Keep it Positive, Sweetie - Father's Day with Kirk Franklin

Episode Date: December 5, 2023

Season 3 Episode 1 | We're kicking season 3 off with the one and only, Kirk Franklin. Not only is he one of my favorite artists, but his music helped me during some of the toughest seasons of my life. In this episode you get to learn about the man behind the mega hits -- and he should high key be a comedian. We talk about everything from his upbringing, his new documentary, his career and so much more.

Hi and welcome to this episode of Qivit Pazis, sweetie. I'm Kristen A. Hazelid and today we are talking Father's Day with one of my favorite people, the Kirk Franklin. Yep, no, no, some of your favorite, one of your favorite people because you would have had you would have had something established for me to sit comfortably. We know there's a, a, a height challenge that I exist in and these, these little fancy new modern couches, you know, they take away your masculinity. So, I don't know how I feel about being here, but I'm gonna help you get this done so I can go. Sit on a regular couch. Do I regular people sit? First question, let's go.

Let's go. Let's go, wrap this up, let's go. Right, right, right. Let's go. Let's go. It's dry, it's over. I've got things to do, let's go. Hello, me too, I got a study.

Thank you, Lord. You're so silly. How you doing, sir? Doing good, good. Thank you so got a study. Thank you, Lord. You're absolutely how you doing, sir. You're doing good. Thank you so much for coming. I like to start every episode with a song or a quote. And the song that comes to mind with you sitting on my couch is a song that has guided me through so much

and that has hold me now. Wow. And we're going to talk about that in this episode. I need you to know what you have done, what just your voice, your lyrics, your music. But, not my voice, literally, ladies and gentlemen. I like your, when you do the talking singing thing. Yeah, well, yeah, okay, I just wanna.

It works. Only you can do that. My favorite. I'm finding that out, I'm finding that out. But for those of you who don't know, Kirk is a songwriter produced, required director of gospel singer, best known for leading urban contemporary gospel and Christian R&B ensemble such as the family, God's property, one nation crew, among others. Straight up, good, good, continue.

19 Grammy Awards? Well, I only want about two or three. What happens is the other ones, I go to the Grammys and when people go to the bathrooms, I like, I grab their Grammys and I got a homeboy that's still locked down in jail and he can take like a name plate and he put my name on the front. So I just wanted to be honest.

So the other 17 were actually some of the else's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm just going to be honest. So the other 17 were actually some videos. Yeah, yeah. So just go ahead and put these things in. Okay. Yes. And you are one of the inaugural inductees of the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame. That's huge.

No, no, I'm grateful for that. Amazing, amazing, oh my gosh. So I want to tell the viewers the first time that I was introduced to you. Mrs. In the 90s, I had to be, ooh, probably 10-11-ish, when I was first introduced to you. And I told you, I share this with your wife.

I said, Kirk doesn't understand that when he came on the scene, I was raised Methodist. Methodist. No shade to any Methodist. No, you know what I'm saying? But it's not the most. You just didn't clap. We didn't clap. We didn't clap.

But we did transition where we actually sang some of your songs in my church. Because I think they realized we got to switch things up. We can't just keep singing him those all day. That was AMC. You know, I was United Methodist. Yeah. Oh, oh, so you were more of the white side? Yeah, almost like, almost Catholic,

because we were excited a lot during the time. And you helped me find my own relationship with God. Because I always felt like this can't be it. You know, it didn't excite me. There was nothing where I was like, I really just want to be on fire for God until you came along and it was relatable and I was like okay I can talk to God how I talk I don't have to I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and So that thank you

Seriously and then 2019 I met you the first time I'm not sure if you remember this, but it was the Grand Open of Tyler Perry Studios, the new studio, and we had the gospel brunch that Sunday after the Grand Open. Yes. And there was lines going everywhere for food, and you had a plate of stripping grids,

and I said, where'd you get them stripping grids? And you was like, over there, but the line is long here, take mine. Wow. And I was like, no there, but the line is long here, take mine. Wow. Yes, and I was like, no, no, no, he's like, take a girl, it's like giving a food ticket. Wow. And I took it and I was like, wow, that's a nice person.

Yeah, so that was my first interaction with you in real life and then, did you eat? I did, I told him up, they were good. I'm sorry you didn't get it, you. No, no, no, it's okay, it's okay. First dad and now the couch, so well, and then we're just kind of moving in, so, no, no, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay. First add in now the couch. So we're just kind of moving in. You know? Yeah, it's a first question.

Let's drop this out. Let's go. Oh my gosh. Oh my goodness. But it's all about this. This is the mood. This is the mood. It's so arrogant.

Yeah. Let's go. Let's go. I'm laughing. But a out of more serious note, I opened up about when I was a teenager, I had suicidal thoughts and I was sitting in my floor of my bedroom and play, holding me now, over and over and over again. And it was as if God literally was like holding me. And to this day, I tried to cry. Ooh, dang, we saw we went from this to that quick,

because how it really is, until this day when I hear that song, I cry. And I was talking to a friend of mine, Mark Eason, I actually do car chronicles where we sing, and we play that song, and you would be, like, if you went to my page and looked at the comments, everybody loved, they're like, oh my God, that is my song, then they went back and started playing. I'm sure your ratings and your spins went up after that. But no, seriously, you definitely helped me through a really tough time.

And now I cry for a different reason. What's going on? We're going to break this up, okay? No, this is a beautiful moment. Let's stay right here. I'm good. You know, I can tell you that I have always lived in this dichotomy of, I knew I loved God, but I had a hard time believing that he loved me. So now that people are kind of more exposed to the backstory for what I am,

and my experiences with my father, I got you, thank you. I'm closer to it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You know, I have lived with this space that a lot of things that have been written have not always been what I feel but what I imagine. So it hasn't always been this confident truth that I've always worked from. So even when I think about that song, I was like, oh yeah, that's right, that's another one.

That's another one that I was screaming out for help for. And people didn't even realize that I was screaming out for help. I was wondering, can you hold me now? It's because you're right. That's a very abnormal conversation for someone to have in a gospel. Yes, yes. But that's been the space that I've lived and always warning, always searching for what I did not have in the physical world that I lived in. And so we're always trying to ask God, you know, is because when you talk about anxiety and depression, I've lived in that space my whole life.

