Eden: Well, thank you so much, Roy, for being with us. Friends, this is Roy Tosh. He’s a hip-hop artist. Roy, we’re going to ask you some questions about your life and get to know you. How does that sound?
Roy Tosh: That sounds amazing. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. It is a great honor to be here.
Eden: I would love to get to know you a little bit first. Tell us what are a couple of things that bring you joy?
Roy Tosh: Fishing. Right out of the gate. I don’t even have to think about it. Fishing. Time with the Lord, obviously. Time with my family. But if I could do one thing that’s restful to me and really recharges me it’s fishing. It’s being on water. I mean, the water is just peaceful, whether that’s the ocean—I live in Florida, so we can drive an hour and go to an ocean, or something like that. Anything like that gives me new perspective and gets me away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Eden: That’s awesome. So do you have a specific kind of fishing that you most enjoy?
Roy Tosh: Typically the best—I love going with friends—but the best is when you go with a charter. So the Keys, which is the islands on the south part of Florida, it’s some of the best fishing in the world. In fact, the Islamorada (in Florida) is the fishing capital of the world.
If you fish in a lake, it’s cool. But usually you know what you’re going to get. To a certain extent when you go in the ocean, you could hook a shark, you could hook what you’re trying to catch. We literally have been catching, what’s called a yellowtail or like an amberjack, for example, and a shark. You’ll feel your line just pull and then nothing’s on it. Sharks can come in like—it’s like the wild, wild West out there. You never know what you’re going to get. You don’t know if your fish is going to get stolen. You just don’t know.
Eden: Wow, that’s wild. That’s got to be exhilarating.
Roy Tosh: Yes. It’s a lot of fun. So with all that, the greatest thing is when you get the fish up on the boat and then you get to take those fish home and fillet them and eat them.
Eden: Yeah, that sounds amazing. That’s a very rewarding pastime, it sounds like.
Roy Tosh: Exactly.
Eden: Well, you said time with the Lord brings you joy. Is there a part of God’s Word that’s especially precious to you? Or maybe that’s become especially precious to you over time?
Roy Tosh: Yeah, definitely John 15. John chapter 15 is probably my favorite chapter in all the Bible, and it’s because of one word, depending on what translation you use. I like the word “abide.” Other translations say “remain.” In other words, “to stay.” Jesus talks about “abide in me and I will abide in you” (John 15:4). And then he makes this statement. He says, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And that always strikes me. Because I can do a lot of things apart from Jesus.
Especially early on in my Christian years, but even to this day I’m still discovering what this abiding relationship looks like. But early on I would get frustrated and my mentor at the time would always be like, “Hey, you just need to get back to abiding. Just abide.” So I got so frustrated one time, and I looked up the word in the Greek. And it means to remain in unbroken fellowship with a person. And that changed everything for me, because I think so much of our mindset of church is like a to-do list. “Did you do this? Did you do this? Did you do this?” But as with any to-do list (I’m a very driven individual, I’m a very goal-oriented individual), I can check off that to-do list and still not be connected to the Author of the pages that I’m reading. Or I can go to a building and still not connect with the One that we’re worshiping. Does that make sense?
I’ll end it with this. Matthew 11—I get so excited about this. So in Matthew 11, Jesus gives this invitation that we all know. He says, “Come to me if you’re weary, if you’re burdened” (Matthew 11:28). And usually I think in the church, we think of that as like a onetime salvation experience. And if we think of it that way, we miss it. Jesus wants us to, yes, come that one time. And that’s beautiful and that’s amazing. But then he wants us to stay. He wants us to abide. And so even to this day, I’m learning to slow down and to abide.
In that abiding relationship, Paul wrote verses like, “I’m crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith” (Galatians 2:20). There’s that word again. “Faith” means to lay down your life. It’s about surrendering. Waving the white flag of your life and letting Christ empower you to live the Christian life and walk as he walked, etc., and even to bear fruit. And that’s back to John 15. Now, that’s ultimately what he was talking about. We could do a lot apart from Jesus, but if we really want to have fruitfulness in our relationship with God, then there’s this beautiful invitation to say, “hey, come abide in me.” And he’s always with us. I think a lot of times, sadly, we are the ones that walk away from him. So coming back to that place of abiding. And that’s a daily thing. Remember Jesus said, “Take up our cross daily” (Luke 9:23).
Eden: That’s great. And you know, I love how you said that the word “abide” means unbroken fellowship. Because when you said that, I thought of what would it be like to live with a person, like a physical person, that you had unbroken fellowship with? We think of how we relate to other people and we don’t text while they’re talking to us or there are some friends that you can do the dishes while you’re talking to them, or you can do your laundry while you’re talking to them, or you don’t have to be necessarily face to face, glued in. But it’s amazing that Jesus wants that sort of relationship with us. He didn’t just die to give us a pass on God’s wrath. He did do that, but he also wanted this crazily intimate relationship with us that is better than any covenant you could have on Earth. The promise of that kind of presence is really amazing.
