Consumed by Fire Talks About How Their New Album "Giving Over" is Birth Out of Trials

Oklahoma natives Caleb, Jordan & Josh Ward, together create Consumed By Fire, a southern rock band who is making their album debut titled Giving Over with Inpop Records. Giving Over, an album safe for the entire family drops March 25 nationwide. The album is meant to inspire, uplift and entertain. Their current single "Lean On Me" is continuing to impact radio stations across the country and has been picked up by Air1 and many others already! 

Hallels:  Thank you so much for doing this interview with us.  Let's start with yourself, who is Consumed by Fire?

Jordan:

Consumed by Fire is made up by three pastors kids who are brothers Caleb, Josh, and Jordan (myself).

Hallels:  Why did you call yourselves Consumed by Fire?  What's the significance of your group name?

Jordan:

Well, we feel like our name is kind of our story in a way. I think in any great dream God gives somebody there's a journey and a process with that dream, and at some point during that dream there's going to be a moment where you've got to realize that God called you to do it and quitting isn't an option. When we say our name is Consumed By Fire, now we realize even more that we are consumed by passion and the drive that is something bigger than us that keeps us going. I think even the scripture that we get our name from (Jeremiah 20: 9), Jeremiah seemed like he was in a state of burnout when he was writing it and he says I am done..."I won't mention your name anymore your word burns in my heart like a fire and I'm weary holding it in.." Really looking at it and digging into it, you can see that Jeremiah felt like quitting but, he was then consumed by that same fire that we felt consumed by so many times. So we just kind of live in that state of just surrender saying "hey God, I'm going to do what you called me to do." 

Hallels:  I believe you have been through many trials before the release of this new debut album.  What were some of the challenges?  And how did you finally record and release your debut album "Giving Over"?

Jordan:

I think anybody's dream there's going be, "man I want everybody to see this dream that God gave me the same way," and it's not going happen all the time. You can ask Joseph about his story one day when you get to heaven, and ask "Joseph, why didn't your brothers think you were going be some big dude and they were going to bow down in front of you and you're going be this great king?" Not everybody sees the dream God gave you the same way. So you got to get over that initially and just realized that it doesn't mean that God didn't give it to you. Some of those people along the way that didn't believe in us in the beginning, now they all come back around and it's kind of funny in that way, but we just stuck with it. But that was a big a trial for us. I think even throughout the years we wanted somebody to believe in us and that alone would have helped us. I remember we felt like we were constantly doing it alone. When we finally found out that it wasn't all about one person that was going to make it happen for us, and it wasn't about how hard we worked that was what was going pay off.

In the middle of a dream you can start thinking, "man the more I bust through hell the more this is gonna happen," but it was the opposite. So when we wrote "Giving Over" it was out of a state of understanding that it's not how we got to where were at right now, and this new season didn't come from 150 shows (even though we played it,), and it didn't come from a bunch of record sales as an independent band (even though we had it). None of that is where it came from. It felt like the more shows we played where in that mindset of performance and works them will be played it was like the bigger rut we were getting ourselves into. When we finally surrendered, when we finally gave it over to God, it's like when the floodgates open for us.  When we understood it's not by human mind it's not by human strength but it's by the spirit. 

Hallels:  How would describe your own sound?

Jordan:

We grew up on stuff like the Eagles, Bob Seger and we really love that stuff. They just had a timeless sound that we really respect so we try to blend those tones and those moments into something modern. So maybe if The Eagles and Segar, and One Republic had a baby it would sound something like Consumed by Fire. 

Hallels:  Tell us three things about your new album "Giving Over" you are most excited about.

Jordan:

1) Letting people know our story little bit better. 

2)  We are excited to put the message out there that it's not about your performance and it's not about hard work pays off.  We want to destroy that message, we want to put it as, the cross-paid it all, Jesus paid it all, and let our story reflect that.

3) To be able to tour behind the new records with that message and go meet these people face-to-face. 

And as a bonus- when on tour we get the opportunity to tell even more people about our passions for ChildFund International.  They have been around for 75 plus years, they do great work all over the globe. We give all of our audiences a chance to get involved and be the hands and feet of Jesus right there at the show. And lastly, we are stoked about our program called Academy Dreamers, and it gives aspiring artists the chance to do be an artist... for real. They get to go into a really big recording environment in Atlanta and work us and with our producer Scotty Wilbanks. The best part is money doesn't hold them back. We blended Child Sponsorship and with the Academy of Dreamers, so instead of "hey you write me a check, than your dream comes true," we want to make somebody else's dream come true, THEN yours is going to happen. It's a chance for us to give back to the younger generation the way we wanted it to happen for us when we were kids. Now we get to be that blessing we didn't really see when we were kids all the time from the people in the beginning that I mentioned who didn't really help us or embraces us. Now we are embracing everybody that we meet, now it's their dream and we have a heart for looking out for the next generation already training them up. We love that and we get to talk about that on tour and it's just another opportunity to give back. 

Hallels:  Let's talk about your new single "Lean on Me." The song I believe is also featured in the Hallmark's original movie The Ultimate Legacy.  Tell us more about what this new single about.

Jordan:

It's what I was kind of saying in the last question, giving back in and being a brother's keeper. Galatians 6, Paul said, "When we carry each other's burdens we fulfill the law of Christ" and that law is the law of love. It sends loving one another the way Jesus has loved us and I think it's so easy to get an attitude is saying, " if it's not happening over here if it's not happening in my world then it's just not happening at all " but that's not true. There is whole lot of hurting people around us, we just got to open our eyes and have compassion; to reach out, and to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Hallels:  Having being through many challenges yourself, what advice can you give our readers who are buried in trials and difficulties?

Jordan:

I think the most important thing to remember when you're going through a trial or a tough season of your life is that God is for you and that He isn't against you. One of our favorite sayings that we preach is that God is a good God, and the devil is a bad devil and they never swap jobs. I think when you're in the middle of the trial it's really easy to go, "why God? What are you doing?" The truth is found in James 1:17, it says, "every good and perfect gift is from above and in Him there is no variable there is no shadow of turning." Also I think there's certain times you mistake a season of waiting for a trial or a storm, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're in one. The important thing is to know that there's only one time when God says "He's gonna match you up with wings like eagles, and that's when you're waiting on Him." We have a special strengthen and special rest released to us when we are waiting. What I love about the eagle is Isaiah used that analogy because an eagle never flies through the storm he always flies over it.

 

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