Redemption Through Christ: Ben Fuller’s Powerful Testimony of Freedom from Addiction

SPEAKER_00: 0:39

Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. For those that may be listening for the first time, our podcast is an offshoot from our main platform, YouTube. Our channel is called Coffee and Bible Time, where our goal is to help people delight in God’s Word. We also have a website and storefront with Bible studies, prayer journals, courses, and more. Before we get started, a word from this week’s sponsors. I’m Mentor Mama, and today we are going to be talking about how walking with Jesus can heal wounds and lead to redemption. You know, from the beginning, God has used people with backgrounds that are tough to bear and filled with hurt. He brings people out of impossible situations to bring glory to his name and tasks us with sharing our stories of redemption with others who are hurting and who desperately need a savior. People that we might call a lost cause, God calls them to change the lives of others for good and advance his kingdom. Our guest today, Ben Fuller, has a similar testimony from generational iniquities and addictions to a rising country singer and songwriter. Ben’s story is one that is filled with hope, mercy, and grace. Ben Fuller is one of country music’s newest artists. In 2022, Ben was busy touring with Grammy Award winner Zach Williams and performing at prisons to share his message of hope. As a Southern Vermont farm boy, his character was sharpened by the value of hard family work, but sometimes maybe a little too hard. He picked up a love of country music while working the farm with his father, but grappled with the harsh atmosphere of his upbringing with drugs and alcohol. After losing a friend to these struggles, he knew he needed to make a change. He moved to Nashville for a fresh start and dedicated his life and music to the Lord to help others find their own path to transformation. Please welcome Ben. Hey! Oh, it’s such a joy to have you with us today. I’m so excited to talk to you. And I have to say, I’m so hooked on your song, Who I Am. So it’s it’s just it’s so inspirational. It’s the title of your album, and I know we’re gonna get to that. But first, I just want to rewind a little bit and have you tell us about who you were.SPEAKER_01: 3:48