And it is very humbling to know that a song that for me was just a moment of, ugh, speaking to a little girl somewhere that I didn't even know. And so, I think that's the big, beautiful, chaotic, painful journey of life. It is, yeah. It's the dichotomy. It's the duality of reality. It is, yeah. I'm extremely humbled and extremely grateful to know that what wasn't

mine became yours. So, thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, this year you dropped a documentary about finding out that your biological father was still alive.

I watched it and I wept uncontrollably. When you posted it on your Instagram, I typed in the comments. I just want you to know that all the mess and everything that you felt you were going through ended up helping so many people and it was so much beauty in that. And I wanna talk about just when I watched it, I was just like, oh my goodness. Like how is this, we look at you as like, you're like, everybody's uncle, everybody's brother,

and people don't even know you, like you're that figure to them. How have you been able to navigate that? Like even still, like, because you're on tour now, it's something like your life just had to keep going. But how are you taking time to really deal with it? Sometimes I don't know if you ever really do. I think if we were honest, I think every human

and some capacity is always running from something. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know, I think that the biggest deal with American Christianity is we want American Christianity to be wrapped in this perfect pose that it's got to look pretty. It's because the imagery that we portray is a lot of time the stained glass windows. Yes.

People out there, suddenly passing, talking, hey brother, God bless you sister. Right. High lulloo. You know, TVN and you know, you know, just, you know, everything is super. Yeah. And life is messy. It is.

Life is messy. Life is dirty. Life you get ugly. And you wonder, where's a God in the midst of all that chaos? And, and, and, and what I don't know doesn't cancel out what I do know. But I'm still not afraid to acknowledge this a lot. I don't know doesn't cancel out what I do know, but I'm still not afraid to acknowledge just a lot I don't know. So I may be running forever,

because somebody's like, well, no, there's gotta be a blood. No. Right, no. The now scripture has a mirror to people. I remember, and one of Paul's writings, and he's just making a list of all of these people that lived by faith but never lived to see the promise happen.

So that's that's the reality. Look at Moses. Moses, Moses would use the part that read, see, but then make it in a can. Right. In that phrase. This light is like my neck. You like my neck, you know, he didn't make it in. So, you know, that's the reality when we live in. And so, I am learning, though, to be okay with that. Wow. I'm learning to be okay that there will be some crosses. I've got to carry.

There'll be some lips that I'll have. And from those places have come, for others, some of the most beautifully painful songs that I see reach people, you know, like an Imagine Me. I wouldn't know the beats sipping on my tie, with flip flops on, I'm going to write Imagine Me. Right, you know, it's like, you know,

it's like, life is ugly, got a song one year ago. Yeah, so, you know. Yeah. During those times, and I know this is still fresh for you, did you ever like question God, God, why did it take so long to find this out? I questioned God all the time.

I was questioning God before that. Really? I questioned God all the time. When you see a family, on the way to church and hear the whole family died in a car wreck, or, you know, you meet sweet people to die of cancer, and do you see booze?

I can live in a life, and they live until they're seven and eight is still being booze. I mean, yeah, I have a question God all the time. And God welcomes the conversation. He does. Because the question is at least we're talking. At least we're talking.

Yeah. And he welcomes the conversation. And once again, I think that so much deconstruction of religious dogma that we've been programmed to believe has to happen for people to have a clear understanding that for most people of color, this fear of what we can't do and can't say to God is really birthed in a colonized version of what Christianity was introduced to a displaced people to control them. And so all of that has to be deconstructed so we can. So it's because what we've got to understand so clearly

is that Western Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ are not synonymous. They are not the same. Who Jesus is and what we a lot of times teach in Western Christianity is dogma and ideology that has nothing to do with the pure heart of Jesus Christ. Jesus. Wow. I remember just recently while you were on this tour a man was outside the venue. Oh

no no not this tour. What tour was it? That was four years ago. Somebody just somebody just resurrected it. Somebody just resurrected. I thought that was happening in real time. I went back to something like that now. It's like, man, it's pandemic. I don't know you. Right. But you literally took time to meet with this man after. And he ridiculed you just for how you dance and you're lyrics.

I'm like, we do have to deconstruct because everybody's gotten so literal almost. We're just like taking it and thinking that they're God. And then also, you know, it is an extension of the heart of a Pharisee, right? You know, that what I don't understand, I dismiss. And so it is in the process of being able to engage with people to get an understanding

of why they maneuver and how they maneuver and to not demonize or to try to put scripture to things that may not be my cup of tea. Curtius may not be your cup of tea. Yeah, that's okay. And that's okay. Sometimes I'm not my cup of tea. Some days I get on my nerves. Right? I'm happy I've had days, we'd be like,

girl, get it together. Yes. So if you have that with you, why would you not understand that everybody's not going to process and connect with you in certain ways and still give them grace for God to keep doing the work? Yeah, that's good. I love that.

Now that you know who your father is, how are you integrating that into your life? Like how is that getting to, have you guys spent any time together? Yeah, yeah, but you know, it is still the weirdest thing for me. And he's a great guy. Great guy. He's a really, really nice guy.

He's a great, great guy. I just, just because you've been introduced to love don't know it doesn't mean you're not a process and when you see it. You know it's good. Yes not automatic. And I think once again we've watched so much TV. We've watched so many movies, we've read so many romance novels that we want happy endings to everything quickly. That's been in relationship and I was like, one guy told me he's like, Crystal, it's not a fairy tale. Get that out of your head. But I'm the same way that I'm the same way.

I romanticized it. Yes, oh my gosh, I'm the same way. Yeah. You know, often, because of my biological mother passed when I was two. So you always, yeah. So I feel like a part of me always wonders like what parts of me are like her. And now that you know your dad, do you see any likes,

oh, that's where I get that from? Or, oh, now things are starting to make a little more sense about it. You know, I have not had to just spend a whole lot of time. We've been able to have moments. Yeah, there are things, but there are things that I know that probably for the both of us still need to grow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, but you know, you know, because he's headstrong. He's ambitious, he's, oh no, no, no, he is very much him, very much him, you know.

And so, but you know, he's a good man, he's a good man. He's a good man. He's somebody that I could definitely look up to. Well, we're the same height, but you know, you know. But yeah, I think there more than anything. It's just me. It's just, it's just the trauma. And then you also got to remember something very important. There was a man in my life that I believed to be my father. Well, no, I'm not in my life.

