From Culinary Arts to Christian Rock: James Bizak's Redemption Story EP. 16

What happens when God interrupts the life of a successful chef battling addiction to create a musical ministry unlike anything in mainstream Christian culture? James Bizak's testimony will challenge everything you think you know about deliverance, purpose, and authentic worship.

Raised with creative passions and Catholic school foundations, James followed a practical path into culinary arts while nurturing his musical talents on the side. His journey through prestigious kitchens exposed him to an industry culture where substance abuse wasn't just common—it was practically expected. Soon, James found himself spiraling into alcoholism, drinking "from morning until night" during the pandemic.

The transformation began with a phone call from his brother and culminated in a supernatural encounter with Jesus in his bedroom. "Why don't you do music with me?" became the divine invitation that would change everything. What followed wasn't just recovery but complete deliverance—James experienced instant freedom from alcohol addiction without withdrawal symptoms, a miracle he attributes entirely to spiritual liberation.

Now creating alternative Christian rock music, James isn't interested in producing worship songs that sound like everything else on Christian radio. His ministry targets the overlooked metal, punk, and hardcore listeners—people who might never enter a church but could encounter God through authentic music that speaks their language. Each song emerges from his "secret place" with God, attempting to capture divine downloads and translate them into sound.

Whether you're struggling with addiction, searching for purpose, or simply curious about how faith and creativity intersect, this conversation offers raw honesty about both the depths of bondage and the heights of redemption. Subscribe and join us as we explore how our talents find their highest expression when aligned with divine purpose rather than self-promotion.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Meeting James Bizak
• 4:51 Early Life and Culinary Career Path
• 8:40 Faith Journey and College Experience
• 21:30 Music Beginnings and Studio Inspiration
• 28:32 Falling Into Worldly Temptations
• 39:58 Spiritual Awakening and Deliverance
• 55:14 Creating Christian Alternative Rock Music
• 1:07:58 Finding Purpose Through God's Plan
• 1:17:42 Final Message of Hope and Redemption

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the new subscribers. If you haven't yet, consider subscribing. Hit that bell notification so that you can see every time I put out a new video. A major portion of you that watch my videos haven't subscribed yet, so why not? It's free. You can also find a PayPal link below if you want to give a one-time or give a monthly to support the channel. Anything, great or small, is appreciated. Now let's get into the video. Thank you so much for joining me again today. We have a special guest from Connecticut, James Bizak. He is a musician, songwriter, uh, future TikTok star, uh all of the above, which is actually how we we got connected. So welcome, James. Thank you for coming on today.

SPEAKER_01: 0:53

Amen. Thank you for uh having me, bro.

SPEAKER_00: 0:56

So let's kind of dive in a little bit. So you sent me a kind of a whole summation of your life, where you came from, what you were doing. Um, so let's start at the beginning. Like, who was who was James as a little kid?

SPEAKER_01: 1:12

Me as a kid. Um, that's a tough question. I was always when I was younger, I was always interested in the art. I always loved uh drawing, uh painting. I was always like really creative in that aspect. Um, and then there came the point in time in my life where I had to decide a career, and I was always into the music, but my parents were always like, we're not sending you to college for music. That's not happening. You know, that that's a lot of money for you to learn how to like read music and stuff. So, and then I wanted to be a graphic designer, and luckily they were right, because back then they're like, you don't want to get into graphic design, you know, that's a very competitive field, and now you have AI out now, yeah, and everyone's AI for their uh uh designs and all that. So praise God that they they were right about that. But I always love eating, I always loved um food, I was obsessed with it. I used to watch late at night when I was a kid, I would always watch Iron Chef, like the the with Japanese ones when it was like overdub.

SPEAKER_00: 2:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 2:20

And I was watching that, and it it just it it like fascinated me. So that's when I decided to to get into the culinary.

SPEAKER_00: 2:29

Um and they didn't try to say anything about that, like don't do that. They were good with that.

SPEAKER_01: 2:35

My mom was my mom was like full for it. My dad, he he's like an engineer and stuff, he's always on the technical side of everything. He's like, How are you gonna make money doing that? You know? Um, but then that's when the food network was really blowing up. So he was started watching that. He's like, Oh, this looks cool.

SPEAKER_00: 2:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 2:53

And then I was like, yeah. So then I decided that's where I went to school. I went to culinary school. Um and but in the background, I was always doing music, always studying, working on that, which was a huge passion of mine for sure.

SPEAKER_00: 3:09

That's awesome. That's awesome. So your dad said it was okay after you started watching the Food Network. So he kind of saw that there was some sort of possibility or at least a probability that a life could be like you could support yourself in this field.

SPEAKER_01: 3:28

Yeah, he started he started to see the the value in it. Um and then once we started like visiting schools and stuff, we went to CIA, then we went to Johnson Wales, and he just saw the whole production and you know how organized, how everything was just very it was flashy, I would say. And once he went there, they're like feeding them all the food they're making. He's like, Okay, I can see, I could see how you could be doing this.

SPEAKER_00: 3:55

Like, wait a minute, wait a minute, I could actually enjoy this. Yeah, yeah. So now, how does that branch? Like, what what age were you, and kind of walk us through the food. You so you obviously went to college for it, right?

SPEAKER_01: 4:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 4:10

How long was that college? Was is it a two year, is it a four-year?

SPEAKER_01: 4:13

I went for four years. Okay. I went for culinary arts and then the the food service management, like business aspect of it too.

SPEAKER_00: 4:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 4:22

Like accounting, all that stuff, reading PLs, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 4:27

So really the the business side of it, you actually probably are using in the music as well, right? Wouldn't it be the same stuff as far as business side?

SPEAKER_01: 4:36

Yeah, absolutely. Um right now there's not a whole lot of business going on other than I'm putting all of my, you know, I'm putting all my money into it now. I'm like sowing my seed into my ministry. I haven't got really help from anyone. Every everything that I've acquired, you know, I I worked hard in the kitchens to provide that for myself, provide all my recording equipment, all my instruments, you know, all that. So that's something that I'm definitely, you know, I worked really hard at to get. So God's been having me on this journey for years, like just teaching me over time.

SPEAKER_00: 5:18

So you said a couple of churchy words. You said ministry, and then you just said God. Is it is it safe to assume at least some sort of influence, or what and you said you said your childhood, you talked about the the business side of it or the the dream that started cultivating inside of you. What did your relationship with God look like at a young age? Were you in church? Were you kind of churched, or how did that look?

SPEAKER_01: 5:43

So as a kid, as a kid, I went to Catholic school. So I I had um I definitely had a general understanding of God and Jesus and how that worked, you know? But it was more it wasn't like now I have a relationship with the living God.

SPEAKER_00: 6:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:04

And that's what my life thrives off of. Like everything I do, I pray about it, I talk to God about it before I make any decisions or I do anything like that. So in the past I didn't really have that. I had a sense of God, but I didn't actually have the relationship with God. It was more of just like a figure or like this is a you see a crucifix, like, oh Jesus, like you know, God's around you, but not as strong as it is now in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 6:30

Like a distant and a distant understanding, not an intimacy with him.

SPEAKER_01: 6:34

Absolutely. It was like more of a concept, I would say.

SPEAKER_00: 6:38

So when you were going along your journey, as far as like uh, so you go to college for the four years, you graduate. Now, do you stay local or do you move away and live the dream in New York? Like what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01: 6:48

Oh, I I moved, I moved away, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 6:51

How far away did you go?

SPEAKER_01: 6:53

Once I left the Ness, I was in Rhode Island.

SPEAKER_00: 6:56

Okay. How was that?

SPEAKER_01: 6:58

Yes. It was good. It was it was a great experience, you know, just being out on my own, and you know, I feel like everyone needs to get out and be on their own.

