Latest / Fulfilled with Rebecca Sheehan / Advent Reawakened: A Musical Journey with Poor Bishop Hooper | Ep. 17

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Advent Reawakened: A Musical Journey with Poor Bishop Hooper | Ep. 17 · Fulfilled with Rebecca Sheehan

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Good Christian friends rejoin.
• 0:10
  Everybody knows it's fun to get a Christmas gift,
• 0:13
  but the excitement kind of dies the next day.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_03: But the thrill of the coming of Christ, it's daily.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I hope that as people listen,
• 0:23
  that there would just be a hopefulness that Christ has come
• 0:28
  once and that he will
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: come again.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that is the Advent that we all are longing for.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Ox and ass before.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Fulfilled.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Rebecca Sheehan.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always so honored to spend this time with you all,
• 0:45
  and it's truly a joy to share thoughtful conversations that
• 0:48
  help you navigate
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: faith,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: culture,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: and everyday noise while staying rooted in God's presence.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Today's topic is one of my favorite aspects of the holiday season,
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Christmas music,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: but not just any Christmas music.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about songs that don't point us to presents under the tree,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: but to the presence of Christ himself.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Our guests today capture this so beautifully,
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: which is why I'm thrilled to have them on the show.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be delving into Advent through the gentle,
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: prayerful music of poor Bishop Hooper,
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: made up of husband and wife,
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Jesse and Leah Roberts,
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: whose work so faithfully weaves scripture into song.
• 1:30
  And this conversation is actually part one of a multi-part
• 1:33
  series with them,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: so stay tuned for more from this talented duo in the months ahead.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode,
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: we're focusing on how their music invites us into the Advent story,
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: from the intimate perspectives of Mary,
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth,
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: and Joseph to the prophetic fulfillment of Christ's coming,
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: and how it can help us pause,
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: reflect,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: and redirect our hearts toward the true meaning of the season.
• 2:00
  So whether you're overwhelmed by holiday chaos or just longing
• 2:04
  to experience Advent
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: more deeply,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: this episode is for you.
• 2:08
  Let's step into the story of Christ's coming together,
• 2:12
  one story at a time.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: Who is this UK?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: So Firstborn, that was your first Advent album, correct?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: What inspired it?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's so unique.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can just sort of tell people the way it's structured and the
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: perspectives that it's from.
• 2:41
  We were looking at the Advent season and thought we would love
• 2:44
  to do something into that space.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the church calendar is a really beautiful thing.
• 2:49
  And so we decided to structure it along those traditional
• 2:53
  Advent themes for each week.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so we did an introduction song and then we did a song for hope,
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: joy,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: peace,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: love,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: and then the Christ song to finish it,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: which made a six song album.
• 3:04
  And so we decided to bring each of those themes towards a
• 3:07
  specific person in the story.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so we focus on Mary for peace.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: We focus on Elizabeth for joy.
• 3:14
  We focus on Zechariah for hope as he's in the temple and
• 3:19
  receives the word from the angel.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we picked out these folks and it came together really beautifully.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was really fun to do.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: It felt very intentional and sweet.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: So that was kind of our first Christmas record, if you will.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it looked very different than most Christmas records.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's just so thoughtful.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So how did you figure out the different perspectives of each?
• 3:41
  Like,
• 3:41
  aren't some of them told in the first person,
• 3:43
  some in the second person?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: The Mary one has this little interchange between God and the angel.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Go tell her.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And all the angels are pumped because they've been waiting, you know.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: You've probably dreamed of a moment like this.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Heard the others betting on specifics.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Today's the day we've already...
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And some of that, obviously, we have creative license.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're thinking, you know, it could have been in that way.
• 4:16
  But it's fun to read those stories and think about putting
• 4:18
  yourself in that
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: position because it's really wild stuff going on.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so perspective-wise,
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: they came as we developed the song a little bit and thought,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: where should this be sung from?
• 4:29
  And that's still something that we do moving forward as we work
• 4:33
  on new projects.
