
[00:34:27] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: And hopefully we'll be able to get you back and continue this conversation.
[00:34:31] Speaker G: Do it.
[00:34:31] Speaker B: Do have the Y.
[00:34:32] Speaker F: All right, man.
[00:34:33] Speaker E: I am Laquisha Bridges. I am from the Our Spirit Online Unity Corral and I come from Rochester, New York. And our spirit online is our only 24 hour Internet gospel radio station in our city. But today we come as a chal to worship the Lord right on stage at the worship tab.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Laquisha, I love that. I need to hear more. I'm from Rochester myself, so I want to find out more about what you guys are doing there. All right, so.
[00:35:04] Speaker H: And I am Ty Milton, also from Rochester, New York. Excited to be here with our Spirit Unity Chorale this afternoon and just excited to praise God with everyone this afternoon.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: And you guys are actually on your way to the worship tent over there.
[00:35:22] Speaker E: This is our first year, so we started our spirit online. Dr. James Cooper Sr. Actually started our Spirit Internet gospel radio station. And I happened to meet him by way of a single, a song. I just sent it to him and I said, hey, how can I get my music on your station? He said, well, you can get it on. Why don't you come in and introduce it? And so.
[00:35:46] Speaker B: So he invited you to come straight into the station.
[00:35:49] Speaker E: Straight into the station. So that's how the birth of the Our Spirit Online Unity Chorale was birthed, just from that connection.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: That's beautiful.
[00:35:57] Speaker E: And we are here at Kingdom Bound 2025.
[00:36:00] Speaker B: We are so glad you guys are here. So when did you start this? When did all this take place?
[00:36:04] Speaker E: I want to say I've got connected in 2017.
So it was just starting out. And then the unique chorale. We have been together for about two years because we also have a choir, so this is just a smaller version of us.
[00:36:17] Speaker B: Okay, so there's a larger choir, but how many of you guys will actually be on stage worshiping today?
[00:36:23] Speaker E: It's going to be six vocals, and we brought two musicians.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: Oh, wonderful.
[00:36:27] Speaker E: And brother Ty.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: And I was going to say, Ty, are you one of the vocals? Musician?
[00:36:30] Speaker H: I am going to be leading this afternoon. One of the. A couple of songs. So I'm excited to share with everyone this afternoon.
[00:36:37] Speaker B: I tell you, we're in the marketplace, Ted, but it's connected to the worship. So just the entire time we've been hearing worship coming from there, you can
[00:36:46] Speaker F: feel the power of God and it's pouring into it.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: It's radiates down here.
It gets to me. I wish I was a little closer, but it's still strong when it gets to me.
[00:36:57] Speaker E: And that's what our plan is, is to give God glory, that his presence is here, that healing takes place, that deliverance takes place. We're not here for a show, but this is a great opportunity to worship. When I come to Kingdom Bound, you get to see so many different people from around the world that I would never otherwise see. But I'm here to worship with some other worshipers.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: I love that. And I've always told them the name Kingdom Bound is apt because it's the church, right? No specific one church. No specific.
[00:37:24] Speaker H: We are we're the kingdom. We're here to represent the kingdom. That's what we don't do.
[00:37:29] Speaker B: Now, guys, in your worship, in your music, how do you guys get to express that? What are some of the things that excite you most about this ministry?
[00:37:38] Speaker G: I think when you really.
[00:37:40] Speaker H: I hate to get real biblical, but in Psalms it says, I love it
[00:37:44] Speaker B: when you get real biblical.
[00:37:45] Speaker H: When you think of the goodness of Jesus and all he's done for you, your soul cries hallelujah. So really, when you think back about the things that you've gone through, the things that he's changed in your life and how he's changed your life, you really have no other choice but to praise Him. So that's what we're here to do.
[00:38:01] Speaker B: I love that. I love that. It's just like your sword doesn't have a choice. It's just. It's going to do that.
[00:38:06] Speaker E: I think our praying was automatic.
[00:38:08] Speaker H: It fools you. It's funny, like, I'm trying not to run off the stage into that tent now because it sound good.
[00:38:15] Speaker B: If you did, we would understand, but we would catch you afterwards and hear your story, so that's okay.
[00:38:21] Speaker E: And Brother Ty has been worshiping with me before I was even with our spirit online and he does around our community and the rest of the vocals also, that are going to be with us and the musicians. We just. Before we actually formed, we were formed and didn't realize how God was going to put us fully together so that we can just worship. We put music together and we feed off of each other. That's something when you have a good friendship, you have worship chemistry.
Sometimes I can almost hear where he's going, or he can hear where I'm going and the other vocals before we even get there. Because the connection and the worship is so strong.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Live on stage, he's actually directing your steps.
[00:39:03] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: To see what's even coming next.
