MUSICIAN- Nick Simmons-Smith

Hi this is breathing welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life I make in half and I want to invite you to check out another show brought to you by the Salvation Army heartbeat is a one minute show about real life heartbeat touches on topics ranging from finances and prayer to dating and mental health support to us only having and feeling like my life was on autopilot. The alarm goes off ready for work out of the morning rush to get home.

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Subscribe to heartbeat wherever you get your podcast or visit Salvation Army downcast. For looking the words of life. I'm Chris Benjamin, the producer of the show and director for the Salvation Army's downcast worry Ernie and Cheryl haven't gone anywhere. Bernie is going to join me in a couple weeks and will hear from Cheryl again in her next series. Today we get a new seven-week series called crafted.

This is been a series hard for quite a while and we really came with the divan will be speaking with a different artist craftsperson of different mediums each week learning about their passion for the craft and asking how they use their gifts as an act of worship and rest in this first episode will hear from her only musician of the series. Nixon Smith. He joined us in the studio at the piano as he shared his story and journey in music performance and composition is just a stop from my youth, so the words life and to our audience. This is Nixon Smith. You are the music and creative arts education secretary, so first of all was that cold nights music in worship sentence will be cool cool churches.

We have a lot of music programs for young people ages and we have bronze bands which is kind of a relic of the Victoire in England.

The Salvation Army was born out of we have quantity have great praise and worship band have quaked on since it ministries now things that keep people involved in all cool and all worship senses that then you can just talk with them about Jesus want to go to the sites we have not bands at school used to plan that will come to church sometimes when the young and immature in that fight for the music for the fellowship and the great thing about music in the Salvation Army is just a way to catch him and keep them there and then disciple them about Christ so iconic from Atlanta and we have divisional representatives in the field. I help and work on, three steps removed from real people thing for me to be with the kids on the young people there and teach them about music about Jesus before you ended up here that can tell that that's not a native accent jumpsuits, which was just 25 minutes out of London.

I grew up in the summer generation salvationist and will musically with the Salvation Army University site just like being around good people. And the music was something I gravitated to the on trombone player and my great aunt Eva Cody lady, she painful lessons that we can have a lot of money is just my system on mama hauling for a long time and my great on page 1 Is what I didn't enjoy taking them at the time and the benefits now being able to play a little bit. Is that how I grew up in college, you look so easy, so I studies in music selections magazine looking for someone to come to Texas to travel in teach music to kids and without thinking about it and I went for an interview and Texas Longhorn.

It was cheesy for allies in this study is common so I came when I was 23 Dallas Texas worked as a music director is coming back to England. All told my school which I love and to come back to America to run for an office program in Dallas again and I was dating the person that had replaced me in Dallas on a creative arts person in my place inherited my cell phone.

My extension number one vehicle with a week on line if you like something, checking family with similar place spiritually and with our experience and then went to Texas more than 13 years ago and we both got promoted to come to terms with the course didn't want to come to Atlanta. We love it here now has trees and hills three seasons as opposed to Texas and boys American Samoa wants Canadian Americans is now with life and we love it. You think pieces of music for the moment when things really started to click and you could hear the music and it really started to describe myself as that which some people because I'm often almost every Sunday and I still don't think of myself crazy ready to play, but on a 50-50 site. That means I read I read fine, but if it was something like struggle. So I think most of my education kind by osmosis. Well, I would listen for certain courts or somebody. We went on a tour to Sweden with offsetting company messaging acquire somebody plan. You cannot cool cut doll Chris Hughes courts.

I haven't heard of course like this would never use that Salvation Army cool but he will call that would normally use and it just me and I love hominy. Maybe you can make such gorgeous sounds that really speak to you. Each court has an emotion difference is this one, so I think that was a point where I was 16 I visited Sweet from coda gospel choir music and that's kind of what we started. I left the music and I went by the and already blessed that I posted my mom made me go to those lessons, music speaks to a motion of great personal why and also worshiping the Lord music is so powerful, so powerful for me to sit trombone is just plain contains is a worshipful experience for me and one aspect of music way. It's very brutal and real and and very natural to worship the military music. The second part was what I mentioned earlier in the discipleship music is just a conduit which I will look to these young people and it's a connection points on the cross branding once it strange thing for some people to understand is actually one of the most multigenerational and intercultural things we do in the Army is one of my local band and the Lawrenceville, Georgia, past Koreans, Jamaicans, Hispanics, African-American, 81-year-old 13-year-old sit next to each other and get a sense of community a sense of fellowship.

The discipline of showing up the commitment of being part of something. These economy and tangible things that you you want cost onto young people generation so can you share with us a moment in your life that really struck? How do tough moment in my life and I was 16 and my parents divorced almost my father suddenly quite tragically and my life critical in two ways.

I think at that point I could've just given up on fighting in the Army and the Lord, but I chose to say this is the list that my life from now on I recommit to another with bumps and bruises along the way my college life and experience.

There was a moment where my brought spam while on a trip to England to another city when performing a weekend of concerts a piece of music that included the course, on the you will where he come on and I had to leave my seat as the principal trombone player, and company left a message securing about-face.

This is not something you normally do and I did. And at that moment I reconnected my life to Christ and never look back is always been easy but have never looked back.

In terms of my fights except I just play that song is so tenderly Jesus is calling so you can imagine the end of this meeting comprising the old and we had Sgt., people responsible for your spiritual payment made and told me to keep listening and also grateful for the many mentors I had my check back I could see how the Lord used people in my life to redirect me and to help me to be patient with me and to many musicians in that broadband I was talking about. It was a community of people around me helping me three days.

Dyson should always be grateful back now I think about how can I be help to others is and I think this is a great first guest to have furniture extracted and sent thinking. Appreciate you very much. The Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you. Email us@radiouss.salvationarmy.org.

Call 1-800-229-9965 right SI PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 tell us how we can help share prayer request or share your testimony. Would love to use your story on the air. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes podcast store and surely give us a rating search for the Salvation Army's words of life. Follow us on social media for the latest episodes extended abuse and more. And if you don't have a church home. We invite you to visit your local Salvation Army worship center will be glad to see you this spring. Join us next time for the Salvation Army's life