Get ready for a grand old conversation at the radio backyard fence today on Chris Fabry Live.

He is a Grammy and CMA Award nominated singer and songwriter.

Grew up singing in church in Covington, Georgia.

Moved to Nashville with a guitar and a dream when he was 24.

And the reason he's here today is to talk about a decision that he's made.

After all his success, he still wrestled with a deep emptiness.

There was a void in his heart, a God shaped vacuum that couldn't be filled by career achievements.

What happened?

Are you going to hear about that and why?

Drew Parker sings Blame Jesus.

He is straight ahead.

That is.

Drew is straight ahead on Chris Avery live program From the heart to the heart for the heart.

And we thank our team.

Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical.

Trisha's our producer.

Lisa is hanging around doing all things.

Lisa and Josh will be answering your calls today.

And since it's Friday.

That's right, it's time for the fabulous Fabbri Friday site.

Here's what it does one.

We oxygenate your blood.

Two we get your endorphins going.

Three we raise your serotonin level.

Four we promote lymphatic drainage, and five we stimulate your parasympathetic system.

That's why we call it the five lung languages.

We also stimulate your vagus nerve.

We help you release acetylcholine.

And don't you dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation.

Taking four seconds of air through your nose right now.

Hold it four seconds.

And then as you release that air through your mouth, push on the left side of your rib cage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.

Today we present a country music sigh a Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash sigh.

Give a sigh.

For people with names like Vern, Skeeter, Buck, lefty, Conway, Faron, Tom T, and Tubb.

And don't forget Kenny, Dolly and Loretta and Merle and Patsy and the eddies.

Rabbitt and Arnold and Willie.

Waylon and the boys, Charlie and Marty and Reba.

And make sure you get a ticket to the Grand Ole Opry.

And don't you dare forget the name of Drew Parker, who you'll hear from today at the radio backyard fence.

Today's Cy is brought to you by Little Green Apples, the city of Galveston.

And by the time this program is over, I will get to Phoenix.

Drew, what'd you think of that?

That's good.

I love it, man.

You know, it brings back everything that I love about country music.

You were naming all the people that I grew up on and the people that I love.

That's the first question that I had.

How many of those artists had an effect on you?

Well, the one that sticks out over and over and over is Merle Haggard.

I mean, just, you know, his songs were some that I listened to with my dad growing up.

The only one I didn't hear you say, and maybe you did, but, uh, you know, one of the greatest influences on my life was Keith Whitley.

I mean, um, I was a massive Keith Whitley fan.

He is probably, in my opinion, the greatest country singer of all time.

Um, but man, that takes me back to the roots of country music and what made me fall in love with country music so many years ago.

What was it about Keith Whitley that turned the light on for you?

You know, I think it was it was believability.

I believed everything that he that he sang like he had lived it.

Um, you know, and he grew up singing bluegrass, and I grew up in Georgia, so there was a lot of those kind of rootsy things.

Um, you know, that I grew up on music wise, you know, I mean, Keith passed away before I was ever born, but, um, once I discovered his music, it was just I was locked in on that, and just.

I just loved his voice.

I've always been like a, you know, as far as music goes, I've always loved the singer first.

I think I've loved the singer before.

I loved the song, um, which is interesting because now I feel like I'm the opposite now.

But growing up, I, the singer is what I was, you know, fell in love with first and then fell in love with the song later.

But now I think it's kind of.

I'm a little the other way on that.

I love the song.

First.

When you say singer, though, you're not just talking about the the image that you have, you know, George Jones or Johnny Paycheck or whoever it is you're talking about the voice and the way that voice and the earthiness, the the realness.

I think that's the main thing that touches people's heart about country music is it feels like these are real people, right?

100%.

Yeah.

When I can, you know, when, um, George Jones is, you know, singing a song.

I believed it like, I could, I could hear the hurt and the sadness and the excitement or happiness, whatever.

That's what I fell in love with was the conviction that came through the voice.

Um, and so which which makes you fall in love with the song at the same time?

Yeah.

And and was it partly your dad, too, and his influence that made you gravitate toward country music?

100%, yeah.

My my dad was the biggest Willie Nelson fan in to this day.

Still the biggest Willie Nelson fan I know.

And so a few years ago, I got to tour with Willie for a weekend and opened some shows.

