Christian recording artists Joe and Beth didn’t set out to build a ministry. What started with a guitar found in a grandmother’s closet and a youth group in the cornfields of Illinois has grown into a husband-and-wife worship duo that now travels between festival stages, prison ministry, and Sunday mornings at their home church. In this conversation, Joe and Beth talk about how they blend concert and worship into what they call Freedom and Praise Nights, why vulnerability has become central to their message, and how their own stories of recovery and faith led them to each other.
What Joe and Beth’s Ministry Is All About
Danny
What do you guys do? What does your day-to-day look like when you’re planning things out, and on a big day, what is that like?
Joe
It’s kind of all over the place as far as a week to week, day to day. That’s what I hear music artists say, oh yeah, every month looks a little bit different. But at the core, we just love using music to share stories of what God’s done in our lives, and help encourage and inspire other people to live the life that God’s called them to, to live that full, abundant life that He’s called us to.
Danny
What is your definition of abundant life?
Joe
For us, it’s a life that’s finding its fulfillment in living with purpose and intentionality, being about the things that God’s called us to. So we love to use music to do that. That takes place at all different kinds of things. Sometimes we’re at a camp or conference leading worship. Other times, we’re doing a concert where we share our original songs, testimonies, and stories. We also serve at our home church on Sunday mornings. It’s all of the above, where we get the chance to do that something we love to do.
Switching Between Concerts, Worship Nights, and Everyday Work
Danny
The first time I saw you guys perform was at a camp, and you recently performed at Unity Christian Music Festival. Those are two different contexts, plus you both have day jobs. What’s it like moving between those extremes, and how do you handle the switch-ups?
Beth
Well, my life, Joe works at a church, Muskegon Port City Church, but I work at a cosmetology school as a receptionist a couple days a week. I love that I get to be light in the world in a dark place and spread the love of Jesus. But then after Monday, Tuesday, I’m like, okay, how do we need to get ready for the next event, spiritually, mentally, physically, whatever we need to do to prepare. I think, okay, we have this event, what songs, and then I just start praying over the event and the people we’re going to encounter.
Danny
Let’s talk about Unity. What was it like getting ready to plan that out?
Joe
It’s a ton of fun. That’s a much bigger stage than the ones we’re most frequently on. There’s aspects of that that are more exciting, get to strum a guitar chord and, whoa, I made that big noise happen. But then we’ve also got times where it’s like, hey, there’s 50 people in the room, it’s just an acoustic chill thing. Both are so meaningful in their own way, and God works and moves through that.
I think, as I’ve grown in my faith and walked in the purpose of who I feel God’s called me to be, I’ve realized that sometimes calling isn’t so much a place or a specific time or event. It more so is a calling of, okay, who am I at the core, what is it that God’s calling me to, wherever I’m at, wherever He’s placing me for that day, and being consistent in that is really a core of how you stay the course.
Vulnerability, Recovery, and the Song That Changed Everything
Danny
Are there special moments where you’ve felt the Lord really used this platform?
Joe
I’ve had seasons of my life where I was struggling with depression and alcoholism. So there’s been times when we’re at events sharing, that’s a part of what we talk about. It’s not everything we talk about, but the moments where I get to say, yeah, I’ve been there with you, encourage each other in the conversations after the event. One of the big things for me, growing up and working in faith circles, is there’s this unspoken pressure to have it all together. I think sometimes we’re really hesitant to be vulnerable, but it’s in that vulnerability that we can find strength and healing and renewal. I’ve seen that play out and be a huge part of my growth as a person. So it’s cool to be able to be a catalyst for those moments for someone else.
Is Anything Too Hard for God?
Beth
There is a song that I wrote, and then we co-wrote it, called “Is Anything Too Hard for My God?” Whenever I sing it, I talk about my past, I’ve struggled with anxiety and still struggle with anxiety. It’s a very common thing. But being able to relate to the people around me, people just saying, yeah, I struggle too, they lock eyes with you, and you can just have that moment. One of the lines is, “Is there anything too hard for God?” And they always scream, no. And it’s so fun. We do it a couple times, and it just shows that God can do anything.
The words of the chorus are: nothing is impossible for those who believe. He’s the one that fought the giants and brought them to their knees. Call on the name of Jesus. He’s the one that sets you free. Anything is possible for those who believe. I get emotional every time because I can just see the Holy Spirit moving on certain people, whether I’m singing that in front of 20,000 people or 20 people. He’s still moving. It’s really just about Him, the audience of one.
Joe
When we were writing that song, we wanted to take these miracles God’s done and ask, how does that relate to my everyday life? Some of the lines in the verse are: if You can shut the mouth of the lions, like Daniel the lion stood well, You could probably shut the voice of my doubts too, couldn’t You? Those things that hold me back from stepping into the life You’ve called me to. If You can tear down the walls of Jericho, then You could probably break through these walls that built up in my heart that keep me from stepping into relationship the way that You’ve created me for.
