Instruments of Worship

Beyond the Awards: Lessons From Forrest Frank | Ep. 29

• Casey Rinkenberger • Season 2 • Episode 29

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Have you heard what Forrest Frank said that has everyone talking? In today’s episode, we take a closer look at the truths we can learn from his recent decision not to attend the Dove Awards.

No matter what kind of musician you are, Forrest’s words invite us to examine our own hearts — the parts drawn toward self-exalting, recognition, and praise. As Christian musicians, our deepest desire should be to glorify God above ourselves, but that’s often easier said than done.

My hope is that Forrest’s faith encourages you and stirs your heart toward humble, authentic worship to the Lord, not self.


To see Forrest's post, click here!


Discussion Questions - Try discussing with a friend or in our Facebook Discussion Group 

  • What stuck out to you most from today’s episode?
  • How did you react to seeing Forrest Frank’s post?
  • Do you think, as musicians, we tend to love and desire recognition, praise, attention, prestige?  Have you experienced this in your life? 
  • Have you heard of the Book of Life before?  How do those two verses in Revelation help remind you that Salvation is a priceless gift? 
  • Compare earthly treasures and heavenly treasures?  Why is it useless to put our hope in earthly treasures? 
  • What helps remind you that the gift of music has not come from your own doing, but is a gift from God that you have only received? 
  • What is your reaction to the reality that your name will fade away? Is that comforting to you?  Or disheartening? 
  • Will you let Jesus be the Lord of your life?  Or will you resist and be the master of your life?  
  • How were you encouraged by the story from Daniel 5?  


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SPEAKER_00:

