Kristian Stanfill of Passion Music

Kristian Stanfill  0:00  
I need people I need. I need a community of people around me. I don't need 15 people, but I need like, at least two other guys that I can just be gut level honest, like real authentic me and go. Here's the good, the bad, the ugly the stuff that not everybody gets to see or hear but hear it hear it all is out on the table. I need my wife, I need my pastor. I need I have to lean on this community around me, or I'm not going to make it.

Trevor Tyson  0:36  
Thank you for tuning in to Trevor talks podcast where we talk to real people about real topics and real

Trevor Tyson  0:42  
stories. Today's guest is one of those people that I've been listening to and following now for about 12 years. And how wild is that even think about is taken 12 whole years to get an interview which may or may not be a joke, this dude's busy. But this guy is a powerhouse worship leader, songwriter and most notably, one of the leading voices of passion music today, we've got Mr. Christian Stanfill Christian, thank you for being here, dude.

Kristian Stanfill  1:07  
Hey, Trevor, good to chat with you, man. This is awesome. I love what you just said real people real stories. That's, that's what I'm all about. I love that man.

Trevor Tyson  1:17  
That's what I'm talking about. That's why we write we gotta get Kristian Stanfill on here, like I know the students got a real story. And it's hard to find stuff like that on you. You're not as like vocal in interviews, you You're like the guy that's like, I'm gonna come help usher in the Holy Spirit. And these stadiums and these rooms of 10 people you don't care. You just you've got that touch, bro. But I want to know where it came from. And again, man, just thank you for being here. And you all started off 2022 And a packed out Mercedes Benz stadium in the middle, or hopefully the tail end of a pandemic. But yeah, what was it like to finally be back? Because y'all didn't get to meet in person last year? Correct? Oh, my God. No, this was the first big one back.

Kristian Stanfill  2:01  
Oh, it was so good. Trevor. Yeah, last year, we did, we did do a version of passion conference, but it was all virtual. Online, which ended up being pretty cool. You know, you know, the reach that you get to have when you do something online is is pretty far. So that was cool. But it doesn't compare to being in the room with people and hearing the sounds of a generation singing to God, to hear, you know, all these different speakers come and bring these amazing talks. It was, it was pretty phenomenal. And it was quite a moment. And we're it really Dave, I think the word that we keep using we don't use this word a lot. So it doesn't feel HYPEE but it was a miracle that we got one that we just got to do it like you said, you know, what the state of the world. But then to so many stories, and and throughout leading up to leading up to passion 2022 at Passion 2022. And even, you know, the aftermath of it, we're like, man, it's true that God really orchestrated and has his hand and all of it. So it's pretty cool man,

Trevor Tyson  3:14  
dude, and 55,000 college students in a stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, during this interesting time. That had to feel a whole lot different than the last few events that y'all have done. Like you've done the stadiums, like the Georgia Dome several times. This was the second time at Mercedes Benz, I believe this had to feel different, like 55,000 people leaving the safety of their homes and such coming from all around the world to just glorify the name of Jesus, and uplift that worship in a stadium like that. How do you even explain, like, I know, there was some press of it round like the event shouldn't have happened, blah, blah, blah. God allowed this event to happen. And watching it like I was at home sick, and watching the live stream, I could feel the energy, I could feel the presence. From the words that God gave the speakers all the way down to the worship, the production, everything was just top notch. But what did it feel like this year versus the other deal years with just being able to uplift in this uncertain time?