And so my dad got to come out to those, which was super cool.

Got to end the show singing Will the Circle Be Unbroken with Willie Nelson, that that will forever be, you know, at the top of the list of of cool things that I've gotten to do in my career.

But yeah, just my dad.

Huge influence of mine.

And I think partly I, I feel this sense of pride of, of like somewhat chasing my like my dream of chasing music is also somewhat my dad's dream that I feel this sense of need to do it based on something that I feel like my dad loved so much and my dad never chased.

You know, the desire or chase the dream of playing music.

But he was such a fan and so passionate and so part of me.

I feel this like need that I need to make him proud in the sense of I feel like somewhat.

I'm living my dad's dream second hand a little bit.

The the guitar of Willie Nelson.

I saw him back in the 70s.

He's still got that same old guitar with the with the hole in it.

You talk about reality and.

Yeah, the sound of that thing.

But it's him.

It's totally him.

It is.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

I, I remember me and my dad.

My dad came out to those shows I was opening for Willie, and we're walking backstage and they had the case and they had the guitar, and it was just sitting there on a stand.

Nobody's like, you know, my whole life I'm like, surely he pays like a security guard to just sit beside the guitar and protect it.

And it's like just sitting backstage on this stand and I'm like, I look at my dad, I'm like, I mean, we gotta touch it while we're here, right?

And so.

Yes.

Yes.

Um, but yeah.

It's crazy.

Okay, so, drew, I the reason I wanted to have you on here is because I watched that short film.

I want to play the first few four minutes of hanging up a hat.

This is why I wanted to have drew on.

This is what he said in that short film.

They say Nashville is a ten year town.

I used to think that meant it took ten years to make it, but looking back, I realize it's not about time.

It's about transformation.

Ten years ago, I packed up everything I owned and moved to Nashville, Tennessee with nothing but a dream and a fire in my heart.

Country music was all I had ever wanted, and for a decade I gave it everything I had.

I wrote songs that got recorded by major artists, stepped into the Grand Ole Opry circle, signed a record deal, heard my songs on the radio, and in many ways, I lived the dream.

But then something shifted That dream started to feel incomplete.

For over a year and a half, I felt a stirring.

I couldn't shake, a whisper growing louder.

God was trying to get my attention, but I wasn't ready to listen.

I kept saying, not now, God.

The album just came out.

The new singles going to radio.

Things are finally going my way.

But when God wants your attention, he'll get it.

On December 1st, 2024, I couldn't resist the weight of his calling any longer.

I finally prayed, God, I know you've been speaking and I've been too stubborn to listen.

I'm ready now.

Please make it clear.

No guessing.

No vague signs.

Just tell me what you want me to do.

Five days later, I was out shopping with my wife when my phone rang.

It was my manager of ten years, Chris Cappy.

At the time, Cappy was an unbeliever, which is why it hit me like a freight train when he said.

Hey, man, I know how much this dream means to you and I know how hard you've been working for it.

But for the past week, I've been waking up in the middle of the night with you on my mind.

And every time I wake up, I hear this voice or something that I just can't shake.

And I feel like I'm supposed to tell you something.

That you're supposed to be a Christian artist.

You're supposed to sing songs about Jesus.

Those words were everything I thought God had been trying to say to me for so long, which is why it all caught me off guard.

I could hear the hesitation in Cappy's voice like he thought he'd said something wrong.

He started backtracking, trying to soften the moment, but I stopped him and told him that just five days prior, I had asked God to speak to me in a way I couldn't deny, and that God had just used him to do it.

And that moment we both knew God was moving.

One of the first people I reached out to after this happened was Pastor Joby Martin from the church of 1122 in Jacksonville, Florida, and he asked me if I had heard his most recent sermon titled Why Do You Doubt?

So let's make this personal.

We're in the culmination of this 1010 life.

Some of you are new.

Welcome.

You're sitting in the boat, and you can have a tendency to be filled with fear in Jesus.

Just like the guy in the video said speaks to you louder than you can hear me right now.

But deep down in those inside places, and you know, he's calling you to do something and he's calling you to step out of the boat and you're looking at it going, it doesn't make sense.

And he's like, yeah, I know, I know, I know, but I'm the God of the impossible.

