[00:00:09] Dan: All right. Welcome back to micheli podcast. Today we have Justin Gambino on the show. Justin is an award-winning music artist and a speaker whose powerful testimony of redemption from rebellion and military service to healing and revival has impacted countless lives. His journey is one of faith restoration and purpose through Christ.

[00:00:32] Dan: Justin, welcome to the show.

[00:00:33] Amanda: Welcome.

[00:00:34] Justin Gambino: Thanks for having me. It's so good to see you guys.

[00:00:37] Dan: Man. Glad to have you. Absolutely . So, hey Justin, you have shared the stage with people like Toy Mack King, country Crowder, casting crown skill at Switchfoot, like all these names. Yeah. But there's the story behind the ascent. And so can you walk us back? You have a story of God working in your life that started many years ago, so can you just take our listeners back to the start of God grabbing a hold of your heart?

[00:01:03] Justin Gambino: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:01:04] Justin Gambino: I'll go back to whenever I was five years old, my mom would say that. I would bring my Bible to church. I would see the pastor up there with his. Guitar and I would just kind of mimic what he would do While he was leading worship, I would strum on my Bible like it was a guitar and I don't know, I don't know why my mom saw that and thought, oh, let's put him in piano lessons.

[00:01:35] Justin Gambino: I just thought that was, I just thought that was so funny how, how my mom saw that. And he's like, oh, he is interested in music, I guess, so let's put him in. My mom was a piano player, so maybe that's what it was.

[00:01:45] Dan: Yeah. And.

[00:01:47] Justin Gambino: At the age of nine, my, my mom and my dad put me in piano lessons and, and nothing against the piano players out there listening to this, but I just did not like it.

[00:01:57] Justin Gambino: I was so bored with the piano, and I think that is. Pretty typical with a, with a young kid, you know, that's just trying to learn the mechanics and all that stuff, and it just didn't, it just didn't interest me all that much. And, but the amazing thing was, is that the piano instructor, he pulled my parents to the side once I said that I wanted to quit.

[00:02:20] Justin Gambino: And, and he told them he doesn't see it and you may not see it. Hmm. But the kid is a musician. Hmm. And whenever you, whenever he finds his instrument, I, I want you to nurture that. Mm-hmm. Wow. And, you know, growing, growing up we were always in church. I have five siblings, so there's six of us total.

[00:02:44] Justin Gambino: There's a, there's a household of eight people, my mom and my dad, and six kids. And I, I was the one that was most interested in music. And so it was about six years later when my best friend got a guitar and that's whenever I showed a lot of interest in that instrument. And I think it's pretty interesting looking back now, seeing everything hindsight that the year the same age that I got my guitar.

[00:03:21] Justin Gambino: Was the year that I was introduced to a completely different crowd through my first job, my first working job. And I think it's interesting how it's, it's pretty obvious to me that the enemy was paying attention. The enemy was looking for an opportunity to derail what God was wanting to do. Mm. In my life.

[00:03:46] Justin Gambino: And so, right whenever I got, I got this tool, I got this instrument. To me it was, it was a guitar. It was a Christmas present. I was 15 years old. I was so excited to the enemy. He was like, this is an opportunity for me to derail this.

[00:03:59] Dan: Wow.

[00:04:00] Justin Gambino: And so I get my first working job. I'm introduced to a completely different crowd, and now I find myself getting drunk on the weekends.

[00:04:11] Justin Gambino: Partying on the weekends with these so-called friends of mine, and I'm living a, a, you know, two different lives going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, but I'm showing up sometimes hungover because I'm hanging out with a different crowd that I don't go to church with. And it was about two or three years of that until I found myself.

[00:04:35] Justin Gambino: Standing before a judge, I had just turned 18 years old. I was standing before a judge looking at jail time. Because I had committed theft with these so-called friends and and I was just trying, I was just trying to fit in. I was, I was trying to fit into a, a box, a group of friends that I really didn't belong to.

[00:04:55] Justin Gambino: Didn't, didn't have any business doing that. So that's, that's whenever my prodigal journey really started.

[00:05:02] Dan: Wow. Well, Justin you didn't know this, but I'm actually a professional piano player and , so, man, , you not sticking with the piano.

[00:05:10] Dan: Oh, man. I'm a little hurt here.

[00:05:13] Justin Gambino: Hey, I did say, no offense to the piano players. I did

[00:05:15] Dan: say that I'm dealing with some offense in my heart, but, you know, I'm , trying to work through it here. Don't

[00:05:20] Justin Gambino: harbor bitterness on me now.

[00:05:26] Dan: Man, I, I tell you what, the piano crowd. , We were always the, you know, we were the, the nice piano player that are just always, it's always the rough, maybe guitar players. They're the rough ones. You know,

[00:05:36] Justin Gambino: maybe if I stuck to the piano, I would've never gotten into trouble.

[00:05:39] Dan: You

[00:05:39] Justin Gambino: know, those so-called friends would've been like. No, man, we don't wanna hang out with no plant damn players. I'm just kidding.

[00:05:49] Dan: But God brought, but God brought it back and that, that's the amazing thing. But you know, the truth is, is that you know who we are, , who we are is greatly determined by who we're around, right?

[00:05:59] Dan: Oh yeah. We often hear it said that. You wanna know where your life is going. Look, the five people that are closest to you, right, like in your circle, because those are the people that you're becoming like, and those are the people you're traveling with and navigating.

[00:06:09] Dan: And so, man, if you don't like those five people, man, maybe you need to do some new people in your circle. And yeah, be on a trajectory towards towards something different.