Kristian Stanfill  4:25  
Yeah. Well, I think first, you know, first thing is you could really feel a desire to gather. No, there was a real sense in the room that we we were all all of us, not just the students, but our whole team, everybody. We were ready to be together again, and feel the effect of looking around and seeing, you know, 10s of 1000s of other people, other students, you know, gathered to worship God there's a you know, that is such a strengthening thing. to look around, and you know, if you're walking with God, and if you're following Jesus, you're trying to follow Jesus right now, sometimes it can be a lonely road to walk, especially if you're on a college campus. You feel like sometimes, am I the only one that holds the Word of God up as the truth are, you know, am I the only one who believes that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life? I can imagine that that's a lot of those students stories, but so to look around in that stadium and go, Wow, I am not alone. That is, that's something that we've missed. And it's something you don't get when you know you're online, or doing a virtual event. So, you know, and it's good for us to be together, it's good to gather a lot gets transferred, when you're able to look at people in the eye and rub shoulders with people and cry with people and confess geniale Allen had this amazing moment in her talk where she had students turn to each other and confess their sins to one another. And you don't get that if you're, if you're in a virtual moment, you know, but to be able to turn to, you know, girls talking to other girls and guys talking to other guys and go in this, I want to tell you something about my life, the freedom and the healing that came in that moment. I mean, good grief. It's just, it's something you don't get unless you're, you know, face to face with people. So it was good. And you know, we we were careful. And it seems like God really put a special measure of grace on those days. kept everybody safe. And here we are on the backside, just telling God's story. So

Trevor Tyson  6:43  
do that's phenomenal. And you've been a part of the Passion movement for quite a while now. But one thing I've always wondered is, were you aware of like what Louie and his team were doing with passion movement prior to being involved in passion? With leading worship? And how did that really? How did God open that door for you? Because it's not one of those things where you're like, Oh, I was gonna go, we worship for passion, it in my opinion, like, it would almost be something that I would you would seek after like, for an aspiring worship leader, which I'm not, I'm terrible at singing, you don't want to hear it. But for an aspiring worship leader, I can imagine there were 10s of 1000s of worship leaders in that room. And they're all like, I want to do that. But they're not all called to do that. So for having this calling on your life, how did how was the connection made with passion? And where, where did that start?

Kristian Stanfill  7:41  
Well, the first part of your question, I became aware of passion. And what was going on with Louis and Shelley and the team was a sophomore in high school, and somebody gave me a copy of the bettors one day live recording from passion 99. And I was trying to figure out, you know, leading worship and singing and playing guitar and right, I was trying to figure all that out at the time, like I had a real passion and desire to do it. But I had never heard it done, like, passion, did it on that record on Pell and betters one day, and the power of God, the Holy Spirit on those songs. And on that recording, just came out of those speakers and really affected me and arrested me. And I just remember thinking like, well, I didn't know it could be done this way. I didn't know that. You know, I didn't really know that the power of God could live inside of a song like that. Like that was just such a powerful thing. So that really honestly was a defining moment for me that passion record. And yeah, I did. I don't think I ever really thought I'm going to make a beeline to Louis and go figure out how to lead IQ test. And it wasn't. It wasn't that. It never really it never really happens that way. I guess you know it. For me. It was more. I knew that God had put this gift in me to sing and to lead. And we were seeing some pretty cool stuff happen in our youth ministry growing up like in high school, and I was really being formed by all of that. And I just ended up leading worship at a conference in Florida for middle school and high school students. And Louie was one of the speakers at this conference. And very organically, very naturally, we just started talking and a friendship happened and that was in the summer of 2004. And he said, Hey, man, I have an idea. What if you came and just played a small role of passion 2005 in Nashville, and, you know, you know, I didn't even have to pray about it. I was like, I'm there. I would love to be, I don't care what it is I'll wrap cables and pick up trash. I don't care if I could just be a part of, you know what God is doing through passion. So that was 2005. And we've just been a part of it ever since. And my wife and I, it's family here, you know, Louis, and Shelly and the team here we've been, we've been through everything with these people, and they're the real deal. And so 17 years of leading together, but also doing life together, the good stuff, and the hard stuff. You know, there have been amazing highs, you know, like passion. 2022 is such a high, it's a mountain top, but we have been in the valley together. And like, truly, we have cried with each other, we've grieved with each other. And it you know, so that was how we got involved. And then the church came in 2009. And we knew man, we just want to be why don't we love these people. But to we believe that, that God was doing something in our city through passion City Church that we wanted to be close to and be a part of, and again, just serve however, however we could. So that's the the short of it. And Louie Louie has been an amazing pastor and amazing friends. Same with Shelley. And I'm so grateful for their leadership and their patients. I mean, my goodness, when we first met, you know, I still I still have a long way to go, Lord willing. But when we first met man, I was kind of a mess. And Louis was like, let me just, let's just be friends, and let's walk through some life together. And so anyway, it it's an amazing place. And I love being a part of what God's doing here.

