 because God loves you, He sees you, He knows you by name, and He has an incredible plan for your life. I'm Amy Schaefer, I'm here with Tom Hollis on Hope Today. Today, Tom will be filled with hope. It will be filled with hope, it will be filled with worship. It's a Wednesday, we love to call it Worship Wednesday. And coming up in just a moment, you're gonna hear an exceptional band with a unique and captivating sound. Chosen Road will be with us to help uplift us with their extraordinary bluegrass gospel music. I love this, I hope you love it. I think you're going to love it, stay with us. It's gonna inspire you. Plus we're gonna hear from the band, we're gonna hear about their latest album. But what I love, Amy, most of all, is they have a passion for sharing and living the gospel. I mean, this is really what, the music is wonderful as worship to the Lord, but it's really also about reaching out beyond. I mean, music has the ability to do that. Yeah, and there's such a good reminder about worshiping God, that when you don't know what else to do, worship him. When things look tough, worship him. When things are good, worship him. When you're driving your kids to school, worship him. When you get up in the morning, you have worship him. What that does is, man, it makes him big. We exalt him, we lift him up, and then all of a sudden, you remember that old hymn? Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. When we lift him up, our problems start to look really small in the presence of an awesome God. You know what I love about that hymn is, first of all, there's that. Okay, we've got these problems, we've got these terrible things facing us. We don't know what to do. We praise him, we get our eyes on him. And just like Amy said, those things begin to grow small. But sometimes, even the things that are so important to us, they begin to fade away because we see this is what's really important. Chosen Road's gonna be talking about that. So let's get today's worship. Wednesday started, here's Chosen Road with Awake My Soul. And sing, shake off the cloud eyes and bless your king, whose robe. Neek sound combined with a passion for sharing and living the gospel. Your newest album is called It Never Gets Old and showcases the band's signature blend of traditional Appalachian instrumentation and tight harmonies of top fresh originals and updated arrangements of some familiar favorites, including some hymns, you're gonna love that. Joining me now is the band Chosen Road. Welcome to hope today, guys. Thank you, good to be here. You are correct me for saying Appalachian, instead of Appalachian. It depends on what part of the mountains you're from. It's, yeah, it's all good. We've got some mountains around here too. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. So Jonathan Buckner, could you introduce everybody else in the band here? Yeah, absolutely. We've got Zach Alvis right here. He plays mandolin, does all the lead vocals. We've got Tyler Robertson does bass and tenor vocals. We've got Chris Stockwell on the dobro back here and Josh Hicks on the band show. Awesome, that's great. I love it. So tell me about Chosen Road. First of all, tell me about the name. Where'd you come up with the name? Yeah, Chosen Road, you know, I wish that I could take credit for it or Zach could take credit. My mom came up with that name. And we started back in 2009. It was really just a local band. We never dreamed that 14 years later that we'd be doing this. And so we needed a band name because they asked us to play at the County Fair one day. And that was a big deal. And so we had to come up with a name. We couldn't figure one out. And so my mom actually said, what about Chosen Road? And so that's what we went with. It sounds great. Did you know that this is, you mentioned, you didn't know this is where you were gonna be going. So tell me about that. In fact, I'll ask you Zach, what's it like to see where God's taking this? And what has God been doing in your ministry? It's really incredible to see because Chosen Road started in 2009. And so we've been at it for 14 years. Me and Jonathan started the band. And at that time I was 12. And so I've been doing this longer than I haven't. And it's really amazing, like you said, to see what God has done because- You were really 12? I was. Yeah, I was 12. Wow. And now. Okay. He was very affordable. He worked really well. Probably, it's a cheap, cheap labor. Don't say that on TV. Yeah, we won't let that. I mean, you meant you were 32. No, that's right. Oh man, I hope I don't look at him. No, but it's just amazing because when we started this thing, I don't think either of us ever dreamed that God would use us in the capacity that He has. And so from the beginning, though, we've just always been willing and our prayer has always just been God use us, how you want to use us. And so we've just always been open and addressing everything in prayer and just wanting what God wants for our lives. And He's blessed us to be able to travel the world and share the gospel through the music that we love. Yeah, I mean, it's true that you can get out there and sing and I've known we've all heard and known of people that are out there singing but