There was a man that I knew of. Yes. That I believed to be my father, all of my life. And I hated this man, all of my life, because it wasn't my father. You just, and I need to try to make this really clear. I did not hate him because I did not want him to be my father. I hated him because I wanted him to be my father.

So that's a different type of energy. And so now that I have been introduced to my father, it doesn't mean that I go, oh, okay, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like I have over half a century of hate and anger that I've lived with, that now has to be reprogrammed and was again deconstructed because of what I believed him to be. And so now I'm left with a lot of pieces that I'm having to maneuver through. And it takes time. And I'm not going to rush so that people can have another homework.

I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. That doesn't benefit anybody involved. I'm going to take my time to do what I need to do in the process. I'm 53 years old. I'm looking for no daddy. Right, it is age right. 53. He won't pick it up from school.

What are you going to do? What are we going to do? Right. Yes, so you know, I've got to, I've got a maneuver and then once again, you know, I have to divorce my heart from what I thought was. You know? And this man went to his grave knowing that I ate him. He went to his grave.

So, you know, that hurts too, even deserving. Yeah. Yeah, so there's a lot there, you know, and the tour has been wonderful because I've been able to, you know, get away now that the tour's ending. I can be honest, I do feel anxiety. Because you're not gonna have to sit in it for a minute.

I know I gotta go home. Yeah, oh. And I know I gotta maneuver. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good.

So tell me a little bit more about the relationship that you had with your, did you even have relationship with the man you thought was your father? Yeah, well, you know, I'm adopted. I'm adopted. I was adopted when I was four by 64 year old woman named Gertrude. Gertrude was a widow. She was born in 1908. Wow.

I know. I had a fourth grade education. And she recycled cans and newspapers to paper my piano lessons. And, that's that Gertrude died before she ever heard any of my music. She never heard any music recording. So, in marginalized communities, it is not uncommon for kids to be raised by people, but still there may be some visual engagement, maybe once, twice, two, three times a year with their biological parents. Yes.

It's very dysfunctional, but it's real. Well, because a lot of times outside of our communities, a child that's adopted as a system, you know, a type of adoption agency where they don't know their biologicals and they get adopted now, they still have a pain among their adopted, but at least they're introduced to a family and now takes them in. A lot of times in our community, you can be adopted and still know your biologicals, so it's a scar that never heals.

It's a scar that stays open because every time that biological leaves to go with a boyfriend or go wherever, you wanna know where you're not good enough to go with him. And so that's what I've lived with my whole life. So when I was six years old, I was introduced to the man that at this point I thought was my biological father. His father died, peaked me up and took me to the funeral.

I believe you probably wouldn't have even done that, but the funeral was in a church in that neighborhood, in New York, in New York. I met him then, I did see him again, so I was 13. I didn't see him again until after my first album came out, and then he started trying to show up at concerts, which pissed me off. So we show him, I have a relationship now, I'm like, I'm not going to. Yes, no.

No relationship. And so that's kind of how that would start to be. And so after that, I would even hate him more. So it was not a man that tried to pursue me at any point, try to show up for anything. It wasn't until after. And by the same time, I'm 23 years old, 25 years old, and they just didn't work. Absolutely. Yeah, so that's really the context. Okay, so with your father now, we know this is your biological father, and you say he's a good man.

He's a good man. Was there any point after meeting him that little Kirk was like, dang, I missed out? Hey, sweetie. We're going to get back to this week's episode after an ad from our sponsors. Tough is in your DNA. It drives your resilience. Even when they told you that you couldn't, you did what no one else could. And that's because you're different from the rest.

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angry at God. It's because I give you, it's to you in this, in this capsulite space. So God and his sovereign plan because we believe in the sovereignty of God, right? We believe all things, you know, work together. We believe everything good, bad, and ugly. The God creates it, the God allows it. That's the sovereign to plan. That's the doctrine of sovereignty, right? So God and a sovereign plan allowed my biological father to be ten minutes away from me my entire life. And I didn't know it. In that space I developed some bad habits, became very promiscuous girls, you know trying to find a love in girls that I didn't have in my

mama. It's because my mama went there either. And so those habits as you now become a Christian, now those habits are sins. I do what I'm going? I do. So God and His sovereignty allow this absence of the Father. I develop bad habits and then as I got older they never come sin. So God allowed absence that created now something that He hates. I wore with that. I wore with that. Wow. I do. I do. I do. I wore with that. My God. I wore with that. Wow.

I do. I do. I do. I wore with that. I can imagine because as a young boy, you're just looking to fill a void. That's how you're doing. Yeah. And I was never the kind of dude.

It was like, yo man, I got just grunt, you know, like girls were never a chess match for me. You know, it was never trophies. It was always that absence of mom. You know what I'm saying? But you know when you're young and you have sexual urges and desires like a human would, it is how you interpret and how you try to maneuver and what you think love is.

And then you realize that it is very a shallow approach to love, but it's what you think love is. And then you realize that it's very shallow approach to love, but it's what you know. And so for God and the sovereign plan to allow that space book of the game in the hood, there's not school programs and new tickets and what two kids doing the hood. You know, you played a little game, high and go get it, you know what I'm saying?

You know what I'm saying? You didn't got it. You didn't got it with my camera. He didn't got it. He showed God it. He got it. You didn't got it. You didn't got it with my camera. He didn't got it. He showed got it. He got it again and again. So you know, you just develop bad things that were allowed in a space of God sovereignly, making this emptiness. And so, yeah, I struggle. I struggle. And I don't need Christians trying to give me a theological answer.

Let me struggle. Yes. I struggle. David struggled. The tropes struggled. We struggle. Paul says, I see through a glass darkly now. I struggle. David struggled. The child struggled. We struggle.

We struggle. Paul says, I see through a glass darkly now. I don't understand everything now. Let us struggle. It's like, I don't know what that is about Christians. We think that we always got to have the answer and the social shift and things. Sometimes the greatest thing, like one of the things

that pisses me up more than anything is that when somebody's child dies. And person saying, well God needed another angel. My neck boy, I just think that that is the most offensive thing. It is. You have to get it. Yeah, just shut up, bro. Yes, don't say anything. Just shut up.

