TPJ13 | Mike Weaver from Big Daddy Weave | 12.28.22

There are prisons that are physical prisons, but it's like you're talking about, man. You experience the freedom on the inside, just like you experience the freedom on the inside.There are many people on the outside of those bars who are just as much in prison, a different kind of prison, maybe a worse kind of prison. The Bible says that Jesus went to the cross for the joy that was set before him.Jesus embraced suffering willingly because he knew that there was more to this life than suffering.

Welcome to the Prodigal Journey, where we celebrate Christ's power through our weakness. And thank you for joining us today on this episode.Today we have a very special guest joining us who is part of a band that has had some influence in my life over the last couple years.And some of that influence came at a time when my life was crumbling apart back in 2012, and they have just continued to help point me to the gospel and help remind me that I'm not alone in my journey and that God is with us and he is faithful, no matter what our circumstances. So let's jump into our interview and talk with Mike Weaver, lead singer of Big Daddy Weave. All right, Mike, thank you for joining us today.How are you doing?

Hey, man, it's awesome. It's awesome to be on here with you, bro. Thank you for having me on. This has been a long time coming.We've been talking about doing this for a long time.

Yeah, I think it's been probably a year and a half that we've been trying to get this scheduled, but some things in life just happened, and here we are finally. So.

That's awesome, dude. As. As we're approaching, like, the big day that's coming up. Right? This is.I'm telling you, I'm excited, man, about what you have coming up in the future, dude.

Yeah. So the wedding is this Friday, and, yeah. And originally you kind of asked me. You said, are you sure you want to do this this week?I was like, yeah, let's. We've been trying to get this done for a while. Let's just get it done. So I'm just thankful and honored for you to be a part of it.

Oh, man. No, it's. It's. It's my honor, man. And, yeah, I. I just know. I know how things get the week of getting married.And so I was kind of like, man, you're a. You're a brave soul to attempt this, the week of man. But it's like. It sounds like you guys are pretty calm, actually, man.

Yeah, things have been going fairly decent. And calm, like planning and everything has been.I mean, it's been enjoyable and we've just, you know, tried to keep things simple and it's gone really well. Surprisingly so. Yeah.But, yeah, and then I had to text you earlier because wedding brain and all that kind of stuff must be a real thing because I left my laptop and my, my recording stuff at my other place and had to go grab it. So we had to push the time back a little bit. But we are here, so it's all good, dude.

All good.

Let's start with a quick bang right out of the gate. And I'm just curious to know Christmas decorations before or after Thanksgiving?

Oh, my gosh. Well, I mean, I'm barely part of it. I just enjoy all of them. My wife, Candice, I think she would leave Christmas decorations up all year long.In fact, it has gone into the first of the year before. I thought we were going to try it, actually, but so we, we had Christmas decorations up at the Weaver house like before Thanksgiving. I mean, it.When our friends got to come over and hang out, like the day after Thanksgiving, I mean, we all just sat and it felt like Christmas, actually. So, you know, but we just sort of. We kind of marched to the beat of our own drummer around here, which is. Which is a blessing and a curse sometimes.But I. I really love our holiday pattern. Like, for instance, we didn't have a turkey for Thanksgiving, dude. We had a giant pile of Chick Fil a nuggets for our Thanksgiving turkey.This is probably the third year in a row that we have done this. And it's just kind of like that's, that's just our thing, man. So just sort of unapologetically, the Weavers, you know, do.Doing our own thing in our own special way, you know?

Yeah, that's really awesome. For sure.Like, we're kind of starting to put together our own traditions here as we're looking at, you know, the wedding coming up and just how we're going to do things now as a family. So.

That's awesome, dude. It's an awesome thing, man. I mean, it takes some getting used to also, you know, you're merging these two lives or whatever together, but, man, it's.It's the greatest thing that's ever happened in my life aside from meeting Jesus. And I really believe that Jesus is the one who brought Candace into my life, man.And we have three beautiful kids who are just growing up way too fast. And we're just. We're just so thankful. The things that we're most thankful about in our lives are, I think, each other, man.You know, it's a beautiful thing.

