In this heartfelt episode of To All the Dreamers, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson sits down with Jaye King, a worship pastor and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, who shares his incredible journey of overcoming internal battles and following his God-given dreams. From growing up in church and finding his musical calling to navigating the challenges of imposter syndrome, Jaye opens up about the transformative encounter he had with the Lord as a youth and how it set him on a path to inspire others through his music. This episode delves deep into the power of mentorship, the significance of obediently pursuing
Welcome, everyone, to The Calling’s radio show, To All the Dreamers. I’m your radio host, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, founder and CEO of The Calling, and it is such an honor to be with all of you today. You know, at The Calling, we have realized that so many people are afraid to go after the dreams that Jesus has placed inside each one of our hearts because they are afraid, and they are afraid to fail. That’s just plain wrong because if God has given us a dream and we’re not living it out, we are wasting it. And we do not want people to live with regret. That’s why at The Calling, we love to inspire, empower, and equip people to, after God’s calling on their lives, treat the best kind of eternal legacy possible to have immediate impact on themselves and their families. We love to use through so many different avenues, through custom tools and programs, workshops, seminars. but especially through this radio show where we’re able to bring on world renowned guests, where they’re sharing how they’re living out God’s dream on their lives and how you can do the same today. You guys, I’m so excited for you to be able to hear from one of our favorites. it’s the one and only jaye king jaye welcome to the show hey thank you for having me i’m happy to be here yes yes and jaye you’re joining us from one of our most beloved states where are you joining us from
JAYE KING :
I am right here in Nashville, Tennessee.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah. We love it. We love Nashville. And Jaye, your name rings such a bell to so many of our listeners’ hearts and minds. But just to rekindle that memory, can you just share some of the roles that you are currently leading right now?
JAYE KING :
Yeah, I’m currently, I serve as a worship pastor. I actually still go back and forth to Florida for that. And then I’m also making music. I’m writing music. I’m a songwriter. I’m a musician. And I’m a dad, which is always great. I’m a husband. So it’s kind of wearing a lot of different hats. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
That is amazing. And, and Jaye, we are so excited. We might have to hear a little bit of some of your latest music. Maybe if you can sing a little bit for us towards the end of our show. But for just this journey of yes. Being a worship leader and then also a musician, we love just hearing the beginnings of people’s stories. Can you just take us back to your beginning and how you were able to see just even as a little kid that this is what God has called you to?
JAYE KING :
Yeah. I mean, it’s pretty interesting because I didn’t really have the picture in my mind that I would be a music artist. It wasn’t something that was the forefront of my life per se. Right. I just always had this sense growing up in church and around church. It’s like everybody knew what they were supposed to do. And I was just a kid that was at church. You’re just kind of there seeing stuff happen. And I played drums in church. So I at least did that. And if I wasn’t on the drum set, then I was probably a distraction somewhere in the church service. So it’s been cool to see, like, as I’ve gotten older, especially moving into my, around middle school, I had an encounter with the Lord that really showed me who I am. And I started to feel a sense of purpose around music. And I started to lead worship in youth group. And over time that led to leading worship in our main church. And since then it’s now being an ordained minister and writing music and doing all the things. So I just think it’s taken the next right step. And saying yes, staying obedient to the Lord. For me, that’s been my story. Whatever door he opens, if he’s in it, I’m going with him.
CHRYSANDRA :
That’s so powerful, Jaye. It’s so powerful. Do you come from a family of musicians?
JAYE KING :
So my mom’s side was more athletics. So I played more sports during the week. And then my dad’s side, he had the music side. So he plays music. He sings. My grandma sang on his side. My aunt sang. My sister sang. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
That is so… Me, I thought I was just a drummer. Really? I did. How did you explore the realm of vocals?