SPEAKER_00: 7:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:10

But, you know, I got kind of like chewed up and spit out because I didn't have um any foundation, like strong foundation, yeah uh with the Lord. So, you know, once I went to college, I just started living in the world, and that completely took a backseat, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 7:30

Like that's exactly the the same thing that literally verbatim the same story. I went to uh Orlando uh to a college called Full Sale, and it's Studio Engineering is what I was going for. And I was married at the time. Um, we had our first child, and I went from a small town of like 17,000 people to Orlando, and I kind of already had a drinking problem. But see, I was like raised in the church, like my dad was a pastor my entire life. My parents, I was one of the few kids that my parents were still married, you know. My dad was a pastor in town, so I was very, I guess you would say, sheltered. It wasn't a bad thing. Like I was, but I was just being a Christian young man. But once I got out from underneath my mom and dad and I went to Orlando where they just couldn't drive down the street and get me, it was a totally different story. And I ended up getting arrested down there with the DUI uh for drinking and driving. And and then my first wife left me because you know, I was I was at the club all of the time. Like all the time. And I was like, hey, you want to come? And she was like, No. I was like, well, that's your problem. And then I would go anyways. Terrible husband, piece of crap. But but I I didn't know how to be a because I was like 21, 22, I had no clue how to be an adult yet. I had no clue really how to be. I was newly married, had no clue how to be a husband. I didn't know how to be a Christian. And even though I was raised in church, like it makes a a big difference. It will test who you really are when you're not around the people that you kind of leaned on for your Christianity and your relationship with God. And that's what happened to me big time. So I fully understand that.

SPEAKER_01: 9:17

Yep, extremely similar story, extremely similar story. You know, I left the net I was very sheltered as a kid. Um that it was like a battle in high school to do anything fun.

SPEAKER_00: 9:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 9:30

Uh what I thought was fun.

SPEAKER_00: 9:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 9:33

Um, but yeah, once I went to college, I kind of just like was in the world, you know, drinking on the weekends. Oh, let's try smoking weed now.

SPEAKER_00: 9:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 9:44

Everything I was against, everything I'd always talk against. Um in high school, oh, you shouldn't be doing that, you shouldn't be doing that. Went to college, started doing all of it, you know. Just fell into Satan's hands, I would, I would definitely say.

SPEAKER_00: 9:59

Yeah, for sure. It's it was almost like, you know how you go on vacation and nothing is real. It I mean, it is, but it's like life isn't real. The normal people that are there, so you can kind of do anything, and it's like be outside the box, be a little more adventurous, whatever, because your normal life isn't like this. That's kind of how it felt when I went off to college and like went to another state, went to that side of the country, and and like everything was just kind of a weird, kind of new. It's like, well, nobody's here that knows who I am. I can reinvent myself, and it was a bad reinvention.

SPEAKER_01: 10:34

Absolutely. I was just right right as you were saying that, I was thinking in my head, it's like, oh, I can reinvent myself. No one knows all the dumb things I did in high school or embarrassing moments. Like, no one knows about any of that.

SPEAKER_00: 10:45

So, in this time, where was it that was it during this time, was it after this time? What what part of your your journey did you really like start actually developing your your relationship with Christ?

SPEAKER_01: 10:59

I would say about so I'm I'm 33 now. Um I would say about five years ago.

SPEAKER_00: 11:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 11:09

Um Christ.

SPEAKER_00: 11:14

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01: 11:16

This is probably this is probably a little longer ago than this is probably seven years ago. He planted the seed, I'd say. I remember I was alone, it was after college. I was living. I had a girlfriend when I left college, and then we're playing house together, we had an apartment after. Like when I say I was living in the world, it's like I was doing everything that you're not supposed to do. So we broke up, I moved out on my own. And when you get out of when you get out of college for culinary school, you don't just like get out of school and you're like, I'm the chef now. You don't know that. You don't know that. Yeah, you don't know this. So you're getting a job starting off at the bottom. You're starting off as a line cook, like as if I didn't even go to college, to be honest with you. And you have to work your way up. So you don't start making money till like three or four years in. So now I'm out, I'm out in Massachusetts now, living on my own in this like sketchy apartment in Attleboro, Massachusetts. You hear, was that a gunshot? You know, is that a is that a shopping cart getting pushed down the street right now? It's two in the morning. Very scary, yeah, very scary environment I was in. So I started drinking a lot. I didn't know what else to do. I felt so alone, I felt so anxious, I felt so depressed. I was in uh another state by myself now. I'm like, I was just drinking. I was just drinking a lot.

SPEAKER_00: 12:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 12:46

Um and I called my my brother called me one night, and I was just so upset, I didn't know what to do. You know, I was like, I don't even want to be alive anymore. I called my brother up, my brother Matt, and over the phone he led me to Christ. Like he planted the seed. Um, and that's what kind of got the ball rolling, but it wouldn't be till like four or five years later till I actually um really started living living that life, you know, I'd say the past two and a half years, three years.

SPEAKER_00: 13:17

Oh really? Yeah. So so what does that journey look like? Like are you still doing the chef thing today? Are you still? Oh, you are? Okay. And so in your in your walk, like or while that seed was planned and um you went to college for food. You're still doing food today. Where where does it connect all together that music came in the picture? Have you always been musically inclined as a kid? How did that come about?

SPEAKER_01: 13:54

So when I started playing guitar at a very young age, probably like 10, my dad actually showed me my first couple chords. So it was always like it was always an escape for me, almost like it was my little obsession, you know. I just loved music, I was infatuated by it. So at the time, you know, you had um, what was it, ultimateguitar.com. So you can go online and look up the tabs. So that's how I learned how to play guitar when I was like maybe like 12, 13 years old. So I'd just go on, I'd be learning tabs, I'd be learning songs. Um, and then um I had a little band in like middle school. But then in high school, me and these guys got together and we started like a pop punk rock band.

SPEAKER_00: 14:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 14:42

And um that's when I got to go to a recording studio for the first time. You know, we wrote some songs, we put out um an EP, and it was like, whoa, we were playing shows on the weekends. It's like, wow, this is awesome, you know. Like this, you get a little taste, like, oh, this is what what it must feel like to be a rock star. Like, this is awesome. Like uh, you're playing these songs that you wrote.

SPEAKER_00: 15:07

So everything you everything you were doing is songs you wrote. It wasn't other people's stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 15:12

Yeah, yeah, no, I wrote them with my friends, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 15:15

Okay, so that's that's pretty talented right there. Like it's hard enough to play other people's stuff and be good at it, but to get people interested in your stuff that's fresh and new and they don't know, it's a lot harder than people think it is.

SPEAKER_01: 15:30

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 15:31

And but none of this was Christian based. You were just singing like love songs or or whatever you felt like writing, like Yeah, like some like really worldly stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 15:40

I threw I definitely threw hints of God in there in some of those songs, I know for sure. Um, but no one in my band, no one in my band was really.

SPEAKER_00: 15:50

That sounds like today's Christian modern Christian music. You just throw hints of God in there, you don't have to say anything about Yeah, yeah. So like uh now do you still write with any of those guys or are they a part of the picture at all?

SPEAKER_01: 16:04

No, we haven't taught we haven't we went our separate ways like after college, you know. I think it was like freshman year of college. We we broke up. But that's when in my dorm room, I had my little recording rig and my laptop, and I would sit in there and just be writing music on the weekends. Um, like I would say my freshman year, I was going out and drinking um and stuff like that. But after the first trimester, when the grades came back and my parents were calling me, like, whoa, what is this? You just gotta you just gotta D. You just gotta be in quantitative analysis. And like in high school, I was always in like honors classes and stuff, and I was like, A's and B's, that was it, to avoid all the conflict, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 16:47

Dude, that first that first semester of being somewhere else, I mean, you might as well expect that it's gonna be one of those, like, you're not getting the grades you thought you did, just because the new acclimate like now, if you're a uh a social person, if you're not, you may stay the same. But for me, it was like I was gonna see what was going on every night. I wanted to see, you know, meeting all these new people. Let's go hang out. I'm a very social person. Everybody always was inviting me to go everywhere. So I'm like, let's do this. I've never been in a place like this before. This place is huge, and uh yeah. I felled out of two colleges that way.