Hi friends, my name is Casey Rinkenberger, and I am so excited to welcome you to the Instruments of Worship Podcast. This is a podcast dedicated to encouraging and equipping classical musicians to apply the name of Jesus with their instruments but also their lives. In the last week or two, you may or may not have seen a recent video posted on Instagram by popular Christian artist Force Frank. This video he posted was describing his decision to not attend either the double boards or the Grammys this year. It's fostered various reactions from other Christian artists or other Christians, and we won't necessarily go into all their opinions today, but I do think it's worthwhile to break down Force's post because I think it can speak into or reveal a deeper heart motive of many musicians. So I appreciate what he said. I think he said it well, and we're gonna take a deeper look into that today. So I hope you will join me now for another episode of the Instruments of Worship podcast. Okay, so I want to start out today by explaining a little bit about who Forrest Frank is and what happened for those who maybe don't know. So Forrest Frank actually went to Baylor, which is a fun little fact, and he started his career in a band called Surfaces, which was mainly just him and his buddy singing. The most popular song that they sang was Sunday's Best, if you've ever heard of that. Somewhere along the line, Forrest started doing more independent work and has now become a super popular Christian artist, but being a solo artist, he's no longer part of Surfaces. His music is very positive and uplifting if you've never heard it. It's kind of a mix of some RB, pop, some hip-hop. Some even say a little soft rock or reggae, but no matter what kind of style it is, it's all with good, right, Christ-glorifying lyrics. It's music that has a very high view of God, and it's likely the soundtrack to a lot of Christian walks in this day and age. In a music world full of just evil and darkness, Forest Frank's music definitely stands out. It's uplifting, joyful, feel good, infectious, so much so that it's made Christian music attractive to young kids and adults alike. Like at our church, there were so many Forest Frank songs danced to and listened to before VBS each night this year. So it's really cool to see the surge of love for Christian music, especially among young kids. And I think Forrest knows his impact in that age group, and so he's very mindful of it. Anyway, some of his famous songs you maybe have heard of are Your Ways Better, Good Day, Up with an Exclamation Point, Lemonade was a new one, Never Get Used to This, Sela. And from an outsider's perspective, he definitely has some of the hottest tracks in Christian music out these days. His music is even broken into the secular world, which is super cool. The song Your Ways Better was number 72 on the Billboard Top 100s, and Lemonade even made it to the number one spot in the iTunes overall genre chart. So it's not just number one in the Christian chart, but number one in all genres. And Brandon Lake also did the same thing. And not that either of these artists are trying to water down their music to get to these spots. I don't think it's that at all. I just think that hopefully is telling of maybe some possible cultural shifts. All that to say, he's a fan favorite of many, and he's also just gotten a lot of acknowledgement for his music. Forrest won two Dove Awards in 2024 and received a 2025 Grammy nomination for his album Child of God in the best contemporary Christian music album category. So that brings us to this year's award season. So hopefully you're a little bit up to speed on who Forrest is. Now let's get into what happened that had everyone talking. Essentially, Forrest posted a reel on October 9th, the day before this year's Dev Awards. And if you don't know about the Dev Awards, they're essentially a Christian award show. So the day before the Dev Awards, he posted this video to let people know that he would not be attending the Devil Awards or the Grammys this year, and he explains why. This year he had been nominated for Song of the Year, and he had two songs in that category. He was also nominated for Songwriter of the Year, Artist of the Year, Rap Slash Hip Hop Record Song of the Year, Pop slash Contemporary Record Song of the Year, and Pop slash Contemporary Album of the Year, all at the Dev Awards. So that was five different award nominations. One of those awards he had two songs in the ring for. He hadn't been nominated for any Grammys yet, but it was likely that he would, and that the Grammys show is in February of 2026. So in this video, he said, as Christians, it's hard to know where the line in the sand is between being in the world and not of the world. And as a Christian artist, I dress kind of like the world. I kind of look like the world. My music can kind of sound like the world, so where's the line in the sand drawn? And I'm convicted personally that a line that I can draw is that I will not receive a trophy for something that is from Jesus and for Jesus. And I was wrestling with this last year. I even said that on stage at the Dev Awards. I said, I'm still struggling with the concept of receiving this award, but all glory to Jesus. Every name will fade away, including mine except for one name. But I feel convicted to go even a step further and say, I don't know if I even want to step on the stage. I don't know if I want to step in the room. And so I have decided to take a stance of non-participation. I will not be attending the doves or the Grammys. I hope to be an example to the youth that the trophy is our salvation. The trophy is that my name is written in the book of life and I get to have eternal life. What good is a piece of metal going to do compared to that? So I'm not sure if that's the first time you've heard that quote, but my initial reaction when I listened to him say this was honestly conviction. I was so convicted. Would I do the same? Would I be willing to be offered a prestigious award, time in the spotlight, recognition, praise, and one of the most tangible signs in the music world that you've made it and then turn it down? Or would my heart really long to feel satisfied by