Roy Tosh: Yeah, we were the treasure that he wanted. He loves people and literally sacrificed his own Son to purchase us back. I know for me, all throughout my life I’ve struggled with self-worth and identity and all this stuff. But when you look at that cross, it’s like, wow, you [Jesus] loved me so much that you literally sacrificed yourself. And that is unconditional love because he didn’t have to do it. But he loved us that much.
Eden: Thank you for sharing that. I’m going to take those words to heart myself, too. I really agree with what you said. We’re always the ones running from Jesus. He’s always welcoming us.
Roy Tosh: Yeah, he’ll never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)—never, ever, ever. The Greek literally says never, ever, ever. Like, he won’t! He loves us. If you’re his son or his daughter, what can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:35)? You know?
Eden: Amazing. Well, we’d love to hear about what you do. I mentioned you are a hip-hop artist. Describe for us your ministry and what part of God’s kingdom you’re working in at this time? What role you play there?
Roy Tosh: Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that God would do all that he’s done through me. I’ll try to keep it together but anytime I think about it, it’s just like, wow!
I’ve been doing ministry for over a decade. I gave my life to Christ back in 2005. I was kind of a basketball, wild, high school athlete, and very popular. All that type of stuff. And I was just empty. I was doing drugs just to go to sleep because I had no peace. And a pastor from Detroit, his name was Kevin Butcher—I believe is how you say his last name—he’s actually written several books now and been interviewed on Moody. He’s a great guy, just a genuine Jesus-lover. And I was so shaken up. I went to a camp, and I was so shaken up by this guy, because he was so genuine preaching his messages. But then he lived it. He was meeting people outside of these messages on benches, praying for them. And I’m like, “Why does this man care so much?” I had never seen love like that before. It blew my mind. And so anyways, I work up the courage to email him and he leads me to Christ in the second email. He said, “I dare you to get alone and to cry out to Jesus”—which, that’s some faith. But he knew that if I was sincere and I really wanted this relationship with God, that God had done everything. God initiated it already. So he knew that his arms were wide open waiting. And so it challenged me. And I cried out to Jesus, and everything was flipped upside down. I had a very radical conversion, and in that, ministry started to come alongside that, obviously. I got heavily discipled, gratefully, by a lot of guys that are still my number one people that I go to—mentors, etc., really best friends now at this point.
God faithfully used people to disciple me and grow me. But he also used me. I’ve grown up in the church, so my heart was always for the church, but then also evangelistically I never knew how good God was. And I never knew how real and living his Word was. So once I started to understand the Bible, I’m like, everybody needs to know how amazing this book is! The whole world must know. So I really set out on a crusade. I literally went all over the place in the Midwest and just school after school, after school, to church, to anything and everything, and saw tons of people come to Christ.
And then with that, God also gifted me musically. And music to me was always a bridge. As soon as kids hear a hip-hop beat, they’re like, “oh, wow, this is what I listen to. What is this?” It’s immediate. The heart is open; it’s a door. And so God’s always used the tool of music to communicate his message through me and to communicate the gospel.
The phrase of our ministry is “Just One More,” and we aim to reach just one more. And thankfully, by God’s grace, we have reached way more than that. Through the music, you’re able to share the love of Christ with my generation in a way that they understand and not compromise the same gospel message that changed me, that changed you, that changed anyone and everyone who’s willing. It’s amazing.
I’ve had tons of “success” in the music industry now. And I’m on a record label, RMG Amplify out of Nashville, now and I’m super thankful for the fruit, as we talked about earlier, that God has brought through this ministry. It really is mind-boggling. Even looking at all the countries that, Apple Music and Spotify on the back end shows you where your music is going. And man, I remember being in tears when I saw, because I was like, wow. I consider myself one of the weak and broken individuals. And so my life banner is, hey, I’m weak. But listen, God can use the weak to do mighty, mighty things far more than we could ever imagine or think (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). What he’s done in my life, he can do through your life. He can do through anyone watching this. The goal is to surrender to him, not perfectly. We’re human. We’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to mess up. That is why Jesus came. But the goal is to live in this vertical relationship where we love God with all that we are (Matthew 22:37-39), and then out of that, horizontally now, he impacts every relationship that we have. And it’s just beautiful to see. And I’ve seen him do that not just in my own life, but with literally countless lives all across the world.