SPEAKER_01: 17:24

Yeah, there's probably a lot more to do down in Orlando.

SPEAKER_00: 17:27

There, yeah, there's too much to do. There's too much. Like, I I frequented this one place. It could fit probably 200 people in there, and it was uh like you know what dubstep is, right? Yes, okay. So that was like my favorite, favorite type of club to go to. Like I was like, you know, and I was I was uh what is that scary scary sprites? What is it? Uh Skrillex, you know what that is?

SPEAKER_01: 17:55

Yeah, that came out when I was like in college.

SPEAKER_00: 17:58

Me too. That's what I was so uh so that was like a cool little era. Have you ever heard of a guy named Steve Aoki?

SPEAKER_01: 18:06

Yes, that's the guy that throws the cakes at people, right?

SPEAKER_00: 18:09

Okay, so this is how people thought I was the owner of clubs because I went there so much. And when Steve Aoki would play at this club I was at because I knew the owner and the people that put on the night, I would always hang out with him. And there was like the VIP section up next to, and I would just go up there with the DJs while they're playing their thing and just go up there and hang out with the little seats behind him. I had no clue who anybody was. I didn't even know Steve Aoki was as big as he was. I had no clue. I was just, I would usually, on my birthday night, I walked in and this dude gave me a massive uh glass of coke and rum, I think. He said, Here you go, buddy, have a fun time. And I just walked through and went wherever I wanted to. Like you had to have wristbands to go in certain areas. I never had to have anything. I just but I was there all the time. I ended up making friends with people, so it was one of those alluring lifestyles where I didn't have to try for anything, and so it kept me like bound. And so until my life started falling apart, my wife left me and took my son, and and I was you know, failing out of college, obviously, because I was always out, and it's really hard to focus the next day when you're hung over. And I saw your face, you're like, Yes, I know. So yeah, it's uh thank the Lord that he saved me.

SPEAKER_01: 19:25

So thank him every day, praise him.

SPEAKER_00: 19:27

So it was your brother that kind of got you on this path to Jesus. So he was the one that planted the seed.

SPEAKER_01: 19:32

So has he always stayed the straight and narrow, or did he have um no, because he he he went through the similar he went through a similar thing I went through in college with the drinking and stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 19:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 19:44

Uh but then he was he was over that, and that's when he he found Christ, he became baptized and he was going on this this journey. Um and that's what led me to it, because he saw what I was going through, and and he knew he was still struggling a little too during it, but you know, he knew that there was something at the other side of what I was going through.

SPEAKER_00: 20:11

Yeah, that's pretty cool. I love how God will set that up. Like things that that we're going through now usually are so that we can turn around and help the next person who's going through the same thing and lift them up to where we are. So on your on the um on the uh the mixing side, so you said you've been producing, mixing, and mastering music since you were a teenager?

SPEAKER_01: 20:37

That's when I started learning, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:39

So what was it that drew you into music? Like you just got with those guys and you started doing it, or like and what what was your first instrument and what drew you to that instrument?

SPEAKER_01: 20:50

My first instrument was the guitar, and my dad, oh man, my dad was obsessed with the Beatles, okay? Like he claimed all the vinyl, he was playing it constantly.

SPEAKER_00: 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 21:03

So he played guitar when he was younger, he just dabbled. It was a hobby, so he had his old, he had his old guitar, and he um he gave it to me, and then he showed me some chords, and I just like ran with it, you know, because at that time, like Green Day just put out American Idiot, which was like Blink 182 was out, and it was just so cool, and I was like, I want to be doing that. Um so you know, I learned music and um was like I have to be in a band. These guys look like they're having the time of their life. So I started doing that, but it wasn't till when it wasn't until we actually went into the studio and recorded. We were with the engineer, his name, his name is Ivan Fiello, so I'm still friends with him to this day. He's out in California now doing that full time, but I just I saw what he was doing. I was so like everything we're doing, I was just really soaking it in. You know, what he was doing with the computer, how he's mixing, how he's making things sound, how he was setting up the instruments. And I just really soaked that in. And after that experience and being in the studio with him, I was like, I want to do this. Like, I want to do this. This looks like the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 22:21

Well, how did y'all get connected to somebody who had a studio that was like a pro that how how did that even happen? Or are you just that good in word spread?

SPEAKER_01: 22:28

He was he was in the he was in the area, you know. It doesn't matter if you're uh it doesn't matter really what your talent is if you guys are putting money together.

SPEAKER_00: 22:39

Oh, that's true, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:40

So pay someone to go do a studio. But we weren't we weren't like we weren't that we weren't that bad. I listened back to it now and I'm like, ooh. But always we were enough to get in there and like cut some songs with this guy, and uh yeah, ever since that experience, that's what changed my whole uh I would say projection into doing music after going through that experience, and then YouTube is out. I started learning off YouTube, I started learning um well just over time, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 23:17

So if somebody was was right now, just now breaking into the music space, you looking back at your own story, what would you what would you share with yourself, or what would you share with those who are just now getting into it or even thinking about getting into that music space? Like, what nugget of wisdom would you say, look, watch out for this or do this, or don't do this, or don't think this way, or just do it and see what happens? Like, what would what would be some wisdom that you would share with them?

SPEAKER_01: 23:45

Oh God, do not think you're all that. Do not um think you're better than you are, you know. You have to kill your pride going into this. So I would say be a sponge, uh, remain teachable and just keep your eyes open and learn from everyone around you that you possibly can. You take, you know, you you well, what's the saying? You you chew the meat and you spit out the bone. There's some things you could see that you're like, I don't like that. But the things you do see, just absorb it, you know. Don't be afraid to ask people questions. The worst they could say, I'm not telling you that, that's my secret.

SPEAKER_00: 24:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 24:23

You know, but yeah, remain teachable, ask questions. Just surround yourself, surround yourself with people um that you honor and respect. You know, if you're if you're in your circle of doing music and you you think you're the best one in the room, you need to find a new circle to be in.

SPEAKER_00: 24:43

Yeah. You know, if that makes sense. Yeah, I tell my like I tell my son all the time, like who you surround yourself with is who you're gonna become. And so if you're the smartest in the room, if you're the richest in the room, if you're the talent most talented in the room, you're never gonna go up because you have no one helping you get to that next place. And uh, I th when I first started photography in in 2012, 2012, I well actually not me, my mother, she she knew I had an eye for photography, and she and my dad were like, you know what? We will buy whatever gear you want. Look it up, uh, do your research. And at that time, research to me was the best, is the most expensive. Not thinking that it didn't matter, and I thought, because I had a six thousand dollar camera that I was going to be the best photographer in the world. I really did. Now I ended up accidentally by a weird connection. Uh there's this guy named Gary Sinise. He played Lieutenant Dan on um Forrest Gump. I got I got to meet him uh up in the Dallas area. It was in an American Airline hangar, it was a military thing, and it was a meal, and so I got to shoot the event, which was pretty cool, but I did it for free. So because somebody knew somebody that knew somebody, they said, Hey, we'll give you this chance. You can you know use all the photos, obviously, they're yours. And so I got to go around and meet all the important. I met a was it a four-star general, and was there one five-star? Or maybe he just died. I don't remember what it was, but anyways, it was a really cool event, cool opportunity. And if I would have known, I was taking photos and they would be blurry, and I'm like, oh, that one didn't that one didn't work. Not knowing that it wasn't working because I didn't know what I was doing. And I thought because I had it on auto mode that I was a photographer because some of my photos came out. So looking back, yes. That's that would be one thing I would tell myself, like you you should have actually studied and like prepared. But I just thought because I could get by, I did the same thing in school because I could get by, I wouldn't give it my full attention or the full try. And it has bit me in the butt. So now people like this guy asked me the other day, he said, Why do you work so much? Why do you always like super everything you do is like excellent? You're like, you you always try and you you don't you don't stop until you get the result you want. I said, Because I spent the first half of my life just swing like just barely getting by. I'm making up for lost time. Like I've had enough time of just getting by. So that's good advice. That's really good advice. So now did you have anything else to add to that or no?