And these are the things that I want people to understand that we do not offend if God is our father. I have kids. Ain't nothing my kids can ever say to me that's going to ever stop me from being there. Well, I mean, we've seen some of my life live up publicly. I'm still a daddy. I'm still there. You know, so. Yeah, love that.

Let's tackle that real quick. I, everybody saw the viral video of you going. What viral video? I know. I'm going in on your side. You don't remember that? No. Is it something new you're going to reveal? I don't.

Why is the video going to joke? But I remember watching it and I was like, I think most of the black community was like, hey, nothing, like nobody, you know, the overly Christian people like, all you shouldn't do that, and that's not Christian like, and he shouldn't do that. Buying a lab, and I was like,

oh, that's just a normal talking to, you know? But as I thought about it, and just thinking of our culture and how we have began to normalize, like, oh, that's fine, you know what I'm saying? Like, as I'm all I'm talking to me, you know what I'm saying? And we turn it all right, you know? But exactly, it doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it right, and that did not make me right.

That was a moment that I was very disappointed in. And I have to hold that. I can allow for any situation to allow me to get to that space. And I can be honest and say that often, like that ain't the first time I went up on somebody like that. I'm a man, I'm a man,'m a, I'm a, you know, I have that Napoleon, you know, the, you know, and I want all the smoke. And if you cross me wrong, you know, it's like I, you know, and that's, and that's one

of my weaknesses, that's one of my struggles. And it's still my strength. If I see somebody, you know, being treated wrong, I like to jump in and take up form, you know, and, and every word and going to be, I pray for your brother, it's going to be, you know, and I struggle, you know, that's, it's not right, it's not right, but I'm not going to act in front of people that I've got it all together. So, I won't acknowledge that it was something I did wrong, and my sum was 33 at the time, 32, 33.

So again, I'm also talking to somebody who put themselves in position of a man. And we were having because his audio was on there too. It was, yes. You had to, I mean, you were like, I'm a pre-beast. And I'm like, that's how you want to talk. And it's a sponsor night. Why are you talking to me like that? I got you, it wasn't like I'm a crazy saying, I'm like, yeah, that's how you want to talk. And it's a sponsor night, why are you talking to me like that? I got you to it, it wasn't that.

You know, his sponsor's like, what? You know what? So he knows two men, but again, somebody got to be the bigger person and I was, you know, and I hate that two men, but because, and the reason why I also hated it, you know, is because I knew the state of my son and that should have allowed me to be more gracious. Wow.

That's, I feel like that in itself is a message to parents. Yeah, man. Yeah, man. I knew the state of my son, but I just, you know, I just called me, you know, because I hadn't talked to, when he recorded me, I hadn't talked to Karyon. Like, that was the second time I talked to Karyon in two, two and a half years.

And those conversations were back to back, like one weekend and next weekend, and they were both bad. Because the audio that y'all heard, they were two separate conversations. So he'd recorded me twice. Oh my goodness. Yeah.

Did you feel betrayed? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. I felt very much betrayed. But again, it doesn't justify what I did. And again, I knew the state of my son. And let me also say this also, man.

My son is a beautiful. I love him. Yeah. He's my first born. I love him. He's so handsome. He's so, oh, you talented. Oh, man, this kid has so much talent.

And, well, this girl, man, this kid has so much talent. And well, this girl, and he's 35 now. Yeah, he's 35 now. And I love him, and I still believe in him. And we've got a lot of work that we have to do. But it's a lot of work that I'm committed to. Good, I love that. Oh, man, he's my son.

He's my son. He's my first boy. And me and this boy, and the type, like he was my road dog, my career first took off. I remember being at a, and he was like, five. I remember being at a high school, doing sign autographs, my first album, sign autographs, and we looked down, and this little nigga was signing autographs. Yeah, so, you know, you know, he was my guy,

but he is my guy. Yeah, you know, I mean, he's been all over the world. He's been all over the world. Wow. That's my guy. I saw on your documentary, you had a conversation with him and told him that you had found your father

and you all had a very warm embrace. What did that moment feel like? Because I know that's when I lost it all. Like I was crying the whole episode, but then that's when I was like, wooah, yeah. Because it felt like we were there through it with you guys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I hadn't seen him in over 10 years. Mm-hmm. I hadn't seen him in over 10 years when it happened. So when I saw him, you know, for that doc, you know, it had been over a decade. And so just to get a chest and brace him to hold him, you know, it was beautiful for me. It was beautiful for me because I had been able to just touch him, you know.

And you know, he spent through a lot. He spent through a lot. He spent through know, and you know, he's been through a lot. He's been through a lot. He's been through a lot, you know, and I want more of that, you know, and I'm very proud of the fact that the hard, deep work I see him doing. And I believe someday when Karyon is ready, he's's gonna be able to help a lot of young men. Wow. I'm telling you, I'm telling his story. His story is going to be, oh yeah.

That's amazing. Especially. Yeah. I love that. With everything that you've gone through, you have had your beautiful wife, Tammy Shatty. I love you, sis. You have had her beautiful wife, Tammy Shatzami. I love you sis. You have had her by your side.

And oftentimes we see Kirk. And you are the one that we see. You're the household name. But we don't think about how it's affecting everyone around you. And I saw she was in a state of shock as well when you found out that you got the DNA results back and you were on the phone. You like say that again, like's like my mom has lied to me my whole life.

How has it affected Tammy? Because sometimes I don't know if you're like me. I'm type person where I need to be by myself. That's the problem. That's it right there. And I don't know if that's a creative thing. That's a thing of creative. I don't know if that's a creative thing, if that's a thing of creative, I don't know

what that is. But I think that that's what I have to manage more than anything. The natural instinct to be alone. And first of all shout out to Tammy Franklin. Tammy Franklin is a beautiful soul. She's an incredible woman. She's an incredible woman. She's an amazing woman and it takes a lot to be married to someone who has lived with so much of a traumatic book because my, you know,

my experiences have not only been traumatic for as natural family. My experience has been traumatic when it comes to religion. When it comes to religion, because think about it, man, I've been, and we notice I've been dogged my career, even by the kind of music I do with the church. You know, I've been kicked out of churches. I've been kicked out of Bible colleges. I mean, you know, and so it just takes a very special woman to be able to experience all of that.

And yeah, this is a season where I find isolation and being alone, even something more that I gravitate to. And I have to fight to try to be intentionally, to be reminded. And especially now that my kids are gone, it's because my kids was interesting for me. And again, because I didn't have family. See, Tammy comes from a big family.