[00:06:16] Justin Gambino: Yeah. So, going back to the courtroom whenever I was standing before the judge, he gave me an option that day because what he saw before him, what he told me, he said, man, I just see a good kid that just made a wrong turn.

[00:06:29] Justin Gambino: Hmm. I've never seen you before.

[00:06:31] Amanda: Hmm.

[00:06:32] Justin Gambino: And I, I just, he, he just started asking me questions about myself, kinda like you guys are doing now. He was like, you know, how, how many siblings do you have are, what church do you go to? Are you, are you public schooled? Are you homeschooled? And so I started answering all these questions.

[00:06:47] Justin Gambino: He even asked me, who, who, who brought in the income between my mom and my dad? Did one stay home? Did you know he was asking all these questions? Just trying to get a lot of you know, just get, trying to get a lot of context, try trying to get the whole story and, and, and why he sees this good kid.

[00:07:05] Justin Gambino: Committing theft right? Whenever he turned 18. And so after I answered all those questions, he just looked at me and he said, here's what I'm prepared to do. I'm, I'm prepared to give you a second chance, but you're not gonna get off so easily. You, you can, you can decide to go to jail today and have a felony on your record 'cause you stole enough for it to be a felony.

[00:07:25] Justin Gambino: And you're looking at at least two years in jail. And then you'll have a felony on your record for the rest of your life. And he, he said, I guarantee you, if you take that route, I'm gonna see you again. You know, sooner or later I'm gonna see you again in a courtroom. And he said, but I, I, what I wanna offer you is if you're willing to join the military and do some community service, I will instead of hit you with a felony, I'll hit you with a misdemeanor.

[00:07:53] Justin Gambino: It was the highest class misdemeanor. And and so I, I definitely didn't get off the easiest. I still had to go to jail that day, get booked and mugshot and all that stuff that was so uncomfortable and so foreign to me. 'cause I was, you know, like I said, I was raised in church my whole life. I was homeschooled.

[00:08:14] Justin Gambino: I I had never done anything like that before. And so I get booked, I get out. I started doing about 18 weeks of community service. I joined the US Navy, and I served the next eight years of my life in the Navy, and that was starting in 2005. And whenever I thought deep down, I just thought, all right, my hopes and dreams of pursuing music and playing the guitar is completely out the window.

[00:08:47] Justin Gambino: Hmm. I just, I just know it. And 2007, about a year and a half or so, it was August of oh five, so it's already halfway through the year that I joined the Navy and go off to bootcamp. It's, it's about a year and a half into my enlistment and I get deployed to Iraq. This is now at the very beginning of 2007, and this is whenever I am so mad at myself.

[00:09:15] Justin Gambino: I feel all the guilt, all the shame, all the regret in the world. And not only am I fa the furthest from home that I've ever been, and whenever I say home, I mean Texas. I am the furthest from my father's house. I'm the furthest spiritually from my father's house. I'm such a prodigal at this point, and I have God just such on the back burner.

[00:09:40] Justin Gambino: I'm just, I, I don't want anything to do with God. That's just how I felt. And I'll never forget, it was about halfway through the deployment that I just get this tug on my spirit to go to the chapel. It's, it's on a Wednesday night in the desert of Iraq, and the Lord says, I want you to go to the chapel.

[00:10:05] Justin Gambino: It's time to go back to church. And so I find myself in the chapel on a Wednesday night. And that was the night that the chaplain asked the entire congregation, which was only about a dozen of us. Not a lot of us went to church in Iraq, at least not on the base that I was at. The chaplain asked, does anybody know how to play guitar?

[00:10:27] Justin Gambino: Does anybody here know how to lead worship? We need someone to lead worship. And this was something that I was doing on a regular basis before I even got into trouble. I was serving at my church. I was leading worship in the Youth Praise band. So I had, I had the experience, I had the, you know, I, I knew some songs.

[00:10:47] Justin Gambino: I knew how to play chords and strum and sing. And, and I to be honest with you, I was just in my heart. I was like, I'm not raising my hand. There's. There's no way I'm not gonna do it. And the next thing I know, he's looking at me because I'm raising my hand. And the next thing I know, I'm going to the call center where it's all, you know, the computers and the, and the telephones.

[00:11:08] Justin Gambino: Or you can call home and you can email home. I call my dad and I asked my dad, I said, dad, can you send me my guitar? And I, there's this opportunity for me to lead worship here. Can you. Can you send me my guitar? And I wonder a lot about the emotions and the feelings that my dad had. Hearing the voice of his prodigal son calling home and saying, dad, can I, can you send me my guitar out?

[00:11:37] Justin Gambino: There's this opportunity for me to serve the Lord. That's not what I said, but I didn't, I didn't use that terminology to serve the Lord because I was still pretty far from him. I was still pretty jaded at that point. And that was whenever God put the guitar back in my hands, and even all my Navy buddies, they would see me with my guitar and they would hear me play and sing.

[00:11:59] Justin Gambino: And they were like, just like that judge in that courtroom. What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here. And the Lord was even using my Navy friends and the guys that I was serving with, he was using them to speak life into me and just say like, this is not what you're supposed to be doing with your life.

[00:12:17] Justin Gambino: Like. You're supposed to be playing the guitar, you're supposed to be doing music. And I just think that's really I, I think that's a really cool looking back and just seeing just how much God was pursuing me, just how much his hand was in the midst of just every situation that I was going through.

[00:12:37] Justin Gambino: Through

[00:12:40] Dan: Wow. So powerful that God doesn't give up on us. Even in the midst of, , such hard situations. And even in the midst of a desert, right? Even , like you're spiritually in a desert, but you're physically in a desert too, and God literally crashing in, right? Yeah.