Wow, yeah, that’s good. Um, I, you know, it’s funny, I had to going through all this stuff, looking back now, um, it’s really amazing to see what God um allowed me to go through. And, you know, I I resonate a lot with Peter, but I also resonate more with Job. And I feel like um there were certain things that um God allowed me to endure and go through in order to become um who I am today. Um and so it’s just amazing how that song, Who I Am has has really um just taken on more and more and more molds as I as I’m like, oh my goodness, he was there then too. He was there then also. Um, so yeah, growing up in Vermont, I mean, Vermont’s 2% Christian. And um I did the name of Jesus was a swear word in my mouth. And um, you know, just generationally passed down. We didn’t go to church. Um, that was one of the things that um, you know, if you don’t know, you don’t know. And so we didn’t know. And so I, you know, I just grew up regular and and trying and working and striving and like work was um work was the most important thing, you know, you had to work to survive to get through. And um so it was tough, you know. Just uh my dad was a very um really sweet man, but also very, very quiet. And so he he held back a lot of emotions, he was very reserved in things, and so we would get into a lot of arguments and stuff, and he wouldn’t know how to necessarily navigate those. And so that just led to a lot of um angst between us, and so we just we butt heads a lot. Um and he never really, you know, he never really told me that he loved me. And so there was a lot of moments that I felt like um, yeah, I just I wanted to belong. I wanted to feel like I was I was loved, and um, it was a tough relationship. So, you know, 16 years old, um uh I came very close to committing suicide. And um, I had just run out of, you know, I was just tired of fighting, tired, tired of arguing. Um, and again, I had it all together on the outside, but on the inside, I just was like empty. I was I was completely empty. Um, 18 years old. I made it through that situation and um, you know, saw my life flash before my eyes. And and I just I couldn’t pull the trigger because it was like I didn’t want my mom to find me. I didn’t want, you know, um, I I I could like see all these things that it would affect other people’s lives. And I just it scared me. And um 18 years old, cocaine, alcohol, sex, all the things I got introduced to. Um, and I was like, wow, I can I can um numb the pain, I can run the other way. Um, I don’t have to deal with this. And um so I, you know, for nearly 17 years used and um just recreationally whenever I wanted to, I could put it down and pick it up. Not once did I ever consider myself an addict because addicts were bad people. Um and uh I had control. And so I could, I I I’m good. I I didn’t need to use next weekend, but I could the weekend after that because I wanted to. Um until fast forward uh 2017, um Ryan, my best friend Ryan, um his mom found him in his house and uh he had overdosed. Um and fentanyl took his life. Um, yeah. And so I, you know, that’s just been a really hard thing. Um I’m coming from his house uh right now as we speak. Um I was I stayed there uh in Vermont for the holidays. Um, you know, it’s been five years this this past December, it’s been five years since he’s been he’s been dead. And um yeah, it’s it’s bittersweet. It’s always bittersweet leaving there. Um so there’s always a lot of emotions and you know, why, um, a lot of whys and stuff. But so I I moved to Nashville in in 2018 um for country music, like you said. Um I started writing. I started this this explosion of um songs and writing. Uh I had picked up guitar in college, and so I never really did much with it except for play campfires and be silly, you know, and use it to get girls. And that that was like my thing. That was my thing growing up, you know. And then um, so I’d put it down for a while, but all of a sudden, like the inside of me just was I was so crippled with Ryan’s death. And um, I needed an an exit strategy to to get all this stuff out. And I started writing like crazy. And um I started performing and um playing, playing, playing out and just singing because singing for me was always a release. And so very soon I started hearing from people that I should go to Nashville and try my try my try my luck down there, you know, and and like everybody else, all these amazing singer-songwriters that go to Nashville and um God had other plans for my life. And uh, and he met me there um in 2019. And um I think he knew exactly what he was doing because who knows if I’d have made it through COVID. Um but I was at an all-time low, you know. I was just I was drinking every day. I was drinking and driving from Broadway to to uh Cool Springs, where I lived. And um, I had just run out. I just run out of, I just run out of run out of gas, if you will. And um God used a family from Vermont, um, which is so crazy that he moved a year and a half before I even got there. And they called me up one day, it was the fall of twenty of 2019, and they said, uh, Ben, do you want to come over for dinner? Like, we’re sorry, we haven’t got in touch with you. Um, you know, I I had met them a couple of