that trophy and that recognition, that praise, that time on the spotlight, on the stage? Let's say I didn't turn it down. Would I want to go to an award show to show off God? Or would I want to go to feel good about myself and have a good time? I am not saying at all I would ever be nominated for any sort of award, but I think for us as musicians, it's almost good to put ourselves in that situation. And if you place yourself in that hypothetical situation, it might reveal something deeper in our hearts. I think as musicians, we still kind of have like, oh, if you win a Grammy, like you are at the pinnacle of music making. You are really killing it. And if the pinnacle for you is not award shows, it's still likely winning XYZ competitions, getting to be section leader or concertmaster in your orchestra, or maybe it's getting into a really impressive orchestra, a really top-rated orchestra. There's still something for you that you would like to maybe look at and say, Oh, if I can do that, I've I've made it. There's still probably something you would point to and say, Oh, I would love to achieve that. That would make me look so cool. And we're always trying to outdo ourselves and climb up essentially the musical ladder. So what Forrest said, I just think is convicting. You can ask yourself the questions, do I love to achieve these things so I can show off God and celebrate what only He can do? Or would I love to achieve it so that people are impressed? So I feel good about myself, or so I can get special attention, prestige, recognition, or praise. Whatever the peak or whatever the pinnacle of achievement in the music world is for you, sometimes it's so deeply rooted in our selfishness and our pride and our desire to self-exalt ourselves. And sometimes we hold on to those things really tightly. And so I think we can learn a lot from what Forrest said. So that's why I want to take today to go a little deeper into some of the reasons Forrest wasn't going to participate. And these three main truths stood out to me. The first one being you can't take it with you. The second one being everything you are and everything you do is a gift from God. It's not from you. And number three, only one name remains. Only one name will ever remain. So taking a look at truth number one, you can't take it with you. Forrest said, the trophy is our salvation. The trophy is that my name is written in the book of life, and I get to have eternal life. What good is a piece of metal going to do compared to that? So I don't know if you know what Forrest is referring to when he says the book of life or the Lamb's Book of Life, sometimes it's also called that. And if you don't, it's a record of all those who have put their faith in the work of Jesus Christ and have made him the Lord of their life. So it's a record of those who belong to God and who through Christ get to have eternal life. In Revelation 3 5, Jesus says, The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. So to the one who has genuine salvation, Jesus promises that their name will never be removed from the book of life. Their eternal destination is sure and it is secure. It's based on the work of Jesus, not on our poor attempts for reconciliation or for humans or man's attempt to be reconciled to God. That will not save. On the flip side, anyone who doesn't confess Christ as Lord, anyone who doesn't want anything to do with him, he honors their request. And Revelation 20, 15 tells us what their future holds. It says, And if anyone's name was not found in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. So for those in Christ, we receive the gift of being saved from sin and death forever. This is nothing you or I have accomplished or could accomplish. I couldn't accomplish it even if I tried or wanted to. No one could. This is a holy and a divine work. So on the day that we will stand before the judgment throne and stand to be tried, and I can't find up a reason why I should be led into heaven based on my own works, I will point to Jesus and say, Only because of his blood shed on the cross. And like Jesus said in Revelation 3 5, Jesus will point to me and say, She's with me. She is mine, she's been washed clean because of my blood. So I hope these verses in Revelation make it clearer and clearer to you. This salvation I've been gifted, and I hope you've received it too. It is a treasure, a treasure beyond treasures. This salvation force is talking about, it really is the greatest gift, the greatest treasure we could ever hope for. A treasure that was costly to Jesus, but is priceless to you and to me. So after talking about the worth of salvation, Forrest says, What good is a piece of metal going to do compared to that? And I love it because he is so right. All the things that we put on our resume or brag about in our hearts, or maybe even sometimes with our mouths, they are fleeting. Our salvation, now that will last. It will never be broken or lost, it can never be tarnished or burned or thrown away or forgotten. But the same cannot be said for the physical, tangible trophies, of course. Those can be lost, those can be thrown away, those can be forgotten, or even the metaphorical trophies we receive. So when you get that chair that you want, or when you accomplish XYZ, those things can be lost too. They're so easily forgotten and fleeting, and they will never satisfy. So it reminds me of Matthew six, nineteen through twenty-one. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rush destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So another just convicting question. Is the treasure of your life your salvation? Or is your treasure a stack of your accomplishments piled up high? One lasts and one does not. And you get to choose this day what you will seek after. You could try with all of your might to make sure that those lists of accomplishments go down in history, or that those lists of accomplishments get you into heaven, or that those list of accomplishments make you just seem amazing to everyone that you talk to. But all of that will fade away. So is the treasure of your life your salvation? That is what lasts. Okay, truth number two: everything you are and everything you do is a gift from God. It is not from you. And I got this from when he said, I will not receive a trophy for something that is from Jesus or for Jesus. So he is fully acknowledging that the music he writes and sings is completely a gift from God. It's not from himself. He's just received it from God. Like 1 Corinthians 4 7 says, For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? Sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking, Well, I've practiced X amount of hours, the praise should go to me. Or I'm the one who's just sacrificed so much throughout life, like, yeah, I earned this. But no, not even close. If you even have the ability to wake up in the morning, that's a gift from God. If you even have the ability to pick up your instrument, or that you even had the means to take lessons growing up, if you even have the ability to play anything or do anything, it is just all a gift from God. You have nothing you did not first receive from the Lord. I hope that the prayer of David's heart in 1 Chronicles 29 14 can be true of me. It's when David says, Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us. Now if you have the ability and the gift from God to play music, first Peter 4 10 tells us what to do with it. Says, Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. So if you have that gift, while it's in your possession, steward over it. Go serve others with it. Don't use it for your self-exaltation. What Forrest said when he was accepting the new Artist Award of the Year at the 2024 GMA Dev Awards, which would have been last year, he said, Wow, I just want to say I feel so undeserving of this award. I actually was curious if I was even going to come to an award show for Christian music because this is just all from him and everything I do is for the Lord. And for whatever reason, he's chosen to give me some songs that have related to some people. And if he shuts it off and doesn't give me any more songs, that's cool. If he continues to bless it, that's great. And so I just love how you can hear in his tone here, you can hear in his words, the music, the songs, the inspiration for them, or whatever else he needs to make them. It's all from the Lord. And whether God keeps giving it or he takes it away, it doesn't matter. While the Lord continues to bless it though, I think you can hear in his voice that Forrest will do his best to steward over God's grace to him, God's gift to him, and use it to serve others like we read in First Peter just now. Forrest continues on, but I am so thankful to be here and I want to continue to give Jesus glory because my name will fade away, just like all of ours one day. But at the end of the time and at the end of eternity, one name will remain, and that's the name of Jesus Christ. And that brings us to our third truth, and that is only one name remains. Now, this is terrible, but I'm not sure if it's just me, but do you guys sometimes struggle to even remember like your great-grandparents' names? Much less which side they were on, their whole life story, all the things that they accomplished, or even like their personality, much less your great-great-grandparents and your great-great-great-great-grandparents, and so on and so on. You could just keep going down the line, and of it's gonna get more and more removed, and you're gonna know less and less and less. And I had the privilege of meeting one of my great-grandmas during her lifetime. Her name was Esther, and she died when I was three. So I really don't even remember anything of her other than just stories I've heard or pictures I've seen. I and I never had the privilege of meeting any of my other great-grandparents. And I really do. I wish I knew more about them, could have known them deeply and personally, but the reality is that just generations will come and they will go, and hopefully they leave a lasting positive legacy, but eventually they they'll be forgotten. And the same is true for you and me. My name and your name may not even be remembered past this generation, maybe a generation or two or three, but it will be forgotten. Even Forrest Frank's name will soon be forgotten. And I won't lie, it definitely sounds appealing to me to be someone who is memorable, who a great-great-grandma Casey, you know, who leaves a lasting impact and accomplishes much on the earth and is remembered for generations. But as a Christian, like it really shouldn't matter because this is God's kingdom, it's not mine, and I don't do the things I do on this earth so that I can build my kingdom, but I hope it's that I can build the Lord's kingdom. I hope that's true of my heart. And for says, at the end of the time and at the end of eternity, one name will remain, and that's the name of Jesus Christ. So generations will come and go, but Jesus has been talked about from the very, very beginning, and he was talked about until he came, and he's been talked about ever since, and he will continue to be talked about till the very end of the age and into eternity forever. Philippians two, nine through eleven says, Therefore God exalted him, that being Jesus Christ, to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So whenever we get to heaven, that's the name that we're going to be worshiping for all of eternity. The accomplishments of this world or our desire to be remembered, that will just all fade away in the blink of an eye. The important question, though, is while you are on this earth, it's not what you do or what you accomplish, it's what will you do with Jesus Christ. In the end, his name is the only one that will remain. And whether you want to or not, the day will be here when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess him as Lord. So if you haven't already, will you bow down today and let him be the Lord of your life? Or will you resist and be the master of your own life? It's the most important question of all of life's deep questions. Will Jesus be your Lord? Will he be your savior? Or will you deny him and only acknowledge him as Lord once it's too late? I hope that you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And if you don't, I hope that you will humble yourself and realize that you fall so short. And the only way that you can bridge that gap