Voices In My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)

In this episode of Voices in My Head, Rick Lee James offers a pastoral reflection on grief and loss, recorded in the in-between space of hospital ministry and in preparation for his upcoming Worship 424 workshop at Cedarville University. Drawing from his work as a hospital chaplain and from Luke 18’s parable of the persistent widow, Rick explores grief not only as something that follows death, but as a human response to any meaningful change, loss, or uncertainty—including diagnoses, transitions, and anticipatory grief. He invites listeners to consider grief as something that “keeps knocking,” not to harm us, but because it needs to be heard, and reminds us that grief is not a failure of faith but an expression of love. Ultimately, this episode offers gentle encouragement to stop resisting grief, to be honest about what hurts, and to trust that God’s persistence, compassion, and presence are even stronger than our pain.
 
 
Connect with Rick Lee James
Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 609: Caesar Is Not Lord
In this episode, I reflect on a Facebook post I shared last week about the difference between the Kingdom of God and every other kingdom. I honestly expected backlash, but instead the post struck a nerve and opened up a surprising amount of thoughtful and gracious conversation. What I am really talking about here is not Republican versus Democrat. It is discipleship. It is about what happens when the Church trades faithfulness for usefulness and why Christians are called to remember, especially in tense moments, that Caesar was never meant to be Lord.
The Facebook post referenced in this episode:👉 [Link to Facebook post]
Blessings,
Rick Lee James
 
 
Connect with Rick Lee James
Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 608: Epiphany 2026
 
An Epiphany Reflection.
Blessings,
Rick Lee James
 
 
Connect with Rick Lee James
Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 607: Lights of Love - Christmas Eve 2025
 
Recorded on Christmas Eve, this special episode of Voices in My Head shares a tender, unpolished first listen to “Lights of Love,” a song written for a hospital memorial honoring those we’ve lost. In the midst of grief, uncertainty, and the quiet ache of the season, this episode offers a gentle companion for anyone carrying love, memory, and hope into the holidays.
 
Merry Christmas,
Rick Lee James
 
 
Connect with Rick Lee James
Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 606: Steele Croswhite Captured By Grace: 20 Years of Songs, Grief, and Gospel
 
In this episode of Voices In My Head, I talk with Steele Croswhite—founder of the worship collective The Rock Music and pastor at The Rock Church in Salt Lake City, Utah—about the 20-year deluxe edition of their seminal debut, Captured By Grace. Recorded originally in a humble garage studio as a brand-new church of 30 people was learning what it means to be “interested in God, but not religion,” these songs have now been reimagined and newly recorded two decades later.
Captured By Grace (20 Year Deluxe Edition)
Steele shares his story of moving from a secular rock career—touring with big-name artists—to having his life upended by the grace of Jesus in a small local church. We talk about what it’s like to do ministry and make worship music in Utah, where less than 3% of the population is evangelical, and how The Rock Church relates to its largely Latter-day Saint neighbors with clarity about Jesus and grace, but without contempt.
Steele walks us through the creative and spiritual process of re-recording the album with a seasoned team, updated production, and the freedom to ask, “What does this song want to be now?”—all while staying faithful to the original heartbeat: proclaiming the transforming grace of Jesus in one of the most religious, but often least grace-filled, places in the country.
Captured By Grace (20 Year Deluxe Edition)
 
 
Connect with Rick Lee James
Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 605: Christmas Cards - A Christmas Sermon by Rick Lee James
Voices in My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)
Episode 605: The God Who Lets Us Carry Him
 
In this special Advent/Christmas episode, chaplain, songwriter, and host Rick Lee James shares a chapel message from Springfield Regional Medical Center titled “The God Who Lets Us Carry Him.”
 
Drawing from Jeremiah 10:5 and Matthew 2:13–18, Rick explores the tension between:
 
Idols that must be carried because they are lifeless
And Jesus, God in the flesh, who chooses to be carried as a vulnerable baby
 
 
Rather than the soft, sentimental scenes we see on many Christmas cards, Rick invites us into the real world Jesus was born into—a world of:
 
A small, ordinary village (Bethlehem)
Roman occupation and political fear
Herod’s brutality and the Massacre of the Innocents
Refugee families fleeing in the night
Grieving mothers and real human sorrow
 
 
From there, he proclaims the hope of Christmas:
that God does not wait for a perfect world to show up, but enters the world as it actually is—vulnerable, dependent, “carry-able” in human arms. This is a God who walks at three miles an hour, slowing down to move at human speed, to stop, to touch, to weep, to heal, and even to entrust Himself to us.
 