times in Vermont, and so I knew of them. I didn’t know them that well. Uh and I said, sure, I mean, I don’t turn food down. So, you know, wink wink, right? You know, and yeah, the food is just, I am all about it. So, and so God used this amazing meal, and um, at the end of the meal, they asked me if I’d like to go to church with them in the morning. It was a Saturday night. And uh I said yes with my mouth full, I think, you know, because I was like, I owe you, I I owe you guys one for this meal. It’s delicious, you know. And uh, so that following, that following morning, it was a Sunday, it was a beautiful Sunday morning, 9:30 in the morning. We went to Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee, and uh 3,000 people, and I’d never seen anything like it. You know, I had never been a part of anything like it. And uh I walked in and everybody was just beautiful and smiling and glowing, and I was like, what is this place? And uh, and all of a sudden I heard uh the music. And it, you know, God used the music to draw me in. And um I I remember walking down the hallway, down another long hallway, and it was like this building was just so big, and I just I remember bolting for the auditorium doors um because the music was so powerful and I could hear, I could feel the bass and the vibration. I just I I ran in there anyway, and I stood in that in the aisle, and um a man named uh Chris McClarney and uh John Redick, uh, they were both leading worship that day there. And um I I felt the most powerful uh the spirit of God came over me and I didn’t know it, you know, I didn’t know anything, but I I felt like this is the kind of music that I need to sing for the rest of my life. I I had heard that like this is it, you finally found it. And um, and I I gave I just gave it right there. I just I just said, hey, I the I don’t I don’t know what this is, but I need it. I have to use it, I have to choose it, I have to be it. And um I yeah, I just I remember almost getting mad at like oh if this this this God they’re they’re singing about is so powerful and the like take away these stupid things I’m dealing with and take away all these these these struggles and the addictions and the you know the the the sex and the alcohol and the everything. And um I was completely changed after that first church service. And um I went home that night and um I just I remember having this crazy dream and like light and love and Jesus and all these things. I woke up in the middle of the night, started writing stuff down, and it was instantly after that church service that I started my writing changed, everything changed. Like my writing changed, and uh I was drinking like 15 to 17 beers every night. And um, you know, all of a sudden it went to 10, went to four, went to two over the course of the next couple of months. I just I lost my appetite for alcohol, didn’t want anything to do with it. Um, same thing with sex, um, same thing with the cocaine, all the stuff. Just left, you know, and it was just like I don’t want to do this anymore. I was convicted, and um yeah, and I and I I remember it was probably when I got saved, was the most loneliest time of my life, to be honest with you, because I was I was plugged in at the church and and and was serving and was greeting people. I was a greeter and I love greeting people, and but I honestly was was pretty alone. Like I would go home at night, I was pretty scared, you know, and I started diving into the Bible and um it was just like, what is this life? And um, a lot of my friends were like, dude, you’re brainwashed, bro. Like, give it up. Like, this is stupid. Is this this church stuff that you’re doing? And uh, so it was a it was a fight. Like when I when I gave my life, it was it was a it was a fight. Um November 10th, 2019, I got baptized and uh declared to the world, like, hey, this is it, this is Jesus. And um, he started sending me these amazing people that um are now still in my life and that have been ministering to me since. And so that’s kind of the long and short of it. But there was a lot of stuff that happened in between there, but um yeah, just it’s it’s amazing. So I’m three and a half, a little over three and a half years uh sober and celibate and waiting on the promise of God for my wife. And um, you know, it’s it is so stinking difficult. And I was just thinking about it this week, even where there’s celebration, New Year’s, I led worship for New Year’s, and um it is so difficult to deny the world. Um, I continue to struggle with lust, I I continue to struggle in and out with porn. And you know, it’s like there, there’s just I’m just here to be real, is what I’m here to be. And I and it’s like it’s one of the most difficult walks that I’ve ever had. Yeah, I mean, it’s just yeah, it’s my favorite, my my favorite quote is Johnny Cash. Um being a Christian ain’t for sissies. Uh, it takes a real man or woman to live for God. And um, this has been not for sissies, I can tell you that. So I’m just thankful that you’re having me on here and yeah, um, just being being um, I like to call it like stupid real with people because it just it takes that, I think, to continue to move forward, you know.SPEAKER_00: 16:56

