DALLAS, TEXAS (ANS) -- Many
people know Nicole C. Mullen for her successful popular Christian songs
"Redeemer" and "Call On Jesus." Maybe not so well known is the fact
Nicole has been singing since the age of two.
Mullen may have
played out her vocation in such lofty venues as Carnegie Hall and the
Royal Albert Hall and she may have 20 Grammy and Dove awards
nominations to her credit. But she firmly believes that the people who
occupy those seats in the audience have just as much reason to be proud
of their accomplishments as she is of her own. Thus the pointed title
of her infectious new album "Everyday People."
"I am everyday people when it comes down to it," she says thoughtfully on her website www.nicolecmullen.com.
"We all get to do different things, but when we take everything else
off -- we take the titles off, we take the job descriptions off, we
take the salaries away -- we're all everyday people that hurt, that
bleed, that cry, regardless of the skin color, regardless of the title
of our job."
Peter Wooding, Senior
News Editor of UCB Europe, caught up with Nicole at one of the women's
luncheons at the recent NRB convention in Dallas, Texas, where Nicole
was one of the guest performers.
Mullen told Wooding she grew up in the church and from the time she was eight years old, gave her heart to the Lord.
"I’ve been singing since the age of two with my mom and my dad and my
sisters. And before I knew it I was singing in church choirs and youth
groups and then I went to Bible school and sang there, and then after
that I sang as a background singer for different artists and then went
on the road with Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant and the Newsboys, did
background for them, (and) C.C. Wynans -- singing on her television
show.
"And then I guess all of a sudden the Lord said it's your turn to step
out on stage, and so He opened up the curtain and I walked out, and so
I'm enjoying being able to influence people's lives for Jesus Christ,
you know, and showing people how relevant the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
to our everyday life and our everyday situation. So I consider myself
an everyday person who has an extraordinary God who does extraordinary
things, so that's who I am."
Wooding said he read that on Mullen's bio on her website that she is "a
multi award-winning performer -- Grammys, Dove Awards -- and yet you
consider yourself just a normal person; when you're practicing your
songs your child is with you and your husband is involved. Tell us a
bit about everyday life for you."
Mullen replied: "Well, I'm a wife and a mom first. Singing is my
part-time job; being a wife and a mom is my full-time. And I have three
children: I have a 12-year-old daughter, I have an 8-year-old son, and
a now 3-year-old son, and a husband, so I have four children altogether
r-- you get that?
"We make sure that we prioritize our careers around our family, you
know? It’s God first, then family, then whatever our jobs might be. And
so I've been fortunate enough to be able to include my kids in what I
do from writing songs about them, to having them in the studio with me,
to having the studio in my house and they're always on the other side
of the door or inside the room with me making noise.
"But it's a family affair and sometimes they come out and sometimes
they make sacrifices and Mommy goes without them, and we found that it
is sacrifices and rewards, so it's just making sure that I stay in
touch with people around me."
Mullen told Wooding that: "We have a baby girl's club in Nashville, or
in Franklin, Tennessee, and it's pretty much where (I) and some other
young ladies, we mentor some other younger ladies every week and we get
together, we dance, we sing, we sew clothing, we do all kinds of fun
things, and just really get into each other's life, encouraging each
other to do great things through Jesus. So that definitely keeps me
grounded, and my family and my friends, and those are the most
important things. "
"Actually," Mullen admitted, "getting up on stage in just an extension
of everyday real life for me, it's not a departure, it shouldn't be
just a show, but really what you see is pretty much what you’re going
to get; what you see on stage is really the same as what you should see
off-stage with me."
Wooding asked Mullen about some of the highlights of her musical career that stand out for her?
"I think the highlights for me really wouldn't even be measured
probably by what other people might think. I'm very honored for the
awards and for the recognition that I've had, but I think for me the
highlights are when I'm able to after a concert see the people that I
sing to and see that the songs have really met their mark, they've
reached their hearts, you know? Those are the highlights for me, when I
see little kids, you know, singing and dancing to my music, thinking
that they got it, they understood the song that I was writing. Those
are my highlights, when I see somebody's life changed by a four-minute
piece of song that they've heard. And then again I'm aware that God
takes small things and makes them into something great, that it's not
me, it's not the writers, it's not the singers, it's not the artists,
but it really is the Holy Spirit that breathes upon simple, mundane
things and makes them supernatural. So when I see those kinds of
things, they spark me, they charge me. Those are the highlights for me."
Wooding also wanted to know what kind of people Mullen most wants to impact through her music?
"Hurting people. I want to impact hurting people. People whose lives
have been bruised and battered just by everyday existence of us going
to and fro just in life. Just to know that there's hope through Jesus
Christ, there's healing in Him, and that miracles are things that are
instantaneous, but most of the times, He gives us a healing and healing
takes time. And healing is when you need to walk with someone else
through it, when you need to cry sometimes, you need to bleed
sometimes, and then on the other side of that, there's strength, and
then as we are healed we are able to go and help heal someone else
through Him.
"So I love just giving everyday people everyday songs that God breathes
extraordinary life upon, and so it's really just the everyday hurting
person that I'm singing to."
Wooding asked Mullen to tell the story behind the song "Redeemer."