• 4:34
  Some projects feel really good to sing it from the perspective
• 4:38
  of the character.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because when we're singing I,
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: or I'm feeling this,
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: that draws people in in a different way.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: It personalizes it in a different way.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Now I feel this baby
• 4:58
  And then sometimes it's really nice to just sing it from the
• 5:00
  third person and have
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: it be a story,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 5:03
  kind of kind of do the country song thing where the whole story
• 5:07
  starts and finishes
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: in two and a half minutes.
• 5:09
  And that's hard to do sometimes,
• 5:11
  but it also is engaging to folks as well in a different way.
• 5:14
  So with the first person,
• 5:15
  that's probably why the Psalms are so emotionally raw with
• 5:19
  David.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why have you forsaken me?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 5:22
  What do you hope that people gain from this album and this
• 5:26
  unique perspective
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: versus listening to other classic Christmas songs?
• 5:31
  When you think about just historically the Jewish people
• 5:35
  waiting for the Messiah,
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  SPEAKER_03: then to hear the message like,
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: oh,
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: and this is it.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: He's coming.
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  I hope that as people listen,
• 5:44
  that it stirs up that hope and anticipation that
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody knows it's fun to get a Christmas gift,
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_03: but the excitement kind of dies the next day or the next week.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: But the thrill of the coming of Christ, it's daily.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: So I hope that as people listen, that there is a
• 6:03
  deep anticipation as well as just a recognition of the
• 6:08
  beautiful specifics of
• 6:11
  Christ's birth even that there would just be a moment of just
• 6:15
  loving the way that
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_03: the Lord writes his story and author's life as well as a hopefulness
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: That Christ has come once and that he will come again.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that is the advent that we all are longing for.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: So hopefully it encourages that.
• 6:33
  I do love how you share so much of the story,
• 6:36
  too,
• 6:36
  that's not often shared.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: most songs talk about the manger and the wise men,
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: but you talk about Zechariah and Elizabeth.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just really cool to flesh out that story.
• 6:46
  Also for maybe some Christians who are church on Easter and
• 6:49
  Christmas and don't
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: necessarily know the whole story as well.
• 6:54
  I think one of the things that hopefully Firstborn touches on
• 6:57
  is seeing Advent as a
• 6:58
  celebration of Jesus coming in the flesh and equally and the
• 7:04
  longing for him to
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: come again.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: We got to long for the second coming.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: We got to long for him to come back and set all things right.
• 7:11
  And I think that that's part of the celebration that we often
• 7:14
  lose or forget in the
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Advent season.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:16
  That's a great point because it's always easy to say,
• 7:19
  oh,
• 7:19
  Jesus came and saved us,
• 7:20
  the end.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's not the end.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: We still live in a very broken world and it's not over yet.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: And his name is Jesus.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: And his name is Jesus.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about Christ.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: The song details Jesus' genealogy from the Gospel of Matthew.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: As you know, I love that song so much.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's so unique.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: How did you decide to make that into a Christmas song?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, like I said, we based it on a character for the themes.
• 8:02
  Well,
• 8:02
  so when you get to...
• 8:04
  The theme as well as trying to go chronological.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:08
  So the first one,
• 8:09
  Hope,
• 8:10
  is like,
• 8:10
  well,
• 8:10
  the story starts pretty much with Zechariah.
• 8:13
  So we did want to go thematically as well as order in the story
• 8:19
  so that they do build time-wise.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: But then when we get to Christ, what else?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Christ has to be the character.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: But as we thought about how do we sing that?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Everything we tried or thought of didn't feel like enough.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so Leah said, well, what if we sing the genealogy?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, how in the world are we going to sing the genealogy?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to be boring.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to take eight minutes, you know?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: God.
• 8:42
  jesse had the startup of some song didn't know just oh these
• 8:47
  are cool sounds okay
• 8:49
  we didn't use it for any other song what if we just started
• 8:54
  like let's let's see if
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: that cool cool if you will
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how it started.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: We're like, okay, well, let's just see if we can use this.
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  SPEAKER_03: Because Jesse had never sung or spoke any lyrics with it.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: So it was still untouched.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: So we could just jump in and start,
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  SPEAKER_03: well,
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: let's just sing Abraham,
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  SPEAKER_03: Fathered Isaac and keep going down the list.