Trevor Tyson  11:50  
That's phenomenal. And before 2005 rolled around, and before, all of the really the life's that the Lord has given you within this movement, you've been able to see it birth into something completely different than it was before. When you were in like elementary school, middle school, high school, what was it? Like for you to really just feel the calling of God on your life? And where did your journey with faith start?

Kristian Stanfill  12:17  
Hmm. That's a great question. You know, my journey, my walk with Jesus started at a really young age, you know, my parents are, they're still together, and they're still walking with God. And they had us in church all the time. And so I was around church and singing in church and the word of God, I've been around it my whole life. But I was 13 years old. At a student summer camp, up on the top of Lookout Mountain in Tennessee.

Trevor Tyson  12:52  
I went to a summer camp there. And that was the first place we spoke. It was, what was the campground called? I can't remember.

Kristian Stanfill  13:03  
Covenant College.

Trevor Tyson  13:04  
No, no, I can't remember what's called it'll come to me though. i Sorry, I interrupted you. But it was right there. Like I know exactly what you're talking about.

Kristian Stanfill  13:13  
Yeah, it's, it's it. There's Brett Yonker. And I joke that it's the Mount Sinai of our generation.

Trevor Tyson  13:19  
I mean, it's so funny.

Kristian Stanfill  13:23  
Some stuff went down on that mountain spiritually for a lot of people. And I was one of them, man, I was 13, I was in a room full of other students just like me, and all of a sudden, the rest of the room just faded away. And it was like God just came straight from me and from my heart and cut my life. And I couldn't have said it like this in the moment, what I was feeling was that from now from from here on out, my life is not my own, that God is is is inviting me into his story. And I couldn't really voice it. I didn't really know what I knew that I loved music. And now I have this, like, this new fire of affection for Jesus burning in my heart. And those two things sort of converged at the same time. And I went home and started learning worship songs on the guitar, and more or less, got shoved out on stage and told hey, you're a worship leader now. And it was horrible. Trevor, it was just terrible. I couldn't remember lyrics I couldn't sing. It was it was so bad, but that was where it started. For me. It was age 13. That's where like, kind of like the rubber met the road for me. I'm like, no turning back. No turning back. You know, this is this is a life that I want to live my life for Jesus. And so anyway, that that was where the whole the journey started. For me.

Trevor Tyson  14:58  
That's phenomenal, man. And, and so many people, especially in this generation that's rising up now are experiencing anxiety and depression, suicidal ideation. And there's just so many struggles that are coming to the forefront, and it's really on the emotion side of things. So when it comes to passion movement and Kristian Stanfill, personally, when you hear about these issues and such, including ended movement, I mean, human trafficking is huge thing. But with all the negativity around us, how do you choose to bring hope and bring life to situations and to continue to remember that God's in control of it?

Kristian Stanfill  15:37  
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think, you know, for us in our family, like I was saying earlier, we try to always hold the Word of God, you know, as the truth, and the absolute. And so there is, there's a lot of lot of wild stuff happening in the world right now, a lot of crazy stuff, and people are impacted by all of it every day. But if we can go back to that ancient path, you know, we can go back to the words in the way of Jesus, we always have that true north. And so I think for us, as a family, and as a church, really. And as a movement, we're always trying to hold Jesus up and say, He is the way he is the truth, he is the life. No one's going to knock him off that place. So that that was the that's how we try to navigate a lot of that.