Well, and it’s just so encouraging. Your authenticity is truly what’s going to help someone else. And I I know, you know, you think about either someone listening to this, if you’re going through your own struggles where you’re hitting rock bottom, or you have a loved one, a son or a daughter or a brother, sister that’s struggling. And your story is so encouraging because it shows what God can do, even when you think it’s the absolute possible worst state, He can lift that up and transform that and then start using you. Um, and it’s just so incredible. And God’s been doing that over and over and over again, all throughout the Bible, and He’s continues to do that today in our lives as well. So we just I’m so grateful for you sharing in your story. I want to talk about um, you know, you mentioned that there were a few people in your life that were really influential. Is there maybe one story um just about how someone took you under their wing or that really influenced you in maybe learning, studying your Bible?SPEAKER_01: 19:03

Um, you know, I I think of um it’s funny. Uh she she really has been there for me, and I think this is really cool. Um, and shown me nothing but Jesus since um not long after I got saved. But my manager, Crystal, um, you know, she has been a great friend to me. She has been uh an example to me uh of what it’s like because I’m coming from the side of um I didn’t have a lot of friends that were girls that weren’t that I wasn’t intimate with. And so it was, you know, coming from that side of things, um, you know, I pushed boundaries and cross lines and all the time. And that was just that was made normal, that was made perfectly fine of the world. And um Crystal, I had met her in a bar one night, and um, I was not long after I’ve been saved, and I was not drinking, but I was singing about Jesus in this place. And uh it was crazy. And um, I met her uh after I got off stage, and she said, Hey, that takes a lot of guts, like wow. And so she had got drugged there from some of her friends that were singing there that night. And it was just such a God, it was such a God moment. And um, she said, I’m I’m a believer, I’m from New Hampshire. And I’m like, I’m from Vermont. Like, we don’t, there’s no, there’s no Jesus up there. There’s no like this this place is extremely, you know, hard to and we just kind of hit it off and um we’d exchange numbers, and um not long after, I would say within a month or within within two months, um we had met up and she’s like, I feel like I’m supposed to help you. Oh and I’m like, what do you mean? And she’s like, I just I feel like I’m supposed to help get you plugged into this Christian uh world, and and and you know, I’m kind of alone down here too, and so let’s let’s try to let’s let’s see what we can do. Let’s let’s just try to build some things up. And I was like, okay. And she goes, I think I’m your manager, and I’m like, okay. And uh she’s she’s been she’s been with me now for um since then. And so it’s it’s uh it’s just amazing how God she has been ministering to me and showing me um what it’s like to have a girl in a woman in your life that shows you nothing but Jesus. And that’s what Crystal has Crystal has done that for me. And so yeah, I’m super thankful for her um and everything that she stands for. And uh she she so anyway, so she’s kind of been through all this with me. Um, but I think the coolest story is um I wouldn’t write with her and I didn’t want to cross lines, right? And um I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to mess it up. I didn’t want to mess up the relationship that I had with her. And um, you know, I know my flesh, and I’m like, uh, you know, I just want to keep a distance and keep a safe distance. And um I’m always good at oversharing things. And anyway, but the cool this super cool story is um the day that I had written um who I am with David Spencer, um I remember coming out of that room and we struggled with um the second verse, and I shared. The second verse with Crystal later on. She had asked me how the right went. And I shared, shared the second verse with her. And I said, I don’t know. It’s just not right. It needs something else. It needs something. And she, of course, had moved down to Nashville for songwriting. And um, she was, she’s a really, she is an amazing songwriter. And uh, so I shared it with her and she goes, Do you mind if I take a look? You know, can I can I play around with it a little? And I was like, uh, you know, and I felt that and I was like, you know what, sure, why don’t why not? And so she took it home that night, the lyrics. And that I I don’t even know if it might have been that night. She she had text me back, some words, uh, in the water, take me under, fill my lungs to speak your wonder. And I was like, oh, wow. I was like, okay. Um, so I shared that with David. And David’s like, holy smokes, like, that’s amazing. Where where how did you come up? How did you ever? And I was like, Crystal. And he’s like, wow. And I was like, you know, I’ve got to give her credit for this song. I’ve got to, I I felt it. I just was like, she’s she’s part of this song, and and she those it’s just amazing. And um, so crazy, but I I believe a couple of years later, she um had got a tattoo on her arm, and it says, Who I am. Oh, and the crazy thing is, I didn’t really ever pay attention to it, and that’s not where we got the song idea from, and that’s not what I even knew. And she didn’t even realize it until later on that when everything clicked, uh it she went, I’ve got this tattooed on my arm like years before. And it just was like, it just was such when the song went number one, it just like all these things were like, You’re kidding me, you’re kidding me, you’re kidding me. And look at God. And so um, I think that that is just anyway, it a cool short story of how um yeah.SPEAKER_00: 24:53

That God just come provide someone to kind of walk you know, share this new Christian journey with you and carry you along.SPEAKER_01: 25:01

And and so she’ll send she’ll send prayers, she’ll send Bible verses to this day, you know, and that’s just what that’s just what she has done um and encouraging me to continue this walk because it’s not easy. And we’ve almost given up several times, and I’ve almost walked away a couple of times, and um, you know, we’ve we’ve really been through um a lot uh together. But the the the what’s kept us together is Jesus, and and that, and that’s that’s literally that’s that’s it for sure.SPEAKER_00: 25:36

Yeah, yeah, he made that connection. Well, I want to I want to talk about when you do your live show, you you talk a lot about addiction and suicide awareness, and I just wanted you to maybe share with our listeners like your journey from being able to, you know, those aren’t topics that you really want to talk about to being able to fully express that. And how have you seen doing that at a live show, like um helping others?SPEAKER_01: 26:15

