Danny G: You may be unfamiliar with Erskin Music, he is this guy who’s traveling around doing all these different things. Tell us a little about what you do.

Erskin: The Lord built me for a different kind of flow of life that goes from place to place. I can adapt very quickly, read a room, and figure out what needs to happen and what’s the best situation to share the gospel. I’ve been able to advance the cause of Christ through being in different places.

Sometimes it’s a chapel like today, sometimes a full-on week-long camp, a worship experience, or a concert like we did last night in Michigan City, Indiana. It can be anywhere from a conference to a stadium to a music festival to a house concert. A lot of different venues with different groups of people in different parts of the country. We also do stuff internationally. A couple of years ago I was in Senegal doing a revival. I’d been in India doing a concert literally days before that. It takes different forms in different places with different people, but all of it is centered on people knowing Christ.

Danny G: What would you say is your favorite type of venue?

Erskin: I really do love being on college campuses. It takes me back to that experience and knowing how edgy things can be. I love the confrontation, the challenge, the grittiness of that. That’s probably my favorite,  an experience where students can come up and talk.

Why College Campuses Matter

One of the guys who gave me an opportunity early on was Eddie Gilly at the University of Florida. I emailed him and said I’d be in Gainesville and wanted to come by. I came into his office and he looks at me and goes, “Are you any good?” I just love that question. He said, “You come tonight, play for our students, and they’ll let me know if you’re any good.” From there started years of doing evangelism, concerts, breakouts, and banquets for the students.

That’s probably my top, but right below that is a house concert. A house concert gives people an opportunity to really get to know the artist. It gives me the freedom to take time and tell stories. In Toledo, Ohio, some friends said, “We want you to come do a house concert. People don’t know you’re here, we just want to introduce them to you.” The first year there were maybe 15 people, which for a house can feel pretty full. The next year there were 50 or 60, the word gets out. People are calling out requests. It’s not as formal as a regular concert with a set list. It’s, “Hey, you haven’t played my favorite song.” And I’m like, that wasn’t on the set list, but if you’re listening to it, I’m doing it. It doesn’t have to be perfectly planned out. It’s just so authentic. When you’re in a person’s home, you get a chance to see what they’re really like. There’s just an ease that people have when they come into somebody’s home.

Danny G: You shared a little bit in chapel this morning. You’ve got your music, you played basketball at Tennessee, and you’re doing adoptions, things like that. How did all of this come together?

How the Pieces Came Together

Erskin: When I got down on my knees beside my bed, I said, “Lord, whatever you want me to do, I’m here for it.” The Lord just brings these pieces together. My wife is one of nine kids, four biological sisters with five adopted siblings. When we got to a place where we were thinking about foster care and adoption, it just clicked. It made sense. That became a big part of our lives and still very much is.

My most popular song is “Is He Worth It?” which is about the persecuted church. The tagline comes from Jim Elliot, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain possession of what he cannot lose.” That song reminds me of the global church. We have people meeting in secret in North Korea and other places where they would be persecuted just for going to a church building. Iran is in the news a lot right now. One of the fastest growing churches in the world was the church in Iran. This present conflict makes it even more important that we are praying for our brothers and sisters, sheep among wolves in Iran.

The music side of things came together in an interesting way. I was an associate pastor at a church in Texas working with youth, doing missions, and teaching adults. I would write songs on the side. Somebody heard me sing one of those songs and asked me to go play somewhere, and then other people started asking too. But at the church where I was, I didn’t actually do music. My pastor kept asking me, “Are you doing what God has called you to do?” And I kept saying, “Of course, I’m here, I’m teaching.”

Stepping Into the Unknown

He finally came back and said, “This is not going to make sense to you, but I feel like the Lord wants me to take you off staff. I don’t want to see you go, but I think there’s something you’re supposed to do that you can’t do just staying in this small town.”

I told my wife, “I think I just got fired, but I don’t…” He told us we could stay in the parsonage as long as we needed to figure things out. Somebody at the church said, “So are you going to start traveling and doing music?” I looked at this guy named Don and started laughing. I said, “Why would I do that? I don’t even do music here.” But it just sort of became the next step, you have all these songs you’ve written, move to Nashville, play your songs, see what happens. Within 11 months of being in Nashville, I literally started traveling around the world doing concerts. We’ve been doing that for 13 years.

Danny G: That’s one of those stories where you hear it and you just think, God clearly called you to do that. What advice would you give a young leader who feels like there’s a call on their life to do something greater?

Erskin: I’m so glad you asked that, because that was me for about 11 years. When I was at that small church in Texas, maybe the Lord was calling me to do something else, but I did the thing I was doing well. When I would go out and farm, we would have 16-hour days and I tried to do that well too.

Doing the Work in Front of You

The farmer eventually asked me, “Do you want to be my lead farm hand and manage the farm?” I said I believed the Lord had called me to do something different. But I did it well enough that looking back I can think, the Lord was setting me up. 16-hour days are not uncommon in ministry. I know some artists who just can’t handle long stretches of travel because they couldn’t be alone with their thoughts, it would drive them almost mad. The Lord was building those foundational blocks in me. I would say to anybody who feels a call on their life, do what you’re doing now well and get all the skills that you can. To have that skill set and the things I gained from that season of life, invaluable.

Danny G: What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned through all your travels and relationships?

Erskin: One of the biggest lessons is giving people permission, or at least guidance, to do what other people around them aren’t doing. When I was younger, my pastor would say, “Erskin is gonna come in his own way.” That was preacher-speak for, “This isn’t gonna be very good, but it’s gonna be genuine.” I’ve always remembered that and tried to just do things in my own way.

I say this all the time, you don’t need Jesus to have a ministry. You get a 501c3, the right credentials, a board of advisors, funding, and a vision, and you can just go do whatever you want to do. You don’t even need Jesus for that.

Choosing Authenticity

There are things you can do in this world that do not require you to follow Jesus completely. It’ll be much easier and much more comfortable. You can justify it a lot of different ways. I figured out pretty early how the game is played and I could play that game, but then I would lose authenticity. I’ve chosen authenticity because at the end of the day, the real ones will figure out that you can have a blessed life. It won’t be the easiest life, but it may just be the most blessed life you could have.

I’m doing things that if you had asked me to write on a sheet of paper all the places I wanted to travel and experiences I wanted to have, I would not have come up with a portion of what I’ve already done, based on where the Lord has sent me. Just trust Him and it’ll all work out.

Danny G: Where can people find your music and reach out to you?

Erskin: People can get connected at Erskinmusic.com. It has the newest songs, some music if you’re not familiar with it, a link to my newsletter, and a link to my podcast and live stream show. I do a live stream called Live Louder three days a week and on Fridays I do a podcast. I did 11 seasons of the Erskin Music Show and this is my first season of Live Louder. For an hour each day you can have Erskin Music if that’s what you choose. Go to church on Sunday and worship the Lord, we try not to do content creation on Sunday. But the music ministry, we’re all over the place.

Danny G: Thank you so much, Erskin. This has been a great conversation. Love to have you back.

Erskin: This has been fun. Thanks for having me.