[00:12:55] Dan: And just, the scripture that came to my mind is that like a seed has to die, you know, like a seed goes in and like , that moment like where God took that musical gift that had been planted in you years before and something changed

[00:13:08] Dan: as, and there was new life that came, you know? Yeah. And that's just amazing that God used people that , weren't even really walking with him to speak into your life and to help guide you and to just really remind you of the things that God had gifted you.

[00:13:22] Justin Gambino: Yeah.

[00:13:23] Dan: With in the first place.

[00:13:24] Justin Gambino: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, I would like to say that, you know, whenever I got back from Iraq that it was just like I hit the reset button and everything was back to how it was whenever I was serving the Lord, whenever I was a teenager. But that was not the case. I, you know, they tried to prepare you for coming back home from a war zone as best they can, and I just kind of just let everything they said to us, like in one ear, out the other, I just wanted to get home.

[00:13:51] Justin Gambino: I was ready to get home and PTSD kind of blindsided me and I just went down this spiraling hole of depression and I, I could not end a day without a drink of alcohol whenever I got back home. But again, God just kept pursuing me. Just like the good father he is, man. There was, there was a friend of mine that was leading a Friday night Bible study every week whenever I got home, and he, he, you know, just like that chaplain's invitation, he had the same invitation.

[00:14:24] Justin Gambino: He said, Hey, why don't you grab your guitar? And he could see me struggling. He could see it. And he said, why don't you just grab your guitar? I need help leading worship at this Friday night Bible study. And I just, I just need a little bit of help if you're willing. And so I started doing that on Friday nights, and that's whenever I gave up drinking.

[00:14:43] Justin Gambino: I was, I was so convicted of that. I remember coming back to my apartment one night and just dumping all the alcohol down the drain. And at this Bible study is whenever I was inspired. To start writing music for the Lord. That's whenever I really started writing the music. A lot of the music that I first started releasing when I whenever I became I guess you would say like a full-time recording artist or a full-time musician and, and to kind of put like a timestamp on that, that was 2009 two, 2010 ish, something like that.

[00:15:24] Justin Gambino: And I still had about three years of inactive navy on my like on my enlistment time to serve out my contract. I still had about a few years of inactive navy reserves.

[00:15:42] Amanda: You know, it's so powerful how, , you were inspired to write the music. From the Bible studies.

[00:15:49] Justin Gambino: Mm. Yeah.

[00:15:49] Amanda: Like the word of God is powerful, , powerful and effective. Oh yeah. , Strong, sharper than a double-edged sword. And , just hearing that like what better inspiration than the word of God to be writing music from.

[00:16:00] Amanda: That's so good.

[00:16:01] Justin Gambino: Yeah. Yeah. I was actually reading a book at the time. I don't know if you ever heard of the author, mark Batterson? Yeah. Yes. But I was reading, I was reading the Circle Maker. Yeah, yeah. If you've heard of that book. So I was reading the Circle Maker. And attending that Bible study. And it's somewhere, somewhere around that part of the book where it said, find the thing that brings you and the people around you close to God.

[00:16:28] Justin Gambino: And that is your calling. That's what you should be doing. And, and in my mind and in my heart, I knew that whenever I led worship, when I shared these songs, when I'd start sharing these songs that I was writing with people that were attending the Bible study, I knew I felt close to God. God, but other people started coming up to me and saying, man, whenever you sing that song, or whenever you lead worship, I feel so close to God.

[00:16:53] Justin Gambino: I feel, I feel like he's so close to me as well. That was around that time I was reading that part of that book. And it was just such a, such a confirmation, just a strong confirmation that the Lord was like, Hey, this is what I want you to do. This is what I'm calling you to do. I put the guitar in your hands at the age of 15.

[00:17:12] Justin Gambino: It's time to go all in. And that's whenever I started. I mean, I was, I was working a full-time job. I was ending my enlistment, my inactive years in the Navy. At this point, I had maybe like a year, year and a half left in the Navy and started, started touring, started writing music, started recording a little bit, doing these three things all at once.

[00:17:39] Justin Gambino: Up until it was about 2015 whenever I quit my job and I with the full support of my wife, of course, like I, I could not do it without my wife. And and she was so supportive whenever that there was that opportunity for me to quit my job and really go all in, like the Lord was calling me too. And that was yeah, that was June of 2015.

[00:18:04] Dan: Wow, that's so amazing. How God just continued, just brought that back into your life. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, there's a difference in musicians between a skilled musician and an oriented, musician, right?

[00:18:16] Dan: Mm-hmm. A person can be skilled in so many different ways they can play, but , kind of like, . Saul and David, right?, There's a lot of musicians that were probably brought before Saul, but when David played, there was an anointing on his life , that that spirit of fear just left.

[00:18:30] Dan: And I think that when you have that anointing , there's, there's something different. About it. And that's something you carry that anointing and that when you, play, you bring others into the presence of the Lord and but the enemy sees that and oftentimes, you know, that enemy, the enemy wants to attack us in one of our most gifted areas, right? Yeah. But he wants to attack that head on because he knows the damage that can come to his kingdom, , to the work that he's trying to do through those gifts and those talents, those anointings that we have in our lives.

[00:19:00] Dan: Right.

[00:19:01] Justin Gambino: Right, and, and you saying that just kind of makes me think of how the enemy came at me again. Right? Whenever I quit my job and I started doing music full-time and I, the Lord convicted me of it about five years into doing music full-time. But what, you know, looking back, I can see how the enemy used this gifting, this talent to just.