Um, you know, I really have no choice. It’s it’s on my heart so much every night that I step on a stage. Um, and even not, just every day. It seems like it’s always on my heart to just be the most honest and the most raw and the most real. Um, I will tell you that there was uh coming to mind right now is it is a I don’t even like to call them shows anymore because it’s not a show. Um and it’s a for real. I mean, we’ve been calling them joyful noises. We’ve we’ve been calling them joyful noises, and so we’ve been making a joyful noise, you know, unto the Lord. But it’s like it, it’s almost like for reals are better or is a better, uh, it’s a for real. Because it’s like I’m not I’m not putting on a show. This this is this is for real. Um, but there was there was a night in um Massachusetts, I remember I’ll never forget. I had spoken um and sung the song Other Plans, um, and spoke about suicide and um how God had other plans for me and that he’s got other plans for you too. And there was a little boy who was um 16 years old. Um, and uh at the end of the night, he stood in line, and uh he was the very last person that I met. And um and he hugged me and he said, You know that song Other Plants? And I said, Yeah, and he said, Um I was having those thoughts this week. And um, and he just hugged me and I prayed over him, and uh it was one of the most powerful moments, full circle moments, that I’d realized that here I was 35 years old and praying over my 16-year-old self, and realizing that I have the power to, because of what the Holy Spirit has done, to change somebody’s life. And I realized how powerful that is, that you can speak life and change over somebody in the name of Jesus, and that they will be changed, and that that that they have heard something, they’ve felt something, they’ve experienced something that night that will change them. And I’ve I’ve been guilty of playing God uh myself a lot, but I realize now that um just planting that seed, just just being there to say, hey, I’ve felt that same thing. I it’s okay. I made it through, and you’re gonna too. It’s like he, you know, he just went away. The smile that came, I mean, I’ll never forget. And and uh he’d been picked on in school, you know, kind of chubby and and all these things. And I was just like, man, and and he’s he’s walked away with his head lifted a little higher than when he came in. And um, and then it’s up to God, you know, then it’s then it’s between him and God um for the rest of it. So, but I I I love that, and we all have that opportunity, yeah, you know, yeah, to to speak life and change and love in the name of Jesus over anybody. Yes, and that’s that’s just it’s so powerful. And they’re walking away, and sometimes they walk away scratching their head, or sometimes they walk away going, I don’t believe in none of that, I don’t believe in none of that. That’s not it, and but I guarantee when that feeling or that moment comes again where they have that thought, well, what did I what did he say again? What did that what did that guy pray over me? Maybe I should what was that? I guarantee you’re not gonna be able to get it out of here. You won’t, you won’t be able to. It will God, it will come back and it will save you because he’s with you.SPEAKER_00: 30:34

Yeah. You know, I think the comments that people write on YouTube are such a great testimony to how God is using your music. And music is just such a great platform because it it takes it in your mind and it just repeats it over over in such a beautiful way. And I I’m looking at a few of the comments here, and um, one person said, I’m a new Christian and I still struggle with my old life. This is such a good song to listen to when I am facing temptation. Thank you. Wow. Um, another person said, We knew Ben before Jesus grabbed him, a huge miracle and blessing to see him now. So just uh I love how um people are so engaged because the the lyrics are so powerful and um and the music is just so so catchy. Well, I want to um talk to you about your the title track in your current single. It talks about being a child of the most high God. What does that line mean to you?SPEAKER_01: 31:50