Eden: And you know what? The reason I’m talking to you today—I know I’ve mentioned this to you personally before—but I distinctly remember being on a country road in North Carolina, and I had been really beside myself in grief. In one of those spaces where you’re really angry at God because you don’t understand what he’s doing in your life, like a kid who doesn’t understand why their Father is saying no. But I was in a really tough space spiritually, and I had random songs on Spotify that I was listening to. And one of them was your song “Close (ft. Evan & Eris),” which says, “I just want to be close to you.” And it’s this prayer that you wrote crying out to God about how I want to feel your nearness and I really don’t. And you really, of all the people in my life, were one of the first that taught me what it means to run to God in your pain, instead of letting pain fester and thinking about all the things that I ought to be and instead, saying, “you know what? I’m going to run to my heavenly Father and I’m going to talk to him no matter what is going on in my heart. And I’m going to trust that his grace is going to cover the parts of me that are not okay right now.” And the ultimate goal is to stay close to him and to keep talking to him.
(Also check out “Cry Out (ft. Quinten Coblentz)” by Roy Tosh!)
I think it’s awesome that the Holy Spirit can change our lives and then change other people’s lives through us. And ultimately, it’s all his work. But I definitely praise God for your music, and I’m so thankful for that.
Roy Tosh: That is so encouraging to me. And again, that’s the “just one more.” That’s what keeps me going in music, honestly. So thank you so much. It’s been a long journey. The music industry is not for the faint of heart. But that mission keeps me going. So thank you so much.
Eden: So tell us a little bit about that. I watched a video of yours recently that talked a little bit about success. What would you say if someone’s looking at you and they’re like, “Well, you’re a top Christian artist on Christian radio and you’ve had some success in your life.” How would you define success for a follower of Jesus, because we see that differently than the world sees it?
Roy Tosh: Such a great question. I think the world views success as fame. You could be successful if you’re famous and you go viral on TikTok now or something like that. Or if you have a lot of money or if you make it to the NBA or if you become a wealthy businessman. But I’ve met a lot of people like that. And behind the scenes, they can be absolutely miserable. And so you learn, there’s wisdom in that. Obviously you care for those individuals, but there’s wisdom there. Like, if that’s what success is then why when people reach that are they still empty on the inside? I’ve wrestled with that as an artist because when you get in this industry, all the focus is on numbers. All the focus is on “are you on this tour and are you on that tour?” You have to constantly be promoting yourself and all this stuff. It is a business a lot of times, sadly, first, way before the word “Christian” gets thrown in there. You can get caught up in the rat race of all those things. And so, honestly, I’ve learned through failing miserably, too many times. I would get caught up in—my identity would be in, “Oh, I have to be like this artist, or I have to hit these numbers.” And what if you don’t? Well, if you’re looking to that to find identity, then you’re going to be broken and more hurt, depressed, whatever word you want to fill in the blank.
Success to me is being faithful in every season with what God has asked you to do. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34). So his purpose, or in other words his food, was to do God’s will for his life. And we know that in John chapter 17, Jesus talks about how he accomplished the unique will of God for his life (John 17:4). And it’s no different with us.
There are all these Scriptures in Romans and [First] Corinthians where it’s like, hey, if you chop off the hand from this body, what good is this hand apart from this body (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30)? Just like that, in the church there are so many different giftings, there’s so many different anointings. I don’t have the gift you have. You don’t have the gift I have. And we all work collectively on this greater mission, this greater purpose of accomplishing God’s will. Obviously simplistically, that could be loving God and loving people (Matthew 22:37-39). But then that gets fleshed out a lot of different practical ways based upon the uniqueness of the image of God in you because he wants to bring that uniqueness out and shine it to a world that needs to see who the light of the world is (John 8:12). You don’t have to have a stage to do that.
But again, it goes back to that sense of purpose. I’ll just be completely real. My song hit—I woke up Monday and it [You’re Ready] was number one on the radio. I’ve never had a song do that before. I’ve always hit number two. It’s like, come on, go a little more! And then it starts going down after several weeks and it’s like, “ah!” But it’s funny because over the years as things like this happen, that is not the main thing to me. And that sounds super spiritual. I’m so grateful to God that that happened. And I know that so many lives are being touched right now, and I don’t take it for granted. And I’m thankful for all the support and all this. But what I’m saying at a heart level is, I don’t grab on to those moments because I know they come and they go. My focus is literally, I was working all day yesterday on what God has asked me to do. And today I woke up and did the same. So I’m focused on this mission. And then when your life is about a greater purpose, bigger than you, and it’s about bringing glory to God by using those gifts that he’s given you for his glory, then it brings on that sense of purpose. And so you’re able to appreciate those moments, whatever those moments are. For me it’s, thank you, Jesus. Like that is incredible. Who am I? Why am I number—? How did I ever get there? What is happening? Hopefully that makes sense.