Yeah, that's awesome. And. Yeah. And so as.As I was, as I was thinking through this, just sitting down to talk with you, like, I just wanted to first start out by just saying how grateful I am for the influence you guys have had in my life. And I. I think we kind of talked about this a little bit at the concert. You guys did.But back in 2012 and 13, and anybody who's listened to this podcast knows that I've spent some time incarcerated.And, you know, I was on a work release program, and I had one of those little ipods, and Big Daddy Weave was one of the very few that I could fit on that ipod. It was so small with memory space. So, you know, and here I was starting my sentence in.Back in 2012 in, like, March, and then I think maybe it was about April that you guys had the album come out. Love come to life. And, you know, and I hear redeemed for the first time. And I mean, that really started to change my life.You know, here I was facing consequences for my sin, and, you know, I hear things like, bound up in shackles of all my failures, wondering, how long is this going to last? Then you look at this prisoner and say to me, son, stop fighting a fight. It's already been won. I am redeemed.You set me free so I'll shake off these heavy chains. Now I'm not who I used to be. And then it really hit me, like, I'm behind bars, but this. I feel more free than I've ever been in my entire life.And I'm just so thankful for the ministry that you guys have through the music,.

Bro. I. You know, I'm so grateful for that story, dude. And it's because, you know, there are prisons that are physical prisons, but they're. It's.It's like you're talking about, man. You experience the freedom on the inside, just like you experience the freedom on the inside.There are many people on the outside of those bars who are just as much in prison, a different kind of prison, maybe a worse kind of prison than what you were facing, man. And maybe you had. You were dealing with that, too.But then when the Lord moved in your life, which, by the way, we don't want to make any mistakes about what you're sharing about right there. None of the credit of what, you know, Jesus has done goes to Big Daddy Weave. Only God can use a song to do that, man.You know, it's like there's no part of the songwriting process where you're like, well, there's this dude who's in prison and then God, you know, this is the point where Jesus is going to do this thing. Only Jesus decides that. Only God uses songs like that. I do think that there are songs that we've given to him, you know what I mean? That we.That we offer up to him. Those are our offerings, and it's an overflow of our walk with him. Because, man, we have been in those prisons too, in our life.And I mean, except for it was a prison, even inside of church.I mean, how many church people do you know that are living in church and they say the right things and they look like they're doing the right things, but on the inside they're bound up, you know? And I. I know that that's the story of my life. That's the.I mean, I've lived that so much in my life, you know, and it seems like Jesus has to, you know, just keep getting me out of prisons. I swear, you know, it's like. But I'm so thankful that he doesn't give up on me.And so when we write stuff from, you know, our experiences in Jesus and what he's doing in our life, it's crazy how it relates to the lives of other people, man. And so we. We just give all glory to the Lord for what he's done, man.And the fact that we're even getting to sit here and have this conversation now, on the other side of a transformation in your life, man, you know, and I just. I'm so thankful for that. It never gets old to hear that.But we give all of the glory for all of those stories, you know, to Jesus, man, so praise God.

Yeah, for sure. And what does the songwriting process look like for you guys?Because that made me think of that, in that when you guys are writing songs, I mean, you're writing from a place of where you guys are at the time. And I'm sure you guys can't even imagine.Like, the stories you hear might not have even come to your mind as a way that God used different songs in people's lives.