So what was natural for her was very unnatural for me. And so having kids gave me something to make up for all the hurt I didn't have, not having a daddy. I put it all in them. I put it all in them. Sometimes even to the fault I can be honest and saying I've never said this on anything before and I haven't said and I'll be transparent here to say is that even to a fault that a lot of times I realize now that they were impdynesting I probably invested even more into them. Right. Then I even sometimes did her because with her the natural man to do thing is always the red bottoms the car the person you know you you're always doing the things that you think are the

things and they're not the things you know and so I am guilty of that I am make sure to be guilty of that you know I don't and you know it's not intentional yeah it's just what you end up doing because you're so busy trying to make it. And then when you come from poverty, you think that these things are the things that matter. But also, it was a lot for me. A lot of the attention was, these kids cannot feel what I felt. They cannot feel what I felt.

And not having a blueprint for being a daddy, I overdid the day. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know what I mean? You know, it's like I would come in from the studio, you know, three or four o'clock in the morning, and sit up in the chair, so I wouldn't follow the sleep

so I could take him to school in a while. You know, because like, they cannot feel it. They cannot feel it, and so that's what drove me. Yeah. But in all that, you feel like you was neglecting Tammy as well. Well, that would be for her to say if it was neglecting. You know, you know, it's I think. Because you might not feel that way.

Yeah, you know, but whatever she may feel, I look back and go, you know, man, I did not learn. And then it's also the thing is that, you know, some things are taught, some things are caught. And I did not have a lot around me to be able to teach me some of the husband stuff. Now, my spiritual father, I spent a lot of time with him, trying to learn how to be a husband,

trying to learn how to be a God of Mettoni, every time I'm 20. Yeah, that's all you on his trying to learn how to be a god of mettonia every time. I'm talking to you every time. Yes, I saw you on his documentary. I did this, that you talking about. Love me. He's my hero. He's my hero. He's incredible.

And so, you know, I know that I still got a lot of learn. You know, and I think that this empty nesting thing has shook with me. Mm-hmm. Because you have nothing to, you're like, wait, I got to sit in this for real, look in the mirror. Maybe. And see when people also realize that, Tammy and I got married with kids.

Oh, I didn't know that. We've never lived by ourselves. Wow. Okay. Yeah, I had carried it. So both of y'all, I kind of like. Not her as much. Me because again, I come to the table with these family deficiencies.

Yeah. So, you know, I got married on a Saturday and went on a plate that Tuesday. me because again I come to the table with these family deficiencies. So, you know, I got married on a Saturday and went on a plate that Tuesday. Oh wow. And I've been going ever since. It's the year, you know. And we had two kids already. Wow. And then we got pregnant less than a year in our marriage. So, you know, we just, you know, it just kept it.

And so the kids became, and when you travel as much as I do, you do have the fear of the kids missing out. You know, it's almost like as a man, the natural button is to think of the kids. I don't know what that is. It's like you just naturally were, okay, well, I want these kids to miss me, they're playing. I don't want them to miss me, you know.

It's because I think that the life of the children and all that they're involved in becomes the priority. For both parents at times, because you know, I was very blessed to be able to have a position where Tammy didn't have to go to work. You know, so she, you know, and I enjoyed watching her pour into these kids. So, you know, that's, that was our nucleus. So now that we don't have those things, I'm so I'm trying to find my way.

Mm-hmm. Wow. Yeah. Ooh, I can't imagine what that's like. And it's crazy because as adults, we start to look back and be like, like you said, I just want to, I never wanted them to feel what I felt. Never wanted them to feel.

Never. And, but that little boy and that little girl never leaves us. That's what it is. That's what it is. That's what it is. And again, that ain't got none to do with your spouse. You know, like I said, you know, Tammy's super one. She is, man, Tammy's a super hair.

She's a super Tammy's one of the most kind of sweet. And again, Tammy's got great parents. You know, she, you know, my daddy, big old house. Well, I came from sleeping in the car. You know what I mean? I pond, gurchutes, wedding ring, when I was 20, because I was so hungry and had no food. I pond her wedding ring and the lawn mower.

So that's how bad things were for me. So you know, you know, you're just trying to figure it out. Do you feel like you live, cause you've made it, but do you feel like you ever catch yourself living in a scarcity mindset, remembering being homeless and having to pause, and then you're bringing a lot of it. Always, and there's never mindset for me that I made it. Like, I don't feel like I made it.

Are you kidding me? Girl, are you kidding? Because he's what you got to understand also. I'm also part of a musical genre that is a niche genre. Like, I'm not doing mainstream music. Like, I don't do mainstream. Now, I can't deny and say that the Lord has been extremely kind of my career, but you got to stand.

I'm part of a genre that behind closed doors, I'm always dealing with issues. Like I am man, okay, it is. It is. I am part of a genre that behind closed doors, I'm always knocking in begging. Wow. Because people on the bigger platforms,

major corporations and companies, they don't believe in gospel music. They don't see the marketing value in gospel, so you're always having to prove to them that it can work. There's never been a time in my career that a red carpet has been laid out. Wow.

It's feast of emin over here. My entire career. Baby girl, you better ask, man. You better ask out of all the tours that I've done in my life. And I've been touring for the last 25 years. I've only done two tours of my life that were profitable. What? It was the Hopeville tour right at the September 11th.

We're done with Kirkland, Yolanda Adams. It was profitable in the Maverick tour. Wow. Those are only tours that I personally was financially best to make money and come on money. Only two tours. Yeah, because everything else you're having to really invest in it yourself.

Oh my goodness. Yeah, man, in gospel music, that's why you don't really see people running to do gospel music, but you know, it ain't like it's a flow of funds and flow of opportunities. No. Gospel music is feast of famine. Yeah. So when you have a conversation about made it,

we still visit knockin' on doors. We don't even know what that means. We still visit banging on doors. We don't even know what that means. We still busy banging on the... Give us a chance. Give us a chance. Oh yeah. Oh, always my entire career. Wow. You just never know because people like, I look at you. I'm like, oh, he's made it. Man. He's been doing this since I can't remember. Man, ask when you next time you call 10, man. ask 10, 10, tell you man, all of the headaches and the, the tears and the discouragement. Oh, man, the nose.