Um, you know, I believe God knew it’s so funny how I had to really can country music. I had to really put those, you know, it’s so funny how I kind of had these dreams about, you know, doing that and and God and and talking about those things. And um that was a life that I’m not living anymore. That was that was the old men. That was the back roads and the beer drinking and the girls and the parties and the it’s just the the lyrics and all just weren’t setting well with me anymore. And so it’s it’s so funny how I don’t really listen to a whole lot of country music anymore. Um, but I um I know that it shaped me um into who I am now. And so I think being a child of the most high God, recognizing that that I am his, recognizing that he made me in his image, recognizing that that declaration needed to happen, that that recognition inside of me needed to happen. I needed to say I’m a child of the most high God, and I needed to repeat that a million times to myself, uh, just to say that I am his and he is mine, and we’re together, and that’s it. My father in heaven is waiting on me. He made me, he knows me, he loves me, he chose me for this. And so so to to lean into that, yes, um, is is it’s really it’s it for me, it’s been life-changing because um I’ll have to fall back on that every single day. And hey, I’m a child of the most high God every morning. I mean, this since we have to renew this, it’s a daily renewal, and you know that. But it’s like um, I need to say I’m a child of the most high God, and he is for me. He’s not against me, he’s for me. He wants to help me in everything, and that helps discern also when the devil comes for me, because I’ll tell you, the devil comes for me. Um, and when he does, sometimes it is so severe and it is so awful, um, and it is so crazy. Um, and I know that that helps me discern, okay, yeah, this is not from God, he wouldn’t want me to feel this way. Yeah, and and so that just comes part of that declaration uh for me.SPEAKER_00: 34:27

Yeah. Well, what a beautiful statement. Being a child of the most high God is something that you can really cling to and um is so encouraging when people listen to it, like you said over and over again.SPEAKER_03: 34:44

Yeah.SPEAKER_00: 34:45

Well, before we wrap up a little bit, I heard you have plans for a podcast. So can you tell us about that?SPEAKER_01: 34:55

Um, you know, I do. I’m never, it’s it’s funny, we talked about um uh you had mentioned like a Bible app and things, and and I am, you know, to be completely transparent with you, um, I am not a huge fan of looking up anything to do with Jesus on my phone. Um and uh maybe it’s because I associate, you know, um there’s so much awful stuff on social media. There’s so much stuff that the devil uses to come after me on social media, and I know that I’m trying to use it um for good. I I know that God is turning it for good, and and so I try my best um to get on uh and and do my thing and then get right off. Um, because the longer that I’m on there, the longer I scroll, the stuff that you know, stuff pops up that I don’t need to see. And um, you know, and that just gets my head spinning and gets me tempted. And so um I believe uh the title is gonna be off my chest. Um, and this this podcast is gonna be um, you know, things that I needed to, and this came about a while back where I just needed to get this off my chest. I needed to tell you guys, I needed to, I needed to talk about this. Um, you know, I had a um, you know, a crazy conversation the night before, or um, I was lusting about this, or I was um fearing this, or you know, whatever it was, or having second thoughts about continuing this crazy Christian walk. Um, and so yeah, off my chest is gonna be, it’s gonna be real. It’s gonna be, it’s gonna be um really raw. And I think having some guests that come on that um, yeah, that that need to maybe just confess or repent or just um just be real and just like, hey, this has been this has been bothering me. Like this is this is a struggle of mine. Um and I think it’s gonna be really, really powerful because it’s gonna show people, because I’ve got a lot of non-Christian friends that um are still watching, still watching me, but it’s gonna show like, oh, this is real. Like, Ben is Ben’s really struggling with this stuff. So, so you mean this doesn’t just like that? He’s not just magically like turned into some, you know, uh I’m still no, I’m still Ben, I’m still still flesh, I’m still alive, I’m still right here. But I have a promise. I have a father in heaven, I have a savior that I can lean back on, that I can fall to, that I can crawl. Because a lot of times for me, it’s crawling to the cross, it’s crawling back to the feet of Jesus and saying, I I messed up. I messed up, I had this, I dealt with this, I wanted this, and Lord, I’m sorry, I’m here. And he receives me every single time, yes, with his arms wide open. He says, Come back, I know.SPEAKER_00: 38:08

Yes, completely forgiven.SPEAKER_01: 38:10

Yes, I love you, and that’s the promise that I had instead of wallowing in the shame and the guilt and the junk that I did before with no promise of anything. So, yeah, that’s what I think off my chest is gonna be.SPEAKER_00: 38:25