You know, the process, it can happen a number of ways.My favorite way is for you to be going through your day, and all of a sudden you have to drop everything and write a bunch of stuff down because it just is that. That real and that in the moment, you know, the best songs, I always say, they feel like they happen to you.You know, and the day that redeemed started, and I had no idea, you know, that the Lord would use it in this way. But I had been literally sitting on the floor of my garage underneath our house, telling God everything that I hated about myself.And it was like the Lord just interrupted that pity party or whatever it was going on. I had never known how to give voice to that thing. I hate me. I knew that God loved me, but I didn't love me, right?And I didn't know there was a problem with that man. Um, and the Lord interrupted this list that I was unloading on him about the things that I didn't like about me.And he said, just as clear as a bell in my spirit, just that still small voice of the Lord that he speaks just kind of into your consciousness, you know, he just, he said, you know, Michael, you need to let me tell you what I think about you for once. And so I just, you know, it shut me down. And I'm just, I'm listening.I'm sitting there in this moment and I'm ready with this, you know, notebook to write down the most profound thing I've ever heard in my life. I think, right? And he just starts like this. He just goes, I like the way you smile. And he goes, I like your heart for people, you know?And he goes, I love the way that you love making people laugh, you know? And he just.These like real common sounding things, but they were things in my life that I could see and things in my life that I didn't hate, you know what I mean? And it was like that was the beginning of something.And he just continued on and he just said that the way I look at you is different than the way that you look at you. He goes, when I look at you, he goes, I don't see all the things that you hate. I don't see all the ways that you've messed up.He said, what I see is what Jesus has done on your behalf.He said, what I see is his perfect blood applied to you, you know, and for you to see you any different way than that is like telling me, I don't know what I'm talking about. And by the way, if you're God, you know what you're talking about, that's a prerequisite of being God, you know what I mean?It's like what you say happened, you know? And so that was, that was a shift that day. I wish I could tell you, man, from that moment on, I never struggled with self worth again.I Wish I could tell you again that I. That I never dealt with self hatred, but, dude, I have since that day. And he continues to call me back to who he says that I am, you know, And I.Sometimes I think I'm making some progress, and then it feels like I get set back, you know, 100 miles or whatever. But his grace is what carries me through the entire thing. His mercy, his grace.And I think that's why he gave us the song Redeemed, because right after that, that little chorus starts rolling around in my head, and I got on Skype.It was not unlike what we're looking at right here one day with a friend of mine, Benji Cowart, who's an awesome songwriter, and it was like we just had this conversation that became the song Redeemed. And I didn't even give it a second thought. I didn't even. I didn't even show anybody the song. I didn't anything.But Benji was a worship leader in Buffalo, New York, and he started playing Redeemed in the worship services there at a church called the Chapel. And, man, he hit me about a month later, and he goes, weave. Did you show anybody Redeemed?And I was, like, kind of embarrassed because I was like, no, dude, I did. I didn't, you know, because I wasn't super impressed with this, you know? And he goes, dude, you. You need to.He goes, man, we've been playing it at church. And he goes, every time we do, he's just like, jesus just moves, you know, and he's like, people are just affected by this song.I'm like, are you kidding me? So I sent the song to my dad, man, who's super important in my life, man. And he instantly fires back, like, this is. This is one of the most.The strongest things you've turned in. I'm like, are you kidding me? So I sent it to our A and R guy, and he instantly sends back, you know, the same thing.Mike, this is maybe the strongest song you guys have ever turned in. I'm like, what? You know, am I missing? Am I missing this? So we started playing it, and, bro, it's just like, what you just described it just.The Lord just started using it, you know, and we've heard stories about that. That song, you know, from places all over the world, you know, in every kind of walk of life, from.From women who had formerly been in the adult industry to, like, retired army generals, you know, just testimonies of how when they. When they heard that and they said. And they just came in like, begin to, like, align their self with the truth of that. They're like, man, it just.It just began to change something in my life. And I'm like, man, only Jesus can do that. You know? Praise God. So the songwriting process doesn't always happen like that.Sometimes it's you sitting in rooms with other people, and you didn't know you were gonna go this way today. Or it might be you sitting in a room with. With some friends, and, man, you write a terrible one, and it really never goes anywhere.But really, the next day or the next several days, all of a sudden, you stumble upon this other thing, and you're like, man, that was just priming the pump for the one that really was on its way. It's great to write songs with friends. It's great to write songs by yourself.Sometimes we find a song like lion and the Lamb is a song that we have, and it was a song that we heard another worship leader do, and we were like, oh, dude, what are you doing with that song? Could we. Could we record this song? Yes, yes, yes. Because it just felt like it was something we wanted to sing.So they come about in all kinds of different ways. The ones we try to include in the records are the ones that feel the most real in our life. You know what I mean?And so this is, you know, you're talking about 2012, and here we are 10 years later, and it's like, we're still singing that song and still seeing Jesus use that song. And you'd think a song would get old, you know, and if it was just about a song, then it would.But us realizing the truth that's in that song and seeing God continue to use that song and people be so excited to come and sing that song at the shows, that keeps it new, like, every. Every single night, man. You know, it's really cool.

That's awesome. And sometimes in the songwriting process, some of the songs that come about, we don't always hear the stories or the backstories to them.And I think specifically I might have this. I hope to have this story. Right? So talk a little bit about. I think it's the song Alive, correct? Is that. You guys got that from Zach Williams?

Yeah, dude. Yeah. Yeah. So that was really cool. So that was another redeemed story, was that Zach had been.I believe he was just kind of running from a call on his life when he was young, man.There were words given over him that he was going to be the voice of the generation, you know, but he had kind of Took a wrong path, you know, in school and had wandered from the Lord and had found kind of a niche for. For Southern rock music in Europe. And so he had Zach Williams and the Reformation and that. This is the most amazing story to me. And so he's.

He's.