SPEAKER_01: 27:40

I would say I would say my demeanor and my ego definitely like um made me miss out on some opportunities that would have been pretty neat. Yeah, you know, because when you think you're all that, people don't they're like this guy's not all that, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 27:59

So you now you said that you're you're drifting away. College was kind of a turning point. What were the so you think the alcohol, was it friends that you had? This is kind of touching on making the connection. Was it people you were surrounded with that was kind of doing this stuff that got you kind of in that direction of leaving God behind completely and just doing your own thing?

SPEAKER_01: 28:24

I think it was partly myself too, because I was so sheltered, you know, as a kid. You wanna you wanna you think that's what life is? You want to experience that drinking, um, you know, going out, partying and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00: 28:38

Because that's what everybody tells you. I mean, that's what everything is put on display.

SPEAKER_01: 28:43

Oh, and I feel bad for the younger generation now because like social media, yeah, you you turn it on and it's just shoving it in your face. We had kind we had Facebook, was like kind of new when I was in college. It was out for like three years. There wasn't Instagram yet, like Snapchat came out halfway through I was being in college. We had Vine back then, if anyone remembers that. If anyone remembers what that is, it's like t the first TikTok. But it's just getting shoved down your throat today, and it's just so exposed. But you know, I got exposed enough from what I saw that it's like, okay, I'm away from my parents, I want to live my life now. I thought that's what being an adult is, you know. Yeah. Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, uh, you know, getting out of class, cracking a beer, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 29:34

Because that's what adults do on the internet or on the on the shows, everything. They come home, they drink a beer.

SPEAKER_01: 29:40

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 29:43

I had a guy ask me the other, because like in in the way that we believe in our church, we don't preach that drinking will send you to hell. It's in the Bible. I mean, Jesus' first miracle, that's a big one people use for for arguing for alcohol. But what I say is this the close the first of all the the lifestyle that is a part of that world is not godly no so if I if I want to be closer with God and I I want to mature so my my mission and vision for the church is I say it almost every Sunday spiritual maturity like bringing maturity back to the church house bringing biblical literacy back to the church house like we should be able to not get upset when people challenge our faith but we should be able to defend it and so when you begin to mature in things you don't ask necessarily is it a sin? Because things that could be good aren't necessarily good for you and all of the thing and something that you may need to get rid of in your life isn't necessarily a sinful thing, but it's not for you in this season and it's not healthy for you, and it will actually hinder you from growing and and going in the direction that God actually wants you to just because you wouldn't let go of something because it's not sinful. Like that doesn't always mean it's it's good for you just because it's not sinful. And so that uh that argument of, well, that was Jesus' first miracle. One thing I know is that the closer I get to God, the less I want anything to do with the world. Not not reaching out to them, but I I don't want to mirror them anymore. I want to mirror Christ. I don't want to look like them. I don't want to cozy up to them and be buddy buddy and and and there be no separation or there's no distinction between who I am inside and who they are. So the the closer I get to God, the more I realize. Uh was it the prophet Elijah where he he was the presence of God was revealed to him and he he just said, I am undone, I am unclean. And that's how we should approach our lifestyle with with Jesus, is that we know we're unclean, we know we are not worthy, we know that we are unrighteous compared to his righteousness. Like it the Bible says, our righteousness is like filthy rags. And so when we approach our walk in that way, it makes us walk in fear of the Lord. I think fear of the Lord needs to be back in our lives again and not just a box to check off that we went to church or we we gave some money to to little girl. She has got her foot underneath my door and she's like trying to, baby, come and get her, please. All right. She's quick, she'll sneak off. But the closer I get to God, the further away I I have to move away from the world. Not that I don't reach out and witness to them, but I need to be healthy first. It's like when you're in an airplane and they say, put on your oxygen mask first, so then you can be able to put on help other people. And that's what the church needs to do again. We need to get healthy again so that we can actually not be tempted by sinful nature, not be tempted by the sinful things of the world, so that we can be effective when we do go out and witness. Because if not, we're going to get drugged back down. We're gonna, we're gonna idolize that lifestyle and and try to argue. Like my leaders at the church, I have a some people think it's kind of weird, but and it's not legalistic. We're we don't have the spirit of religion in our church. But I do make them, if they're gonna be a leader, I do expect more of them. And I make them sign and date because if there's ever an argument of, well, I I'm doing this, not a mess up, but a lifestyle, there's a big difference. And I say, listen, you're in agreement that this is what the word says, this is what we believe, and as such, you're going to live your life according to the word of God, so that there's no reproach on the ministry of this church.

SPEAKER_01: 33:53

And so that in Titus, right? When you're talking about the elders.

SPEAKER_00: 33:57

Yeah. Yeah. So there's there's a we're going to be judged more when we speak out, when we are teaching the word of God, and and even when you're singing about God, like we're we're we're not just a normal person consuming. We are now a level up, in my personal opinion. We we are we are now we put ourselves of a higher requirement because we are bearing the name of Christ in a teaching manner, in my personal for me, anyways. Uh now you can you can split hairs and kind of argue on the music side of it, but in a way, you are like if you have scripture or you're talking about God, you are teaching or even helping um what do you call it? Uh musical counseling in a way in some of your music.

SPEAKER_01: 34:43

Yeah, no, I I agree with you. I wouldn't say that there's a difference. Um, because you're you are held to a higher standard once you are a reper you're representative of Christ. If you're putting Christ's name out there, you have to have a clean vessel. Like we're not perfect, right? You know what I'm saying? But you have to you have to be walking with Jesus daily. I wake up every day, my prayer is uh it says to pick up every day. We have to wake up and we pick up our cross and we Jesus. You know. Uh I always I always pray, I'm like, Holy Spirit, take over my mind, my heart, control my eyes, my ears say, Father God, um, help me to be more like you. Help me to be more like you today. How can I shine for you? You know, even when things aren't going well. It's just looking for uh even when the crap is hitting the fan. It's like you have to find that positive in that moment because now that everyone around you, even at work, they know you're a Christian, they're gonna see how you react. They're gonna be watching You know, they're gonna say, Oh, this guy's a Christian, he talks about God all the time. See how he acts now. So it's you are held to a higher standard because you don't you don't want to make Christianity look bad. And it seems like from what I'm seeing on Instagram and social media, there's a whole lot of that going on right now.

SPEAKER_00: 36:10

Yeah. You know, I think in the Bible talks about the great the great revival and the great falling away, and I think we're seeing some of that right now. Like there are people who have built now people have opinions about mega churches or whatever. Honestly, if God's in the middle of it, I don't care. Like there was thousands that Peter preached to, there was thousands that Jesus preached to. I mean, they were having church, they they were, you know, yeah, they were preaching and people were listening. But it's when man starts building their own kingdom, eventually the kingdom falls. And I think that's what we're seeing right now. People have been building their own kingdom, they've been making everything about themselves, not necessarily on purpose. I fully believe that every preacher, every elder, we're all men. We're all, you know, we're all women and men that are flesh and bone, and we can stumble and we can fall, and they're just doing it on a bigger stage. But at the same time, there had to be some point to where accountability was not as important to them. And that's that's dangerous when we as believers think that we become untouchable because of what we feel that we've accomplished. And that that's very dangerous. Like I uh I try my best to cultivate humility every single day. And I tell I tell uh the people that that does our media, that uh does our photos for the service, I'm very vocal. And if I put anybody on the chopping block, I put myself first, always. And so I told them, I said, if you ever, if you ever catch me not being humble and sounding proud, because what are they doing? They're taking pictures of me every Sunday. We're creating shorts and reels, we're putting out for the Sunday service and the message. People are telling me how much they love the service, how much they love, because I'm also the worship leader now. I don't want, I'm not gonna stay that way. The Lord's gonna send somebody one day. Yes, Lord. But but right now I'm doing that and I'm I'm preaching. And so everything about the service is I I have people sing, but it's kind of I'm the leader and I'm the face of the church, pretty much. But I tell them all the time, you don't listen to what I say, pay attention to what I do. And if I step out of line, I tell my board members this if I step out of line and I'm preaching something that's not the word of God, you check me. Don't don't sit on it, check me. Come to me, let me know. If I'm if I'm acting proud because I'm, you know, it can get in your head. If you got your picture taken all the time and people are loving on you and telling you how great you are all the time, it's it can be a task to stay humble in that kind of environment all the time. And so I tell them, listen, if I ever, if I ever even talk wrong, even my brain's somewhere else and I speak to you in the wrong way, the the pastor is the gift to the church, not the other way around. And so I've got to check myself and make sure that I'm staying who I am supposed to be and who I'm called to be, which is a servant to the people. And so now, speaking of which, um, how do you being successful? I don't know how many followers you have across your your stuff, but you're you're singing, you're, you know, people are loving your stuff. How do you stay humble and stay focused on Christ and not get distracted from all the probably opportunities that present themselves to you because of the sphere that you're in?