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  SPEAKER_02: Abraham, Fathered Isaac
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  SPEAKER_03: And then we got to a point where we're like, this is gonna take forever.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: We need to speed it up a little bit.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: And then we started doing the one voice to the next voice,
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: kind of pacing it through,
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: which the Lord is so gracious to work with our humanity.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because the part that we thought,
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_03: okay,
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_03: let's pick it up a little bit,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: actually makes you feel the anticipation.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: She yelled to yell, her father's a rubable.
• 10:15
  kind of snowball whoa and here we go here we go until all of a
• 10:18
  sudden boom we're at
• 10:20
  and his name is jesus so even though our if you will weakness
• 10:25
  or limited humanity
• 10:27
  was like well this is getting long it actually ended up
• 10:31
  something that we couldn't
• 10:32
  have necessarily tried to craft do you think it also builds at
• 10:36
  a point in the story
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: where like where the narrative sort of shifts
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_03: Totally.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: I think that it shifts around the time of the exile,
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: which I think matches in with the overall story.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: The pace gets up,
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: almost playing into the feeling of,
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_03: as they were ruled by foreigners,
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: their desire and their longing for the Messiah increased.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:05
  Differently than when David was king and Solomon,
• 11:08
  when they had luxury and freedom and safety.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Not that it was all peace or easy in all of them,
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: but I'm sure definitely when they were ruled by foreigners,
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: their longing for the Messiah was all the greater.
• 11:22
  How beautiful that you could think so deeply about this
• 11:26
  progression throughout
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: history and put that to music.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: It was sweet.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: She came up in the studio,
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: put the headphones on,
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: got in front of the mic and just opened her Bible to it and started.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, that's just so cool.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then Lee ended up writing a whole study resource.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: around the genealogy specifically,
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: because most people don't have a clue who any of those guys were.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: When I was saying it, I was like, who are these people?
• 11:50
  So she wrote,
• 11:51
  it's almost entirely scripture,
• 11:53
  but it's pulling from all the different places.
• 11:54
  Basically,
• 11:55
  any information you have on some of these guys,
• 11:57
  where did it come from?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Who are they?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: What do we know about them?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it puts it all together in this single resource.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: And you can pretty much get...
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_03: A snippet of everyone until the exile.
• 12:09
  There's like a single sentence that's like,
• 12:11
  and he was the father of this person.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_03: And that was during this time.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like, oh, wow.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: Those names all actually mean something.
• 12:20
  I just don't know until I read with intentionality why those
• 12:25
  names meant something.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So just interesting.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Very interesting.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you could share that resource that you have,
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to add a link to that in the show notes.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: How did you create that sound?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So is it digital or did you do the percussion yourself?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of both.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: We have a studio in our home.
• 12:51
  And so we're very blessed to be able to record and track and
• 12:55
  produce everything in our house.
• 12:58
  And so there's definitely some digital patches going on with
• 13:02
  some of those strange
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: string sounds,
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: but there's electric guitars.
• 13:05
  And I know I have a mandolin running through a pedal board for
• 13:08
  some of those things.
• 13:09
  interesting higher treble string sounds then there's bass is
• 13:13
  your your upright bass
• 13:14
  might even be on i don't remember and then piano so it's kind
• 13:17
  of all in the mix so
• 13:18
  do you guys just play all the instruments we're very blessed to
• 13:23
  have a lot of
• 13:23
  different instruments and we play them most of them that's a
• 13:26
  humble yes but i love
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: that
• 13:30
  So your other Advent albums after Firstborn,
• 13:33
  you have hymns and then you mentioned as foretold.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that's sort of the fulfillment of the prophecies.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: so as we're told,
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: there's three different parts,
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: three full records,
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: but all the songs come from Matthew's gospel.
• 13:47
  All of them come from where Matthew specifically says this was
• 13:51
  done to fulfill what
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: the prophet said,
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: or this is done to fulfill what was said about him.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we had this firstborn, this Advent album was the birth of Christ.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: We had the Golgotha, the death of Christ.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: We wanted the in-between to fill in this life of Christ piece.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And we thought, again, how do we fill in the life of Christ?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so Leah had the great idea.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: What if we just use the prophetic fulfillment as the guidelines?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so it worked out partwise really well.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: You have a favorite song or prophecy on that album that is such a unique
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: perspective and such a cool way of thinking of Advent.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: Well, our son, our oldest son, his name is Rufus.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: And his favorite is,
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's the last one where Joseph is going from Egypt,
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: going back to Nazareth.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: And he and it's just kind of it is from the voice of Joseph.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Here I am waking up again.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: I'm getting kind of used to this,
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: but I'm getting kind of tired of these,
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: random dream,
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_03: wake up,
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: go things.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that I know for Rufus, he really likes that one.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: I like that one, too.