One of the words I’ve held closely in my ministry in recent years is authenticity. Especially speaking to younger generations, Gen Z, Gen Alpha can clock it when someone’s trying to act like they’ve got it all together, because they’re so used to the fake, with AI and social media and all of that. There’s something real about showing that you’re not alone, and that the Lord sees you.
Where Joe’s Music Ministry Began
Danny
Tell me about the beginning of your music and ministry, Joe, and how you two came together, Beth.
Joe
The beginning was before I was even a student here. I started playing guitar because we found a guitar in my grandma’s closet when she passed away. I started teaching myself, and I was horrible, but I loved it. At the time i was growing up in the cornfields of Illinois, and there was a youth conference where a guy was speaking about Nehemiah and how he stood up in his generation and rebuilt the walls of God’s city, Jerusalem. The challenge was, who’s going to stand up in their generation and rebuild the walls of God’s kingdom?
That’s when I first felt called to step into music ministry. There have been plenty of twists and turns, both with the music and my personal life and faith journey. That led to a season where I was a closet alcoholic for a while while doing ministry stuff, ironically, that was also the time I had a song getting on a network radio station. There came a point where I ended up opening up and sharing with a pastor at the church. I was convinced this was the end, that I wasn’t going to be able to do music ministry anymore once the secret was out. But I was met with such grace, accountability, and some consequences, and they walked through that with me.
The Unexpected Way Joe and Beth Met
Beth
In my past, I’d settled so many times in relationships. In my past, I’d settled so many times in relationships. I remember one season where I was like, I’m just going to give God a full month of my heart, undistracted. So I took a dating fast, bought myself an eight-dollar ring, and fell in love with Jesus as my first love. I journaled anytime I was lonely, journaling to my future husband, and then I gave him the journal later.
When I was at the gym with my best friend, a message came through a group called West Michigan Fam Jam. Joe messaged the group looking for people for a music video, and all I saw was “singer, songwriter, I’m interested.” We started messaging the night my dating fast ended. My mom saw a video of him playing guitar, singing, and playing harmonica and drums all at once, and said, this is him.
Staying Focused on the “Why”
Danny
How do you stay focused when the path isn’t clean, when distractions or hurt show up along the way?
Joe
It’s a process. I think the biggest thing is remembering the core why behind what we’re doing. When we remember the why, that helps with all the other things that can come your way, whether it’s circumstances or just thoughts like, are we really supposed to be doing this right now? It’s remembering the why behind what we’re doing, and that’s helped encourage me. Our identity is much bigger than what we do.
What’s Next for Joe and Beth
Danny
What’s on the horizon for you two?
Joe
We’ve been married about three and a half years now, and we just changed the brand name of our ministry to Joe and Beth. I’ve got a number of songs I recorded that haven’t been released yet, so we’re rolling those out under the new artist name, songs reflecting on my healing and growth journey. We’ve also got a few songs we’ve written together that are recorded and ready to roll out.
On top of that, we’ve had this thing in our heart to do Freedom and Praise Nights. Next month we’re giving it a go, we had a festival booked in Missouri and another event in Iowa the next week, so rather than just driving back and forth, we started calling and messaging people, and we’ve got about seven stops booked over a week and a half.
The idea behind Freedom and Praise Nights is combining what we do — sometimes a concert, sometimes worship, into one night. We’ll share some of my testimony of finding freedom in Christ and freedom through being vulnerable with others, freedom from addiction, and then flow that into a time of worship. We’re partnering with churches to do this in local communities. One stop is in Green City, Missouri, where a church told us we could just book the town square. There’s also a prison we’re going to stop and share at.
Beth
Man, if God’s put these pieces together for us to do this in Missouri for a week and a half, there are plenty of other spots around the country where people are asking what ministry we have for them.
Joe
I use the term traveling missionary loosely, because a lot of our message is pointed to people already in the church. Our ministry is about edifying the body and encouraging people to more fully step out in their faith and find healing from brokenness. There are a lot of us who find ourselves in church but in some pretty broken, hurting places, and we need to hear that story of God’s grace.
Follow Joe and Beth’s Music Ministry
Danny
How can people stay updated with what you’re doing and find your music?
Joe
On any social media platform, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, it’s Joe and Beth Music. We dropped my last name because nobody could spell it or pronounce it; I used to get called Joe Gorilla. We also have an email newsletter you can sign up for on our website, joeandbethmusic.com. Our music is on all the streaming platforms under Joe and Beth. Some of my older music is still up under my old artist name since it can be tricky to shift everything over, but any new music going forward, including our most recent song, “Freedom,” is under Joe and Beth.
Beth
A big part of what we do is sharing our story, our journey of what following God looks like for us, and encouraging other people in their story. We’d love for people to come along on the journey with us, beyond just an event, and connect through socials or the email newsletter.