Man, they're out just living the rock and roll life. His life is just hurting, man. His relationship with his wife is hurting, like, all of these things. And so they're going through Spain.And the way Zach tells it is he said that, like, he was listening to John Mayer in his headphones. They travel across Spain in, like, a Sprinter bus.The driver of the bus is kind of flipping radio stations, and Zach had been praying these prayers, like, God, if you're real, I need you to give me a sign. I need you to interact with me in some way that I know it's you.And so he pulls out one of his earbuds as the driver who's driving across Spain, like, is flipping channels on the radio, and he comes across redeemed in Spain, which is what. That blows me away just by itself, you know what I mean?

That's awesome.

And he hears just a little bit of it, just a few moments of it, and it just rocks him, like, in his heart, like, God just deals with him again. No. No part of some dude singing in a microphone has anything to do with it. That's the Holy Spirit, dude. He's alive. He's. He's talking to people.He's drawing people, you know? And so Zach goes back to his hotel room and looks it up and listens to it, and.And he shares this at his shows, man, I. I just cry every time, just about, you know, and he. He said, man, he. He called his wife and said, look, when this.This run of shows or whatever is done, he's like, I'm out and I'm coming home, and we're gonna go to church, and we're gonna. We're gonna follow the Lord. And then he starts writing these songs, you know, man, and gosh is using him like crazy.And so one of his first tours was out with us, and so we're kind of, like, playing for his songs, you know, as he's opening up. And, I mean, they're just. Every one of them is, like, killer, man. That was before we ever saw him with his band. And they are.They're bad to the bone, dude. They're so. They're so. We love seeing them. But. So, Zach, we had been through a thing, man, with my brother, man.My brother had really been through an ordeal. He played bass for Big Daddy Weave for a long time. And he. Zach came out, he's like, you know, Jesus used your song in my life. And he said, maybe.I think that Jesus has given me a song for you guys there now. And so he shares this song alive with us. And I'm like, dude, I love that song, you know, and it really was speaking to our situation right then. And.And I'm like, dude, this. I think this is the first single off our next record. So we literally had a single and we didn't even have a record. You know, it's like we.We were like, this is. This is the song, you know, and so we recorded that and became this full circle moment, man. And we just continue to be so, man. Big fans of.Of Zach's music and just, man, dude, he's playing for these big old crowds, man. And it's like, it's so neat, dude. It's so neat. One of our favorite things was we would. We played together some, like, during Pandemic.We played like, drive in movie theater shows, you know, which was. Sounds about as bobo as it is. You know what I mean?That's not the ideal situation for, you know, playing music or whatever, but people were just so starved to go be part of something, you know, and. And they were so excited to be together. And it. Man, and I, we were too, once we got out there. And it was.It was nasty and it was gross and it was uncomfortable and everything, but so us to get to play, and then we would save Redeemed, and then Zach would tell his story, and then I'd come back out at the end of his set, and we got to sing Redeemed together, man. And that was. That's really cool. And he would come out in the first part and sing Alive with us, and it was just. It was just a sweet thing.Those are things that are just like some of my favorite things that the Lord does that he doesn't have to do, but you just are like, man, God, that's really. That was really kind of you. Really cool of you to do some of the things that he's done like that, you know?

Yeah, that's pretty awesome. You've mentioned this a couple times, but I'm thankful you brought it up because I wanted to.To kind of hit on this, but talking about how the way the. The spirit's working and God's working has nothing to do with you guys, but, you know, he's using that to work in people's lives. And, man, I just so.And that's what I want to kind of talk about is the. The concert that you guys came in and did for us in Liberty, South Carolina, back in March of 2021, man, that was just, like.That was a changing experience for me to see the Spirit work like he did. And specifically. So I remember before the concert, I think it was actually your.Maybe your birthday that day, so you were kind of off doing some stuff, but Jay and his family and the rest of the band were there, and we kind of got to help them set up and hang out with them.But, man, I just remember it was probably about an hour before the VIP started where the VIP people could come in, and, you know, they got to ask you questions and stuff. But, I mean, it was probably an hour before that that Jay and his family were.They went to every single chair in that auditorium, in that theater and just prayed over every single seat. And, like, I was in there just kind of helping finish some setup and stuff. And I noticed Jay had stopped. You know, he had.He was in his wheelchair, and he had stopped in the front row, and he had put his hand on a very specific seat in the front row.And I didn't think of anything of it at first, and I was like, to me, I was just feeling the conviction of the Spirit, and like, yeah, I need to pray for this concert, because I don't know what God can do here, and. But I want to see him work. And I didn't think anything of it until during the show.I mean, Jay, the whole time was praying for one specific guy that God had showed him. And one of your managers came on the stage during the song, and Jay said, you need to go talk to that guy. He's.You know, Jesus is reaching out to him. And, man, to see. It ended up being that that exact same seat that Jay was praying over was the seat where that guy was sitting.And to see the Spirit work in that way was something I have never experienced before. And I was like, man, I want more of that. And, man, I just think about that.