And I'll give you everything you need to accomplish everything that I have called you to do.

But I'm calling you to step out of the boat.

Where has he called you to step?

On the.

Boat.

And that's when it hit me.

God wasn't just speaking.

He was calling me to trust him.

To stop doubting.

To step out of the boat.

So here I am after ten years of chasing country music.

I'm stepping out, not hanging up the hat, just trading it for a new one.

A hat for Jesus.

Here's what I think might happen today.

You are listening.

And you're feeling that same thing God is calling, whispering.

He's wooing you home or to get out of the boat for the rest of the hour.

I want you to hear Drew Parker's story and how he responded to that call here on Chris Fabry Live.

Our number is (877) 548-3675.

Singer songwriter Drew Parker is with us today at the radio backyard fence.

He has penned such number one hits in mainstream country music as Forever After All, sung by Luke Combs.

Jake Owen's Home Made and others.

You can find out more about him.

We have a link to his website right there at Chris Lives.

We're going to play Blame Jesus here in a little bit.

You probably have heard that song as well, but drew the rest of that short film then.

Was you on a phone call, you on your cell phone calling someone?

And my guess is it wasn't a specific person that you were talking to.

It's just something anybody who's listening to us today, you want to say, look, if this is God is whispering in your heart, move toward him.

Is that right?

100%?

That was that that that part of the video was so important to me to get that at the very end, because I wanted people to know that, that I've been in it.

Obviously, I've been in the same place of just sitting there, God Knocking on the door of my heart saying, hey, I've got this for you.

But me ignoring it, and for me, it was holding on to things that I wanted.

Things that I worked so hard for, things that I thought I deserved.

And instead of stepping into what God had for me and it took me so long to see that, um, and really, it was just a moment of desperation of me finally sensing God wanted something different from me, me saying this prayer.

And I wanted to leave the video with that of like, if you've been there, if you've set in the boat wondering what God has for you, you don't have to be scared of it.

Just step into it.

Because I can promise you, no matter what it looks like, if we think we know what's best for us.

But God, I mean, he created everything, why would he ask us to do something?

Why would we step into something that's not going to be better for us?

It may not appear that way, but I can promise at the end of the day, it's going to be.

And I just wanted to challenge folks to step into what God had for them.

You know, the whole step out of the boat, Peter is standing there.

He's in the boat and God's Jesus is walking on the water.

And Jesus is like, come on, Peter.

And Peter steps out of the boat.

He does take a step of obedience.

And then he doubts and he starts to drown.

He starts to fall in the water and he's swimming.

And you know, and there's so many times that we've doubted what God has for us because we're scared.

And I can tell you the last over the last year of my life, since stepping into God's calling all my life, man, it looks completely different.

My life looks completely different than what I thought it was going to look like.

But there's it's so beautiful.

There's so much freedom there.

Um, and it's so awesome, and I, I hate that I maybe missed out on this for so long.

You know what I mean?

That God may have been trying to steer my heart here for a long time, and.

And I just kept holding on to what I wanted.

And how was.

It?

It was.

How was it different than what you envisioned?

You thought it would be blank.

Well, I thought for one, I would spend so much time on the road playing shows and that that would satisfy me.

Um, you know, I, Chris, I think I've learned so much over the last year how infant like my faith was prior to hearing from the Lord.

Um, I got in 2023, I found myself in a place where a friend of mine that I love so much started asking questions about the Lord, and I had no answers for him, and I couldn't even open up my Bible and turn to him and show him an answer to it.

Even though I've been a believer since I was a young boy, my faith and my knowledge of the Bible and my faith in Jesus was so infant like that, I couldn't even.

Someone that I loved so dearly, I couldn't even steer them toward the Lord.

And now I feel like I've, you know, I'm still not where I want to be, but I'm man, I spend so much time with the Lord over the last year, digging in the word and in prayer that I just feel like I'm ready for those conversations now.

But that is really what started to break my heart and steer my heart towards what God had for me.

Like, I felt, um, I really felt like a loser in that situation when this friend was asking me questions and I didn't have answers, and I couldn't even help him turn in the Bible to to guide him.

And I felt like I really felt like a loser in that situation.

And that's when God broke my heart and really started steering me towards the direction of obedience.