[00:19:25] Justin Gambino: I, I, I, I guess just puff me up because for about five years, the first five years of, of doing music full time, I was so, so full of myself. Wow. And I was building up a kingdom that I thought was the Lord's, but really, I was just, I was playing music artist. I was playing. I was playing a role, I guess I was checking boxes.

[00:19:49] Justin Gambino: I was going through the motions. I was doing all the things that a recording artist is supposed to do. You know, I would write a song check. I would recorded the song check. I would release the song check. Let's release a t-shirt that has the lyrics on it. Check, check, check. Let's sell 'em and let's go on tour and, and Oh man.

[00:20:10] Justin Gambino: I bet you sometimes if, if Jesus would've walked into one of my concerts, it would've been my merch table. He flipped over. Wow.

[00:20:18] Dan: Wow.

[00:20:19] Justin Gambino: And I was, and the Lord convicted me of this during COVID, actually it was 2020, and I was, like I said, just going through the motions, checking the boxes. It was all about Justin.

[00:20:32] Justin Gambino: It was not about Jesus. And I was just, I guess you, you know, you, you hear that term like climbing the corporate ladder. But you know, this, this is isn't corporate. This is, you know, this is like, this is ministry. But you know, and there's sometimes there's like this fine line that you're just like, okay, if this is ministry, how can I make money?

[00:20:55] Justin Gambino: How can I make a living without you know, just being in sin? And during COVID, the Lord said, well, you got it all wrong. The, the, and, and where you got it wrong is that you're making it all about yourself and whenever it's really about me, and it was, I, I, I was actually on the road during COVID whenever everything was like shutting down and I found myself stranded out on the road.

[00:21:26] Justin Gambino: There were, there were host homes that would that, that they would put me up for a couple weeks at a time because I, I was a couple thousand miles from home. You know, the, the, the next two weeks of events have canceled because, you know, COVID is happening. And when I, and I, if I can be honest, I was just like frustrated.

[00:21:45] Justin Gambino: I was frustrated with all that and I was, of course, I was frustrated because it was all about me and, and, and, and making a buck and, and trying to get to a million streams or whatever on Spotify, whatever, whatever the, the desire, the, the fleshly desire was, that was my main focus. And, and I remember sitting in someone's backyard in California with the next two weeks of events canceled.

[00:22:12] Justin Gambino: And and the Lord said to me, he said, Justin the problem right now with you is that what breaks my heart doesn't break yours. Wow. And I knew that there was an issue with my heart because when the Lord. Said that to me. It did not affect me. It was like, I don't know, just listening to another song on the radio, like it just didn't affect me.

[00:22:38] Justin Gambino: It, it, and I knew, I knew that there was something wrong with me. Whenever that happened and I remember saying to the Lord, I said, all right, Lord. I'm a, I got the next two weeks, I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna wait. To feel the full effect of your broken heart until my heart breaks. Because your heart breaks.

[00:22:59] Justin Gambino: I'm gonna sit here and wait for that. And in that moment I wrote the title track of a song that it's the title track of the album that I released in 2023. So I don't wanna jump too far ahead in my testimony. Because there's a a full circle moment that happens just a couple months after I wrote that song, and that was around like August, September of 2020.

[00:23:25] Justin Gambino: And it was about a month later that I find myself in Salt Lake City. And the Lord very, very clearly told me, he said, Justin, I want you to go back home now. It's time to go back home. And I want you to do a night of worship, a night of revival in your hometown. And I was like, at first I thought, okay, I, I, I, I feel like, I feel like you got my attention, Lord.

[00:23:48] Justin Gambino: Like, let's, let's do this. Where do you want me to do this Night of worship? This night of revival? And he said, I want you to do it at the courthouse. Hmm. And I was like, you can forget that you're gonna have to find a different servant or a different venue, because I don't want to go back to this, the place where I have bad memories.

[00:24:07] Justin Gambino: You can forget it. And I lost that argument with God. It was it was, I'll never forget it. It was December 12th, 2020. I was standing on stage on the courthouse lawn, the same courthouse lawn where I was. I walked up to at the age of 18 getting judged for theft and then started my enlistment time.

[00:24:29] Justin Gambino: You know, so now you're, I'm 16 years later. This is 2020. I'm still selfishly thinking to myself, all right, the Lord's brought Justin here to bring revival to his hometown and the Lord just ever so kindly said, no, Justin, I didn't bring you here for them. I brought you here for you and me because what it all comes down to is I just wanna spend time with my son.

[00:24:59] Justin Gambino: I just, I just. I wanna remind you that the plan that I had for you whenever you were walking up these courthouse steps at the age of 18 is the same plan that I have for you Now, the only difference is now I have your undivided attention, and that hit me like a ton of bricks. That's why I remember December 12th, 2020, 'cause I will never forget that moment.

[00:25:28] Justin Gambino: I was raised in church my whole life. I was baptized at the age of seven, but December 12th, 2020, I can't tell you the day that I was baptized, but I can honestly tell you I was a prodigal up until December 12th, 2020, and that started a journey of me sharing my testimony through these songs that I've been releasing the last three years.

[00:25:58] Justin Gambino: I, I released this album called Made New, that that goes down this prodigal journey, this, this long prodigal journey that I was on. And it's just been an amazing thing, how God has used this testimony. Something that I buried for so long. He's been using my testimony whenever I speak. He's been using my testimony whenever I sing and release songs, and it's just been amazing to see it kind of all unfold and yeah, it's just, it's just wild.