SPEAKER_01: 39:50

Well, I'd have to say it's it's definitely um I've only been doing this for two years. Um God, God saved my life. I was like spiraling like out of control. I actually gave up music for a while.

SPEAKER_00: 40:04

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01: 40:05

And I thought it was over with. Um when I became when I got my first chef job, it was a really like high-profile company. And I was trying to do the music and I was trying to do the chef stuff at the same time. And, you know, they're seeing my social media and they're like, listen, you you can't you can't do both. You have to decide are you gonna be a chef or you're gonna be a musician, but you can't do both. And it it was kind of crushing to me because music was my passion, you know, but I worked so hard for years to become a chef, and that's what was making the money. I was spending money on music, you know, I wasn't taking any in at the time. This is probably like uh six years ago. So I stopped I stopped doing music for a while, and it it just crushed me so much deep down. This is around the time the pandemic happened, okay?

SPEAKER_00: 40:58

So a lot of crushing then.

SPEAKER_01: 41:00

Yeah, so being exposed to so once I was out of college, once you're actually in the restaurant industry, that's when you're exposed to all the partying and the alcohol and the drugs. That's when it gets real. You're out of culinary school now, okay?

SPEAKER_00: 41:15

So is it kind of like college again, like the same kind of introduction, like just new to all the way worse, though. Really?

SPEAKER_01: 41:21

Oh, yeah. It's where because people are drinking at work all day and stuff. Oh, you know? Yeah, you're it's like you're in it. Uh when you're at that high level, they don't they don't care about you and they don't care about what you're doing, they care about the results. So however you get to those results and you're holding your stuff together, they can care less what you're putting into your body.

SPEAKER_00: 41:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 41:45

That's a harsh reality. Um so then the pandemic the pandemic happened. I was drinking so much from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed for probably about two years straight. And this is when um I'm gonna go back to the beginning of this question. Um this is when God met me, and God was like, James, I want to use you. I actually had an encounter with Jesus.

SPEAKER_00: 42:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 42:17

It was in this room, too. It was about two and a half years ago. He's like, you have to stop drinking, you have to put all that stuff down, you have to stop smoking. I want to be able to use you, I want you to do music. I I know you've been frustrated about doing music and striving for that for years, and it hasn't been successful. Why don't you do it with me? Why don't you do music with me? Why don't you do music for the kingdom of God? And that's when my whole entire life changed. And that's that's when I quit drinking. I I was just I'm two years sober as of last week.

SPEAKER_00: 42:55

So you quit drinking immediately?

SPEAKER_01: 42:59

Like two months after, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 43:02

How how was that? Like was it was it something that was like super hard? Or like what was the process that because some people I know some good people that that are in my church? Some of them still drink, some of them still smoke. Great people, but they can't let that bondage go, or they can't get out of that bondage. So what what was it that motivated you to get out of that? Or what was it, what was that breaking point that the ch you felt like the chains fall off? When why would why was it two months and then you stopped? Or did you kind of taper off and then it was you were able to quit, or how did that how did it look?

SPEAKER_01: 43:41

Once you have once you seek Christ, the living God, and his spirit, and you encounter that in the full glory of it, you don't want to do it anymore.

SPEAKER_00: 43:53

And that's the answer I was looking for. That is what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_01: 43:57

That's all listen. It's like when you're hearing them, yeah, and it's like what is this, what is happening right now? Something inside of you changes that I I can't live that life anymore. I can't do it. Um so I kept drinking after that experience for a couple of months. I I I went back to what I what I was doing and I hated it. Yeah, I hated every second of it, and I wanted to stop, but I couldn't. Like I was like, I I'm not drinking today. By the end of the day, I went to drinking, so I knew my will was in the right place. I didn't want to do it anymore. Um so then it came down to deliverance, and that's where it all changed because I realized I don't want to do this anymore. So why is this still happening? All the doors that I opened in college from drinking, smoking, having sex, looking at pornography, going to strip clubs, gambling, yeah, I opened the door of my of my soul to the demonic realm, and I had a legion of demons in me. Okay. So I came across, I think it one of my friends, you know, we're talking. I talked to my friend, she sent me this thing. Uh, it was Greg Locke. He had a deliverance. It was a deliverance handbook to go through it. And I was like, you know what, I'm gonna give this a try. And I went through that, I went through that handbook. I was I went down to Florida because I wanted to quit drinking. I went down to Florida to my uncle's house for a week, and I went through that handbook on his deck, and literally, I'm going through it. And like demons were coming out of my body, like they were manifesting out of my body. Like And you're just by yourself, and I was by myself. So awesome. And right before I prayed, I was like, I was like, Jesus, I was like, please be with me during this. I know I'm alone right now. He's like, and I just heard you're not alone. And that's when I opened, I opened that file up and I started reading that book. I never drank again since that day.

SPEAKER_00: 46:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 46:24

Yeah. Never smoked ever again. I had demonic oppression over my life. And people don't like to think, people don't like to think, oh, you can't have a demon or whatever. Well, if you've never been delivered, then if you've never submitted to God and surrendered yourself, you sure as heck do. Because your pride is thinking, your pride is opening a door and allowing the enemy to have legal rights to still manipulate you. So once you fully surrender and submit, that's when the change happened in my life. And that's where I was be able, I was able to be free from that bondage. Um, and that's that's how I overcame drinking. And for drinking every day from from morning to night, and I stopped like that and didn't have any alcohol withdrawal.

SPEAKER_00: 47:15

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 47:17

Um symptoms, that was that was God, that was Jesus.

SPEAKER_00: 47:21

That is so cool. That is that is a lot cooler of a story than I thought it was gonna be. That's awesome. I love it. I love it. Yeah, because we're not all churches talk about it, not all churches preach about it or teach about it, but uh the last men's Bible study, we actually talked about deliverance and about healing and uh what was it, healing ministry, and deliverance, and how a lot of these things actually go hand in hand. Like God wants to not only minute uh minister to people, but he also wants to set them free and deliver them from the bondage. And you you hit the nail on the head. Uh, there's one guy in my church right now, he is like I I haven't responded to him actually in a couple hours, but he is this is the the story, and I'm gonna have him on the podcast because he's he's got a phenomenal story. I we just had 12, it's a record for me at once, 12 people this last Sunday get baptized. And there was this this man and wife, they're they're our age, um, and they have two little girls, and they all got baptized together as a family. And every we out of all the 12, all of them that as soon as they sit, so we have this little thing, and and we we built it to where you can stand down in it, and then you can sit down. That way you're not like standing up and getting dunked and your foot slip. You just kind of sit and then you just kind of lean back. Well, as soon as every person out of all 12 got inside of there and their feet went down and they sit down, all of them began to break down crying. And this one guy would not put his hands down, he just kept worshiping, and he was just like it was such a sweet moment at the end of service, and it was a great service, but it was like it was so cool. It's like, God, you are so awesome. This guy that had that was with his family, he just he had been in and out of church here for a while. And there was just something, he is not a talker, very quiet, and definitely standoffish. His wife was more engaged than he was the last time they were coming to church. And so he started up, they left, and I God took God told me in my spirit that if they will cast out the stronghold in their house, because they come to church and they boohoo in the altars and they cry and they want God to fix the problem, but they won't cast out the bondage and they won't get rid of, and they won't have, they won't receive the deliverance. Nothing will change in their life. They will constantly be struggling in the same way, they will constantly be be in bondage in the way that they are, drinking alcohol, pills, marijuana, all this stuff. And this guy's dad goes to our church, big old Mexican boy. He's got a mullet. I don't ever mess with anybody with a mullet. And so he's been the dad's been talking to me. He's like, Man, I've been I've been praying for my son because the dad is there because the son three years ago prayed him into the church. And so then the son left with his family, and so now the dad is praying for him to come back. This guy, I'm talking about the way he looks in the face has changed. When he actually got delivered and gave everything over to God, he didn't desire the alcohol. Now he's still struggling with cigarettes. He texted me last week and he was like, Man, I feel bad because I was smoking two packs, but now I'm down to one pack and I got three cigarettes left at the end of the day. I said, Praise the Lord, that's progress. I said, keep on going.