And God wanted to recognize obedience in my life.

And I began to pray and seek, really seek the Lord.

And that's when God started kind of aligning his plan, you know, or aligning my life with his plan for me.

Um.

And, man, it's just I don't, you know, I don't know what my life would have looked like if I hadn't, you know, really sought after the Lord.

A year and a half.

Surrender.

Its surrender.

If I hadn't surrendered to that moment, I don't know what my life would look like.

Um.

I can't imagine I would be as happy and as joyful as I am now.

I can't imagine that I would be the husband and the father that I am now.

And so I'm grateful for it in those areas, you know, and growing in my discipleship through friends and through other other guys.

And so that's what.

It.

Looks like now.

How are you different?

If I could have Mallory on here, your wife, or if I could have, uh, Harley or Landry on here, though.

Landry, I think, is still pretty young.

She would be.

Yeah.

She makes a noise, but I don't know if I could ask you the question, but how would they say you're different than you were before this?

Well, they would definitely say I'm more present.

And I don't mean physically, although I am more present physically.

I think they would see that I'm more present emotionally and spiritually.

You know that that I have stepped into truly what God wants for my life.

And I have found a desire, and I now don't hunger for anything other than for the Lord.

I mean, that that is so true.

Like, um, I used to be so consumed and analytics of people listening to my music or likes and follows and shares on social media and man, that is all behind me like it is.

And so now my focus is literally on the Lord and, you know, discipling my children.

I mean, I pray with my daughter every night.

We read the Bible every night.

And, you know, we did that before I fully surrendered to the Lord.

But it wasn't on a regular basis, and it was more out of a habit, which I think is where kind of my.

Head space has been pretty much the first 33 years of my life until I fully surrender to the Lord was like.

I was like a checklist.

Christian.

You know where, well, I, I read my Bible from time I go to church.

Check, check that off the list.

Um, you know, I pray check that.

But I don't pray regularly.

Pray regular.

But I it was this I was living in a cultural, Christian like world.

And man, that that is where my heart is now is wanting to.

And that was kind of the end of the video, like, hey, if you know Jesus and if you don't like, I would love to introduce you to him and tell him, and I can't save you, but he can.

And, um, but at the same time, if you do know Jesus, it's time for us to get serious.

Like Jesus doesn't care about the cross that's in your Instagram bio.

You know what I mean?

Like it is time to get serious about following the Lord Jesus doesn't.

He don't need any fans.

We're here to follow our creator and our Savior, the one who has reconciled us back to our creator.

And so, um, you know, I'm not a preacher by no means, but the what the Lord has, he has just lit a fire inside of me for people who for so long I wore the I was Team Jesus, you know, my whole life.

And I've wore the jersey and I've rooted on Team Jesus from the sidelines.

But, man, if a player in the game were to get hurt, don't look to me to get in the game, because I'm not going to be I'm not going to be your guy because I wasn't prepared for that and I wasn't, you know, I wasn't discipled in that way, and I wasn't I didn't what I wanted that my my life didn't fit that, you know, into that box.

And so I've been there and but now I'm like, let's get, let's get in the game.

And I just want to encourage everyone to get in the game.

Um, this decision that you made then, even though you're still a country artist and you still write.

You sing country music.

Um, has anything become harder because of this new wrinkle in your life?

I don't think so, man.

I, I, I haven't found anything yet, you know?

Um, maybe maybe some opportunity has, you know, gone away.

Maybe.

Right.

But, man, the but the doors that have opened up are like, who even cares, you know?

Like, you know, it's just been like, God is like, maybe remove one thing and replace it with something that is so much more cooler and, you know, opportunity to share the gospel.

And so, um, I don't I wouldn't say anything has gotten more difficult.

By no means.

I just it's just gotten different and, you know, more aligned with what God wants for me.

Your story reminds me of others that we've talked with.

We talked Ben Fuller, though he wasn't a Christian when he moved to Nashville and he was chasing, he was striving.

He was doing that same thing that you're talking about.

It's like, I want to be in country music.

And then somebody invited him to church, or family did.

And there was something there that he knew that he didn't have that he wanted in his life.

And it was the freedom, you know, the forgiveness you don't know.

Ben, do you?

I don't know him.