Along the way, Rick reflects on:
 
Jeremiah’s image of idols as “scarecrows in a cucumber field”
How idols only gain “power” when we give them our imagination
Historical background on Herod the Great and Bethlehem’s likely size
The courage and defiant hope of a God who lets Himself be carried by Mary and Joseph
The contrast between Hallmark-style Christmas and the raw honesty of the Gospel
 
 
The episode concludes with Rick’s original song “Christmas Cards,” a musical meditation on the parts of the story we don’t usually see on our mantels—the fear, the flight, the soldiers in the streets—and the deeper hope that God is greater than the version of Christmas our cards describe.
 
 
Scriptures referenced in this episode:
 
Jeremiah 10:5 – “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak; they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”
Matthew 2:13–18 – The flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents
 
 
 
Highlights:
 
Why a God who chooses to be carried is the opposite of a powerless idol
How the first Christmas speaks hope into fear, grief, and injustice
“A God small enough to be carried is a God big enough to save the world.”
Closing performance of Rick’s original song “Christmas Cards”
 
 
 
Connect with Rick Lee James:
 
Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 604: Jason Gray on the “Comfort & Joy” Christmas Tour
 
Hosted by Rick Lee James
www.VoicesInMyHeadPodcast.com
Join me for a heartwarming conversation with award-winning singer-songwriter Jason Gray, recorded just ahead of his performances on the Point of Grace “Comfort & Joy” Christmas Tour.” We talk about the stories behind the music, the collaborative spirit of touring with Point of Grace, crafting a Christmas atmosphere that carries real spiritual depth, and the new holiday single “Comfort and Joy.”
If you love thoughtful songwriting, honest storytelling, and the deeper meaning of Christmas, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
Tickets & Tour Info
Point of Grace: Comfort & Joy Christmas Tour with Jason Gray
Date: Sunday, December 14, 7 pm
Location: Centerville Campus of Sinclair Community College, 5800 Clyo Road, Centerville Ohio 45458
Ticket Link: https://www.itickets.com/events/484686
🎶 Learn More About the Artists
Jason Gray
Official Website: https://jasongraymusic.com/ 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6mV2ZtaUPezkXAHaMvVmjc?si=27c866dc31c64990  
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jasongraymusic 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasongraymusic/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasongraymusic 
Point of Grace
Official Website: https://www.pointofgrace.net/ 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5y1gFSVnE4DGxUxHeKrGk6?si=kSBfzM9FT9O_TkAKVJ7VYw  
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/pointofgracemusic 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pointofgraceofficial/ 
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

 
Episode 603 - Live from Maplewood Church of the Nazarene
CCM artist and chaplain Rick Lee James is our guest this week at Maplewood. Take a few moments to listen in and soak up this message about how we all need to slow down and allow our cups to be filled. Jesus doesn't expect us to do it in our own strength. He wants to help.
 
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Andrew Osenga on How to Remember - Episode 602 - Voices in my Head (the Rick Lee James Podcast)
 
Rick Lee James welcomes musician, author, and The Pivot Podcast host Andrew Osenga to discuss his new book How to Remember: Forgotten Pathways to an Authentic Faith. They talk about the spiritual practice of remembering, finding beauty in ancient rhythms, and Andrew’s work on Andrew Peterson’s A Liturgy, a Legacy, and the Songs of Rich Mullins (Live at the Ryman).
Connect with Andrew:
🌐 andrewosenga.com
🎧 The Pivot Podcast — Apple Podcasts
✉️ andrewosenga.substack.com
Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

Alex Zakaras, author of FREEDOM FOR ALL - Episode 601 - Voices in my Head (the Rick Lee James Podcast)
 
Today on Voices in My Head, we’re diving into some big questions about freedom, democracy, and the future of liberal society. My guest is Alex Zakaras, professor of political science at the University of Vermont and author of several works on American political thought, including his brand-new book, Freedom for All: What a Liberal Society Could Be, releasing on October 28th from Yale University Press, is both a defense and a reimagining of liberalism—what Zakaras calls a “radical liberalism.”
In this work, he argues that the idea of freedom, once central to the liberal tradition, has been co-opted and corrupted, turned into something that benefits the powerful at the expense of working families. He challenges us to see how profound inequalities in wealth, power, and status have broken America’s social contract, fueling division and resentment. But he also offers a bold vision of renewal: building countervailing power, revitalizing unions, reimagining corporations, and even rethinking how we approach climate change and media in a truly democratic society.
Get the book: https://a.co/d/4FFY0Uh
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Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20