Trevor Tyson  16:29  
So good. And it's so cool to hear your story of coming up young. Within the church. As I shared before we logged on, I actually got called to ministry at a an event that you were leading at with passion, super while 2012 I got to the event, and I've always been very ambitious. I'm like, I'm gonna get on that stage. And I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I'm gonna do it. And they had like, some kind of competition with like, the kids and the youth pastors, and I ended up getting somehow in that, and then I want it and I was like, What the heck, and seeing you guys up there and such was, it was a turning point for me. I'll never forget, y'all were leading always at the time, which was my still one of my favorite songs. Thank you. It's just one of those. And I remember feeling the spirit on me. And then I think it was Clayton QingEr. Somebody came up. And they were like, if you want to commit your life to ministry right now, come do it. And I felt that tug on my heart during always, and then being able to do this interview. Now. It's like, there's so many people that go to like these super wells, these passion conferences, and they have these mountaintop experiences, like you're talking about. And then they get home and they're on fire for a few days. And then they have these fatigue seasons. So I really want to talk about for people that just got back from the conference for people that are going to go to conferences, and they haven't seen these mountaintop experiences yet. What are some of the follow up things that we can do to check in ourselves and make sure that we're still growing after we leave these big gatherings?

Kristian Stanfill  18:09  
Bro, that you that is so good, I love that you're bringing that up because it's a it's a big part of what we're talking about. Right now. As a as a staff as a team as worship leaders. We worked so hard to climb the mountain of passion 2022 truly our whole team we we put a lot of time, a lot of sleepless nights a lot of energy into getting passion 2022 to happen. And then, but what we what we don't talk about a lot is, you know, we ascended, but now we're descending. So now Passion 22 Passion 2022 is over. So, here in my experience personally, after I experience a really significant move of God, the enemy always comes from me, and he knows exactly where to come from me. And he starts to lie in to me about what I saw or what I heard or what I experienced, he starts telling me that I messed it up or I didn't do a great job or I really failed at blah blah blah. He'll start tempting me with sin, he'll try and drag me away from the wonder of, of what God did it passion 22 and distract me with meaningless, worthless, temporary things. And I've just learned to be ready for that. And some things that really helped me is obviously truth, you know, speaking truth over your life. And just remembering for me, you know, it really helps to write things down. Because then you have like a written account of it. You can go back to it and read it. Like God said this, he spoke this. Here's the date. Here's the time here's, that's super, super helpful. The most important thing for me, man, and you know, I'm just learning this and I, you know, mid to late 30s. But I need people I need. I need a community of people around me. I don't need 15 people, but I need like, at least two other guys that I can just be gut level honest, like real authentic me and go, here's the good, the bad, the ugly the stuff that not everybody gets to see or hear, but hear it hear it all is out on the table. I need my wife, I need my pastor, I need I have to lean on this community around me, or I'm not going to make it I will not make it. And I think when we try and do this isolated or on on an island, we are setting ourselves up to spiral and find ourselves in a really, really dark place. So yeah, that those are some of the things that actually are our pastor Louie Giglio just talked about this to our, our staff team, and you should go check out his Instagram, because he he posted all the notes from the talk. And the talk was called a win the talk was called Winning the descent. And it's nine things that are really helpful, like raw and real helpful things that can help people dealing with what you're talking about.

Trevor Tyson  21:31  
To this crazy, and y'all just put out a new EP burn bright. And I've listened to it, obviously. And it's a lot different than the rest. So with recording this EP, did you notice anything different going into the songwriting process that was just challenging for you? Like, for me personally, my favorite song on this thing is what he's done what you brought in Anna golden and Tasha Cobbs Leonard for even when y'all were performing it on the live stream, like Anna just goes into this, like your passion isn't known for the spontaneous moments, Anna doesn't care. She's just like, we're gonna go it like it was great. But this song in particular, what was it like going into the writing process for this because this is 100% different than the things you've done in the past and in a good way. And a great way, every passion project is completely different from the last. So what did it look like going into this?