Um, but it's funny you say that because at the end of the video and I'm basically somebody asked me, he's like, who are you talking to on the phone at the end of that video?

I'm like, I was talking to you.

I was talking whoever's listening.

Like, whoever the Holy Spirit moves to feel convicted in that moment.

That's who I'm talking to.

Like, but in that, in that moment, I say, I said something along the lines of, there's no way you'll ever be able to fill the space in your heart that was intended to be filled by Jesus.

There's no way there's any.

There's nothing in this world.

For me, it was, uh, being rich and being famous and and to I, I didn't get into the music business to be rich and famous by no means.

But those when those things became dangling carrots out in front of me and you start, you're like, well, if I man, if I just if I just did this, I would actually get that.

And that would be kind of cool.

It turns into a thing that you desire and, and so your desires become those things instead of your desire becoming Jesus.

Like when you when you wake up every morning and you pick up your cross and you read the word and you pray, your desire becomes to be more Christ like.

But for me, I realized that the reason I, I think, and this is something that I've just kind of learned over the last year, why, um, fame and fortune became a little bit of what drove me is because I realized that was a marker, that I would be judged by the world by, if that makes sense.

Like all the people that said that I would.

Oh, you'll never do it.

You'll never make it.

I realized, well, the only the only factor that would prove them wrong is if they saw that I was rich.

And if they saw that I was famous, if they saw that I was on TV, they're like, well, he made it.

And I would prove them wrong.

Right?

And so that became the reason that I saw it after those things was really just because people said I would never make it right.

And so which is so, oh, disgusting that I ever even.

Shallow, isn't it?

Yeah, for sure that I would ever have thought that.

But that was I wanted to prove people wrong and, um, I was just using the wrong ways to do that.

And so the Lord just began to break my heart.

And that was my prayer.

God, break my heart for what breaks yours.

And be careful when you pray that prayer.

When you pray any bold prayer because God, God will ask you to step into something that you had no idea.

And I mean God used an unbeliever.

Yes, I want to talk about that.

Cathy.

Cathy is his name.

And in the in the video, you say at the time he was an unbeliever.

So I want to come back.

I want you to tell me about that.

The other thing I want people not to get hung up on is, okay, so we're talking with people in Nashville.

We're talking with singer songwriters.

That's the only people who can learn from your story, know whatever it is that you're striving for, whatever it is that you're chasing, whatever your definition of success.

Put that in the line.

And I think what Drew's message for all of us is, it's unless God is part of that equation or all of that equation, you're going to come it's going to be empty at the end of the day.

So let me take a break.

We'll come back.

I want you to hear his song, Blame Jesus.

If you haven't heard it, you're going to hear it next.

And then I want to ask some of those questions about success, or what you would say to a younger person who says, I've got this dream, I want to move to Nashville, or I've got a dream, and I want to have a TV show and do a cooking show or whatever the dream is.

I want you to talk to that person or the 24 year old drew, and we'll do that when we come back.

And if you want to ask a question, make a comment to drew.

(877) 548-3675.

Grammy and CMA Award nominated singer songwriter Drew Parker is our guest today at the radio backyard fence.

This is his song Blame Jesus.

Yeah, I've been known to burn it down.

Burn every bridge on every side of town.

Just a lit match.

Looking for Guess.

I was a wild horse.

I lost my way.

I broke my heart just to watch it break.

I brought a ghoul, a rebel on the loose in street.

These days, if you look at me.

And what you see.

Ain't what you used to see.

Blame Jesus, blame the cross.

Blame the blood that washed it all.

Blame mercy, blame the scars.

Blame the Savior who changed my heart.

Blame the stone that rolled away.

Blame that all amazing grace.

If you're wondering why I can't be who I was.

Blame.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Thought I was born to proof.

Thought I was Superman.

Till this old boy heard about a man up on the hill.

Walked out of the grave.

I'm forever changed.

That's why I blame Jesus.

Blame the cross.

Blame the blood that washed it all.

Blame mercy, blame the scars.

Blame the Savior who changed my heart.

Blame the stone that rolled away.

Blame that all.

Amazing grace.

If you're wondering why I can't be who I was.

Blame Jesus.

Blame Jesus for washing away my sin, my guilt, my shame.

Blame Jesus and the price he paid for who I am and who I ain't blame Jesus.