I have told the story of that night more than you can possibly imagine. Dude, My brother is my best friend, and he had been through such a. Such a battle with his health, man, you know, And. But, like, so before.Before, my brother had been in a wheelchair, like he was. The day when you saw him, I mean, dude, there. There was about seven years that God just poured out in the miraculous.Like, I'm telling you, bro, I. I would just see him do things that would Blow my mind every day. We would continue to get emails every, like. Just, like, weekly, if not daily, about something miraculous that the Lord had been up to.And so, man, then my brother's health just fell apart. And literally, to save his life, doctors had to amputate both of his feet. He had been.He had been out there praying over every seat every day by himself. He had been. I mean, just out there in the crowd every night, like, just laying hands on people and seeing God move.Like, all of us would go out there and pray over. And, man, we just saw the Lord just move. And then when he had.When he had become a double amputee, and we're like, dude, how can you come back from this? J Dog did, though. Like, he. He really did.

He.

As soon as he could get prosthetics in a. In a wheelchair, electric wheelchair, he was. He was back out there, and he was rolling through those seats just like you saw me.And his family came with him to just kind of help him, you know? And they would pray over every seat that night, dude. And I don't know if somehow this brother will see it or not. A guy named Marion actually just.It really. It touched my heart how this whole thing went down, man. And I. I've just had Marion on my heart ever. Ever since we met him that night.So Jay goes through. Like, you saw him. You saw this happen, right? And you said he kept praying over this one seat? Indeed. It's not uncommon for that.It was not uncommon for that to happen and, you know, for him to kind of, like, get a sense of somebody or whatever. But it. God, like, one upped it that night, dude. And so I didn't.I didn't say anything to Jay, but as he's coming backstage after he prayed over the room, I'm coming out there to have this Q A that you were talking about. And as we're talking to people, this guy Marion, he comes in, and he looks like.He's got the look on his face, like, dude, I'm gonna tell you something whether you want to hear it or not, like, that kind of thing. And I'm like, where you. I'm used to that, dude. I've gotten that a lot. And so he's. He's like. He explained how he had been through this terrible thing.He had been in ministry, and that this was not his kind of thing anymore, because at this event that he was at that he was in charge of or whatever this person had. There was a tragedy. Someone lost their life. It was. It sounded Absolutely nightmarish. And then that he had.It had hurt him so deep that he walked away not only from the ministry, but he walked away from his relationship with God, too. And so. And he's like, well, that's my story. He goes, I want to know your story.And I share with him about how we'd seen God do the miraculous, and then we didn't see it happen for Jay, but that he just wouldn't stop. And we saw a different kind of miracle, and we didn't understand so many things, but that God just was with us.Like, his presence was just with us, you know, through all the stuff that we didn't understand. I said, so we just keep on, because where else would we go? You know what I mean?And so he goes, you know, my BS meter is pretty good, is what he said. And he goes, but I think I believe you is what he said. And I was like, well, I didn't know how to respond. Like, good talk, you know, or whatever.And, dude. So we got done with that time, and I go backstage, and Jay is rolling by, and he has often done this.He was like, well, well, what's it look like out there tonight with a big grin on his face? I mean, he's in pain in his body, but he's always smiling, dude, you know?

Yeah.

And. Dude. And he. And I'm like, well, there's this one dude. I think Jesus wants to do something in his life, you know? And.And Jay goes, well, can you show me? And he had never asked that before. And so I'm like, yeah, I'll show you.And so we, like, imagine, too, you know, the curtain coming back into Chubby Weaver brother faces, like, coming through the curtain, you know? And I point to him on the front row. The front row, exactly what you're talking about, bro. And. And Jay goes, that guy right there. And I go, yes, sir.And he starts crying. And, dude, I am the crier of the bunch, not J Dog. J Dog is like the Steady rock. I was. I'm the crier. And I go, jay, what in the world?And he just goes, that guy right there that you just pointed to, he said when no one was in the room, God showed me that guy's face. And I'm like, whoa. Because I. Dude, I'd never seen that happen ever. You know? I mean, I never heard of that happening ever.And I'm like, well, it's probably gonna be a good night then. You know what I mean? It's like. Because I never heard of that happening. That sounds Like a pretty, you know, appointed thing, you know?And sure enough, man, so I had shared a little bit of Jay's story, you know, And. And we're watching this guy right there, and he's. And he looks pretty uncomfortable at first, you know, and we're just singing. We start singing, man.J Dog is over there, obviously in pain, sitting on a stool because he doesn't have any feet. And, like, all these things. And. And the. Jay just gets lost in it, man. He's just worshiping the Lord, dude. He's just. He's just praising God.It's like he's not even in the same room, you know what I mean, With.With anybody, everybody else, you know, And I watched it wreck the guy on the front row, and, dude, his head just goes down, you know, and his shoulders are just heaving, like, he's just sobbing, dude. You know?