life doesn't exactly match up sometimes. And what's it like to be out there in front of people but wanting to have the walk that really matters with the Lord, that relationship? Talk about that a little bit. Yeah, I think the key to it for us and I think for a lot of, I would say our peers that have been doing this long before we ever even started who we kind of talk to and they counsel us is just having those key people in your life that you know that they're men of faith and having them kind of cancel us and help hold us accountable. I've got a dear pastor friend out in California who is probably one of my best friends in this world and something that we've done now for a few years. It was every day, but now it's about every week we actually walk through the book of Psalms together and he's one of the best Bible teachers I've ever known. And so it's just finding a way to help keep yourself grounded spiritually, help hold yourself accountable. And you gotta have those guys in your life to do that. So that's been a key to it for us. Yeah, and I imagine you're on the road a good bit. You all have families and everything. What's that dynamic like, Zach? Man, it's crazy. It's fun trying to balance everything with, you know, family with wives and kids and stuff. And, you know, but I'm so thankful that all of us have supportive wives that really without them, it would be really, really tough. I mean, I don't know if we could all, we could do it. I probably can speak for everybody on that. And so, but it is kind of a balancing act sometimes. I mean, you know, with music, sometimes you have like a heavy tour season and then sometimes it's a little bit slower. And so definitely during those heavier times it gets a little tough, but thank God for technology and being able to FaceTime and see the babies and all that stuff. So that helps a lot. Yeah, I found out if I was gonna really keep in touch with my grandkids, I was gonna have to be on that technology. It's part of life today. So tell me about your new project. First of all, in fact, before we get there, just tell me about your style and how you integrate the Appalachian melodies and things with hymns and with new songs. What's that been like? Yeah, so we come from a part of the Appalachian Mountains where the kind of music that we play, it was born. And it was brought to those mountains by a lot of our ancestors when they came from Scotland, when they came from Ireland. They came over and they settled in those mountains and they came in large part. Really, they came because of religious persecution. They wanted to be able to worship their God freely the way that they believed that they should. And so they came and they brought their faith, but they also brought within the music of their homeland. And so they brought fiddles. The banjo ended up coming in from Africa and they brought guitars and they brought songs, those old hymns that they sang back in their homelands. And so really then in the 1940s, I think was when Bluegrass Music was born, a guy by the name of Bill Monroe came up with it and he was from their neighboring state of Kentucky. And so this type of music is what we've all just grown up with in our church houses. Growing up, we learned to play at community jam sessions when these old timers, they would all just get together every Friday night, every Saturday night, and they would play this style of music. And that's where we pretty much all of us learned to play. And so Appalachian worship is what we call it. And it's just us worshiping our God, our creator through the music of the mountains that we call home, that we love so dearly. Yeah, it's so good. And it's so much part of the culture of, I can remember my grandfather, my father, his friends coming over, just playing music. It's just part of life. But let me ask you, Zach, about the new album. Tell us about that and what is God doing there? Yeah, so this album really, a lot of us, all of us in the band, we've experienced so much here in the last couple of years. All of us are new dads. We've all got kids, except Chris. We've all, in the last two years, had kids under, they're now under two years old. And so in Josh back here, he has two under two. So his wife needs your prayers. Right now. Right now, yeah. But so this album really is a collection of songs that have really spoken into our lives personally. But we also feel like everybody can relate to their stories. But most importantly, it's the story, essentially, on how the gospel has impacted our lives. And we are just thrilled to death of this album. It was a labor of love. We spent a lot of time picking songs. And that's one thing, as Shesham wrote, we've never taken lightly is how important the message is behind the song. And so we spend so much time when we are putting together an album, trying to piece together songs and pieces of music that really point people to Jesus and the power that the Word of God has on people's lives through this music. Yeah, what's the reaction to people when you guys play? You know, a lot of times it's hard. On television, it's hard to gauge what the response is, of course. And sometimes even when you're going from place to place, it can be hard. But what kind of reaction have you seen in a ministry sense? Yeah, you know, so speaking specifically to the style of music that we play, it's a very honest form of music. Basically, Zach said we were doing an interview a while back and he said, basically, you're hearing wires in wood and then the heart of the musician or the heart of the singer. That's it, there's no smoke, there's no mirrors. And so it's a very honest music. And I think that people today, when it comes to ministry, when it comes to church, when it comes to worship, they're looking for something that's real, that's authentic, that's honest. And so we feel like that this style of music is just a wonderful medium to use to be able to share the gospel in the most authentic way. And people love it, you know, as far as ministry, we're big on congregational singing. We did a hymns album a while back and then this album's got some new hymns on it and some praise and worship songs. And we love to hear congregations sing. And so even with this style of music, it's not as amplified, it's a little, like it's raw. And so you can actually, one of those beautiful things is we're in a room and you've got 1,000 people in there and you just hear them singing a full voice with those old instruments. It's one of those beautiful things you'll ever hear. Yeah, fantastic. So tell us about your work with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist and what you're doing. It's a great ministry that God's got you involved in. It is, yeah, we all grew up Southern Baptist and so we've been familiar with the North American Mission Board and the amazing work that they do for so many years. But about seven years ago, they reached out to us and they asked if we would be willing to partner with their church replant and revitalization team. And I had no idea what that was, didn't even know it existed. It was just getting started at that point in time. And the director told me, he said, every year in North America we're losing between 4,000 and 6,000 churches and we're trying to address that. We're trying to turn that around for the glory of God. He said, there's nothing that glorifies Jesus Christ about a church that's dying when Jesus brings life. And we would all have to say amen to that. So we said, yeah, absolutely. We would be more than willing to partner with you all and you can use our music however you want to. And so they asked us to do some songs to encourage specifically pastors laboring in declining churches who a lot of times they feel alone. They feel isolated. They're on the brink of sinking into depression. And so we started working with them and it has been probably the most rewarding work that we've been able to do as a band and as a ministry. It's just been phenomenal to see how God can take our music and it just goes so far beyond the four walls of our music. And so with the new album we've got a song on there that they actually commissioned us to write called One Willing Soul. And they reached out last year, they said, hey, would you all write a song that specifically encourages pastors in rural America and small town America. And it was easy for us too because we come from the cold fields of Southern West Virginia. And there are churches that we sang in that were there for us 14 years ago when we first started, that now it's been turned into a restaurant. It's been turned into a bar to a nightclub. And so it's just often to be able to watch God use our music to be able to make an eternal kingdom impact that way. Well, anything that encourages pastors, especially pastors when the church is struggling. They say it's one of the loneliest jobs. Yeah, yeah. And everything that, you know, through the pandemic and there was such a difficult thing for pastors, but Chosen Road, thank you for being with us today. Thank you for your music. Thank you for your heart for God. Thank you all. Hey Hope Today family, I am super excited about this upcoming episode of The Glory Hour because if y'all know anything about me, I love Hebrew words and I'm super excited because joining me today will be Melissa Briggs. She's a Hebrew teacher and she's gonna break down five Hebrew words that she thinks it's really important as Christians that we have an understanding and revelation of to help us grow deeper in our walk with Jesus, deeper in our walk with God and to know and understand how much he truly loves us. So join me today on The Glory Hour Wednesday at 3 p.m. on Cornerstone Telstra Network's YouTube channel. We're also now streaming on Spotify, so make sure you can check us out there. And I cannot wait for us to all go on this journey, all in this ride together so that we will just know how great, how vast, how deep, how wide God's love is for us through his word. Can't wait to see you there. Wow, thank you so much for, you know, being a part of our life and our world and our Hope Today programs. You know, so many times I'm out and about in the area shopping and going and people stop and they just say, thank you so much for, you know, the hope that you bring. You feel like family and you really do. You know, we love to talk about worship with you. We like to talk about the glory of God with you. And Tom, honestly, what I kind of feel is just the name Chosen Road. We're about to enter a holy week. And I'm asking God for sort of like a fresh revelation, if that makes sense, of Sunday, of Palm Sunday, of Good Friday, of Easter Sunday, not just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We know, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, sometimes I tell my kids something over and over like, yeah, yeah, mom, we know already. But something fresh, like a fresh revelation of the gospel, a fresh revelation of Jesus. And I started thinking about Tom, you know, Jesus is the main character of the story, right? We all know that. But there is a bunch of minor characters in the story. And I kind of started studying in the minor characters. And I thought, if it weren't for the minor characters, there would be no major character needed in the story. We see ourselves in those other characters, right? Because, you know, Jesus is Jesus and praise the Lord for that. And he's an example for us. But those other characters, we see ourselves in that. So when we see ourselves in them, we have to say, you know what? We were slaves to sin. We were on a road destined for hell. And we needed Jesus to step in and to set the captives free. Those who are oppressed can be set free. Those who are blind can be set free. So I mean, this week today, I mean, ask God, God, give me a fresh revelation of what Jesus did for me. And what will happen is now, once you receive Christ into your life, you're no longer a slave to sin anymore. But man, you are under grace. You're not under the law. You're under grace. And oh man, do we ever need to be touched by grace right now? God's grace is mercy. We do. And I think what you started with, using the band's name, Chosen Road, what road have you chosen? Have you chosen? Maybe you're down a road that you say, hey, I didn't choose this road. This road has kind of been chosen for me and circumstances kind of forced me into this. When you come to Christ, when you open up your heart and say, Lord, forgive me all my sins, come into my life, be my Lord and savior, then all of a sudden you get on God's chosen road for you and that's the road you want to be on. Guess what? There's gonna be a few potholes in that road too because that's just life. That's the way it is. But God's gonna fix your tire when you hit a pothole. He's gonna bring you through those difficult times, Amy. Because God doesn't just say, oh, hey, come and do some service for me. That's religion. Where it's like, come, serve me, serve me. And then maybe I'll have grace on you later. No, he abundantly gives his grace. Abundantly, his grace is able to cover every wrong thing, every sin we've ever done. And then he can guide you on that path. In fact, he leads you. He says, come follow me. Well, we run to the mercy seat. We don't run away from him. We run to him. He's so good. When you have Christ in your life, it says we are married to Christ. And you know, I'm married. I've been married for 28 years. Praise the Lord. That's a long time. And I mean, I need to throw myself a party. I need to throw him a party and me a party. That's a long time. But you know, I'm married to him. I don't go on dates with other guys. I mean, Well, that's good. Praise the Lord. But how many people that are our Christ followers, you're married to Christ, but you're dating the world. Wow. I say, stop it now. Cut off those lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of God. Get rid of it now. Quit dating the world and being married to Christ. When you're married to Christ, Tom, it is life and peace and joy. It is not like a trudgery. It's not like I'm missing out on dating the world because I'm married to Christ. That's not the way it is. The same way in our natural marriage, I'm not missing out on a bunch of half empty, gross, waste of time relationships dating while I'm married to God. I don't know if that makes sense to you. I think that makes a lot of sense, yes. Chop off every weight that would beset you that was gonna pull you back so that we can get on that chosen road with Christ and go all the way with him. Absolutely. Think about just what Amy just said. The depth of relationship that we have. When we are married, that person is the closest relationship we could possibly have with another human being. And that is the relationship that Christ has with me and you when we say yes, Lord, to him. So say yes, Lord, today. And if you're a Christian, say yes, Lord, again. And say, Lord, maybe I've been following my own way but I wanna follow you now. I wanna really put myself in a place where you are in charge, Lord, and you are leading me in the way I should go. Give us a call today to get on the chosen road, 888-665-4483. And let's hear the band, Chosen Road, as they sing the lion and the lamb. Come on, it's good. Sing with them and rejoice in the Lord. Kings and kingdoms, we are as hoped today going into the world and telling others about Jesus. Be inspired to share the gospel as members from YWAM Youth with a Mission share how they are making an impact by teaching the citizens of Brazil about God's love. That's tomorrow on Hope Today. Cornerstone Television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.