Kristian Stanfill  22:27  
Man? I mean, honestly, you know, since I've been a part of passion, and specifically the songwriting process, the approach and the prayer and the heart has kind of always been the same. The songs change and the sounds change, and some of the people change. The language changes stylistically things, you know, shift. But the approach and the heart has always been the same. And that, you know, that goes all the way back to you know, when Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman and Christine Nathan knuckles and Charlie Hall, Crowder is still a big part of what we're doing at Passion. But goes back to the early days, when I first got involved, you know, the songwriting process started on our knees, confessing our need for Jesus, and confessing that in our own strength, we can't bring anything into the world or into the church. That that won't lead people to God. And so, we, that that's where the process starts. And that's where it started again this year. And the real cool thing about what he's done, bro, you know, I and I haven't talked about this yet. But before we started writing that song, I was in the room with Jacob Souter. So, Tasha Anna, Jacob, and I wrote that song together. Before, you know, we're at the songwriting camp, and everybody's kind of, you know, coming coming in from lunch or getting a coffee and it's before Anna and Tasha get in the room is just Jacob and I were sitting there and we're talking and Jacob and I have known each other for for a little while. And we're just talking about life. And it's not like the Hey, how are you? I'm good, man. How are you? Like, it's, we're, we've kind of pushed past that. And we're getting into the the nitty gritty of life like, here's, here's what's going on in my life right now. Here's what here's what's, here's what's happening. You know, in my world, and things got real. And he and I just really started open up to each other and just talking to each other and I'm encouraging him and he's encouraging me and it was It got real and and then we started writing. And he sits down and starts playing that chorus and what Easton buddies on it He had a good bit of that chorus. And it was really cool because I felt like the vulnerability of that moment and what he and I were sharing with each other and just just encouraging each other just as brothers and his friends. It opened the door for this really authentic worship to come into the room. Both of us were just like, here we are. And out comes the song of, of gratitude to God. And so there's something to be said for that man. And, you know, if you want to know the real deal, you know, I've learned that I have to, I have to be real and authentic with other people. I've got to kill the pretense and the posturing and the, you know, the Instagram, you know, shine. I've got to, I got to, I got to break past that. And I got to find people that I can be real and authentic with and that's where it really I think this song started. It's just two friends encouraging each other.

Trevor Tyson  25:59  
Do that so good. And really to close up. You guys are still bringing in new voices. And I was at Crowder's concert at the Ryman in Nashville and I don't want to butcher her name.

Kristian Stanfill  26:10  
Is it citta machinima Chima, yeah, hit him up cinema. What a voice unbelievable,

Trevor Tyson  26:17  
pointing. I've never like he brought her up to do song with them. And I think it's like he had Dante bow or some I do it on the record, but she came up and he let her do her own thing. And the anointing is strong. was an I'm sure we'll interview her about it eventually. But with bringing in new voices for this generation, people that not are seeking celebrity, but you can tell the anointing is there for those young worship leaders that are maybe tuning into this now, or are fans of just passion in the conferences? What's your encouragement to them, like not everybody's called to be a worship leader with passion, of course, it's put on this mountaintop. But even for yourself I was while I was getting ready for this interview, I was looking at your Instagram, you don't post on there that much. You don't let the blue checkmark run your life. People are looking for verification and all the wrong ways. And you it at least from an outside perspective, it doesn't look like that's been a factor in your life. It's all about your family and glorifying God for so for those aspiring worship leaders, speakers, evangelists that are chasing those mountaintop experiences, how would you encourage them to really just hone in on what God's given them to do and really find their identity and who Christ has made them to be?