[00:26:34] Justin Gambino: I'll, I can, I'll ne I don't think I'll ever get over just how much he has pursued me over the years and I don't ever want to get over it. I don't ever wanna forget what he's done. I always like to say that the Lord is in constant pursuit of me. Like the waves are in constant pursuit of the shore. They just keep crashing on that shoreline and, and that's how he pursues me.

[00:27:05] Justin Gambino: That's how he pursues the person that's listening to this podcast right now. That's how he pursues us, and that's just how good he is. Hm.

[00:27:17] Dan: Wow. , I think there's just deeper layers, you know? There's just always more

[00:27:22] Justin Gambino: Yeah.

[00:27:22] Dan: To, to catch of God, you know? And I think, , he doesn't take us, deep all at once.

[00:27:28] Dan: 'cause , we're, we're not ready for it. You know, there's progress. Oh yeah. Just like, you or I, , getting to know. , Our wife , you don't just dump everything right. \, The first date or something like that. You know, , there's relationship steps.

[00:27:38] Dan: And I love how God just walked you through those, those steps where, you know, wow. He. He got your attention back in eating Iraq, and began to bring you back. And , you caught glimpses of it and then, , you went deeper and you were out on ministry and doing things.

[00:27:50] Dan: But God's like, man, I want more of your heart. , There's a better way to do this Justin. Yeah. , I love what you're doing, but I. I want you to do it for some different reasons. You're being a blessing. Yeah. But I've got more. And now it takes you even deeper.

[00:28:03] Dan: Yeah. , And, , the picture that I was getting was just of like God bringing you back to those, those, those steps of the courthouse. And it's just like, I just saw like the blood of Jesus just , coming over you. Right. And just washing and starting, starting something new and taking into a, another layer, another depth.

[00:28:16] Dan: And just so important that that God gets hold of our hearts. And we just continually let him speak to us, to pull us, to stretch us. And yeah, I really respect how you sat with the Lord during that time, during 2020 and just said like, show me your harm, because that's what, yeah.

[00:28:32] Dan: You know, it's, it's, I I hold my son sometimes and, and I love just, he's like the best little snuggler. Like he just, he just snuggles up close, you know? And, and I just remember being snuggled by my dad, but when you get close to somebody you can hear.

[00:28:47] Dan: Their heart beating . And and it's those moments where my son just gets, close enough and he gets close enough and he just pauses enough. 'cause he's a real fast dude. You know? 'cause we, we, we like to be doing, doing, doing and going, going, going right. And, you know, and I, when I get him those moments and he just, I just got him right here.

[00:29:04] Dan: Is that real special moment. , Because he can be with me and I can be with him , and we just get in sync and I just see that, , with you, like you just pausing enough and stopping the activity, stopping , the going and just hearing the heart of the father and yeah.

[00:29:17] Dan: Wow. Allowing him to breathe some freshness , and really breathe that next season of the people that he wanted you to minister to . To have a, have a voice to those prodigals that had found themselves in similar situations, then just needed a song that needed a verse, that needed somebody to just, , doing the thing that God called him to do, and that anointing and having God being able to, to speak to them and pull them back.

[00:29:41] Dan: And so,

[00:29:42] Justin Gambino: man,

[00:29:42] Dan: just really respect that, Justin.

[00:29:45] Justin Gambino: Well, whenever talking you and your son, days away from meeting our baby boy. Wow. And I just can't wait, man. Yeah. I can't wait. I get to be a dad after waiting for a long time to be a dad. I'm looking forward to those times to just hold him, you know, and allow the Lord to just reveal new revelations to me.

[00:30:13] Justin Gambino: Just by being with my son.

[00:30:16] Dan: Yeah.

[00:30:16] Justin Gambino: So thanks for sharing that.

[00:30:18] Dan: Yeah, man. , Congratulations. , Oh, thanks. Yeah. We'll be following the social media and celebrating with you when we see that, that big day come here.

[00:30:25] Justin Gambino: That's why I wanted to blur out my, background. There's just like stacks of diapers and baby wipes behind me from the baby shower. So I'm just like, I don't, I don't know if that should be in the video.

[00:30:39] Amanda: That's great.

[00:30:40] Dan: You know, those are important things. You'll, you'll learn to appreciate those things, man, you and for me personally, I know that I've . Become a better Christian, or I've understood God in different ways, , by my kids.

[00:30:54] Dan: ? And if I feel this way towards my kids, how much more the father in heaven, right? Like if I had this sort of love for them. If , there's just these moments and sometimes I'm too busy, I'm too going. And those moments where I, I I'm still, and I'm just with my kids.

[00:31:11] Dan: Lord, help me not miss this. Help me not to go too fast. Help me not , to be going and miss the lingering of the relationship

[00:31:18] Justin Gambino: and the fellowship. Yeah. God gave me, God gave me this revelation back in December. You know, whenever I get to see my son and I look down at him, I'm looking forward to that day whenever he just like lifts up his hands to me.

[00:31:35] Justin Gambino: And he's like, daddy, can you pick me up? Pick me up. Like, how will I be able to resist that? I don't think I'll be able to, and so I'll pick him up and, and you know, love on him. And, and in the same way, God cannot resist it whenever his kids just look up at him and say, dad, dad, can you pick me up? I just wanna spend time with you.

[00:31:57] Justin Gambino: I wanna, I want you to hold me. You can't resist that. The good father that he is. And I know that there's gonna be a day when my son gets busy and he's gonna get a job, or he's gonna get a girlfriend or move away and get married or, you know, get a, you know, do all the, the things that he's called to do and I'm gonna yearn for those days.