SPEAKER_01: 50:53

Oh, amen. Yeah, that was hard for that. That was hard to get rid of.

SPEAKER_00: 50:57

Yeah. Because I used to do it too. I mean, I used to be a meth dealer in the little town I was talking about. I was a meth head and I would sell to people at restaurants and and hotels. I would go and give them a little envelope, but God set me free. But uh, anyways, back to this guy's story. And once he started like actually giving everything to God and allowing deliverance to be in his life, now his whole family was back in church and they got baptized Sunday.

SPEAKER_01: 51:26

Praise God.

SPEAKER_00: 51:26

Like, people people need to understand that just saying yes to Jesus, like we have these little cards. I don't know if I have one here. I just so a lot of people will say like the sinner's prayer or something like that. That's not biblical. There's no scripture that says if you say these words, now you're saved, but it gives a map of how you live your life. Like confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. And then so on the back of this little card to invite people to church, I give five things that the word says that makes you saved, and scripture to back up each one. So when they read that, they will know mapped out before them what what their life should look like if they are saved, so that the fruit will actually be there instead of just mouth service. And so I think we need to get that. Um I'm I'm ranting a little bit, I apologize, but I just your story was was awesome. So now, are you married or are you single?

SPEAKER_01: 52:20

Um, I I'm in a relationship now that's actually a new thing.

SPEAKER_00: 52:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 52:25

Um God had me, you know, building myself up for a long time to get ready for that, you know. And you know, my prayers, I would say, for the past couple years were more always for protection, protection from the enemy.

SPEAKER_00: 52:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 52:45

Guiding. And then I came across the Bible, I forgot what verse it is, but bring your um bring your um request to God through prayer and petition. And I I always thought it was kind of selfish, like I'm uh like I'm a little whiny kid, like God, please, I need this or want that. But then it says in the Bible to present your request to God. I was like, you know what, maybe let me try. Let let me try this. And I prayed, I was like, God, please, you know, if it's your timing, I I'm enjoying my life with you. But it would be nice if eventually, you know, you send someone in my life, you know, whatever that is, whenever that is, that would be great. Um, and then it was literally a couple weeks later, um, I met this girl and things are going great, and just praise God and it is on his perfect timing. So yeah, I'm very excited about that. Um, having you know a Christ-centered relationship.

SPEAKER_00: 53:44

That's awesome. So um talking about your music, so is it and and this sounds bad on your on your music side, what's what's your motivation? What's your inspiration? Like, you obviously know how to write songs because you did it before you ever came to Christ. So what are you using now in your new music that is on your TikTok, then the new music that you're you're writing now, the new music you're recording? Like, what is your inspiration? What are you drawing from? Is it like more experience of what you've been through to try to touch somebody? Are you a are you a you label yourself as a Christian artist now?

SPEAKER_01: 54:29

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 54:30

Okay. I'm asking that because some people are like, well, kinda, yes, but kind of not. And I I don't know how un unmuddied the waters are with your with your music. Like, are you like straight up about God?

SPEAKER_01: 54:44

No, I'm I'm I'm 100% all in all my music that I've released thus far under uh this project has all been about God.

SPEAKER_00: 54:54

Now what you say the project, what's the project? Is it name something?

SPEAKER_01: 54:58

It's just um just my name, James B Zach.

SPEAKER_00: 55:02

Okay, so you're just coming out with now. Are you putting are you what platform are you more active on?

SPEAKER_01: 55:09

Um the most streams I'm getting are from Spotify and Apple Music.

SPEAKER_00: 55:14

Okay, so they can just look you up on there, your n your first and last name.

SPEAKER_01: 55:17

Yep, and uh TikTok is where I'm the most active on. I feel like TikTok, um they're a great platform because they give you a shot. It doesn't matter who you are, or it doesn't matter um how much notoriet no notoriety you have. Yeah, if you have something that's good, it's gonna get out there. You know, I feel like Instagram sometimes can be a little shady. Like I could put a video out on TikTok and oh, it has six uh 6,000 plays, and the same one you put on Instagram, it's got like 250. So there's something going on with these platforms, like they want you to be posting every day and stuff, and I I didn't I didn't become free from bondage and living in the world and be saved by Jesus Christ to now become slave to a platform.

SPEAKER_00: 56:14

Yeah, same here.

SPEAKER_01: 56:15

Um yeah, so uh, whenever I post is when I post, and if God wants whatever I'm working on or whatever songs or messages that I'm putting out there, if he wants it to be known to people out there, he will make that, he he will reveal that, you know. So I put all my faith in God. Like at first you get excited, you're like, oh, why isn't this getting plays? Or like you start getting like a dopamine hit from the likes and stuff like that. And then I had God had to check me and be like, Whoa, you're getting a little off-centered here now. This is becoming an idol in your life.

SPEAKER_00: 56:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 56:57

Dang, it is. So I had to take a break for a little bit. You're right.

SPEAKER_00: 57:01

Again, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 57:03

So God really had to um work on my heart posture and and realign me again before I started going back to posting um again.

SPEAKER_00: 57:15

I did the same thing with this podcast. Like, I actually I started like I was it was almost a full-time job, and I was working, and in 2020, I slowed it down because we came from the Tyler area we were at, and we moved over here into Longview here in Texas. And being the full-time pastor and working a full-time job, my wife was like, You've got to stop. Like, you're just because I don't have to do anything. Like, I can sit there and edit and get things ready. I'll sit there until it's done. Like, I just I I am that focused. And so I was live streaming, I was doing different topics of like current events and what kind of um what does the Bible say about this that happened in our culture today or this week or whatever, and and all this stuff. Or so I was doing that in a live stream. So two hours, three hours live stream. Then I would take the live stream, I would chop it down into smaller bits of just topics only, and then I would spread those out throughout the month. And then I would take shorter ones of that and do, and so I was like multiplying everything. I was posting five times a day almost, and my wife is like, You're spending all your time doing this. And I was though, so you're talking about stats and stuff. I was watching the watch hours on YouTube because I was getting so close. You have to have 4,000 watch hours to even monetize on YouTube. Oh, yeah. I was close, and then it's like, you know what? I'm chasing something that's not I don't get paid to do this. Why am I chasing after something and giving it all my time? Yes, I think it's important. So I scaled it back to doing one a week, and then we moved over here, and God has been blessing my business and the church is growing. So now my time's even less, and like almost every night of the week we have something at the church, and then I'm working full-time every day. So it's just like I don't have time for this. So, like, you know what? I'm gonna do what um the Bible calls restraint and self-control. I'm gonna just do one a month and it's gonna be a good one. And so, my actually my preferred way of doing it, I teach the Bible on there too. I'll I'll go through um scripture and things like that, but my favorite thing to do is what we're doing right now interviews. Like I love that. I love like getting to know people and talking to people. And and I actually started this podcast interviewing people as a platform for people to tell their story. So I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna look at some people on TikTok and I'm gonna see if they want to do some interviews. So I've just been sending out things and you send a message, I'm like, Yes, I got one. And your music. Okay. For everybody listening right now, you've got to go check this guy out on TikTok, okay? Look up James Bizak. He is like I if I don't like your music and I'm very picky, I'm not going to interview you. And this guy, he's got it. So now I see your stuff on TikTok, and I think I was looking it up a minute ago. Is your stuff that you're putting out right now, is it is it just you? Or do you have people that you that you're playing with? Are you doing all the music?