Jesus.

Blame the cross.

Blame the blood that washed it all.

Blame mercy, blame the scars.

Blame the Savior who changed my heart.

Blame the stone that rolled away.

Blame that all.

Amazing grace.

If you're wondering why I can't be who I was.

Blame Jesus.

Blame Jesus.

Drew Parker blame Jesus.

I want you to hear that song today.

And, uh, maybe that's your song as well.

I was going to ask you where that song came from, but you've really already told us that.

That it comes, you know, from your life, your heart.

I want you to go a slightly different direction.

Tell me about the process of writing that, because I see a lot of these songs, country or otherwise, have multiple people behind them.

And this one, Dan Wilson, Ray Fulcher and you.

So how does that work together when you're writing songs?

Yeah.

So I mean, for me, it always starts with an idea.

Um, and that idea is usually in the form of a title.

And, you know, I honestly, one day I was just sitting around thinking about kind of what God's done in my life and, you know, for so many years.

And in the music business, I mean, we take credit for, you know, the success and the things that we do.

Like, you know, we wrote such and such song.

It had success like, and, you know, whether I wrote that song with somebody else or whatever, we take credit for it.

And I got to think about where I was in my life at the time, and I was like, I can't take credit for any of this.

Like it.

And if and there's gonna.

And then I started thinking about, well, there's going to be people that are going to look at this new direction I'm going and they're either not going to like it or they're going to think, is he crazy?

He's leaving.

What does he do?

You know, and I can only blame you.

Can you can't blame me for for making the change.

You can only blame Jesus.

And so I was like, well, that's an interesting thought.

Blame Jesus.

Like, if somebody saw that title, they would be what would?

Why would you ever blame Jesus for anything?

I was like, well, you blame him for not being able to be the person you used to be anymore.

And so I sat down with, um Dan and.

And Ray.

Ray is one of my best friends in the entire world.

We've been friends for over ten years, and we've written a lot of songs together.

And anyway, they they had kind of I had told them the story of this new direction I was going to go, and I was like, I have this idea.

And they both fell in love with fell in love with it.

And obviously we weren't.

I mean, I don't they were so gracious to let me like kind of tell my story in this song and, and just kind of help guide it and, and direct it.

And um, I've written many songs with them over the years.

And so it was they were the perfect two to, to kind of write this first song with and the at least the first one I was going to put out.

And so, um, but yeah, it always starts with an idea with I think every good song starts with a good idea.

And for me it was just a title.

In this instance.

Yeah.

I want to find out at least two more questions.

Success.

How do you define success?

Now I want to find out the rest of the story with Cappy, but Kirk is on the line from Florida.

Kirk, why did you call today?

Well, I did for two reasons.

Uh, drew, your story is my story right now, and but I'm where you were when you were waiting for an answer from God before I'd go further in that I want.

Chris, I want to tell you something that, uh, I've come to realize.

Your greatest gift to us on the radio is your humility.

I heard you do the Chris Brooks Show a couple of days ago for the 10th anniversary.

And it wasn't about you.

I mean, you kept.

I.

All I could hear was the humility of trying to celebrate this other man's success and so forth.

So.

And Chris Fabry, I really enjoy your show all the time because you're just you're always lifting other people up just like you are drew today.

So thank you.

Very kind of you.

Thank you.

Drew, uh, I've been in construction 90% of my life, And, uh, when I got out of the field in 2003, I got into licensed plan review in the state of Florida, where I now live and work my way up.

And, you know, I was at the top of my game and my job pays $35 an hour because I've got two Florida licenses and I can approve building permits and mechanical permits.

But that job got taken away from me because some people wanted to get rid of me.

And I don't know why it happened.

And it's been a three month process of being kicked in the gut.

But I keep saying to God, you know, God, if you want me to change and do something different, please just let me know, because there's been something down inside of me and some of what you said in your testimony about.

Yeah, I've been in men's ministry, and so I can open the Bible and lead people to Christ and things like that.

I've gone overseas and done mission work and all that, but I have not been a deep digger in the Bible.

For the first time.

I started to read through the Bible this this January, and I'm on day 13 and with the Bible app with Charlie Covell.

But help me know what to do next.

Am I supposed to step away?

And how do I find out for sure?