Kristian Stanfill  27:41  
Man? Well, you know, I can only speak personally. And, you know, you brought up Chima chinma, has been a part of our church in Atlanta for a few years now. And, you know, she didn't, she didn't come in hot, like, I got this voice and I got this anointing and put me on a stage. That wasn't it at all. She came in low, she came in ready to serve. She has such a humility on her life. She's confident in her gifting and what she can do, but she's not going to go push that on everybody or flaunt it. She knows that you know, when you when you're a worship leader and your servant in the house of God, you're there to serve and she has a real understanding of that and in my experience, it's those kinds of people that God eventually puts in places of leadership and authority and opportunity and man you know, I my journey man I've I've it's been stumbled trip stumbled trip stumbled trip, it has not been a steady ascent. You know, it's just been like, God has been so patient and has extended so much grace and mercy to me personally. You know, if I could say anything, it would just be humble yourself. Be diligent with what God's given you to do you know, work at it. We've all worked really really hard. But make Jesus the destination make Jesus the thing that you're locked on to that that would be that would be my my encouragement, you know, and honestly, man, just a genuine affection for God and for his word. That fire has that that fire can't go out. So yeah. Yeah, I mean, that would be my my encouragement, you know, I It's dangerous to look at something like passion or some another platform or another movement and go, that's what I want to do. That's where I want to be. If you do that, then you're missing the opportunity you have right in front of you to love God's people and to serve people. So just be, be where you're at and can be diligent and hence serve the people and walk with God and you never know where he's gonna take you.

Trevor Tyson  30:04  
Come on who passions new EP, burn bright is streaming on all major streaming platforms. And you could check out clips, sermons and everything on passions YouTube page. Christian, thank you so much for being here, man, this has been phenomenal. And if you're watching this on YouTube, go check out the audio version on Apple Music and Spotify for the exclusive after show. We've got more content coming for you guys and Christian, this has been a full circle moment for me. And I know for a lot of people that like we're in a while together, super well energize the ballpark outcry tour all of these things. It's like, but still, this is this is a wild moment. So thank you for being a part.

Kristian Stanfill  30:51  
I love talking to you, Trevor. Thanks so much, man.

Brian Layne  30:57  
you for tuning in to the after our Show with Trevor talks. And Brian's your host, Trevor, because he talks

Trevor Tyson  31:05  
that sounds nothing like me at all, dude, I aspire you aspire and you failed? Well, you know, second car getting hit,

Brian Layne  31:13  
somebody quit every time they failed, nothing would get done. So try keep trying get back up on my horse. And I'm gonna keep trying to nail the opener. And I know you changed it. But yeah, I think that was one of my favorite things about the Trevor talks podcast was the consistency the concert? No. Oh, well,

Trevor Tyson  31:32  
I mean, I still get there. But I just like wanted to switch up from the thank you because I've done it for over 70 episodes. And I don't want to get too cold. I mean, I got comfortable.

Brian Layne  31:43  
It's kind of like your living room. Sometimes you come home, see the same thing every single day. And you're just like, Dude, I wonder what the couch would look like over there. Yeah, by the time we're done, the couch is on the ceiling and the TV's on the floor. So I mean, it can get kind of interesting when you're trying to rearrange the furniture, so to speak.

Trevor Tyson  31:59  
For those of you who don't know, this is my partner in crime. My business partner, my guy, Brian lane, and he's got quite the story himself, which I'm sure we're going to share eventually. And this after hours thing wouldn't exist if I didn't have him.

Brian Layne  32:17  
Well, it's an awesome opportunity for us to have real meaningful conversation outside of what you regularly do, where you're talking about everybody else. But also, for people to get to know who you truly are.

Trevor Tyson  32:31  
When you're sharing somebody's life story is hard to bust out into a crazy joke or something you have to you have to put your big boy pants on and quit being a kid for a little bit. But it's almost like I grew up on Jimmy Fallon, right? So he turns it off for like when he's going through people's stories and stuff. So we just we're just now getting to the place where we have time and availability to branch out and do something different. The whole Trevor talks thing is real people, real topics, real stories, but I also appreciate the opportunity to expand on the conversations that we do have be able to extend the conversation and give people a little more consistency.

Brian Layne  33:11  
So Kristian Stanfill an incredible interview. And dude, this is like 12 years in the making. Tell me about that.

Trevor Tyson  33:23  
Dude, it was weird to have that deja vu moment, right? Where 12 years ago, I was a kid at a conference. And I saw this guy leading worship on stage five years later, you're still a kid in a podcast. Yeah, but I don't have a magnificent beard now.