Wow. Because think about it, man, you know, it's 2023. Talking about Jesus, like selling the amway, selling the abon, not gonna people do it. You know, trying to get people to believe is something they don't even use anymore. That a preach. Right.

Yes, preach. Trying to get them to believe in something. They don't even use anybody. They don't even use, ooh. They'll let that go over your head. My God. My God. Why haven't you given up?

You talk about this industry does not support, it's like you're constantly not gonna door asking for help, but you haven't given up yet. First of all, I'm too ambitious. I'm too ambitious. I am, let me tell you, I'm ambitious. I can't sit down. Like, I, it's like, I'm hungry.

I'm a new artist. Every record I've purchased in New Artist, I am, I'm strong. And I think some of that is that abandonment. You know, I am fueled by my truck. Wow. And I'm okay. I'm okay with it. Because I could be fueled doing some other things.

You know, I'm fueled by my trauma. I'm okay with it, because I can be fuel doing some other things. You know, I'm fuel, I'm fuel by my trauma. I'm too ambitious, I'm too hungry. I tell, like I had a couple of younger producers come into my studio and they saw, you know, the little eee, you know, the little, you know, whatever the stuff is that you'll be winning, whatever. And one of them said, he said, he said, he said, oh gee, what's the secret? First of all, this is a little bit called me, oh gee,

I was like, wait a minute, that's like people call me on to him, I'm like, y'all stop it. Watch it, yeah, calm that down. Yeah. And I said to him, I said, well, I think I know what you're asking me. And so I'll give you the answer, I said, what, what, and I said,

I said, but it's not going to be sexy. Man, it's not going to be sexy. I said, the answer is, I am too insecure for you to forget me. I can't afford for you to forget me. So I'm going to do whatever I need to do to make sure that you don't forget. Because I can't afford to be forgotten. Wow. Not in an arrogant state. Yeah. Just the fact of, man, they can't forgive me. It's like, it's like I can't afford to be forgotten again. I know what it's like to be forgotten. Jeez. Mm. I'm hurt. So, yeah.

Wow. Kirk, with everything that you've been through, we are really big on mental health here in the kids' community. You have had a therapist for over 20 years. Yeah, no. Yes. I know.

Even before therapy was popular, because we just had to- I should be getting a discount by now, Dr. Jo. I need a discount. I didn't grow so many people to young. I had a test mental. He's not cheering. He's like, oh Dr. Jo, I need a discount. I didn't grow so many people in the yard. I had a test, he's not cheering. He's like, oh, your documentary's got people calling me.

I said, man, can you carry some slack in here? That's my man, I love him. That's amazing. I love that you got into it before it was even popular. What made you say I need therapy? Because broken. Wow. I was broken. Wow. I was broken.

And I am wired naturally to seek help. That's why I am naturally. Like I get on people's nerves. I'm the type of person if there's a bump on my pinky toe. I'm at the doctor the next day. What is that? That's it though, because you never know. OK, that's not.

I'm like, they go take my pinky toe, you know? And it it though. Yeah. Yeah. Because you never know. Because that's not what I'm like. They're going to take my pink and tell them, you know? And it's like the doctor comes in. Tylenol Rapid Release Jails, your go-to option for fast, effective pain relief. Don't let pain slow you down. Be prepared for aches and pains after the big game and fun fall festivities. Tylenol Rapid Release Jails to help you enjoy life to the fullest. And now introducing new Tylenol precise, a pain relief in cream with maximum strength light I came without a prescription. Get back to the activities you love with Tylenol rapid release jails and Tylenol precise. Find the power of pain relief

today available now, used as directed. It's a bunion. You know, I'm like, Lord, what's the bunion? You know what I'm saying? Because I'm just that type of person. I'm always wanting help. You have. I always want help. I'm not afraid to help. That's good.

And that could be that deficiency. I think, yeah, I was thinking that. Yeah. But that's good. You're not afraid to ask for it. At all. Because a lot of people would be oblivious. Or some people don't know they need it. No, I'm a black man at praise and sees it there. That's good. You're not afraid to ask for it at all because a lot of it would be oblivious or some people don't know they need it No, I'm a black man at praise and she's a therapist. Mm-hmm. That's amazing because even I know I know people personally

They're like, I don't need everybody have Jesus and I'm like And it sounds so dumb That sounds so dumb. I don't need therapy. I have Jesus. Mm-hmm dumb I have cancer, but I'm not gonna get chemo. I have Jesus. Hmm. Um. I have cancer, but I'm not going to get chemo, but I have Jesus. Right. Come on. Literally.

Because I know they will go get that chemo. Yeah. Yeah. But they don't need therapy. I'm not going to take a shower, because I have Jesus. I'm hungry. I'm hungry, but he's the bread of life. I am Jesus.

Oh my goodness. So good. So you talk about you constantly questioning God. You go through this phase where you question God a lot throughout your life. But not realizing that everything that you've done has allowed people not to, through your career, through your songs. Like for me personally, like you gave me reason like I can move, I can go on. I know that I can make it.

I know that I can stand., I know that I can stand, even though it's one of the sort of feel like or God-wise is happening, you give it everybody hope. Do you ever go through situations or questioning yourself behind closed doors? Like I know that I doubt in question God, but I'm telling these people, you can do it, you can do it. And is that hypocritical?

Yeah. One of the greatest illustrations of this level of honesty to me is the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul is this individual that God uses to write 90% of the New Testament. So he is the architect of the New Testament church. And his letters to the churches, they set the trajectory of us understanding the ideal construct of grace, moving people from law and legalism, and yet, and all of his writings and teachings and blueprints for us to be able to now be able to have be able to have

personal access to God the Father through His resurrected Son Jesus Christ. He says in Romans something that is the template for the discussion we're having. He says to the Romans, he says, but everything that I'm writing to you guys, I admit I have not obtained it. For the things that I want to do, other things I don't do, the good that I desire to do, the things I don't do, and the things that I don't want to do, other things I end up doing. Doing yes. O'Rech, man, that I am, who will free me from this body of death.

You just did. That was the intro of one of your songs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll never say to of one of your songs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. On the Maverick City album, yes. Yeah, well, yeah. Oh, I've done it many times. I've done it many times. I've done it many times.