Whatever God wants me to do, I'm available.

And I turned 80 in May and I'm so excited about life.

Wow, you sound like you're about 35.

Kirk, I.

Know that something.

Tells me that all the time.

Yeah, okay.

All right, so, drew, I know you can't.

You can't tell Kirk what to do, but.

Yeah, from your own life.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

You know, Kirk, I for me, I, I think my answer came so, so crazy in such a way.

And I think a lot of times we pray.

I mean, honestly, when I prayed and asked God, God sent me a sign.

I'll be honest, I don't know that I had the faith to think that God was going to answer it, especially not in the way that he did.

And I think so many times we want clarity before we move.

And God often gives clarity after we move in faith.

Um, I think clarity usually clarity usually follows obedience.

And God wants to recognize obedience.

God wants to see us in His Word, and God wants us in in constant communication with him.

You know, if God answered every prayer immediately, I think we would begin to trust the answer and not trust the answerer, if that makes sense.

Or if you said yes every time.

Right.

Yeah.

For sure.

I think waiting teaches us to depend on who God is and not to, and to know that we aren't in control of it, but to give it all to him.

Um, and and to grow in community and communication with the Lord.

Um, you know, your emotions.

I think our emotions aren't good indicators, um, of God's presence.

I think he's here.

Whether we feel him there, I know he is.

I know he's there.

Whether we feel him there or not.

I mean it in Psalm.

He even says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted.

You know, whether no matter what the situation is that we're going through.

And so I can't believe that because I had Psalm 34 open right here.

Wow.

And that's verse 18, the Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

And what I heard from you, Kirk, was, uh, part of this.

Your question is the fear that you're going to miss it.

You're going to God's going to point you in a direction.

You're going to miss it.

Oh, no, I missed that.

So what is what is the answer to that?

I'd say go to Psalm 34.

Read through that in your current situation and let that fourth verse wash over you too.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

So those fears that are grabbing Ahold of you.

And that you.

Which way am I going to go?

Or, you know, this is when David was being sought and he's, uh, he's there in, in, uh, before abimalek.

I think that's in Gath.

Um, this is, you know, he's in in the in the presence of his enemies right here.

And so think of all the fears that he has that can wash over him.

And he chooses to say, I sought the Lord, and he answered me.

It doesn't say how long it took, though.

And I think that's one of the things, drew, that you're saying.

No matter how long it takes, I'm going to I'm going to stay with you.

So, Kirk, I want you to hang on.

Stay with us today.

Uh, I want to get your information.

Tricia will get your information.

I'd love to send you something.

Thank you for your kind words about me and hearing the program the other day.

God bless you, friend.

You hang in there.

Keep listening.

And whatever God does, you blame Jesus and we'll be back.

With more from Drew Parker straight ahead.

Blame Jesus.

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It is happening.

Hearing of Doctor Redlich's book pushes my joy over the top.

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You'll see more about Drew Parker.

So talk about success.

The way that you viewed success at 24 was I'm going to have some hits and I'm going to be famous and I'm going to travel and tours.

ET cetera, et cetera.

But the thing that we've been talking about the last couple of years here is the gold is in the process.

It's in the middle of what you're doing.

It's not the outcome of of the thing that we're striving for.

It's in the process right here in the day to day.

Do you agree with that?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, we all want the moment, you know, the platform, you know.

But but the real treasure is found.

You know, when you arrive, it's found in who you become on your way there, down, you know, going down the road, you know, that's where the process is, the refining.

It's where God shapes our character, builds our faith, breaks the walls of our pride.

Uh, teach us.

Teaches us real dependence on him strengthens our obedience.

Um, you know, there's a pastor that I love, and I actually mentioned him in my little video.

His name's Jobby Martin.

He's been discipling me for the last year and a half.

And, um, he says this one thing that he used to coach his son's little league or maybe middle or high school football team, I can't remember exactly, but they're all working out in the weight room, in the gym.

And he says, I just he says they're all kind of messing around and playing around.

And he says, everybody wants to be big.

Nobody wants to be sore.

And I was like, that is the most incredible analogy for for the gold is in the process, not the not the outcome.

And I'm like, everybody wants to be big.

Nobody wants to be sore.

I'm like, that is incredible.