• 14:58
  What do you hope that listening to these albums will bring to
• 15:05
  Christians during the
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Advent season?
• 15:21
  I think that there's an inherent sense of mystery and wonder of
• 15:24
  what is Christmas time.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: And again, a lot of that is misdirected.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that that is a real thing.
• 15:31
  There's a real thing around the mystery of the incarnation and
• 15:34
  the reality that God
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: became a little baby is just wild.
• 15:39
  And so if we look at these moments and we listen to these songs
• 15:42
  that ponder some of
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: these moments differently,
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think we can truly be in awe.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: And when we're in awe, I think we can be grateful.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it humbles us.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: We don't understand.
• 15:53
  I don't know how this works,
• 15:54
  but it's amazing and it's beautiful and we can be grateful.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so hopefully there's some of that wonder and gratitude, maybe.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:01
  I love how you talked about how a lot of our wonder during this
• 16:04
  season is misdirected.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like the commercialization of Christmas is getting worse?
• 16:10
  Just,
• 16:11
  I don't know,
• 16:12
  the music,
• 16:12
  especially Frosty and Jingle Bells and Rudolph.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: they're all joyful and family traditions,
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: but like really they have nothing to do with the birth of Christ.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:26
  We pastor a home church in our house and I was talking with
• 16:29
  them on Sunday about
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: being,
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: it was October still.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was in Home Depot and they had all the Christmas trees out mid-October.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: All the Halloween stuff was gone.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember thinking,
• 16:39
  I'm thankful that's out of there because that's a whole other
• 16:42
  conversation.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:43
  But I thought,
• 16:45
  but the trees aren't up here because of anything having to do
• 16:48
  with Jesus.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's the bottom line.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody said,
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: hey,
• 16:51
  we'll make more money if we start selling trees right now than
• 16:54
  selling fake
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: skeletons or whatever they sell.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was the day after Labor Day.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: here in Florida that I saw a Christmas tree going up in an Ace Hardware.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And the funny thing is I love Christmas so much,
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: but it really bothered me because the same thing,
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I was like,
• 17:13
  you're not putting this up because you're excited to celebrate
• 17:15
  the birth of Christ,
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: you know?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's sad, I think, in a lot of ways.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I know there's a simplicity,
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think,
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: that Leah and I are trying to impart to our children in this season.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: I sat with my grandmother and grandfather,
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: and I remember him getting an orange from his grandpa.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: He's like dirt poor farmer in Mississippi,
• 17:38
  and they'd get an orange and his mom would make cookies like
• 17:40
  that was Christmas.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it was amazing.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And along with that, they celebrated Christ.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they had this stuff at the church.
• 17:46
  So I think that coming back to some of the simplicity is a good
• 17:50
  habit to try to shoot for.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we're constantly shooting for it.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: And this year, particularly trying to step into less and less.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: other more and more Jesus in the season.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: But it's hard,
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: when you got grandmas and grandpas and everyone around you and school and
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: everything else.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's fun stuff.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's great stuff.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's all good in the desire of it to some degree.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: But I think it's difficult for the kids too,
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: because they are seeing culture and,
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_03: they do see the advertisements or hear from their friends.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think it's necessary to try to get
• 18:25
  to the heart of conversation with our kids hey let's just think
• 18:29
  about last year
• 18:30
  what those gifts you got from us or from grandmas or from
• 18:35
  cousins do you play with
• 18:36
  them anymore do you remember what you got even remember yeah
• 18:40
  yeah and so trying to
• 18:41
  have a conversation lord willing that will probe them to think
• 18:46
  the thoughts um
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: to then move on from there because we want the best for our kids.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: And,
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: we don't want to be curmudgeon mama and papa that are just like,
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: no,
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: we don't do anything fun.