Yeah, yeah, it's because I think that that is the, see, the paradox of Christianity is, I am a mess and a miracle at the same time. Yes. me too. That is the paradox of Christianity. We are, yeah. I am a mess and a miracle at the same time. And so that is why I am so irritated

with the perfect bow wrapped on the package of what it looks like to be like Jesus. Because the template and the book that we use in this canon of scripture that gives us the outline of how we desire to live are written by murderers, liars, adulterers, killers, cheetahs, bad parents, you know, these, I think, these and polygamists and and and and and all of these things that we called them our heroes, but they were masses and miracles at the same time, but we don't give that level of patience and grace to each other. Why we call them. I don't understand it is the most it is the most and that's why I believe I believe you see one of the greatest exodus out of Christianity that we have seen in a 21st century. We

have so many people leaving Christianity because people can't take that no more. It's like it's like it's because when you go to the club you know what you get. When you go to the you know what you get and when you smoke this you know what you hope you know what you get. When you go to the, you know what you get. When you smoke this, you know what you hope you can get. Yeah, when you drink this, you know, you, yes, it's like there's no ambiguity to the things outside of these religious dogmatic structures. I'm saying to you that as a Christian, that is a married, that is a father,

that stands from the people, there are things about me that are not yet like Jesus. And there's a lot about me. I am one of my mentor, he gave me a quote, well, he says something to me that I made a quote and it's one of my phones, a scream saver. He said, Kirk, you are a man, a sinner, a saint, and a star.

And then he said, the odds are against you. Mm. You know what I'm saying? It's like, that's real talk. Now I don't say myself as a star, that's what he said. But I understand the content. He's talking about just the public. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, so, but then he concluded by saying, but he've got

before you. So, you know, but the thing is, every day, I am a man, a sinner, a saint, and a public figure, so whatever. And I live in those realities every day. The things that I would do good are the things I don't always do, and the things I don't always do and the things I don't do, I don't think I shouldn't do the things I do. Oh, rich man that I am. So. Wow. Yeah.

I'm just blowing away right now. Seriously, thank you so much. No, thank you for having me and your beautiful home and congratulations to all of your great success. And just makes me proud. Even from a distance, I'm just proud. I mean, there are others that know you and more intimate, closer ways, but just, you know,

on the outside, it's like, it's beautiful. Thank you so much. You're so dope and so proud of you. I want to give you. And you're so consistent with everybody you need. Everybody you meet, you're the same. You are too though. I feel like every time I've met you in different moments, you've been from meeting you at the studio,

meeting you, seeing you on the red carpet, meeting you backstage at Mavric City Concert, to now, you are the same person, and you are unforgettable. Like literally, when you say I'm too insecure to be forgotten, every moment, I was like, man, it was amazing. And it always sticks with me.

I don't want you to know that you are unforgettable, like seriously. And I hope that you can just come to and understand that you are enough and that you can let that insecurity go, because you really are a light, you are a star, like it has, you really are. And I want you to know that and walk in that. It's confidently. But I want you to know if I don't, I'm okay

because my weakness, God uses for other strength. Yeah, I'm a witness. So I'm okay. Yeah. I really am. And I know that sounds like it's trying to be other worlds or it's super surreal. I'm really coming to a place.

You know, what's cool about getting older is you get to the places where you really don't care. Oh my gosh. I love it. It's wonderful. It is. It's wonderful. I'm okay because I understand how the lips lead to other people's race.

Yeah. And I'm good. I'm good. It is so good. At the close of our show, we do what is called Positive Outcomes, where our listeners write into us and we give them advice. Okay. You down?

I'm down. All right, let's do it. This one says, hi, Chris. So I'm 50 years old and for the past 18 years, I've been in relationship with a married man. I know that it's not okay. How many years? 18 years. She's been really? Yeah, with a married man. Yeah. I know this is not okay to be with a married man, but I'm 50 and I'm more afraid that I will never meet someone and I don't want to be alone. I have a 16-year-old daughter. We have a 16-year-old daughter together and she does not know

that her father has a whole other family. I have gotten to the point where I can no longer keep lying to my daughter and want to tell her the truth, but her father does not want her to know. I don't want her to find out from another source down the line, but I don't want her to judge me either. What should I do? For the sake of the child. I think, how old is her daughter?

16, yeah. So she's probably starting to have a question. Well, she knows her father, she just doesn't know that she has another family. Got you. Okay, so she knows that this guy she just doesn't know that she has another family. Got you. Okay, so she knows that this got you there. Mm-hmm, yeah. Okay.

Yeah, she does not know that her father has a whole other family. Got you, but she knows of him. Does he spend time with her? I don't know. Okay. Yeah, that's what I'm known to here. Yeah.

I would recommend that her and her daughter find a beautiful therapist. Because whatever the outcome is of the woman and the relationship, it doesn't change the fact that the daughter is here. The daughter is alive in here. So, you know, it's really not about the daughter and the well-being of the daughter, you know, the unfortunate events of how the child got here doesn't take them from back to the child is here. And so now it's all about what the best interest is for the child. I would find a therapist who can be able to make sure

that the young lady is the least damaged. Yes. Because it's going to be damaged. You know, she's a casualty of the dis-experience, but I would really try to find a therapist. It's because the two of them have a child together now. So their experience is now secondary to that baby. And there's going to be repercussions, there's going to be fallout, there's going to be all

of those realities. But I would recommend them to be able to get to a loving, professional, not a deacon at the church. Hello. Who do, who do, who do, who do, canceling it between. Mm-hmm. Oh, real professional, yeah. And real professional.

Somebody's got a couple of pieces of paper behind a name. Yes. You know what I'm saying? And I'm not saying that that makes them perfect, but there is a discipline that comes from the rigorous process of getting to that place. So that's what I would hope they guys. You know, I'm not a professional,

but I know that children matter. Yeah, I agree with you 1,000%. And I can speak, I'm sure you know families that like grandparents, I know a lot of people my age have grandparents who grandad me a step down and had a whole other child on the side of town. And you don't find out about it until you grow. I was like, oh, I got a brother that's 20, what?

Yeah, but if I don't, until that's funeral. Right, yes, everything starts to hold. Everything comes out of the funeral. And but the child is the one that has to suffer. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I be honest with her. Child comes first. Yes. Child comes first. For sure.