If we skip the grind to chase the look of being big, we wouldn't even have the strength to carry it, you know what I mean?

Like, it's it's so good.

Think of John the Baptist.

Okay, so John the Baptist has got this five year plan and he's going to do this and that.

We're going to get more followers and more baptisms.

ET cetera.

ET cetera.

No.

And here he is in prison, you know, and he can't do the thing that God had called him to do.

So, you know, he's less than.

No, no, he's he's following God's will right there.

He's being used of God right there.

But his cry was, he must increase, I must decrease.

Right.

Mhm.

For sure.

And if you think about it like, um, the gold for John the Baptist was in the wilderness.

That's where he was refined.

Exactly.

And I, uh, I've been on the John the Baptist diet lately.

It's working a locust for breakfast, a locust for lunch, and a sensible dinner.

Where are you, Ryan?

Where?

I need you, okay.

So?

So, Cappie, you mentioned Cappie.

Yeah.

Who's not a Christian?

Who called you up and said, I feel like you need to sing songs about Jesus.

What happened to him?

Uh, so Cappy's been my manager in music for over ten, over ten years now, and, uh, um, and so, yeah, he calls me up out of the blue.

He's like, man, I don't know how to tell you this, but I've been waking up in the middle of the night for the last week, and I feel like I'm supposed to tell you something.

And I'm like, well, what are you supposed to tell me?

At this point?

I'm thinking, okay, I've just prayed this prayer on December 1st, 2024.

Five days later, December 6th, Cappy's calling me.

And I'm thinking, okay, well, here's an answer from God.

And Cappy's about to drop me and he doesn't want to work with me anymore and my career is over.

That's literally what I'm thinking as he's, like beating around the bush trying to tell me, and I'm like, okay, well, what is it you're supposed to tell me?

And he's like, man, I don't know how to tell you this, but for the last week, I've been waking up in the middle of the night, and I feel this voice telling me that I'm supposed to tell you you're supposed to be a Christian artist and sing songs about Jesus, and I'm just just undone in this moment.

I don't even know what to think.

Because I've known Cathy for so many years and I know Cappie's not not a believer.

And so I'm like, what in the world?

This is so odd to me that obviously I've just prayed this prayer and God is answering it through an unbeliever.

What what does this mean?

And so but man, Cappie is I would say to this day he's still technically an unbeliever.

But man, God is doing something miraculous in his life.

And I think Cappie is just the Holy Spirit is working on him.

And man, it's just it's been such a beautiful thing, and I can't wait to one day tell everybody that that Cappie has surrendered his life to Jesus.

And and I truly think it's going to happen one day.

I mean, the Lord is truly working on him.

He came to church with me for the very first time this past December.

Really?

Um, yes he did.

And man, it was such a moving service.

And, you know, he thanked me for inviting him.

It's just been it's going to be so beautiful and I'm so grateful for him hearing and being, you know.

Yes, hearing the voice of the Lord and relaying that message to me, it's it's just beautiful there.

Again, it's not the outcome.

It's not the you know, I he just has to become a Christian.

And you pray for that.

It's the process.

You're going to love him in the process no matter what he decides, because it's his decision.

You know, he has to I can't.

I can't save.

Him.

Exactly.

And it's the same with anybody listening right now.

You got somebody that you've been praying for and you, you know, like like Cathy and Drew's life.

Don't you dare stop praying.

Don't you dare stop loving them.

Stay in their life.

Stay present.

As you were saying a little earlier.

Drew, I'm so glad we got to have this program.

This.

I'm going to get email from people.

This.

That was so encouraging.

It gave me a a shot in the arm, you know, a good a kick, you know, to be able to say you know what Really it is all about him and.

And how bold am I going to be with my lips and my life for God to have access?

So thanks for sharing your story, drew.

God bless you, friend.

Amen.

Thank you so much.

You know, we're not supposed to wait for the perfect conditions.

We're just supposed to take the next step of obedience.

And God, you know, will continue to open doors as long as we're walking in his light and being obedient towards his will for our life.

Well, I hope you'll pray for drew and the platform that God has given him, the place that he's put him in as a dad and as a husband, and as a singer songwriter and as a friend.

Uh, pray for him and come back and see us soon.

Drew.

And thank you for listening.

Chris Fabry live a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.