JAYE KING :
Well, I mean, I grew up in a gospel church. So if you play one instrument or you play an instrument, you kind of focus on that instrument. It’s just what you do. And then in between, you can kind of dabble on other instruments. But for me, it was when I went to a more contemporary church. I would go to a youth group on Wednesday nights in my city and they felt like I could sing. So they gave me an opportunity to sing. And that’s where I started developing that gift.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, that is so powerful. And you, you mentioned that you had an encounter with the Lord in middle school that like just changed everything. What take us to that moment and what happened?
JAYE KING :
I was at a youth camp. We went to Hamilton, Alabama to a place called the ramp. And Karen Wheaton was up there. And so was Eddie James. Eddie James was singing and leading worship and our youth group was in the audience. And I had like, a really really difficult life my mom is a single parent there was so much going on in my world and i was at that middle school age where you either run towards the things that are good and fruitful maybe difficult but they’re right or you take a turn for the worst and god met me at that camp In Hamilton, Alabama, at the ramp. And it was like I was seeing things I’d never seen before. I was asking questions that I’d never asked before. I was awakened to the things of the Lord at that camp. And my youth pastor, thankfully, took it seriously. She discipled me and quite a few of us, others of us. And it was like intensive discipleship. I mean, in middle school, going into high school, just on top of us to live a life that is worthy to the Lord. So I’m very blessed by that experience.
CHRYSANDRA :
Jaye will be loved. And I think that that scripture, one of the scriptures that you’re just referencing is one of our favorites from the calling from Ephesians 4.1. As a prisoner of the Lord, then I will urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Worthy of the calling. And I love that your pastors and mentors, they saw that as a youth and knew that the younger the better.
JAYE KING :
Yes. Really important.
CHRYSANDRA :
I think a lot of people wait to sow in such wisdom, but… Thank you for saying yes. And the Lord just opening up your heart to receive that is so powerful. And so that journey of high school and then growing into this career, what did that journey look like for you and walking with the Lord from knowing that this wasn’t just going to be a side thing, but really what you were called to do?
JAYE KING :
Well, I started getting that sense. As you start saying yes to the Lord, people around you begin to affirm your gifts. So it’s like something I tell people all the time. If you think you should be doing something, trust the voices that are around you. You got to be careful with that too, not to give influence to the wrong voices. But the people who really love you and care for you, they’ll affirm the gift and stir it up in you. And I began to explore the music gifts and dove into it in high school right away. I wanted to learn as much as I can about music. So I started to learn theory and all of the things. And then when I graduated high school, I started practicing writing music because there had been some prophetic words over my life that I’d be a leader of leaders, that I would write songs. And I’m like, well, if that’s going to be true, I need to figure out how to do that. I got to practice. and so uh they say keep a notepad by your bed make sure when the lord wakes you up you write down the ideas and so for years i would write down just one line or i’d write down like two lines and then eventually it turned into a chorus that i thought was a poem but i started to hear melodies and over time i just started to follow artists that were making music at that time and see how they structured it and i really developed in private is just how it worked
CHRYSANDRA :
And that’s where I think the best things grow. And a lot of people think that it happens out in public. But Jaye, that’s such a powerful reminder that it happens in the intimacy one-on-one with Jesus. And I’m downloading that to you. What was one of your first songs, Jaye, that you remember? that you were like, oh, this is anointed. Oh man, let me grab my guitar.
JAYE KING :
I wrote this song called You Are. When I was probably, I would have been 19 at the time. It was like, let’s see.
JAYE KING :
You are light in the darkness when life gives no other options.
JAYE KING :
There’s hope for the hopeless in time of affliction. Your love is all we need. There’s no one worthy of honor and glory. You are holy. You are wonderful to me. Yeah, it’s so something like that.
CHRYSANDRA :
We’re all here in the studio. We’re all like clapping and cheering, Jaye. That is so, that is very powerful. And that is very sacred. So Jaye, on this journey of going after what God has called you to do, We just know that there are so many times on, you know, sometimes it’s easy going for a little bit, but lo and behold, there’s always a giant. There’s always a mountain that comes in the way and how to persevere through it. Can you just take us to a time where you have had to go climb a mountain or defeat a Goliath?