"I wrote 'Redeemer' one day (as) I was sitting on my little couch in my
music room, and I was reading the book of Job. And Job is one of those
books in the Bible that can really mess with your theology, because it
just kind of hit me -- because I thought all this time that God, for
one, wouldn't talk to the Devil, but according to scripture He did. And
according to scripture also God is the one who said to the Devil, 'Have
you considered my servant Job?' The Devil didn't come to God and say,
'Hey, what about Job?' God said to him, 'Have you considered my servant
Job? There's no one like him. He's blameless in all his ways.'
"And so the Devil pretty much took God's bait and said,'“Yeah, but see
you do all this stuff for him, so Job worships you because you've made
him rich, you've made him famous. That's why he's worshipping you.' God
said, 'Take it away and see what happens.'
"And so, long story short, the Devil goes and in one day he wipes out
all ten of Job's kids, all of his wealth is gone in one day, his
cattle's gone, eventually his health is gone, and in the midst of Job,
he's depressed, his friends come and they're not encouraging him,
they're putting him down instead, and he didn't have any answers. He
doesn't know that God is going to restore them, he doesn't know that
God is going to heal his body, give him ten more children, double his
wealth -- he doesn't know that at this point in history. But he sits
there among his friends and he begins to encourage himself, and Job
says -- in the midst of his deepest depression, he says, 'I'm not sure
about everything else, but y'all I know my redeemer lives, the one
who's going to save me, and in the last day He's going to stand upon
the earth, and though my body be destroyed, in my flesh I’m going to
see God.'"
Mullen continued: "Job begins to prophesy, he begins to speak out, and
he's speaking out about the redeemer that is to come. And it hit me one
afternoon when I was sitting there, that if this guy who had lost
everything, who's at the bottom of the bottom, you know, if he can
still proclaim, and still prophesy and still speak hope in the midst of
it according to the Lord, then how much more can we. And so I just took
my little guitar and started strumming and the chorus started coming,
and the first verse, and it took me another year to write the rest of
the song, but it was just one of those things that kind of poured out."
Wooding wanted to know more about some of the latest projects Mullen is
involved in, including details about a track for the film "End of the
Spear."
"Yes, it's on the CD for the 'End of the Spear' soundtrack, and I did a
video for it also. Wonderful movie! Love it, love it, love it. And so I
did that. I'm still writing other songs. I'm not sure when another
album is coming out, but you'll have to stay tuned to see. Just writing
and singing, and working on a clothing line. And just a lot of
different things, and again working with Baby Girls Club and being a
mom and doing homework and all that stuff, but in the meantime God has
been faithful.
"I'm seeing Him move in the little things, and I think the little
things are where we learn about the big things of life. And so life is
full, you know, they can go to my website if they want to keep in
touch, it’s actually www.nicolecmullen.com and they can keep in touch
there."
Looking at the wider picture of the Christian music industry,
particularly here in the States, was Mullen seeing it having a greater
impact on the mainstream and reaching non-Christians?
"I think we're starting to. I don't think we've mastered it yet. And
that's part of a thing I've always had a heart for is making sure that
the music I sing, the music I write is relevant for the hurting, even
those who don't know Christ. Jesus commanded us to take the Gospel into
all the world. He didn't say take it into all the synagogues, all the
churches -- He could have said that and we could have been playing it
safe -- but He didn't; He said take it into all the world, and the
synagogues and the churches are included in that but they're not
exclusive to that command. And so I have felt that it's been part of a
mandate of the Lord upon my life to make sure that I take it into all
the world, into the uncomfortable places, into places where we're not
popular, into places where people may not like us, they may stone us,
they may talk bad about us. We're supposed to take the Good News, the
Light of Jesus Christ there, and so I'm seeing other artists begin to
do that. Hopefully, we'll do it more.
"I believe there are some that are called to the church, there are some
that are called to make sure they take the message out, take the water
out to the desert and not bringing it back to the sea. And so my
prayer, my hope is that it would spread more into the mainstream, not
the mainstream spreading into us. You know, we shouldn't have the world
in us, but we should definitely be in the world affecting the world for
Jesus Christ."
Wooding asked Mullen if the Christian media, generally -- Christian TV, radio -- are having a greater impact?
"I do, and I think it's part of the command actually, I think it was
Paul who said by all means that we might save some. And television is a
means for us now; it's a media. Radio, Internet, whatever it might be
that we might save some, I think we're to take advantage of these new
avenues of technology so that we can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
so I think we are making an impact. And I would love to charge people
to continue, forge ahead, don't shrink back, continue on, continue on
whether we're liked or whether we're shunned. But we're doing it in the
name of Christ and we’re being obedient to Him, ultimately."
Does Mullen think there are any lessons we can learn from the past
where we've had a lot of scandals, particularly in Christian TV in the
U.S
"Yeah, but I think for every one scandal you have, you have ten
thousand people that are walking upright. I think sometimes we try and
characterize different groups of people, whether it's Christians or
whoever it might be, by the one who goes astray, instead of saying,
'Well, the example we're following is Jesus Christ and He never
strayed, and so He's the one we're to pattern ourselves after.' And, of
course, you're going to always have some that are going to do the wrong
thing, but they don't represent the whole, and you have to remember
that.
"So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about the Good News that Jesus came
to bring. He himself said He didn't come to condemn the world but that
the world through Him might be saved. And so we're to bring that Good
News to people, that He didn't come to condemn us; we were already
condemned, but He came to save us. And so if we stick close to the
Gospel, you know, stick close to Jesus Christ, I think we'll stay on
course."
** Michael Ireland is an international British
freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper,
Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake
Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and
became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two
children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a
British Christian radio station.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
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