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:33

I'm doing, yeah, I'm writing all of it. Um, I'm playing all the instruments um and recording it all and mixing and mastering it and putting it out.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00:44

Yeah, because I was looking through your stuff and I'm like, I don't see anybody else. You are literally a one-man band.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00:51

Dude, that's phenomenal. So you said guitar was your first instrument. So you just kind of went off from there and just now did you learn out of necessity or for a passion for music?

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:04

Oh, a passion. And then shortly after that, I learned drums.

SPEAKER_00: 1:01:09

See, drums was my first instrument. I was six years old. My dead my parents got me a first set of drums. It was like a a cheap CB700 pawn shop purchase.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:22

Yeah, I think my my first kit. That's it's funny. My first kit was from my dad's friend, his son. He's like, oh, he's he's not playing the drums anymore. So they brought him over. Then before you know it, I started becoming obsessed with the drums. And we lived in a ranch. And my mom was like, I came home from school one day. This is very scarring. This is probably what made me want to do music even more. Like, I'm gonna show you. I came home, the drum set was gone. I'm like, Oh no. Where's the drum set? She's like, Oh, we didn't know you played it anymore. We gave us the kids across the street. I'm like, what do you mean you so what do you mean? What do you mean you don't think I play it anymore? I play it all the time, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:04

Oh, I forgot.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:06

Yeah, exactly. You know, so that always I think was my drive to do music too. It's like, well, they're saying they don't want me to do it, so I want to do it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:17

So, how how much did you have to actually work for it? Like, was it a a gift kind of from the get-go, or was it something you really had to strive to actually get it down? Like for me and my son, actually, which is pretty crazy that God blessed us both and he allowed that to be a part of my son as well, that I get from my dad, is like very quickly I picked up on the drums of how to play. I'd put my little head though, headphones on and the little cassette player and the little walkman, and I'd play in my room. And then my dad, he was the pastor of a church and he plays keyboard. And so he let me bring one piece of the drum, the snare first. And when I learned it at the house, I could bring it to the church. So that was like my motivation to actually try to do better is so that I can be able to play at the church. And eventually I got the full set, and then my dad had this um old guitar, acoustic guitar underneath his bed, and I pulled it out. And then one day I just came in and I was watching videos and looking at their hands, and I was hearing it, I could hear it, and then I would put my fingers to where it sounded right and matched them, and I came in there and I played a you know, very simple, like a little song for my parents, and they had no clue I could even play. And so it was just like this instinct in my son right now. The kid can run circles around playing piano from any adult. And actually, he rotates out on our worship team, and he he's about to be 17 in November. And he's doing the same guitar now. He can just hear it and pick it up, and he just he has a gift. So praise God. So, what else do you play besides those? So, you obviously you play guitar, you play drums. Um if you can play guitar, usually you can play bass.

SPEAKER_01: 1:03:56

Yeah, I play bass too.

SPEAKER_00: 1:03:58

What else?

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:00

I played guitar and then drums, I just had the drums, and um I was just watching people play drums, and I knew the beats in my head, so I just start I I taught myself how to do that. Um but even with the guitar, I never I never took a it was a single guitar lesson in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:17

Um, I I learned off YouTube, and everything is by ear. Um, so I taught myself guitar basically by ear, just hearing songs and starting to play it. I would say I'm more of a rhythm guitarist, I'm not like a shredder. Like I could play some leads.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:35

Um Yeah, I can figure it out, but I'm I'm more like the rhythm. Like uh maybe putting a little bit in there, but mostly it's it's just the rhythm.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:43

Yeah, I'm I'm I'm primarily a rhythm guitarist because even the band I was in when I was a kid, we we had a lead guitarist, it was nasty. So I never really needed to learn it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:53

So over time, when I started doing my own music, I'm like, oh, I need to start learning how to do leads now. Like I'm pretty decent. I'm not like slash or something like that. But I don't even learn the I've learned enough to like to to um be able to provide the song for what it needs for what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:13

And then piano, same thing by ear. Like, if I need a piano part and a song, maybe I can't play the whole part.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:20

So I'll I'll track the left hand and then I'll track the right hand and combine them together.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:25

Yeah, I can't do the if my hands ain't doing the same thing. To me, it just makes my brain twist.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:33

You know, like I'll be able to find the chord and play it, but then once you start putting the other hand in, it's kind of like And see that's where my son passes me up because he just he can do it, it just makes sense to him.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:44

The way he actually learned was he had a um uh my wife's cousin was 15 at the time, and he was living he was living with us full-time. He's from my first marriage, and so he lives with us now. And it was the first summer, and the little cousin was taking piano lessons, and so while she was watching him during the summer, she taught him what she was learning. And by the time summer was over, he had already passed her up and was going far beyond anything she was able to do, and he's just taking off with it. It was it was literally like a gift from God, it was pretty cool. So, what what category or what genre would you consider your music like that that you're putting out right now?

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:25

What I'm putting out now, I would say it's more like alternative rock, almost like some I would I want to say emo, because that's like a lot of music I grew up listening to.

SPEAKER_00: 1:06:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:35

Maybe with a couple like little like metal um inspirations with the drums. But really, I I guess whatever I I feel when I spend time with God and um whatever I I'm hearing, whatever he's supernaturally like downloading to me, that's pretty much these songs come from time in the secret place with God. Um, and whatever he reveals to me in my head, I'm doing my best to capture it into my computer. Like what he revealed to me is what I'm trying to put into the natural realm, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00: 1:07:16

Yeah. So what now you have because I I've I've written songs before years ago, they weren't they weren't Christian songs. I wasn't really fully living for God then, but uh I have songs that I've written that have been my favorite. So out of the songs that you have written, either thus far or maybe in the works right now, do you have one that sticks out that is your favorite? And and what why is it your favorite? Like what is it, what is it that that made it your favorite, and what is it that was pulled out of you? Was it a season? Was it something that happened? Was it the deliverance? Like what emotional or part of your heart were you pulling from when you were creating that song?

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:57

If I had to pick one of my favorite songs right now, it'd probably be the last song um I released called Back to Life. It was it's a testimony. It's a testimony of how you know God took a dead person who was dead to sin and brought him back to life. But at the same time, it's like a hybrid song, it's like a testimony song, but then it's a worship song and worshiping God and the power of his blood, the the transformation, the transforming power that his blood has in our lives. So I I really it's funny people ask me, oh, what's your favorite song? It's like the last one I wrote.

SPEAKER_00: 1:08:38

No matter when, it's just the last one.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:40

Yeah, so if you ask me two months from now, what's your what's your favorite song? I'll be like, the last one I wrote.