JAYE KING :
Oh yeah. I think it’s every day we battle the enemy of our inner voice. And sometimes it’s the enemy, but I’ve learned that our greatest enemy is sometimes our innermost person, our inner, inner me, like my voice, the perspective that I have. And I have to constantly, as the book of Romans says, I have to be transformed just reading his word. My mind has to be renewed because I default to things that aren’t consistent. For example, I was growing up and where I come from, I didn’t see a lot of people be successful really beyond my city. Like it was very rare. You’d have some athletes that go off and do some cool stuff, but you weren’t seeing people do that frequently. So I had this inner voice that was almost like, I was an imposter. Like I’m going further and I’m seeing things more than I’d ever seen before. And it made me feel like I had imposter syndrome. Like, who do you think you are to be doing what you’re doing? You don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve never done this before. You never been. And those thoughts, those voices, I had to take them captive, take those thoughts captive every day and bring them to the Lord. Like, Lord, I need you to pull these things out of me because they’re loud. Those voices are really loud. You know,
CHRYSANDRA :
Right, right. And Jaye, how would you say for listeners that are tuning in and just all of us relating to that, what has been some of your go-to’s for ensuring that we’re listening to the Lord and not our flesh?
JAYE KING :
yes i love the scripture that says that my sheep know my voice and a stranger we won’t we won’t go to we won’t we won’t go to somebody something that we don’t recognize so if i am moving towards things that god says about me i will remember that i’m called that i’m chosen it reminds me that i’m a royal priesthood it’s things that elevate and lift me but when there are negative voices I began to recognize that God wouldn’t call me by my past. He wouldn’t name me or label me something I used to do. So I began to, I would take a list of things and write down what does the Lord say about me from scripture and write those things down in a list. So when you hear something else, you can say, oh, that’s not him. That’s the enemy. That’s the inner voice. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Jaye, we have to take a short break, but you guys, you’re listening to Jaye King, the one and only here on to all the dreamers radio show. We’ll be right back. Twist and shout with Lee & Co. They are the premier oldies band delivering the rock and roll vibes you’ve been missing. Great songs, great memories. Book them at LeeAndCo.com. Hi guys, this is Chrysandra Brunson, host of To All The Dreamers. I am so happy to introduce personal training, nutritional guidance, and behavioral change coaching. Healthy, happy, and heavenly for your wellness, spirit, soul, and body. Contact Mimi Kroger at healthyhappyandheavenly.com.
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CHRYSANDRA :
At Ignite Brilliance Coaching, you will get 34 years of science teaching, a decade of university-level instruction, and over 10 years of instructional coaching to empower educators with the tools, mindset, and confidence to thrive. Contact Ignite Brilliance Coaching on Facebook. This is The Calling on Crawford Broadcasting, the show where marketplace leaders share their stories of faith, bridging the gap between your career and your God-given calling. Listen every weekday or become a sponsor and help other people live out their God-given calling. We are back. Thank you for listening to all the dreamers radio show. I’m your host, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, founder of the Pauline and so humbled and honored to have the one and only Jaye King in studio. Drake, you are downloading into our hearts such gifts of wisdom on how to be able to defeat the enemy, an enemy of our flesh that resides inside of our brains a lot of times, and how to be able to recognize that. what the enemy’s voice is and what Jesus’ voice is to us and our identity. We just thank you so much for that and how often we need to be reminded of our identity and how your music has compelled us to be reminded of that and so many parallels and We have so many questions, Jaye, and we want to hear all the latest announcements of what’s coming up. We would love to see, Jaye, how God has put his fingerprints on you, knowing that this is what you were called and destined to do as your God-given calling. Can you take us to one of those miracle moments where you have just been able to say, this is what I’ve been called to do?