• 18:59
  But we do want to have conversations with them of like where
• 19:02
  our heart is,
• 19:02
  our treasure is.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: So what do we really want to treasure?
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: And we're trying to figure it out as well.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_03: What do we slough off from our childhood?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: And what can we keep?
• 19:12
  Because it is tradition and there's nothing wrong with having
• 19:16
  beautiful traditions.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_03: But just purifying, I guess, trying to purify the traditions.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: Not because we think we can ever get it perfect,
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: but we just want to do our best to be pleasing to the Lord.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think so many parents just get so exhausted this time of year, too.
• 19:34
  Just feeling the pressure,
• 19:35
  as you said,
• 19:36
  with all the toys and scheduling events and everything.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: I would think if they're in the car going from store to store,
• 19:45
  maybe listening to your music could be sort of a reset and a
• 19:49
  reminder of why we're
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: really celebrating.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Wrapping up, what's next on the horizon for you?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's funny.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: The list is always bigger than we'll ever have time to do.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: We have more ideas for projects than we'll ever complete.
• 20:07
  Leah,
• 20:08
  the other day,
• 20:08
  she's like,
• 20:09
  we should do hymns for another Christmas round of hymns.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: I said, well, it's almost Christmas.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: So if we're going to do that, we have to do it this week.
• 20:16
  And so this week we're tracking,
• 20:18
  no,
• 20:18
  we haven't released anything on this yet.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: So if anyone's listened to this,
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: I guess I don't know when it comes out,
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: but we're tracking a hymns for,
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: which will be another set of simple,
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: traditional hymns that are Advent hymns,
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Christmas hymns.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can you give us a hint of what's going to be on the album?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: What else on it?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Savior of the Nations Come.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's a sweet one.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Once in Royal David's City.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: I love that one.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And there's one or two more.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: And we like a lot of the not super common ones, I guess.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: We do like the common ones.
• 20:51
  There are lots of really great recordings of angels we have
• 20:54
  heard on high that
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: we're not going to pull off.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: We don't have an orchestra.
• 20:58
  yeah and acquire so acquire so trying to to step into the ones
• 21:03
  that we feel like we
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: can we can present in a beautiful full way
• 21:15
  And then after that,
• 21:16
  so we've been leading worship for many years in small contexts.
• 21:19
  We have pastored home churches for 12 years,
• 21:22
  or a home church,
• 21:23
  as well as larger context stuff.
• 21:25
  So we've already recorded a live worship type recording with
• 21:28
  people in the room of
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: songs that we've written into the larger space.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're going to do the same thing in a smaller space,
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: kind of the living room songs we shared for many years.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: With the congregation singing with you.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: People singing with us, yeah.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of like City of Light.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, we haven't done a record like that.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's exciting to sing with our friends,
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: the people we've been singing with for a long time.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ was born to say.
• 21:55
  I always like to end each episode by asking my interviewees to
• 21:59
  share one Bible
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: verse that's particularly meaningful to you and what we've discussed.
• 22:05
  I think it might be hard to choose just one,
• 22:08
  but if you could,
• 22:09
  what would it be?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: I think earlier you said something that I was thinking of.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: The scripture that says,
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's a psalm that says,
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: Great are the works of the Lord,
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: studied by all who delight in them.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I think personally, I want that to be true in my own life.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: I want to delight in the Lord.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Therefore, I want to study his works.
• 22:34
  And then like a hope for people who do listen to our music that
• 22:38
  it would redirect
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_03: to greater the works of the Lord.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: I want to study those works.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you both so much.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've truly enjoyed this conversation,
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: and I know it'll be an inspiration to those listening,
• 22:54
  especially during this crazy time of year when we all need a
• 22:58
  little bit of reset
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: and redirecting toward Christ.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ was born to save.
• 23:09
  And to all of you tuning in,
• 23:11
  thank you so much for being a part of this episode of
• 23:13
  Fulfilled.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Quick side note,
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: since we recorded this conversation back in early November,
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Poor Bishop Hooper's new Christmas album,
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hymns 4,
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: is now officially out,
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: so you can go listen to the project that they mentioned.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I will see you in 2026.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Christ was born to say