Yeah.

And. And then, like, so I close my eyes and I get lost in it, and then I kind of peek later on, you know, the worship leader sneak a peek, you know, And.And this time, man, the guy has got his head thrown back in, his hands in the air, and he's just worshiping, right?

Yeah.

And. And I'm just like, praise God. Then after the show. This is crazy. Were you around?Because this was sort of where you had some stuff set up back there where our dressing room was.

But, like, yeah, because I came back there after the show. That's when you and I first met. After the show. And they brought Marion back there after the show. So I was back for that, and.

That's what it was. He can't. He was waiting for us in there, dude. And he.And dude, he just starts yelling at Jay, dude, And it's, like, freaking me out because he's just like, why are you not just f you God? You know? And he's just like. I'm like, whoa. In front of Jesus and all the Baptist people or whatever, and. And I'm like, I don't know. Like, I'm just.My mouth's hanging open. Jay doesn't miss a beat, dude, and just turns to him and just goes, I. I know what you're talking about.He goes, dude, when I woke up this morning and everything on my body hurt, he goes. I was like, jesus, I have seen you heal hundreds of people, complete strangers, in front of my face. What gives. What about. What about me?You know, like, God, did you forget about me? Did I make you mad and run you off somehow? And he said, there's this little feeling that started to get Angry.And he said, but as soon as it came, it went away. He said. He literally, I laughed to myself. And he goes, God didn't do this to me. He's. Jesus is the only way I'm making it through this day, you know?

Yeah.

And. And dude, when he, when he said that, man, Marion just like, hit his knees, man.And like, I, like, I tell people I feel almost like I have to, like, dude, I'm not making this up. Like, how we watch it happen. And Jade. And he's just sobbing and Jay is.Shifts his little electric wheelchair into high gear and just like closes the gap. And Jay at this point is even like, losing fingers. I mean, it was. It was not long before he. He had to come off the road, man. And.And so he puts his messed up hand on Marion's head and just starts praying. I'll never forget this as long as I live. He starts praying, God, show him he's not a victim. God, show him he's your son, you know, and it was. It was.It was. It was so amazing. The Marion is just sobbing, you know, and he squeaks out, though. He squeaks out through his, like, his crying.He just goes, I wish Jesus would heal you so bad. And JDOG goes, me too, you know, and, man, I'll never forget it, man. And they change. They exchange numbers.And I don't know if they talked after that or, or not or if they. I feel like Marion texted him after that. If for some reason Marion hears this, man, I'd love to.I'd love to just get to say hey to Marion, you know, I don't even know where he's at after. After all this, but I, you know, but Jay had to come off the road just a month or two later, and, man, both our families last.Last Christmas got Covid really bad. And it. I mean, we. My family bounced right back from it. But it hit Jay so hard. I had seen him in October, man, and it was.It was getting really bad for him, you know, like his. His health was just declining really rapidly. And then. So we get the call January 2nd, man, that. That it's time to say goodbye to him.And I literally, because I was quarantined, had to just. He. I heard his last breath over the telephone, man, that began some of the greatest heartache that I have experienced, you know, in this life.But I also have extreme joy because I know that the God that my brother was so consumed with while he was here, he's literally face to face with him today.And it challenges me man, because I'm telling you, I have hurt and I've struggled and I've every kind of thing, but I also have just hoped intensely for heaven, man.And I want we continue to do what we do now a lot because of the example that Jay was to us in our life and that my dad had been some years before to me and Jay, you know, and I'm reminded, even though his. His life and his time here was. Was cut shorter than I would have liked to have seen, that this life is a vapor. And. And we.We want to live and align ourselves with the Lord in such a way to be about kingdom things while we're here, so that when we see Jesus face to face, that, you know, we got a lot more celebrating to do there because of all he's done with our time here. You know what I mean?