Brian Layne  33:41  
A 13 year old with magnificent beard years.

Trevor Tyson  33:45  
Back to the real stuff, but I was a kid at a conference and saw the sky leading worship and I had just learned about passion, I guess. And I felt this unique presence that I hadn't experienced before and I know it was a radical experience with God now but I felt called to ministry that day. Well and well that the rest is history the rest is history. And here we are 12 years later got to do this interview with like the guy that was leading worship they are your heroes of the faith one of my heroes of the faith and I've followed passion heavily since then because I was just super encouraged by Christian his words and just the message of passion really like I've been to a few passion conferences now. And I've even got to stand on stage with them energize the ballpark and then I got when I was interning with Nick Hall like every guest we had was like oh you remember outcry tour like that was a big thing for me outcry towards 2015 had some cool experiences with passion there and being able to take the realm of an interview or take the antlers whatever you want to call it was a redneck way to say a girl named Milan or Nino mohair oh yeah by the horns right by the horns. And get to do this interview is wild get share his story and I didn't know it was so similar to mine like starting a ministry really young. And going through the he said she said aspects of life and growing from our mistakes. And here we are,

Brian Layne  35:10  
man through what a journey it is in a lot of times people look at people on stage and think man, God just been must have had all kinds of favor on them. He must be one of the their favorites, or she must be one of their favorite his favorites. And, and now look at him. I wish I could be that person, but they don't know, the in betweens, and everything that goes on behind the scenes. And so you know, and I watch, you know, you know, Trevor, he gets up on stage, like Lacey Sturm and, you know, different festivals and things like that. And I think that if I were just out there, and I didn't know, Trevor, I wouldn't know that there was some kind of arduous journey in between. And so just

Trevor Tyson  35:51  
on a panic attacks, yeah. piety, insecurity. This wasn't an overnight thing at all. Yeah.

Brian Layne  35:59  
So humanizing, humanizing the experience. And once you actually start to hear those stories, they even though sometimes it can sound rough that can become hope, it can become encouragement, because you know, you're not alone and the people who are doing what you want to do have gone to the hang ups that you're going through right now. So I guess the whole to circle the wagons the point of what I'm saying right here, so

Trevor Tyson  36:27  
many countries lanes

Brian Layne  36:29  
to is that, you know, what, you're you're part of the process, a part of the journey that you're going through, and that you know, even though it may not seem like you're getting to where you're wanting to go, you're on your way, because God's got a plan. And so you setting in that conference 12 years ago, looking at Kristian Stanfill, to where you are now in the journey in between, it's a dream come true.

Trevor Tyson  36:57  
I think it would be smart to really showcase like, not every single thing in your life is going to be in front of lights in front of people. There are so many amazing communities around the US and around the world that need your voice. But don't be afraid to dream bigger. Don't be afraid to chase the calling that God has given you. As you know, I've been binge watching the Netflix show sweet magnolias. And it kind of reminded me like, I'm from social circle, Georgia. And a lot of people that are raised there don't dream big, and they just settle for normal. And I, I had big dreams, I still have big dreams, I've got big goals and aspirations. But Never be afraid to be a hidden gem in your community. Don't be afraid that like you're not doing something, right, because people aren't applauding you everywhere. If I was in this for applause, or money or anything I would have quit a long time ago. And it's not about that. It's about making an impact where you can, starting where you are. Don't be afraid to dream big.

Brian Layne  38:09  
And not only that, people don't realize that there's a lot that goes into that one moment that you see somebody on stage for five to 10, maybe even 45 minutes. So a lot of in between hard work, hard discipline, you know, tough conversations, tough days. But you know, they put it they put all of that, that difficulty aside in order to fulfill their purpose. I

Trevor Tyson  38:30  
can't tell you how many times I've jumped on stage while having panic attacks. That's, that's one of the most notable ones was in Mississippi on the Lacey Sturm tour, we were talking about the whole band, and you can ask them like I was having a terrible panic attack, like in tears. It was it was a whole thing. But I didn't let it hold me back there. Right. You're sure you can do this. I'm like, give me that microphone. Right? Then I may have been sorted certain words a little bit. But Trevi went out and did it