JAYE KING :
Yeah. I think the biggest one that hits my mind right away is whenever I’ve tried to do something else, there’s not as, there’s not as much grace on what I would choose to do. You feel like you’re pressing a weight. Like you’re, if you’re, if you’re under the bench press bar and you’re trying to say you can only bench press one 85, but you’re trying to bench press two, two 25. It’s like, I can do 225, but the grace is only at 185. It’s one of those things. It’s like God gives us just enough to be able to do. And when you try to do it a different way, when you try to weather it yourself, it’s pretty obvious. So for me, that was, I have a leadership gift that was called out of me early. And yeah, i knew music didn’t music couldn’t pay the bill so when i felt like i was being called to music i’m like nah man that’s not it that’s not it i’m gonna try to figure out i went to school and changed my degree program to psychology and business and i was going through the courses i was doing the thing but No opportunities I was getting were lining up with business and psychology. It was always in music. It was always somehow tied to music. And I’m like, why am I pressing harder over here? But you keep leading me back to music over and over again. It was constant reminders that the grace I’ve given you is in the lane of music. I want to use you in music right now. And so I yielded, I yielded in my early twenties. I was like 20 or 21. And I said, yes, I just ran at it. And here I am now, what, 12 years later and we’re still going for it.
CHRYSANDRA :
That’s incredible. How did you, what was that yes moment like for you?
JAYE KING :
That yes moment was like, I remember we had just left. I was a bit of a partier growing up and we had just left an event or a party or a bar type thing. And there was a big fight that my friends were involved in and they knew that I was different. I always moved different than my friends. But I’m also, I like to have a good time. I just carry that kind of energy. And I knew I shouldn’t have been there that night. I was serving my church at the time. My friends were in town from college. We decided we’d go out and it turned into a massive fight. There was a friend there that got into it with somebody. And in that moment, it was like slow motion. I could see my friends. I could see what we were doing. And it was like, the Lord was showing me if you hadn’t been here tonight, they wouldn’t have been here. They would have been where you are. But you’re in the wrong place. You’re sidestepping what I’ve called you to do. You’re not leading them the right way. And I felt like I had placed them in danger when I should have used my influence to do something different that night. And it was that day for me specifically that was like, I’ve got to do this different. i’ve got to live this different and i came back i went to the church i told my pastor because now my father-in-law what what happened and i just changed i changed tunes i changed tunes real fast and really locked into just doing what the lord has called me to do even if it costs you know i’m gonna do it gee what would you say for those that are trying to ride both sides
CHRYSANDRA :
You know, one foot on either side, what would be your encouragement for them to dive into their calling side?
JAYE KING :
I would encourage you wherever you are, if you’re struggling to walk the narrow path that the scripture calls and press towards the mark of the high calling that is on your life, I would encourage you to allow the Lord to walk with you. Don’t wait to put both feet in on his way, right where you are. It’s a struggle. Like we want to do the things God’s called us to do, but our flesh is weak. So allow the Lord to walk with you. Invite him in. Like, Lord, I’m struggling to get the church this week. Lord, I’m struggling to serve these people this way. Help me through this. Lord, I’m struggling to stop cursing. I’m struggling to stop drinking. Whatever that is, help me. Help me to do what you called me to do. Just invite him in.
CHRYSANDRA :
powerful jaye and jaye what in these miracle moments is there one situation that comes to mind where you’re like i did not think i could get through it but i i didn’t want to be in a situation for a miracle but the lord provided right when i needed can you tell us a miracle
JAYE KING :
Yeah, there was a point where my band and I were about to move to Nashville and this was 2018. Yep.
JAYE KING :
We have been picking up some steam in Florida and I was very resolute. I had this boldness and courage. I’m like, God is calling me in the music. I need to go right now. I told my band we’re moving to Nashville. That’s where people go to write music and just focus. We’re going to go do that. So they all talk to their families and friends and we are plotting this thing. Okay. This mammoth size God thing we’re trying to accomplish. We’re putting our own plan to it and God shows up. And he leads us to the church now that I’m serving called the chapel. And he, he basically sidelines our plan.