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I was. That was really, you know, hard to hear. And when that happened earlier this year, and it just was, you know, it was tough.And just from I'd only met Jay that one time, and it was. I mean, it was life changing for me, and he made a huge impact in my life.So I can only imagine, you know, what you guys were experiencing through that. And. And that's part of why we've kind of had to push this interview a couple times is because it's just been a season for you guys.And, you know, I had some family earlier this year pass away. And then, you know, I think was late last year that, you know, your mother had passed away.And so it was just like, hey, let's take a break and we'll reschedule this sometime. But, you know, it's just a season right now. And. Yeah, you know, how. How do you feel like God has used some of that suffering to shape you?

You know, I think it's helped me look at suffering differently because I feel like sometimes I was thinking that, like, you know, that was like suffering was somehow like on victory. You know what I mean? That suffering was not like the absence of victory, but it's just like Jesus, man.I mean, the Bible says that Jesus went to the cross for the joy that was set before him.Jesus embraced suffering willingly because he knew that there was more to this life than suffering, the suffering that he was facing, because he went through about as awful of a thing as you can imagine, you know, And I think for me, it's like knowing that Jesus has faced every kind of a thing that I'm ever going to face, and that whether I get it right or Whether I screw it up, that man, he is there with me to help me put the pieces back together or to help me walk in victory over it, you know, I'm just so thankful for who Jesus is. He could be this standoffish God, you know what I mean?There's nothing in the rule book that says that God has to want to have anything to do with us.You know, he's got to be awesome and he's got to be almighty and he's got to be all these grandiose things, but he doesn't got to be, like, loving and kind and, you know, patient and merciful and all of the other things that we reap the benefits of.

Yeah.

And I mean, I. I have this. It hurts so bad to miss him because Jay was such an amazing person in my life, man. But I'm so. I'm so aware that God has not left.You know what I mean?

Yeah.

I'm so aware that in the suffering, God is as near as he's. He's ever been. It feels like, you know, I mean, God doesn't change his position anyway. You know what I mean? It's like.I mean, God is constant and God is omnipresent, but it's like my perception of it. I mean, I've only recognized that he's with me more, you know, I don't know that I feel like I have any more answers than I've ever had.You know what I mean? I feel like maybe I know less about the entire thing than I ever have, except for this, man. I've just seen too much.I've just seen too much of God's goodness. Dude, we just wrote this song about this. Actually, that's the title of the song. I've just seen too much.You know, if you ask me how I know, I know he's real, you know, if you know how I could believe that he's still with me no matter how it feels, you know, I've just seen too much, you know, if you ask me why I trust him when it feels like everything's come undone, all I can tell you is I've just seen too much. Too much of his mercy and too much of his kindness and too much of his miracle working power, you know what I mean?I've just seen too much ruined for that. I. You know, so while it hurts bad, he's right here. And he's good. He's as good as he's ever been.I'm telling you, nothing has changed about him because my situation has become Difficult or whatever. You know what I mean? And so you. I think you. I think what you gain from that is, you know, in some ways, like.Like, you're just not as afraid of what's gonna happen, what might happen. Dude, I've been living with that thing of, like, God, please, you know, let Jay make it or whatever. Let him.God bring his healing and, like, all these things, and that didn't ha. That didn't happen the way I was hoping it would.But, man, in the midst of it, I'm just imagining seeing what he's seeing right now, you know, he's the person that's the closest to me in my life who is now standing in the presence of God, you know, and in the last five years, my dad, who was our mentor and our best friend, my mom, who, you know, was my dad's amen corner, and walking her and just seeing her even with nurses as she's getting treatment, like, just the love of God, just coming out of my mom, you know? And the same with. With J Dog, man. You know, with. With him. God using him every single day.Like, you're describing, man, when he passed, like, when you were kind of like, man, that one day that I get to meet him, and he really. It really affected me. Like, dude, that's. That was the story of a bazillion people, man. You know, I'm so. I'm so proud of him. And I want.I want Jesus to have my life the way that he had Jay's, you know? You know, so that's. That's it. I've. I've learned. I've learned that Jesus is. Is not going anywhere. Jesus said that he would be with us.You know, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. And we know that he's here not because it feels like he's here.We know that he's here because he made a promise to us that he would never leave. Right? So we know that now because of faith, you know, in Jesus for sure, man.