[00:32:22] Justin Gambino: Whenever he looked up to me and looked up at me and said, dad, can you pick me up? And in the same way, like, we get so busy and, and the Lord just yearns for those days, for when we just lift our hands up to him. And so I, I remember I was on stage and just kind of sharing that with the audience that night before I shared a, a, a, a particular song just about that.

[00:32:46] Justin Gambino: But it was just like, you know, at that, at that point, you know, we're maybe halfway through the pregnancy and I was like, just yearning. For those moments when my son would just look up to me and be like, dad, can you pick me up? So I, I don't know. I just think it's a sweet revelation and I think it's a sweet reminder, you know, just to not be too busy.

[00:33:06] Justin Gambino: The the Lord. The Lord yearns for those moments where his kids will look up at him and lift up their hands and just, dad, can you pick me up?

[00:33:15] Dan: Yeah.

[00:33:16] Justin Gambino: Have

[00:33:16] Dan: that childlike faith. It's so good. I just wanna encourage you, I wanna hang here , and , I'm gonna full circle this here in a second, but , I wanna share with you as a dad one of my favorite things is that from day one.

[00:33:30] Dan: Basically, I would speak, I, would make declarations , over our daughter, and I would speak like you, you have the mind of Christ. And I would just go through these different things and I would touch your head. I think you have the mind of Christ. Your eye sees the need to the poor and solutions and opportunities.

[00:33:45] Dan: Your lip speak bolder, the gospel of grace. You have a tender and obedient, a discerning heart. You know, and I just went through this, you know that no plague comes near your dwelling, and I would just make these. These things and just speak promises of God over her

[00:33:58] Dan: and just, one of the most powerful dad things that , I had was, there was one day I was just in a busy rush and, and. I remember tucking her into her crib, and I was getting ready to walk out and I just, I didn't take the time to speak those things over her. And she, and she goes, dad, you know, and she's just learning to talk.

[00:34:17] Dan: She's dad. And she, like, I, I turn around, she, she grabs my hand and she gr puts her hand, my hand on her mind, and she says, mind of Christ, and, and she goes through the entire thing. Hmm, that's right. And there's nothing more moving and more powerful and more like just wow to a dad than to hear your daughter or your child say , your words back to you.

[00:34:44] Justin Gambino: Hmm.

[00:34:45] Dan: And that was just a powerful moment in my life. And that's how the father feels, you know, when we speak his word, when we sing his words. And so I wanna encourage you that as you, , have , your son that make those declarations. But not only that, but each time you get on stage, you're making those declarations, you're speaking those words, you're speaking the word of God over.

[00:35:03] Dan: Your audience. Yeah. And I just want to, I just wanna just put that image that when you step on the stage, like man, you're making those proclamations, you're speaking the words of the father.

[00:35:12] Justin Gambino: Yeah.

[00:35:12] Dan: And, and that makes the father proud. And that's just, man, that's, that's a powerful thing.

[00:35:18] Justin Gambino: It's a beautiful thing.

[00:35:20] Dan: So, there's a lot of people that walk through hard situations in life. If you're not going into a problem, you're coming out a problem or you're in the problem, you know?

[00:35:29] Dan: And so there's just, there's people that are going through different things in life, whether it's addiction. Yeah. Maybe they're depressed, , and you've walked through some of these different things. , You walked through P-B-T-S-D, you've walked through, a lot of different things.

[00:35:39] Dan: And so I'm just wondering, speak to the listener right now, that's in one of these crises, , that feels stuck. That feels failure, that feels removed. That feels prodigal.

[00:35:50] Justin Gambino: Yeah. Well, well, one thing that I would say is I, I would kind of, kind of, you, you said something earlier about like, you know, look at the five friends that are around you.

[00:36:01] Justin Gambino: And, you know, I, I can't remember exactly what you said, but I, I think it's really important to the listener that's listening to this podcast right now, that, that, like, like you said, might be in a situation where, you know, it just feels like a dead end. That there, there's, it feels like there's no hope. It feels like, you know, what's the point of going on?

[00:36:20] Justin Gambino: Or whatever the case is. I think it's really important that we surround ourselves. With, with people that are close to Christ. And, and I, I, I, I think of the lady that's, that was like in, in the scripture where she's like, I just need to touch the hymn of his garment. I just, I just need to get close to Jesus.

[00:36:39] Justin Gambino: And if you feel far from the Lord he's not far from you, but let, let's just clear that right now. Let's just, let's just eliminate that lie from the enemy. 'cause he is not, he's not far from you. But we have from time to time, we have removed ourselves from him. And, and we have, we have gone astray.

[00:36:59] Justin Gambino: And and I, I think the best thing that we can do is find people that are close to Christ and then we're gonna get close to Christ. And if that, if that kind of makes sense. I, I feel like you probably know your audience better than I do. But like, usually I'm like speaking to like veterans and, and guys that are going through PTSD and, and, and things that I went through and I'm just like.

[00:37:22] Justin Gambino: Man, you just gotta surround yourself with people that are, are gonna push you closer to the Lord, period. You know, if, if you're, if you're dealing with alcohol issues, get around people that don't drink alcohol, or if you're experiencing these addictions and isolation, surround yourself with people during the, during the times that you feel most isolated.

[00:37:45] Justin Gambino: And, and you're alone. You, you just gotta surround yourself with, with, with like-minded people. If you wanna get close to Christ, you, you gotta surround yourself with those kind of people. So I think that's, I think that's really important. And then also just, just never neglect those times, whenever you feel pressed on your heart to get in the word of God.