Oh, that’s so exciting! Well, I think people will really resonate with that. Awesome, yeah, because it is so authentic and real. Well, Ben, how can people find out more information about you and your music and your tour schedule for 2023?SPEAKER_01: 38:43

Wow, I’m the worst at uh I’m the worst at plugging myself. I can tell you that right now, Mama. But uh, I will do, I will, yeah. So Ben Fuller Music Facebook. Um, I’m on there uh a bunch. Instagram, I think I’m probably the most prevalent on Instagram. Um, and that’s just Ben D Fuller. I think if you type in Ben Fuller in the search bar, um, I should come up on there. And um, yeah, I love being silly. I love being fun. I love um encouraging. Um, I love just showing people that I’m not doing well. Um, I love showing people that I’m doing well. And so I think that’s just showing people that I’m a regular person is probably the what I love the most. Um benfullerofficial.com is is the website. And if you go to benfulerofficial.com, you’ll see there’s a tour uh link. There’s all kinds of merch link, there’s all kinds of links for stuff to help out. And um March 2nd, casting crowns. Crazy. Mark Hall asked me on tour, and so I uh I I um I’m just uh you know getting off tour with Zach. You know, I was on tour with Zach for nearly four months, and um uh Zach Williams is an amazing man, and he has an amazing team around him. Um and so I learned some things, learned all kinds of things being on tour, and um, it’s not easy. And uh I think that’s one of the one of the things that I’ll say is I have so much respect for um all these incredible musicians, um, the men and women that are involved with going out to to preach and spread the gospel um is not easy. And um it’s a it’s it’s a lot of work behind the scenes. Um, and so I have the most respect for them that continue this um, yeah, this this walk that that we’re that we’re all on.SPEAKER_00: 40:48

So well, we will put all the links to all of your contact information in our show notes.SPEAKER_01: 40:56

That’s amazing.SPEAKER_00: 40:57

And uh people will be able to find you. Ben, before we go, we just have a couple of questions we like to ask our guests. Um Let’s do it. What is what Bible is your kind of go-to Bible and what translation is it?SPEAKER_01: 41:12

Um, my um, I need some more coffee, by the way. I gotta get some coffee here. My my favorite, my favorite translation is um, I don’t, I honestly don’t leave home without a without a Bible, but I’ve been reading the Passion translation. And so I I love I love New Living Translation, but I also love the Passion. And so I’ve been just diving in and um I yeah, it’s it’s really spoke to me in a lot of different ways and and has really just made me melt and go, oh my gosh, that’s that’s the way that I feel. I don’t really have a um, I don’t know if I if there’s a conventional way to study the Bible or if you just go through all the books or whatever it is, but a lot of times I just find myself asking the Lord, hey, Father, what what can you show me? Like what what what um what do you want me to know this morning? What what do you want to to say to me this morning? And um it’s amazing how many times my life verse uh has become uh John 6 is my favorite, but but to whom else shall we go? And uh I just have to I just know that that that keeps me digging back into that was you know um that was the response, Peter’s response to Jesus. And that’s just really become my life. Like to whom to whom else shall we go? I’ve got no, I’ve got nobody else. So that keeps me digging in to um to this book. So yeah.SPEAKER_00: 42:47

Absolutely. Well, do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study experience?SPEAKER_01: 42:58

Um, I have got some, it’s funny you talk about journals, but we I love um I just love old journals. I’ve actually got, I I don’t, I don’t go, I always have an old journal like like kicking around. Um we actually have um I started selling some journals on my webpage because I just enjoy writing so much. I actually I enjoy enjoy writing in in um cursive. And um on the cover, it was like this is such a big thing for me, is but never stop telling your story. Um and so it’s just it’s really cool to like journal what how I’m feeling, but also including verses that um can go along with that. And so a lot of times reading a verse will trigger things for me that I’ll just have to spew out. Um and so I think that kind of yeah, it’s sort of almost like a journaling uh slash Bible study slash um confessional all in all in one for me. So yeah, I don’t I don’t necessarily I’ve it’s funny, I’ve tried um doing like devotionals and trying to keep up with the questions and stuff, and it’s just like I’m just maybe I just have too much of a squirrel brain for that. And so I’m kind of like uh I sort of lose I I lose interest, and I’m like, no, that doesn’t, and then all of a sudden I’ll just but what what I don’t lose interest in is asking God to show me um a verse and um yeah, so I always have a um always have a journal, always have um yeah, the passion has been my latest for sure, but I definitely. Don’t leave home without a Bible. Um and uh yeah, but I’m old school. I like to write stuff down for sure.SPEAKER_00: 44:55