between you and God that sin has created is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. And that is good news. But not only that, ha knowing Jesus Christ is so much more satisfying than any accomplishment that you could ever try to hope for in this world. You'll always be chasing your tails, trying to climb that musical ladder, trying to fill the void. But Jesus says that whoever is thirsty will not be thirsty when they come to him or hungry, because their soul will be satisfied in him. So the three truths. You can't take it with you. Everything you are, and everything you do is a gift from God, it's not from you. And only one name remains. What will you do with Jesus? So all of this reminds me of a small portion of a story from Daniel 5 that I want to share with you. So to give you some context, Belshazzar is the last king of Babylon, and in an act where we can see his pride on full display, his love of pleasure seeking, and in denial of the realities of life, he threw a lavish party as the Persian army waited right outside to overtake the empire. The king foolishly called for some of God's holy goblets, which were taken from Jerusalem, to be used for the party. Daniel five three says, So they brought in the gold tablets that have been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. Verse five says Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared, and wrote on the plaster of the wall near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale, and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. The king summoned the enchanters and astrologers. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed round his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Then Belshazzar was reminded that there was a man named Daniel, who was gifted with the ability to interpret dreams, solve riddles, and solve difficult problems. Daniel was brought to him and the king said, Now I've heard that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Then Daniel answered the king, You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. So Daniel, like, he just doesn't even bat an eye at the power, wealth, and prestige just offered to him. He's like, I'll use my God given gifts to help you, but nah. Like I'm so good, give your rewards, rewards to someone else, keep 'em, I don't care what you do. So this the story of Daniel, it's a small portion of the larger story, but kind of like what Daniel did, if anybody just turns down power and rewards, it's just likely reflective of a heart of humility who sees those things as very, very small and sees God potentially as so much bigger. It may not be for everyone who turns down rewards, but I think it could definitely be reflective of a heart who those things don't have a hold on them. God has a hold of their heart, and they see him in his rightful place as just big and awesome and powerful and amazing. And these rewards just eh, very, very fleeting, don't mean a whole lot, you know? So that's just kind of a couple of my thoughts on just this whole situation with Forrest and the topic of awards and how attractive that might be to a musician. Please do not hear me say, though, that I don't think Christians should go to award shows or the Devil Wards should not exist, or I judge people for going to them. That's absolutely not the case. I think that the Doves in particular could be an awesome unifying moment for Christian artists. It could be a great night of worship, just peace, unity, and love, all things that the Lord calls us to as the body of Christ. And it can just be a night of celebrating all that God has done in the music industry. And how cool that there is an award show that hopefully it's full of people who do have hearts that long to just glorify the Lord above themselves. That is a way that they can be set apart just as Christians, and how that looks so much different than maybe some of the other award shows that just celebrate evil and wickedness and and self above all things. So Daniel actually was awarded the gifts he denied, anyways, afterwards. It says Daniel 5 29 says, Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. But because of what happens next, it was a good thing that Daniel didn't care about them anyways, because carrying on in verse 3031, it says, That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mead took over the kingdom at the age of 62. So literally a couple hours later, the gifts that Daniel had denied and then was awarded, they were completely worthless. And the same is true for us. Even if the Lord blesses us with accomplishments and a reaching of our goals, our heart better not be tethered to them because this world is literally a blip in eternity. And metaphorically, they will only last a few hours anyways. James 414 says, You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. So to go to an award show or not to go to an award show, I don't know. The Holy Spirit has convicted Forrest that he shouldn't go, but he's convicted other people of the opposite. Many people have said they respect and appreciate Forrest convictions, but are also so thankful for the Dev Awards and the impact they can have in the Christian music industry. Singer Jonathan Trailer says even an award can be an altar of praise, not a pedestal of pride. But I think the truth remains the same, that our hearts are bent towards self-exaltation, and I'm thankful as a musician to be able to learn from Forrest's example and wisdom. I'm reminded that in all things we can't take the accomplishments of this world with us. That salvation is the greatest treasure, that everything I do is a gift from God, and that only one name will remain at the end of time, and that is the name of Jesus Christ. So thank you so much for spending part of your day with me today. Also check the description for discussion questions that you can reflect on by yourself or with a group. We actually have a Facebook page that you can join where we talk about these discussion questions, we answer them, and we can encourage and equip one another as we walk this road of being a Christian in the classical music world. Please feel free to leave us a five star review if you like this episode, and I will see you next Monday.