Ronnie Freeman: On God Speaking
01-25-2008
by Kevan Breitinger
My very honest conversation with Ronnie Freeman about his new album God Speaking was anything but boring.
Ronnie Freeman: Hey, this is Ronnie Freeman.
CMCentral (Kevan Breitinger): Hey Ronnie, thanks for making the time to talk. I appreciate it.
No problem, thanks for being willing to do this.
Oh, cool. Yeah, I read the review the other day, thank you very much.
Hey, you did the hard work (laughing). All I did was listen.
When I deal with reviews, I figure that these are people with beating hearts who hopefully connect with the record on a heart level.
It’s a strange animal anyway, isn’t it, trying to ‘review a worship record?’ It’s a delicate balance being someone outside with an opinion on the worth or value of your worship offering.
Yeah, that record is the story of my journey, and it’s hard for someone to argue with the story of my own personal journey, although I guess they could on a professional level.
In listening to it, I got a strong sense of God’s timing, especially after reading some of your story. Are these songs as personal as they come across?
There’s a story to our lives, Kevan, that few of us are comfortable sharing with the public. They’re stories that are for only the safe circle of people that hopefully we have in place in our lives. But to go past that you have to generalize everything to be sure that people can handle that kind of information. So there’s a profound story behind these songs that the general public will probably never know, but I hope that the spirit of it is conveyed through these songs.
I think that it was. Which song meant the most to you personally?
“The Other Side” means a lot. I was just telling someone else this morning, that when we think of the cross we believe that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, but I think the work of the cross continues. And I think that the people who wrestle with secret addictions and strongholds in their lives kind of see heaven as the ‘out,’ or even death as the key to their freedom. But I’ve experienced quite the opposite.
Ultimate freedom is in heaven but freedom from struggle and addictions is actually truly possible on this earth. It’s part of the work of the cross. So the song “The Other Side” is about getting to the other side of whatever your stronghold is. Jesus paid the price for freedom, even on this earth. I’ve experienced it myself. Whoever wants to argue with me can but I know it’s true.
But I want that song to fill people with hope when they’re in a hopeless situation. Even if you’re in a situation that you’ve brought on yourself, it’s still possible to be free from that. We may not have pain-free lives, but we can have lives of freedom.
It’s heartbreaking that so many of us don’t seem to realize that the Kingdom of God begins now. It’s so wasteful of us to miss that crucial point.
It’s hard to live there, but God is constantly inviting us in the Spirit to live there.
Yeah, He’s always encouraging us and I think that the album does a lot of that well. It’s very ministry-oriented, rather than commercially targeted, and I appreciated that about it. Now I read also that you serve a Nashville church as a worship leader, but also as an ‘artist in residence,’ and I have been waiting for years to ask somebody (laughing) what does that mean?
I am on the road but I actually reside as a worship leader on staff at my church. I’m one of four artists in residence at my church. None of us have an office; we don’t go into an office. They look at it like, ‘ok, these guys are gifted to do this,’ and they give us the opportunity to do it.
I’m telling you, Kevan, it is almost too good to be true. You’re covered by a local body, you’re connected there, and you’re under contract. So nobody is tempted to stay out of church when you’re at home. I’m exhausted sometimes when I get home but the community is so life-giving. So that’s what that means.
So it’s not so much a staff position as a recognition of your gifting?
It’s both actually. Because I am under contract with my church, but it’s not considered a full-time thing.
I didn’t realize that you spent that much time on the road, Ronnie. What’s your tour schedule like?
It’s picking up right now because it’s kinda mixed with promotional, radio, and retail responsibilities. We’re all over the place, from California to DC to the southeast, just everywhere.
How challenging is it for you, Ronnie, dealing with all the promotional aspects of your ministry?
You know my manager probably wouldn’t want me to say this, but it’s not necessarily my first choice. Although I think it’s necessary. But I approach the retail end of things by remembering that these are people. One of my mentors called me the other day and said, “You know, I’ve been thinking. I know you don’t love this promo stuff, but when you’re on stage, it comes natural to you because it’s about people. Radio and retail are no different. Those are people. So go in there with the same attitude you have up on stage,” and it seems like such great wisdom to me.
That makes me wonder, what is the best spiritual advice you’ve been given in terms of your music ministry, or was that it?
Oh gosh, that’s one piece of many. That same mentor God has often used profoundly. This past year I took a 3 or 4 month sabbatical from the road and leading worship, from like January to April, and as one of my first gigs back approached, he called me and left me a message. He said “Hey, just called to tell you that we’re praying for you, and in case you’ve forgotten, I’m reminding you: it’s not about you.” (Laughing) And that’s pretty much all he said on his message.
I’m a bit of a people-pleaser, but when you take yourself out of the equation, and the whole I-hope-they-like-me-business,
you remember that God has given you work to do, whether it’s to 10 people or 10,000. I just want to be faithful. Another mentor reminded me, just keep showing up. God’s gonna lead you if you just keep showing up. He is faithful.
I’ll tell ya, all those simple practical one-liners just make the most sense of all, don’t they?
Yeah, they do.
Is there anything else you want to cover before we hang up?
This isn’t about the new album, but I’ll be going out on tour with a group called 33 Miles at the end of March, into April. And also my wife and my three children and I all go to northern California in the summer to lead worship at this place called the JH Ranch. It’s a ministry geared toward parents and teens.
The location is amazing, but it’s the ministry that goes on there that really touches me, watching God turn the hearts of the teenagers back to their parents and vice versa. It’s just profound. It’s like witnessing a miracle. A lot of the kids only came because their parents bribed them, or they cried all the way there on the flight. But by the end of the week, when you get to share what God showed you, so many of these students get up and say God has showed them what amazing parents they have. Or parents get up and apologize for hurting their kids, or being too busy. It’s just amazing. But it’s the JH Ranch, and it’s the coolest place.
It sure sounds it. I’m glad you mentioned it. it’s a program that I probably could have used myself (laughing)
(Laughing) Well, we’ve had 60 year old men bring their 40 year old daughters, so anything goes!
It’s never too late, right, brother? Ronnie, thanks so much for your time, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it.
Thank you, Kevan, for having me.
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