[00:38:02] Justin Gambino: I think that's just, I think that should be first and foremost getting in the word because it does not return void. And, god, God does a lot of speaking through his word because it's living and it's alive. And I, I think, I think that's a good place to start. And then also like I said before, just surrounding yourself with, with people that are, that are serving the Lord.

[00:38:24] Justin Gambino: Yeah.

[00:38:25] Dan: Yeah, absolutely. I that's so scriptural, Justin. , Because faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word, right? Yeah. , We need to be in the word and we need to be around people that will speak the word to us, right? Yeah. And so, man, if we're feeling like we don't have faith, we don't have the we.

[00:38:39] Dan: The energy or the power to move forward. Man, we need the people that are championing, that are speaking life into us Yeah. That are speaking the words of the father into us. Yeah. And, and we need their encouragement. We need their modeling to, to help pull us out of those things. So yeah, man. Well said.

[00:38:55] Dan: Well said.

[00:38:56] Justin Gambino: Praise God. Yeah.

[00:38:58] Dan: We wanna be conscious of , your time here, Justin. , But we do wanna know , what's next for you, , obviously , you've got sun on the way. I got a sun on the way musically. Dad, what's next?

[00:39:08] Justin Gambino: I just released a brand new song called, let Me Not Forget, just in Time for Easter.

[00:39:13] Justin Gambino: I released that on Friday, which is the first of six songs that I'm releasing throughout the year. The current conviction. Every year I've been touring. I've been on the road, I've been doing concerts and festivals. That's where I get to kind of rub elbows backstage with all these artists that you listed earlier.

[00:39:32] Justin Gambino: Which is cool, you know, I just think that's kind of like a, like a little god wink whenever I get to rub elbows backstage with the people that I look up to in the industry. But the current conviction right now is is to stay home this year. And to be a dad. And I just know that, that I'm gonna regret if I, you know, see my son, welcome him into the world, and then hit the road.

[00:39:56] Justin Gambino: Yeah, I just know that I'm gonna regret it. I'm not gonna get that time back. I've seen a lot of friends and a lot of other people in the music industry, the Christian music industry, especially, where they're touring during the early ages of their kids' lives and they're, they're regretting it now and they're trying to play catch up and they're not gonna get that time back.

[00:40:16] Justin Gambino: And I think God has just been like speaking to me through those little conversations, you know, or seeing that from a distance and, so that's what I'm gonna be doing this year. I, I, I am currently writing my book telling my testimony, and so I think this year is just gonna look like you know, being a dad and writing my book.

[00:40:37] Justin Gambino: But I am gonna be releasing music throughout the year. So, I, I've recorded a lot the last couple years while I've been on the road, so people can expect new music this year, just. They won't, they won't see me face to face.

[00:40:50] Dan: You know, it's funny, we, we of course we mentioned earlier, we, we live in Belize in Central America.

[00:40:54] Dan: We do ministry with some friends and they have a, a ministry and their, their slogan is Abide and Go. And I just, I just felt like that was just such a good word for you. Just man, just abide, abide. And then

[00:41:07] Justin Gambino: you can

[00:41:07] Dan: go.

[00:41:08] Justin Gambino: There's a, there's a, there's a song that we're releasing in this new project. It, well, it's not called Abide, it's called Depend On You.

[00:41:16] Justin Gambino: But there's lyrics in there that says that talks about abiding. And it's just, I, I can't wait for that song to come out because it's, it's probably my favorite off of the project. Hmm.

[00:41:28] Dan: Amazing. Awesome. Amazing. Well, we will continue to follow that journey, . That's, that's exciting. . Man, you've been sharing some, some deep truth. I love it. I love it. Praise

[00:41:38] Justin Gambino: God.

[00:41:38] Dan: Always towards the end , we love doing some fun questions with our guests, and so, oh

[00:41:43] Justin Gambino: yeah.

[00:41:43] Dan: Are you ready for fun? Question around Justin?

[00:41:46] Justin Gambino: Y Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it.

[00:41:48] Dan: Alright. First question, when you're doing the tour live, , coffee or energy drinks. Which one?

[00:41:54] Justin Gambino: Coffee.

[00:41:55] Dan: Coffee.

[00:41:56] Justin Gambino: I have an espresso machine in my van, so whenever I'm on tour. I'll pull off at a truck stop and I'll, I'll, I have a little mini fridge with my milk.

[00:42:07] Justin Gambino: I make my stuff, my go-to drink is what you would call a cortado. So double shot of espresso, equal parts, milk, and that, that, yeah. Coffee period. Good

[00:42:20] Amanda: choice.

[00:42:21] Dan: I mean, we enjoy coffee. We enjoy coffee, but I feel like you just took it to go another level. Like we don't have an espresso, we don't have that machine in our van, in our car.

[00:42:28] Dan: So I feel like that's, that's something we can aspire to. Justin.

[00:42:31] Justin Gambino: It wasn't, it wasn't something that I've always done. It was only like the last couple years that I started traveling with my own espresso machine. 'cause I would come home and at the end of the year, I'd to be doing all my receipts. I have more coffee receipts than gas receipts and I'm just like, there's, I gotta do something different because I'm spending a lot of money in coffee.

[00:42:50] Dan: You know, it's funny 'cause I, the next question was what's your pre pre-performance routine? So apparently it's, it's cortado what, what in addition to, what is it?

[00:43:00] Justin Gambino: I would say I, I would call my wife before I would get on stage. And I usually have to have just some quiet time before I go on stage.

[00:43:12] Justin Gambino: So usually it's not coffee right before, it's more like a like a throat coat tea or something like that, as if we're talking about a drink. And then I just really start looking through, looking over the song list that I'm gonna do and, and where I'm gonna insert my testimony, that kind of thing.