Brian Layne  38:59  
you make a an incredible point, though, so many of us, and I think it's the age of social media, you know, back in the day, it was pursuing your purpose or your passion. And it was about just fulfilling that it wasn't about getting the fame, getting the fans getting the following or getting in front of mass crowds. People primarily focused on what they were passionate about what they felt called to. And, and we forgotten what that is because it's, I want to play the guitar plus be famous, or I want to be a speaker plus, speak to 1000s and 1000s of people. And all of those things are good. None of that's bad, but 1000s If you can't speak in front of one, right, so being present, where you're at being a part of the community, being grateful for our community. So you make that interesting point that people have forgotten their communities.

Trevor Tyson  39:49  
And I've read a post yesterday from one of my friends Nadia, she put on her Instagram that like she was healed from depression after years of like, battling with suicidal thoughts and attempting and such as she posted on Instagram yesterday, like she found the healing from that when she started chasing Jesus and not in the healing. So many people were chasing the healing without chasing Jesus. And I've caught myself in that predicament and they're chasing the theme without ya know, like, how putting the cart before the horse, but that post that she made was just super, like, thought intriguing for me to be like, dang, like, so many people are like, I'm gonna get healed, I'm gonna get healed, I'm gonna get healed, and they forget that Jesus is the one that's going to heal them.

Brian Layne  40:30  
Let me share something with you. Yeah, bro. I didn't get sober. And y'all learn more about that later on down the road, but I didn't get sober. And you still I until I stopped focusing on what I wasn't going to do. I always felt that I got to do this. And I can't do that. And I can't blah, blah, blah, XYZ. It's when I when I turned my focus in the right direction is when I was able to get sober is when I started focusing on God. And that's when he healed me, that's when I got sober. And so to such an incredible point, so many people are there, their attention and the focus is on the wrong thing. It's not that they don't have something special, or that they can't be delivered or that they can't be healed or that they can't get what they need. It's just that you're focusing on the wrong thing.

Trevor Tyson  41:18  
And like this is a faith based podcast, right? But if you're listening, and maybe you're not a follower of Jesus, like we love you, we embrace you, we want you to know that you're welcome here, we're not trying to shove religion down your throat or anything religions Did Jesus is not just know that there's always a place for you here, we're not we're not worried about your identity, we're not worried about anything other than who you are, and that you're here that you feel encouraged that you feel loved. And that, you know, like Trevor talks isn't just about me. It's not about me at all. We just want you to feel encouraged. We want you to feel loved, know that you have a family here. And the whole purpose of this show. Now that I'm really thinking about it is like we have all these voices that are feeding into a community of people that are such unique and beautiful people and that we can be there for one another. We can be there for one another. Right. And

Brian Layne  42:07  
this all started from a Christmas Stanfield concert concert 12 years ago.

Trevor Tyson  42:11  
I don't know that it started there. But it was definitely an impact zone for sure. Yeah. I mean, that's when you were called the ministry. I digress. But God, God, God has a purpose for everyone. And there's all these stepping stones, but it's super cool to get to do this. You know, bro, what, this has been fun. This has been fun. I've enjoyed this so much. It's it's cool to be able to bring something new and refreshing to the table. And you can get this only only on the audio version alongside Spotify, Apple podcast, Amazon, audible. Trevor,

Brian Layne  42:44  
real quick, if you haven't left a review on Trevor's podcast. It helps his show our show as our community, our show, get the exposure that it deserves. And so we all work together here. And we can make a thing of this. Yeah. So I mean, thank you for having me on. And I look forward to the future.

Trevor Tyson  43:05  
Yeah, I'm excited. This can be so much fun. And moving forward. As you've already heard in this episode quite a few times. The after show is exclusively on the audio only version of this podcast. Be sure to go Like and Subscribe Like Brian said and we are super thrilled and excited to talk to you guys next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai