Anne Wilson [introduction]: I spent a lot of time early on in my career finding passages of Scripture that reminded me that Jesus was rejected too, and hated, and He was mocked, and He was disrespected. Jesus led the example for us as His followers, that when you follow Jesus and when you walk with Him, you are going to be hated by the world.

I would go back and read through those passages of Scripture and remind myself that is what’s going to happen by following Jesus. And there’s a comfort in that, knowing that you’re not alone. Jesus has walked the road before.

Ellen Krause: Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. I’m Ellen, your host, and today’s conversation is one that I think many of us need right now.

We live in a world that often tells us to hold tightly to comfort, to our plans, and to how we’re perceived. But when you open Scripture, you see something very different. You see a call to follow Jesus, even when it costs something.

Today’s guest has walked through that in a powerful and public way. Anne Wilson is a rising artist out of Nashville, known for blending Christian and country music with honesty, depth, and a bold love for Jesus. From her debut album, My Jesus, to her new book, Rebel, she’s been unafraid to share both the beauty and the cost of following Christ.

Anne, welcome. I’m so excited to have you on our show today.

Anne Wilson: Me too. Thanks for having me.

Ellen Krause: Absolutely. I have just a cute little story about how I came to know about you and your music.

Just a couple of years ago, I was down visiting, maybe an hour away from where I live, my sister-in-law’s church, because we stayed there for the weekend. And her church, you know, when people were coming in, was just playing music. And I heard your song, My Jesus, for the first time.

I grabbed my sister-in-law’s arm, and I’m like, “That is the best song ever. I need to know that.” So it’s been one of my favorites ever since I heard it.

For any of our listeners who might be meeting you now for the first time, what are some of the most important things to know about you?

Anne Wilson: That’s so sweet.

I mean, I would say the biggest thing is just my story and what God has done in my life. I grew up in Kentucky, grew up in a church, in a Christian home, and was raised knowing about Jesus and that Jesus loved me.

My faith became real to me when I was in seventh grade. Then my career started out of a place of loss. A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I never wanted to be a singer growing up or a performer. I never wanted to be famous. I never had these desires to be on a stage one day or anything like that.

And when my brother passed away when I was 15, my life transformed. My life became, honestly, a constant reminder of what matters and the perspective shift that we’re not promised tomorrow.

And for me, that is what led me into music and wanting to spend my life here on earth serving Jesus and telling others about Him. And that’s how my career started. Long story, to make it super short, that’s how it started.

So one of my main goals in what I do as a musician and artist is to remind people that He can do the same thing for others that He’s done for me.

Ellen Krause: Yes, and that really touches people deeply. Music is just such a profound way of penetrating someone’s soul and remembering it because you just hear those lyrics over and over again. And it really sets in.

Well, Anne, tell us a little bit about your upbringing and maybe some of your personal experiences that shaped your rebellious spirit.

Anne Wilson: Thank you.

Ellen Krause: That you describe in your relationship with Jesus.

Anne Wilson: Yeah, I mean, growing up, I always was bold in my faith.

I remember there was an election. I remember literally not being old enough to vote, but arguing, in a healthy way, with my classmates about what Christians should do in election season and how we should operate.

There were so many moments like that growing up where I was always just bold about my faith, bold about Jesus, bold about what He calls us to do and calls us to be as Christians.

And I think a lot of that came from the way I was raised. My parents were on fire for God. My mom especially, though—I’m basically like a carbon copy of my mom. And she’s always been just very bold in what she believes and who she is.

So she inspired me a lot growing up to do the same. If this is what you believe, then speak it. Or if this is your opinion, then you stand behind it. Or if that’s what you want to do with your life, then go do it.

My mom never belittled me, never made me feel like I couldn’t do something, but she would always tell me, “You can do anything you set your mind to.”

And I think that a lot of that helped not only shape me spiritually, but also to be able to have the career I have today, to be able to do what I do, to stand firm in what I believe and to not be swayed or moved by the industry or by the opinions of others, but to be only moved by what God is telling me to do.

There’s a lot of moments, though, growing up that I could reference, but I think the overarching reason why I feel like I ended up writing the book and the album Rebel was because of this desire for me to just stand for what I believe and to stand up for Jesus.

Ellen Krause: Thank you so much for sharing that. And I loved the little story you had in your book just about how you’re the youngest, right? And just even as a young child, you sort of exhibited some of those rebellious qualities to some degree.

Well, Anne, when you talk about faith as requiring sacrifice, when did that really become real to you? Not just something you believed, but something that you were experiencing?

Anne Wilson: I’d say when my brother passed away, life became real.

Everything before that, I’m so thankful I can say that I was raised in a healthy home. My parents were together, there was no abuse. I was raised in a home that was very loving and very safe and very godly and very protected.

So growing up until my brother died, nothing happened to me in my life that would have affected me or really, I guess, made my faith a question or whatever. So when my brother passed away, that was really the first moment that I had to see, okay, this is my faith, not just my parents’ faith, but my own faith.

And also that the world is dark and the world is awful, and it’s sad, and we’re going to have to suffer. But through that is where we find Jesus.

I think my brother’s loss just really grew me up overnight and allowed me to have a perspective shift on what matters in life.

I would say that that’s really when my faith became something I realized I’m going to have to stand for and not just keep going to church to check it off my list, but this has to become real.

And then another layer is when I got into the music industry, when I was being faced with temptations of many kinds and pressures and opinions of other people telling me what I should do. I had to realize, okay, I might have to sacrifice some things, but that’s worth it because I’m standing for Jesus.

I might not get as many streams on a song, or I might not have as much success because I’m not going to do what they want me to do, but I’m following Jesus, and so that’s the sacrifice.

So there’s definitely been a lot of moments in my professional career where I’ve had to stand up for myself and stand my ground for what I believe in, and it has reminded me of that. But it’s worth it when you’re following Jesus.

Ellen Krause: Absolutely. And those streams or follows are just, when you think about it, so temporary. Our life here is so short and temporary on earth, and what you’re building is kingdom, you know?

Anne Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Ellen Krause: Well, let me ask you a little bit about rejection because you hinted on it briefly there. What has that been like for you?

Anne Wilson: I think that there’s not been a ton of it in my career, I would say, but there’s definitely been moments where my faith has made me stand out and maybe made me miss an opportunity or two.

My perspective on that is different than I would say maybe the majority of artists is, if I were to guess.

I never wanted to be famous. I never longed to have a career. And so when God called me to music and it was kind of handed to me like, “Here’s what I want you to do with your life”—because that’s literally how it went—it was not like, “I’ve been dying to be a superstar and to have a number one song.”

It was more like, okay, I’m following God’s leading.

So for me, my mission has always been Jesus. My mission is to impact people and to point people to Jesus.

And so I think that in those moments of rejection, I constantly just remind myself that I’m doing this for Jesus. Ultimately, if He’s pleased with me, then I’m doing all that I can.

But also, I spent a lot of time early on in my career looking through Scripture and finding passages of Scripture that reminded me that Jesus was rejected too. He was hated, and He was mocked, and He was disrespected.

And Jesus led the example for us as His followers, that when you follow Jesus and when you walk with Him, you are going to be hated by the world, and you will be rejected, and people will not like you, and people will say bad things about you. You will be an outsider.

That was honestly a comfort for me during those times because I would go back and read through those passages of Scripture and remind myself that this is what’s going to happen by following Jesus.

And there’s a comfort in that, knowing that you’re not alone. Jesus has walked the road before you.

Knowing that you have your community of like-minded people around you to support you and keeping my eyes on Jesus has helped me.

Ellen Krause: It equips us, right, to be able to do that.

I have a quote from a page in the book where you said, “Our goal should be not to take that rejection personally, but to align ourselves with Jesus and His mission on earth.”

And I think so often we do want to take that personally. But if you can actually set that aside and keep your eyes focused on Jesus, then—

Anne Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Ellen Krause: You’ll get through that situation.

Anne Wilson: Absolutely. Yeah.

Ellen Krause: Well, tell us a little bit about what it’s been like for you being a Christian in country music. What made you feel called to bring the message of Jesus into that space?

Anne Wilson: That was something that came kind of unexpectedly for me. I wasn’t really seeking out that lane of music, but My Jesus, my first song ever, kind of naturally crossed over to country music.

And so a lot of the people on that side were asking me, you know, “Can we work with you, and would you be open to expanding your music into that genre to reach more people?”

So we ended up doing that with a national record label that was a country label. And there were a lot of moments in the beginning where I had a lot of pushback or opinions, but I think ultimately it was clear that God was calling me into that and that was where I was supposed to be heading.

So there were a lot of amazing moments throughout it. And then there were hard moments where I would be judged on either side, like, “You’re too Christian for country,” or, “You’re too country for Christian music.”

There were moments that were just hard throughout that. But I think that I’ll never forget early on in my career having moments where I really heard from God and Him speaking to me that that’s what I was supposed to do—to be a light in country music, to go take Jesus to country music, to be bold in my faith in the country genre.

So throughout all the struggles and all the doubts and moments of hardship, I just remind myself of that.

I truly feel called as an artist to tell people about Jesus, to take the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth. And what that means is leaving the four walls of the church. That means leaving your comfort and being willing to go out into the world and not being like the world, but being in the midst of it and going and sharing Jesus.

Ellen Krause: You seem so young and to have already experienced burnout. Tell us a little bit about how that came about and how you came to realize that you can rest in that form of godly rebellion.

Anne Wilson: Well, first of all, I think ministry burnout is really real.

When you are truly, in your heart, doing this for Jesus, and you are preaching the gospel every night and praying for people and hearing all these horrible stories of what people have gone through and their testimonies, all that immersion weighs so heavily on you.

I’ve been doing this for five years straight—five years of constantly touring around the clock, always on the road, never at home.

And so there reach these points for me where you just get to the end of it and you’re like, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m a human. I’ve got to have time for my family, my friends, and my life.”

And also, just emotionally and spiritually, that weighs on you.

There have been a lot of moments where I’ve realized the importance of being spiritually filled up. If I’m not filled up spiritually, I can’t go out and give to the crowd.

These people have spent their money buying a ticket. These people have come bearing the weight of their own struggles. For me to be able to properly speak to them in the way in which I’m supposed to and have been called by God to, I have to be spiritually filled up.

And I think that’s also where I’ve realized it’s up to me to do that. God will give me what I need, and there’s grace, and He covers me. But I have to be the one who says, “I’m going to take these days off on the schedule,” or, “I’m going to carve this time out for me to rest.”

So I think that that’s been a really good learning curve for me in my career—learning how to rest in the midst of a busy season, and remembering that we’re actually commanded by God to rest.

For some reason, we focus on the other commandments all the time, but we never think about that one.

And our culture, especially in America, is to go, go, go, and to work, work, work, and to make as much money and be as successful as you can.

And while those intentions might be somewhat good, most of the time it leads to exhaustion and a completely empty version of you.

I think that goes for every job, too, and every season of life. So I think there’s so much importance in learning how to rest in the way that God did and to obey His commandment to take a day each week to rest.

Ellen Krause: Mm-hmm.

What does your rest look like?

Anne Wilson: Mine has gotten to the point where it’s been flexible.

Each week it’s never on a Sunday because I’m always on tour, but it’s always at least one day a week where I’ve had to put my foot down and be like, “I’m taking this day. I’m not doing work, and I’m not answering phone calls and emails and all the things.”

And for me, it’s honestly just being at home.

I travel so much that home is like a gift to me. Being at home is a rare gift.

And so when I’m home, I normally just read my Bible and sit on the couch and don’t do anything all day.

But most of the time it’s spiritual growth for me. It’s a day of saying, “I’m going to put my phone away, all the tasks away, all the friends and all the things that I could be doing to fill my schedule.”

Instead, I’m going to sit with Jesus and take a day of rest and get good sleep and eat clean foods and nourish my body and do the things that I normally wouldn’t have time to do when I’m on the road.

So I think it looks different for me in every season I’m in, but for the most part, that’s recently what it’s been.

Ellen Krause: Yeah, I’m so proud of you for doing that.

I actually think your generation seems to be better at doing that. I think it will truly serve you well, especially in ministry.

How do you personally guard against performing for people instead of living for God?

I’m sure there’s just this balance that you have to have.

Anne Wilson: For sure. I don’t think that I’ve mastered that. I think it’s a daily thing I struggle with.

I think the enemy can really easily slip into my ear and tell me that I’m performing for people, you know, or get me worrying about the opinions of others.

For me, it’s been about who I surround myself with. I have an incredible team and family and friends that remind me of why I’m doing what I’m doing.

And I think they help me on those days where I’m in my head about it and I’m struggling with it. I’ll go to them, and they’ll remind me, “You’re doing this for Jesus, not for what those people say or think.”

But ultimately, it’s just keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus. And that’s really how it happens.

Ellen Krause: Yeah, it’s critical.

Well, when people walk away from your music or even this conversation, what do you hope stays with them?

Anne Wilson: I so desperately want people to find Jesus in my music.

For me, what changed everything was when I found Jesus and I had a relationship with Him. When it went from head knowledge to heart knowledge. And it went from, “Oh, I’m in a church and check it off my list and follow like my parents want me to,” to, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no—like I can have a personal relationship with God, me and Him.”

And that the same God who created the universe created me and wants a relationship with me.

That changed my life when I was 12 and gave my life to Christ.

And so that message has stuck with me through the years. That’s what I want people to know and experience through my music.

Even through listening to this today, I hope that you would experience Jesus, that you would have a relationship with Him and know that He is the only way to have life. He’s the way, the truth, and the life. And He is everything.

And I think that once you realize that and experience it, you will never, ever, ever go back or look away.

Ellen Krause: Amen. That’s what I say to that. Amen. Absolutely.

You have your new book called Rebel. Tell us just a little bit about your heart behind it and then where our listeners can go to find information about it.

Anne Wilson: Yeah, this is my third book I’ve put out. I put out a devotional last year, and so this is my third book, and I’m so excited about it.

I wrote this book after my record, Rebel, came out. My record was put out in 2024, and it was about two years ago now.

This record was really me pouring my heart into what God was teaching me in that time, which was what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what it means to stand for Him in this world.

And it does make you a rebel, and it does make you an outsider and an outcast.

So this record was written from that, and then this book actually followed that process. Because while I was writing the album, I realized I had a lot more to say than just what I could fit into a 16-song album or what I could put into a three-minute song.

So I started jotting down notes throughout that album process of what a book could end up looking like.

Long story short, we ended up making it into a book. And Rebel is a book for all ages, but I specifically think my generation needs to hear this because it is a reminder and a call—a major call, and almost like a wake-up call, I think—to say, “Hey, guys, you need to wake up and start living for Jesus and stop living for yourself.”

This book is challenging in the sense that I think it’s going to make people realize, okay, I need to kind of take a look at my life and the way I’m living it, and I need to live it for Jesus—but in the best way.

So I’m excited about it, and I can’t wait for people to read it.

And they can get all the information at annewilsonofficial.com or rebellikeme.com as well.

Ellen Krause: Awesome. Well, we will make sure we include those links in our show notes.

And I know you guys will really, really resonate with the book. So thank you, Anne, for sharing that.

Before I let you go, I have to ask you our few favorite questions that we ask our guests.

What is your go-to Bible, and what translation is it?

Anne Wilson: Ooh, that is a great question.

I don’t even remember off the top of my head. I have so many different Bibles that I’ve gone back and forth between.

I will say one of my favorite Bibles early on in my walk with Jesus was an ESV, English Standard Version. And that one was a journaling Bible.

That was probably my favorite Bible because I loved the way that it translated.

But I also love The Message for when I’m having a passage that’s a little harder for me to wrap my head around.

I’ll go on the Bible app and use The Message translation, and that’s always the best for me.

Ellen Krause: Excellent. Okay.

Do you have any favorite Bible journaling supplies, or do you like to Bible journal?

Anne Wilson: You know, normally for me, it’s journaling in my regular journal and then highlighting things in my Bible and kind of writing down in my journal, like, “This page in the Bible” or “This verse stood out to me.”

I love to journal. I’m a very sentimental person.

But I haven’t gotten into actual Bible journaling, although I would love to at some point.

Ellen Krause: All right, it’s awesome.

Well, I’m sure it’s a natural part of just being a music writer, that you’ve got all these things going on in your head and you can get them down before you forget.

Last question, then. What is your favorite app or website for Bible study?

Anne Wilson: I would say just the Bible app.

I love the plans they have on there. They’re easy, they’re simple to understand, and they’re convenient to have on your phone.

Especially in tour season, when I’m gone and don’t have as much luggage space to bring a ton of books with me, that’s always an easy way I can pull up a plan and be encouraged and reminded of who I am in Jesus and reminded of what I need to hear.

So I would definitely say the Bible app.

Ellen Krause: All right. Well, the Bible app just hit its billionth download not too long ago. It is an amazing, awesome, excellent app. So I agree with you there.

Well, Anne, thank you so much for just being with us today to share your story.

And please know that we’re praying for you as you continue to be a light for Jesus in the country music industry.

Anne Wilson: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. It was great to talk to you.

Ellen Krause: You are welcome.

And to our listeners, I hope you’re walking away feeling encouraged and inspired to obey God, knowing that following Jesus might cost us something, but what we gain in Him will be so much greater.

And as always, if this conversation encouraged you, we’d love for you to share it with a friend who might need that reminder today.

Thank you so much for listening. We’ll see you next time on the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.

Have a blessed day.