Eden: Yeah, that’s super helpful. And I think the way you explain that has got to be so freeing for people. When I look at the world’s measures of success, sometimes it’s money. Like if you make a certain amount of money, you’re successful. But not everybody is in the situation where that’s possible. Or fame, there’s a certain standard of fame that you have to rise to and if you don’t have what it takes, you just can’t make it there. And yet, the vision of success that God gives us is really individualized from what you’re saying, it seems like. You follow Jesus with the gifts that he has given you, and you be the person he’s created you to be, and love and trust him, and love others in the realms that he’s called you to. And that’s all he asks. We don’t have to be anyone else in the world, but the person God has called us to be. That’s immensely freeing.
Roy Tosh: Yeah, and especially in the artist world, there’s a lot of wanting to compare and, “oh, I gotta do this.” But when that truth anchors your soul, you’re free and you’re able to go after what God has asked you to do. And it is—it’s so freeing. And there’s peace there. There’s joy there. There’s fulfillment just like Jesus said, “My food is to do his will” (John 4:34). You eat a nice meal and it’s satisfying, right? It is. When you’re in the will of God for your life and the mission is just to be faithful—we want to hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)—you’re free.
Eden: Thank you for sharing that with us. That’s super encouraging to me and I hope to others.
Final question here. Is there a resource that has changed your life, that has really transformed you, that you would suggest to our listeners?
Roy Tosh: How many can I suggest? I have a lot of things coming into my brain.
Eden: You can go for it. As many as you want to suggest.
Roy Tosh: For books, obviously the Bible. We’ve been talking about that, and you guys have a great resource. Go to Bibles.net people. So definitely the Bible.
If we’re talking about getting deep into the Scriptures, there’s a Greek scholar, who has a five-works set called Kenneth Wuest, that’s W-U-E-S-T. And he does a lot of word studies. Then he also has an expanded translation of the New Testament (The New Testament: An Expanded Translation) that I kind of use as a reference tool sometimes. It’s really cool.
And then the last one I’ll give off top is—I’m big on worldviews. I don’t consider myself an expert, but I love studying worldviews. There’s a guy named Francis Schaeffer, who is a genius. And he has a five book, complete set on worldviews that I read and then I’ll reread some parts of that at times. But that changed my life. Worldview was huge for me, especially in evangelism. Even in our relationship with God. I think a lot of moralism, almost, creeps into the church at times and silently we think being a Christian is about do better, be better, do this, don’t do this. You know? It can become about rules. The commands of God are true. But Jesus said his commands are not burdensome (Matthew 11:29-30). And he gives the key why prior to that, “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28). I don’t want to get on another riff. But A Christian Worldview changed my life, especially with evangelism to value the image of God in others and not see them as, “Oh, I have to convert this individual right here, right now, and they must repent this very second. And God’s going to use me now.” That could happen. I pray it does. Awesome. But what if it doesn’t? We’re spreading seeds.
The biblical worldview is, on a basic standpoint, creation, fall, redemption. And so in creation—you have to start there—God created everyone, not just Christians, in the image of God. And because of that fact alone, every single person that we run into and every single person on this planet matters. They have inherent value, they have inherent worth, and we should treat them like that. They are precious people that Jesus himself laid down his life for.
Anyways, I’m getting on a rant. Francis Schaeffer—check out his complete works and especially on evangelism. He’s got incredible, incredible insight into God’s Word, and he’s been instrumental in my walk of faith, especially in some really dark times where I was questioning a lot of things in church culture and stuff like that.
Eden: Super helpful. Well, thank you. I’ll have to add those things to my bookshelf, and hopefully our listeners will want to add some of those to their own.
Thank you so much for meeting Roy. Thanks for sharing about your life and your testimony. We’re super thrilled to have you, and we appreciate the work that you’re doing for God’s kingdom, and the way that you’re helping us get to know Jesus better through your music.
Roy Tosh: Thank you so much for having me. This is truly an honor. I was excited the moment I saw the email and checked out your guys’ website. You guys are doing absolutely amazing things, so keep it up. We need the Word of God out there. It’s living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and it’s able to transform. God can transform anyone’s life. Keep doing what you guys are doing as well. So thank you.
Eden: Thank you so much for listening to our podcast today. If you enjoyed our conversation, I would encourage you to like or subscribe to our podcast so that you can hear the next conversation. And if something that you heard today spoke to your heart or got you thinking, I would encourage you to not let the day go by without talking to God about what’s on your mind. We believe that he loves you and that he’s pursuing you today out of that love.