[00:43:30] Justin Gambino: So I usually do that during that, during that, you know, just that quiet time where it's just me and the Lord. I think that's really, I really important, at least it is for me before I hit the stage, because like whenever I hit the stage, it, it's, my prayer is that he is seen and not me, that he has heard and not me.

[00:43:49] Justin Gambino: Because the last thing I want to do is. Perform these songs that the Lord has given to me or written through me. And and I, I, I don't know. I just feel like I had failed his people if they're leaving my concert saying the name of Justin rather the name of Jesus. And that's always just been my heart.

[00:44:12] Justin Gambino: So I think that, you know, that before getting on stage, that quiet time, that time with him is just so important. Hmm.

[00:44:20] Dan: That's

[00:44:21] Amanda: so good.

[00:44:22] Dan: Yeah. How about favorite?

[00:44:24] Justin Gambino: I know these are supposed to be fun, but that was like super serious.

[00:44:27] Dan: No, no, that's totally good. I mean, it's good. They're, we shouldn't say just necessarily fun.

[00:44:31] Dan: They're just, you know, they're just different kind of questions, right? Yeah. So what about this favorite or maybe most memorable place you've performed?

[00:44:40] Justin Gambino: Most memorable. I mean, there's so many. It's, it's kind of hard to pick one. I really love the views and, and like the northeast Idaho area. There's a little town called Salmon in Idaho that I love. I've, I've been touring in that area for the last decade, and I always, always just look forward to just seeing the mountains, the continental divide and the wildlife. And you know, and just it.

[00:45:10] Justin Gambino: Being in fellowship with God's people that I see, you know, there every year. I'm gonna miss them this year 'cause I'm not gonna be on the, on the road, but I bet you weren't thinking I was gonna say Northeast Idaho.

[00:45:21] Dan: Yeah. That, that wasn't full. But you know, the truth is, is that, you know, I think about even like the Psalms, right?

[00:45:26] Dan: Like the Psalms, they're talking about the mountains and the, , and the nature does something to the heart. And for musicians it does something. Yeah. And it that you can be with people, but when you feel like you're, you know, in the, you, you just seek God's glory. It just does something else in you.

[00:45:39] Dan: Yeah. So I can totally, I can totally relate to that. The last one this one's a little fun, probably most unexpected place. Maybe someone has recognized you. EO

[00:45:50] Justin Gambino: Oh oh.

[00:45:54] Justin Gambino: I was actually at a gas station. And I, I'm gonna try to make this as appropriate as possible. It was a, it was a child that recognized me. At a, at a gas station, and he was with his father, and I needed to use the restroom really bad. And so I'm like, just like bee lining towards the restroom and this kid follows me into the restroom and you know the stall door is closed.

[00:46:23] Justin Gambino: And I'm trying to use the restroom, and this kid's like Justin. Is that you? And his, his, his dad walks in and he's like, he's like, leave that male alone. You know? So I was just like, please, please don't just like crawl underneath the stall and say hello, you know? But it, it was, it, it was one of those things where I was like, oh man.

[00:46:47] Justin Gambino: That was the close one. But you know, it's usually, it's usually at a gas station, you know, either on the road. I remember, I remember one time that was probably the most unexpected and, and bizarre time to be noticed, but there was a time whenever. I think this is a really cool story. This was about 20 17, 20 18, and I had missed my exit to get fuel.

[00:47:15] Justin Gambino: I'm in Arizona, missed my exit to get fuel, but then I see I, I think if I remember correctly, someone had cut me off. I think it was like a big 18 wheeler, like a big truck. I missed. I missed my exit, and I was like, it's all right. I'll just get to the next exit. And I think it was such a cool divine appointment where I missed that exit, but it was all like, it was all the Lord just working out, you know?

[00:47:41] Justin Gambino: He was just playing chess, right? And so I go to this next exit and I get fuel and I'm in my van. I'm about to head out. And this, this gentleman walked up to me and he was like, Hey my son really wants to meet you. He loves your music and he wants to get a picture with you. And I thought that was the coolest thing.

[00:48:01] Justin Gambino: So that's why I'm, I'm, I'm taking a picture with this kiddo and, and then I go out on the back, on the road, on the highway, and I'm thinking, you know, if I would've caught my first exit, the one I wanted to stop at, then that would've never happened. And so I just, I just think it's cool. Like I, I see God's hand in just all the little details, especially when I'm on the road.

[00:48:23] Dan: Yeah, man, that's so cool. Even. Mm-hmm. Even, even between times of ministry, man, you're, you're, you're getting to a places and gotta still working in and through you. That's, that's

[00:48:30] Justin Gambino: awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:48:32] Dan: Well, tell us, how can our listeners connect with you, Justin? How can they find, just be following your, your, your story, following your projects as you release them.

[00:48:41] Justin Gambino: Yeah. The, the one stop shop is justin gambino.com. That would, it would lay out my entire testimony on one page, and then it'll also say like, where my concerts are this year. I've already said I'm not gonna be on the road. But it has music releases on there so you can find my music on all the things.

[00:49:02] Justin Gambino: But I say one stop shop just because that, that points you to all the places, you know, like Facebook, Instagram, or email newsletter, those kind of things. Or YouTube if people like to watch. Music videos, so justin gambino.com.

[00:49:16] Dan: Awesome. Listeners, of course, we'll have those in the show notes for you.

[00:49:19] Dan: Justin, what an honor to have you on the show. Thank you for dropping so much wisdom , thank you. Thanks,

[00:49:23] Justin Gambino: Dan. Thanks Amanda.

[00:49:25]