SPEAKER_00: 1:08:47

You know? So um on the on the the obviously the last one you wrote, what can people who are going and looking you up, what can they expect? Like, do you have stuff? I'm assuming you have stuff right now that you're working on that's gonna come out. Uh, can you give a little hint or a little bit of nuance with like it's gonna be about this, it's gonna be, or if you are dealing with like some songs are very specific in in their purpose. Is there any songs that are coming out that you're like, if you deal with this, this song is for you. If you're feeling this way, this song's for you. If you don't know God, this song's for you. Or if you're doubting who God is or who you are in God, this song's for you.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09:31

So right now, I would say what what to expect. So when God revealed this whole you know, plan for what we're gonna do, I thought I was gonna be doing like worship music and all that. And I wrote a couple songs that were like more worship songs. Um, but God was like, James, James, James. There's literally thousands of people doing this already. And they and I'm not trying to throw shade or anything, but you could play a lot of these songs from this church and that church and that church or this guy and this guy, and they they all sound the same. Like it sounds like they're all written by the same person, and it so I think a lot of them are actually written by Steven Fergus. Yeah, I think Brandon Lake, like and pretty much. I'm not just throwing shit. I love these songs. Um I I I I think they're beautiful songs, but they all sound the same. And it's like, God's like, I want you to do something that's different. There's a whole generation of people out there that listen to metal music, hardcore music, yeah, uh, uh punk music, and that there if you see how many people are at these concerts, they might not be popular on the charts, but if you see how many people, lost souls who are like into witchcraft and into Satanism and who are atheists and who are agnostic, there's not a lot of music that's reaching out to that crowd. And there's so many people that are lost there. So God's like, we're gonna make some kick butt stuff, yeah, some in your face fast stuff. Um that first off, it'll be distinguished from the rest of the crowd, you know, and it might not seem popular at first, and you're gonna have to work through that. Um, it's all about humbling yourself, just trust the process. Eventually, eventually, you're gonna get to that part when your character is right. Because I'm not gonna bring you somewhere, I'm not gonna bring you to a point where your character won't be able to keep you there and you're gonna crash.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11:35

That's good.

SPEAKER_01: 1:11:36

So just being patient in that period right now. So I would say that's what to expect for my music. It's definitely, you know, more upbeat. Um, this I'm actually working on an EP right now that's coming out. I've been in the Bible going through all Paul's letters.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 1:11:55

Um so they're very actually centered around that. The EP is called um the storm. You know, it's it's about going through life storm, um, just having peace in all circumstances, you know, when you're dealing um with trials, uh tests um or attacks from the enemy, you know, always just keeping your eyes focused on God and how faithful He is.

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:22

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_01: 1:12:23

Yeah, so I have a song, the three that I have right now, I have The Storm, one is called, one's called Things That I Hate. I'm just based off uh Romans 7, you know, when he's like, he's like, the things I want to do, yeah, I don't do, but the things I hate, I do, you know. So I think that will relate to a lot of Christians who are new or who have been struggling with that for years, you know, to be able to break that bondage and to be able to move ahead. And um also at the same time that we're called to to suffer for for like with Christ, it's a new life or a new creation. But that doesn't mean it's gonna be a popular thing. People think you're gonna become a Christian and everything's gonna be great. No. It's like you're on a you're not on a cruise ship once you become a Christian. It's like a battleship. The the demonic realm doesn't want to lose you.

SPEAKER_00: 1:13:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:13:24

And it'll do anything in its power to bring you back to where you were. So it's all about fighting and suffering with Christ, you know, for the greater good. Um just having the strength and uh dexterity to make it through all those tough times and just know that there is such a greater plan for your life, there's so much joy. You could have joy in all circumstances, no matter what's happening around you.

SPEAKER_00: 1:13:50

And I think that that from Paul that it's very simple, but it's so profound about like I want to do the good, but yet I end up doing the bad. And uh, it's very so there's a fine line between never feeling conviction, or you're feeling convicted and you beat yourself up all the time. And people who struggle in areas, yes, we are called to strive for perfection to pick up our cross daily, but that doesn't mean perfection. We strive for perfection, and people forget how good the the demons, Satan, how good he is at his job. A very clear-cut example is in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything they wanted, everything was provided for. He did not have to sweat from his brow to to provide for his family. She didn't have to feel the pain of childbirth. Like there was nothing they had to fight for, everything was perfect, and the devil still convinced them that they there was something else they needed that was beyond what they had. And so sometimes we just gotta like, okay, I messed up on that one. That was my bad. Now I gotta do it better. Because the, I mean, he's not stupid. The enemy knows exactly what's gonna trip us up. He is very patient. He plays the long game, and so we gotta remember that. And nothing is new under the sun. He he he trips us up with lust, he trips us up with pride, envy. I mean, all these things, and it's just that's what he does.

SPEAKER_01: 1:15:29

And it's generational, he's been studying your bloodline for a year. So he's seen what your grandfather and your great-grandfather and your great-grandfather dealt with. Yeah, and he's studying that, and he's gonna tempt you with the same things because it well worked on your grandpa. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:15:45

Yeah, he's he's been around for a while. He this is what he does.

SPEAKER_01: 1:15:50

Yeah, I know. And the thing, it's funny that you mentioned that, the thing that made Adam and Eve fall is Satan got them to take their eyes off of God, you know, he got them to take their gaze off of God and start noticing other things around them. You know, like they notice, oh my god, I'm naked. And they tried hiding, hiding from God. Whoa, I'm naked. They didn't even realize they didn't realize that, you know. They didn't realize that after all of a sudden they realize it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:16:24

It's because they take their eyes off of God. So that's that's I think really the biggest part of this EP too is just keep your eyes on on Jesus, no matter what you're going through in your walk. And it'll work everything together for your good.

SPEAKER_00: 1:16:42

So we kind of talk, we'll wrap it up with this. Um, we kind of talked about your um your deliverance, but the the the journey you had to go through, your brother planting the seed, you go into college, you're running away, you doing living your life the way you wanted, and then realized that it was nothing that you actually wanted, that it was more bondage than it was freedom. So, to the listener or those watching online, what would be your final message, or what would be a message from your experience that you would want to share with them if they're in a place right now of maybe they're running, maybe they're living their own way, they're living a life of sin in bondage. So now you are on the other side living for Christ. What would you say to the person that you're turning around and reaching behind you to pull them to where you are?

SPEAKER_01: 1:17:30

I just pray that the Holy Spirit helps me deliver this in the in the the best way possible right now. Um, but looking back on that, you're not you're not the names that the world has given you. You are not the expectations that the world has given you in your life, and that there is a living supernatural God that has such great plans for your life, plans to prosper you, to not harm you, and he wants to just spend time with you, to have time in your day just to spend with God and to worship him and talk with him. You know, he's a very loving and forgiving God, and he just wants the best for your life, and he wants to bring you back home where you belong in your spirit, and he wants to, you know, fill your mind with his truth and your identity that you have in Christ, that you are a child of God, you are loved, you were bought with a price, and that you're not worthless, and that whatever names people have called you in your life, whatever curses people have put over your life, they they're they're null and void in the blood of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00: 1:18:51

Amen.

SPEAKER_01: 1:18:52

So so you know, if you're far away and you feel like you've sinned too much and um that God isn't gonna take you back. If you've been with God, you fell away and you don't think you can come back. That's just that is a lie from the pit of hell, and I cancel that in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, because God always has his arms open, he's always welcoming you back into his kingdom, you know. And when he forgives us, it goes into the sea uh uh of forgetfulness once you repent, once you ask for forgiveness for that, he's not he will not hold that against you. You repented, you move forward for your new creation, you know. So I would I would say don't be too hard on yourself and don't listen to the lie that Satan has in your head that you're not good enough, or God isn't gonna welcome you back and he won't forgive you, or whatever sin you've done is too great to be um unforgiven, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:19:48

Yeah, amen. Amen. I like that. Well, James, thank you so much for for joining me today and and being willing to answer back and get on this episode, dude. This is uh this has been an awesome episode. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to to get on here and uh hopefully we'll get you some new uh some new fans, some new people to walk with you in this journey. Uh anybody watching right now, there will be a a link links below to all of James' stuff, his Instagram, his uh YouTube, TikTok, uh ways to get a hold of him and contact him if you want to reach out and become a fan. Hopefully you've enjoyed today's episode. Want to say thank you so much for joining us. If you haven't yet, consider subscribing, hit that like button, um, hit the bell notification so you can see every time we put out a new video. For those of you who are new here, we put out a new episode uh the first Monday of every single month. So make sure you subscribe or you go to anywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe there, download the episodes, and uh we thank you. We're praying for you, and God bless you, and we'll see you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_01: 1:21:00

Faith and Failures Podcast.