And sometimes even when. When I. When I think about his family and I just pray for them when it comes to my mind. And sometimes I think about Jay, I'm like, I wonder if he's.I wonder if he's in heaven just running a marathon. He's just running up there. And I mean, he. He. God has made all things new for him. And that's. Doesn't take away the pain that.That everybody feels because of that, but it's also. It has the joy with it as.

Well, dude, yeah, our pain has an expiration date, dude. You know, it's like there's this moment that we're going to step through and there's not going to be any more pain.So really, I think the important thing is not even for the countdown of that day as much as it is, like, well, this is a unique opportunity that we find ourselves in because once we step through to the other side, we're never going to be able to respond to who God is in pain ever again. Right. So that makes these days valuable.It gives us the opportunity to engage the Lord in a kind of worship that we're never going to have that opportunity again. We're going to praise him forever. We're not going to praise him in the middle of pain ever again. So in this time, there's a.There's a commodity that is a worship, you know, in this season specifically, you know, and so we're learning what that looks like to learn how to just praise him in the middle of it, you know, to even give him our pain as worship. God, I don't have anything else but hurt right now, but I just pour it out at your feet and I just declare, God, you are worthy of praise.There's no one else who is worthy. And so we honor you no matter how we feel in it, you know, and we believe that you're going to use it all somehow for your glory.

Yeah. And that's awesome because God is in this story, right?

It's true. It's true.

Why don't you talk a little bit about that? How did that song come to be?

Well, Katie Nicole's killing it right now. You know, we heard In Jesus Name. That was like, man, I was like a worship time in my car, you know?

Yeah.

I pray for breakthrough.

No, no.

Your circumstances would change. And I'm like, oh, man. I'm like, yes, Katie Nicole, yes, we. Yes, we do pray that right now, you know, And. But then. So her.Her people, you know, they all. They say that about Hollywood or whatever your people call my people, that kind of thing. So her people called our people.And it was just after Jay had passed, and she showed us this song, and she's like, dude, would you want to be a part of this song? Listen. We're like, man, I didn't feel like we had a song right then because we felt like our guts had been kicked out, you know, And.And I was just like, man, this just feels like it is our song because of what it's about, in a way. And she's like, would you. Could we do this as a duet? And I'm like, yes. You know, and it was. It was awesome, man. It was great. We just think she's.She's just. You know, she's not done, dude. She's. She's headed straight for the moon, dude. I'm telling you, she's. She's killer. She's.God's just using her and those, man. She wrote that song, you know, and it's like, what a great song. And.And then we couldn't do the song for a little bit because we're like, dude, was this a duet? And there's no girls in Big Daddy Weave right now, you know, and so.But so we're out on the road with a friend of ours, Hannah Kerr, who's an awesome artist, and so she's been singing Katie's part every night. And, man, that song has just resonated with people who are going through us through this.Like, even, like you described, bro, of how you've been through it in this last year, too, you know, and we.We're finding people are flocking to the shows who have been through some kind of loss or in some kind of desperate situation and just kind of singing that assurance, you know, God is in this story. You know, God's in the details of our lives even when it's messed up. And I don't believe he's. He's making those things happen. I just. I just don't.I just don't think that's in him. But I do think that when the enemy comes to steal and kill and destroy, that God is there to restore and redeem every facet of that.And I find him in. I find that to be true. And I love singing that song because I know that's true, you know?

Yeah, that's amazing. And we. We're actually. That's.So we're using one of your songs in our wedding at the beginning, and then we're also using that song as for the bridal party to come in. Just because with our.The people in our wedding, like, looking at their stories and their lives, it was just like the perfect song to go with the wedding.And, like, even our story of how we met and the things we've experienced individually and together, it's just like, yeah, this is God's story, and we want people to. To know that. So.

Man, that's awesome, dude. That's really cool, bro. Awesome.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, man, Mike, I. I really appreciate you joining us today and just being able to. To finally sit down and chat with you.It's always a good time when I get to talk with you. And man, I. I'm. I just appreciate, appreciate your ministry through the music and, and what you've done and help do in my life as well, through God.So.

Glory to God, man.It's been beautiful to talk with you, man, and I'm looking forward to seeing, seeing a bunch of wedding pictures, man, and just praying and blessing over your marriage, man, and over your new life together and that the Lord would just, just blow your minds, man, as you both pursue him, man.

Yeah, thanks, man. I really appreciate it. And we're just looking forward to using. Using your song in our wedding. So we appreciate you doing that for us too, right?

Oh, man, absolutely. My honor. D. My honor.

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