JAYE KING :
Right.
JAYE KING :
And at first that doesn’t, that seems like a roadblock at first, but it was actually a miracle because a year and a half later, the pandemic hit in 2020. So my entire band and my family with two kids, we would have moved to Nashville. All of my band and their families would have moved here. We would have had less than a year to adjust. And then the pandemic shut down and nobody toured, nobody played. They barely wrote music. And I look back at that and I’m like, Lord, I am so thankful that you spoke and I obeyed because had I moved with eager, eagerness and ego, I would have been in the middle of a pandemic in Nashville trying to pursue music. Like what? I can’t make this up. It’s crazy.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, Jaye, we’re just, we’re so honored by your obedience and just the, The humility and intimacy that you have with the Lord and just being quick to obey. We are coming towards the end of our show. It goes by so quick, but we have a few things that we must hear. We want to be able to hear, you know, just for people tuning in. There’s someone listening and. Jaye, they know what God’s called them to, but they are afraid. They’re afraid to go after it. So we would love your wisdom on that. And then we want to know everything that’s coming up and that has released in the realm of your music. So what would you say to that listener that’s afraid?
JAYE KING :
It’s a normal experience. Jesus, right before he endured the cross, he asked his father multiple times, if this cup could pass from me, but nevertheless, not my will, your will be done. I would say if you are scared, do it scared. yeah do it scared obey the lord even with fear in your heart trusting that it’s him that’s calling you i mean bounce bounce whatever you feel god is calling you to off of somebody around you wisdom and counsel right but make sure you step into it scared just trust the lord step out on faith and just trust that he’s going to meet you there yeah I would definitely say to expect, I mean, in this season, coming into 2026, more music, we’re going to release more music. We’re going to stay with the Lord’s rhythm and his pace. I’m not going to outpace him, but we’re trusting that as we release these songs, it will reach people’s hearts and we’ll be able to share it in a city near you pretty soon.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes. And tell us what, what music has released recently and how we can find it.
JAYE KING :
Yes. Hard Place is out right now. It’s my first commercial release with my team Centricity, and we’re extremely excited about it. It’s a great introduction. It shares a bit of my story and how I believe God can meet us in a hard place. And you can find it everywhere, wherever you stream music, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music. It’s everywhere. Listen, stream it, share it, save it, download it, add it, all the things. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes. And I I think that a lot of us have heard it, but Jaye, for you, would you be able to sing just a couple verses for us?
JAYE KING :
Oh yeah, absolutely. Let’s see.
JAYE KING :
Forgive me if I look a little rough around the edges. Had a wild ride coming from the outside in the resurrection. i might look messy but he came to save me you call them bruises but i call them blessings maybe jesus likes to use what the world least expects he saved a man’s life
JAYE KING :
That’s how I know he can read anything. Cause I found out about amazing grace. Everything changed. That’s the reason I’m there. Because I found him in a hard place. Get it everywhere.
CHRYSANDRA :
Again, we’re all just like, that was so good. That was so good. And we want to follow you. We want to come to your upcoming concerts. How can we find you and be part of this movement that God is doing through you and your music?
JAYE KING :
Yes, just visit jking.com. That’s J-A-Y-E, king.com. And you can find all my social media links to Instagram. Trying to get better on the social media with TikTok and YouTube as we expand into music. It means being more present online. So lots of content and things coming your way. But I’d be honored to have you guys on the journey with me.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, well, we can’t wait. And you guys challenge everyone. Please go find Jaye right now and be able to follow him on all the social media. He is the best of the best in his family. You want to be able to just stay tuned to everything that they’re doing. And Jaye, we just honor you so much. And thank you for truly following Jesus fearlessly. Challenge everyone to look inside their hearts. Ask themselves, what would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail? Knowing that that answer, Jesus wants you to follow him fearlessly. Till next time, dreamer. Keep dreaming big.