[00:39:05] Speaker H: When you get on one accord, when everybody's on one accord, it's easy to let the spirit of God flow through the room.
[00:39:12] Speaker B: Laquisha, I think you said it before we were formed. We were formed.
[00:39:17] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:39:17] Speaker B: I think that says so much right there. That's a song right there.
[00:39:21] Speaker E: Oh, come on, let's write it.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: Before we were formed we were formed. I love that. That is.
[00:39:27] Speaker E: And if we get along very well, you know, there's no confusion amongst us. So that allows us to just sing and worship the Lord for who he is. And we don't suppress it. You know, once we're in that mode we were in rehearsal last night and we were. We tried so hard to keep.
[00:39:44] Speaker H: To move on.
[00:39:46] Speaker E: We tried so hard to go. We're like, we're getting ready for Kingdom Bounds.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:39:50] Speaker E: You know, it's already in our hearts, it's in our spirit to minister.
[00:39:54] Speaker B: So if you see me coming running in.
[00:39:57] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:39:57] Speaker B: And the headphone behind me, you know,
[00:40:00] Speaker H: you know, somebody grab the camera and just come to the tent.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: That's where the spirit is. Ty. Now, this is your first year at Kingdom Bow.
[00:40:07] Speaker H: Yes, sir.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: But Lucretia, you've been coming. You said you've been coming as a kid.
[00:40:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: What was your memories of that?
[00:40:13] Speaker E: Our church, we would get together and they would plan it. You know, as I looked back over and realized it was a lot of planning to that, but we were coming stay over and we had our tent, we had food, we had chaperones, and we would go through the park and then we would go on back and eat. And then we'll go to a session and go to the concerts or to the worships in the evening.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:36] Speaker E: I had a great childhood.
[00:40:38] Speaker B: That is. Yeah. I came as a. As a young teenager. Same thing. You know, it's. It's. It's for everybody. You can worship one minute and ride a roller coaster the next.
[00:40:46] Speaker E: Yes. You know, it's a lot of fun. Absolutely.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Well, thank you guys for joining us. Any last stories or something that you're excited about?
[00:40:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:55] Speaker E: Well, I would encourage everyone to download our free app. It's the letter R and the word spirit dot online. It's right here on our shirt. Download it. It's free gospel music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we have worship word and more.
[00:41:12] Speaker B: So R, the letter R. Spirit online. Yes. Wonderful. Thank you guys for joining us.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: And thank you.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: I can't wait to hear the music.
[00:41:21] Speaker E: Ready?
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Ready.
Well, now story, story, story time. You know what we're going to be doing?
[00:41:29] Speaker C: What's that?
[00:41:30] Speaker A: Well, we've been pushing it for a little bit.
[00:41:31] Speaker C: Yeah. We've been talking about it a lot. I hope excited to do it.
[00:41:35] Speaker A: People know by now.
[00:41:37] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: What song they want to get brought back into their lineup at church.
[00:41:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: You know, you have like seven that you said. You keep getting this list.
[00:41:46] Speaker C: I'll give you. I'll give you. I'll give you like a one that's not going to make the list, but it'll be an honorable mention.
[00:41:51] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:41:53] Speaker C: Remember the song?
Well, I went to the enemy's camp and I took back what he stole. I would love to. I would love to rock out to that again. That was the classic 80s song.
[00:42:05] Speaker A: Really?
[00:42:06] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's. It was great.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: I'm gonna go to the enemy's camp.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: Did you take back what he stole from you?
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Chris? I. I got the keys to the kingdom.
[00:42:15] Speaker C: Okay. Is it the glasses that you were wearing? Yeah.
[00:42:18] Speaker A: That's what happens.
So, look, if you haven't sent it into us, you got one more quick chance. We're gonna be talking about this soon. Kbinsiderpodmail.com let's hear it.
[00:42:28] Speaker C: Email us. We want to hear from you. What song would you bring back? What song do you want to hear?
[00:42:31] Speaker A: Hey, the festival is coming up. We're getting close. Next week, Episode seven. See? How is it next week?
[00:42:37] Speaker C: Why do I. I don't know. It comes out every two weeks. You should know that by now. We're in episode seven.
[00:42:42] Speaker A: Next month, next year. Episode seven.
[00:42:44] Speaker C: At some point in the near future,
[00:42:47] Speaker A: episode seven, we'll be interviewing who?
[00:42:49] Speaker C: Rachel Lampa.
Can't wait for that one. It's gonna be great.
[00:42:55] Speaker A: We'll see you next time, people.
[00:42:56] Speaker C: Thanks for hanging with us.
[00:42:57] Speaker D: It's been cool.
[00:42:58] Speaker C: Yeah, you are too.
[00:43:00] Speaker B: I'm cool.
[00:43:01] Speaker C: Can't be.
Get a book now?
Yeah.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: I feel that joy in the Lord tonight.
