to this Christmas , globally , nationally , locally , you find yourself in a place where there are hundreds of thousands of families who are unable to give gifts this year due to economic challenges , or being separated , and all of the things that we face . Our partnership with Salvation Army was our small attempt to be able to give to these children that won ’ t have the opportunity to receive anything , and to be a blessing this Christmas . The tour itself is that as well . We ’ re in a time where you can ’ t really gather for church or for a live show . So much of culture is built around public environment and events , and to be robed of that , particularly during Christmas , is very difficult . Our goal has been to put together a night that is theatrical , invitational , safe , and socially distant , and really has a heart , as Luke well said earlier , for offering this great redemptive hope that we have through the birth of this baby boy . We ’ ve been taking it very seriously , we want to make sure , even if we find ourselves in tougher times with the pandemic in this country as we go into the autumn and winter months , that we ’ re doing everything we can to make this night as wonderful and magical and safe and healthy as it can be .
[ WM ] You mentioned brother Ben , who is yet another family member involved , but from behind the camera . The new videos supporting the Christmas album are stunning ! What incredible talent is represented by your family ! David , you must feel blessed beyond words to have so many kids creating so much impact , all under the umbrella of you and your wife ! What do you hope to see your family ’ s legacy be upon the culture ?
[ David ] Were humbled that we ’ re allowed to be part of it all . As I said , it ’ s all been born out of brokenness . I think what really encouraged me on this Christmas album is the boys have delivered a Jesus-centric release . Even with Christian music , as you know , often times we end up with “ A Jolly , Jolly Christmas ”, or a “ Merry , Merry Christmas ”, or “ Isn ’ t Santa Claus wonderful ?” All of that kind of stuff . But we were given the gift of seeing Jesus as the hands
Joel & Luke
and feet . When Joel was 14 , I told him he had to start being a backup singer for Rebecca , but he didn ’ t want to have anything to do with it . He was so upset with me , saying “ How could you be so unkind to your middle son ?” And well , the rest is history , and he took to it like a duck to water . The Christian life is a very adventurous life . The crazy thing for us is that it was never our plan , our plan was to do it the traditional way of doing business 9 to 5 , going to a local Christian school , and then that was all taken away . I suppose our message is that God ’ s plan is best . A lot of time it ’ s totally contradictory . My plan was to stay in Australia , and I love Australia . We still go back two or three times a year . We ’ ve seen God move in mysterious ways . Our encouragement for anyone who cares to listen , is to choose the wonderful , mysterious , adventurous Christian life , because it ’ s a much higher level than going the way of the culture , which is a boring life of addictions and promiscuity and whatever . And a Christian life is honestly how we view this extraordinary life . You get to my age and the crazy thing is a lot of people are dying who are younger than me , and I just think what an incredible life I ’ ve been given , and my family ’ s been given . I like to think that we ’ re grateful , some days are better than others and you can get confused by the ups and downs , but I think we can come to you and say were incredibly grateful .
A lot of people are in Christian Music for whatever reason , they are negative to the church . And that drives me crazy , because it was the church who loved on this broken middle-aged bloke and his family and put food on the table . We saw the hands and feet of Jesus , and it ’ s changed me . The kids are all Jesus followers , and I think its because in the early days of their life they saw the miraculous , and it wasn ’ t Mom and Dad putting food on the table . They saw this almost on a daily basis . I remember when we first came here , Joel , who was probably seven at the time , prayed so fervently and in an unafraid way . The kids loved our house because we had no furniture .
One story that comes to mind is Greg Nelson . Helen and I had coffee with Greg and his wife