I we’ll definitely include the links to your journals. Those are really awesome. Well, what is your last question? What is your favorite app or website for Bible study tools? I know you said you don’t go on there a lot. Is there anything?SPEAKER_01: 45:11

Um, is there a link to um a feather pen and a an ink, like an inkwell on there? No, I I, you know, I think I don’t, I mean, I have I have, yeah, I really don’t have a Bible app, to be honest. I don’t spend, like I said, if I’m if I’m on my phone, it’s a phone call, I’m sending a text, or I am being silly on social media or being myself on social media, and then I’m off. And then it’s like, if this is my thing, this is my this is this is my word, it’s tangible. I can feel it, I can smell it, I can hold it. Um, and for me, the tangible word of God is everything. And like I said, I try to just stay away from um anything to do with uh yeah, just spending a lot of time on my phone. Yeah.SPEAKER_00: 46:05

So yeah, that’s good advice probably for all of us.SPEAKER_01: 46:09

Well, I’m I’m here on it now, but I I just think for for those of you that may be struggling or like for to be real with like for me, um, I just associate there’s so much other junk that pops up that gets me in bad places, um, whether it’s jealousy, whether it’s comparison, yes, um, whatever that is. So just having a tangible, put your phone down, grab a um grab a grab a grab a Bible. Like there, there’s lots of them and they’re in every church, and you can just you can just have it. And um, I don’t know. For me, it gets me, it, it, it puts me back then, it puts me at the feet of Jesus. It’s just like it’s right there uh in my face. And I feel like with a Bible app, um the couple that I’ve tried, um, there’s sometimes there’s ads that even pop up on there that’ll take you other places, or you know, and then for me, it’s like I get a text that comes through and I’m like, oh, I’ve got to answer them. And so I go on there. Yeah. And it’s a it’s it’s anyway, phones and social stuff for me is just distraction city. Um, and I think that just goes because my ADD just gets crazy and oh um, I’m just like off on the I could relate, yes. Yeah, so I anyway, I’m I’m uh I’m not ashamed of it at all, but I I um put the phone down and just when it’s time to read this, my phone is in another room, and uh I’m just like, yeah, I’m done. So I this is most important. Yeah.SPEAKER_00: 47:40

I admire your perseverance for doing that because it’s it’s hard. Yeah.SPEAKER_01: 47:45

Oh, it’s it’s not easy. It’s it’s it’s it’s definitely not easy, but I will say, as far as like um encouragement that comes through on um my phone, um, I’m I’m part of a couple of prayer chains and um just text like Bible threads that uh some friends have, and they’ll send verses every morning. Um, some mornings I’m annoyed, other mornings I’m like, wow. Oh wow, did I need that this morning? So yeah, that that is definitely helpful.SPEAKER_00: 48:24

Ben, thank you so much for being here today to to share your very impactful testimony. It’s definitely proof that God finds us where we are and uses our lives for his glory and and also just to reach others who need to hear the gospel message through our redemption stories. So thank you so much. And for our listeners, check out Ben’s latest album release, Who I Am. We will have the link in our show notes. I declare it is phenomenal. You’re going to love it. And I’d like to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. If you go to lifeaudio.com, you will find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They’ve got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more. Lastly, head over to the Coffee and Bible Time website for our prayer journals that will help guide and document your prayer life at coffeeandbible time.com. Thank you for joining us on our podcast today. We love you all. Have a blessed day.