Great advice. Okay, so the next thing we do is what I'm going through and what I'm growing through. First cute. What I'm going through and I'm growing through. For me in this season, I am going through, and this being like this, I'm such a control freak, I tell you what it is, I like to know the variables, I don't like anything unknown, I like to control it, you know. You do?

Yes. And for me, it is trust in God. And even with this strike, we just finished the strike and we're not, we're going back to work. But even in that, I was tested so much. I know you were. Oh my goodness. I know your light bill was tested. It sure was.

I was looking. I know your car no was tested. Are you kidding me? Please. Listen to Morgan's every word. Listen. I was like, come on, let's keep it a buck. Yes.

Okay, sitting around, when you don't, Listen, I was like, come on, let's keep it a buck. Yes. Okay, sitting around, when you don't, what we do is like, I'm going to have the next three years saved up. Right. When a strike happens. Now, when you're an entrepreneur because a lot of what we do, we eat what we kill. We do. Mm-hmm.

So true. Yeah. But in this time, it's like, really me that God has it, because literally, I was praying to God and I said, God, it was so funny because I went, I was filming last week. I was filming the podcast, and I went downstairs to give me an energy drink. And it was the last day of filming, and literally the Holy Spirit hit me.

I hit that last step down there and I said, ooh, and literally said the strike is gonna be over. And I went to Tyler's premiere, and everyone's like, oh, literally said the strike is gonna be over. And I went to Tyler's premiere and everyone's like, oh yeah, the strike is gonna be, I give it like tomorrow, I said nah, today. No, she said January, I said nah, today. And literally within two hours, everybody got phone started going off.

She was like, you said! I was like, no, I was like, I felt it. Like the spirit really hit me because I have been on Lord. Come on now, I need you to move swiftly. Yeah. On this thing. Yeah. I need you to move swiftly on this thing. Yeah. Yeah.

I like to know her. When we got all these brand partnerships that she gets for me, I'm like, so when did money come in? Yeah. I'm like, I need this a month ago. It's 30 days. Lesson.

30, come on. Listen, listen, man. Like I tell you, I have struggled with these tours. I told them because it's 10 to 1 in a new house. And well come cook us, because Tammy won a new house. And well, we were blessed to get a new house. And congratulations. And I always make a joke to everybody around me. I'm like, all right, y'all gonna see me

when these little clubs are gonna be stripping. I'm gonna be able to win these little gospel. I'm gonna strip a gospel music. Ah! I'm gonna strip a gospel music. You think that this gospel music has gone too far? You think we got it too far? You think so? You think this gossiping has gone too far? You think we've got it too rough? But guess what?

But guess what strip an A-me is? What? You're in what strip an A? You ready? Ready? I'm not ready. What strip an A-me is? Low cheeks. Ah!

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! I see. You play the soup. That's a good laugh. That's an angel laugh. That's the angel laugh when you laugh and be saying the word when you laugh. Right, I'm gonna see.

You play the word. Say it never happens. You don't have to wear it, never have to. Don't wear it. But at times, God horde, I'm gonna take him up because the Bible says the man that don't take him as family is worse than inf the man that don't take care of his family's works and infidel, so I will be somewhere. Nothing.

Right. Little cheeks. Little cheeks. Tammy got heat. Oh my. Tammy got heat. Tammy got heat. Tammy got heat.

That's right. You kids got heat, little cheeks. I love it. All right. Is there anything that you're going through and growing through in this season of your life? That is so fun. She just tried to move past it.

Give her a break. I love that. Let me drink real quick. Hold on. Oh, OK. I'll sit mine. Mm-hmm. Oh, man.

Anything I'm going through, growing through, I think, you know, has been up for public display over the last six months. And, you know, it is a real mountain that I'm having to climb. And it's what I'm going through. And it is yet to be seen what the growing looks like. Yeah, oh. Yeah. And I'm okay with that.

I love that you're okay with that. I'm okay. Because again, this is not a movie. This is not a movie. This is not a Christian TVN movie where everybody got to be on the other side shouting and dancing. This is real life. Yes. Wow.

And in real life, Christians die, Christians are murdered, Christians are hopeless, Christians get hungry. There are Christians in China right now that are having church underground because they'll be killed and sentenced to prison. Yes, yes. That's real life. That ain't prided. That ain't a bow.

It's not, it's not a bow. So I'm okay. Yeah. I'm okay. Love that. I love that. And we in the show with Keep It Blank Sweetie. So how would you feel in the blank?

Keep it blank, sweetie. I would say keep it close. I like that. Keep it close. Keep him close. Keep your heart close. Yes. Keep your experiences close.

Keep your friends close. Keep yourself close. Keep yourself close. Wow, I love it. Ooh, that's hard to talk. Okay. I would say, hmm, we touch on so many good things. For this one, I think I would say,

keep it real sweetie. Keep it real. Keep it real, yeah. That's what I did tonight. You did, I know. You kept it all away, 1,000 with the people. And we appreciate it. Thank you so much.

I appreciate you. I'm in the beer. No, it's down in all mine, seriously. And it should work, Kirk, aka LC. Little geez. Wrap it up. Guys, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Keep It Posit in Sweetie.

If you want to write into our positive outcomes, listen a letter. You can write into Keep It Posit in Sweetie at gmail.com. And that's Sweetie with an i.e. You can follow Kips on all platforms at Keep It Posit in Sweetie and you can follow me on all platforms at Love Chris Soranay and that's L-U-V. Kirk, tell the people they can find you, let us know what you

have going on so we can support it because we want to get behind you. Literally, you want to get behind me. What's up y'all, man? Thank y'all for supporting the new album, Father's Day, The Documentary Father's Day. Thank you for coming to the tour. Very, very grateful for keeping in your prayers. As life is life thing, but God is good.

And so you can follow me on Instagram, you can follow me on Facebook, follow me on my space, black planet. I remember that. Oh, those are not active number one. I think my space might still be, or is it all we got? Well, I'm still on the paint. I'm sorry. You might be the only one. Maybe, okay, but maybe that's why I ain't got a lot of followers.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh, man, this is good. Thank you. This is so good. Look at it. It's so good! We did it! So I thank you so much for this day. Thank you for giving Kirk the time to be with us today. We know it's going to bless so many people.

God, I do not take this platform lightly. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to spread light and positivity. Bless everyone in this room and hear their prayers. Oh God, and Jesus' name, I pray, amen.