Tony Cummings spoke to emcee DUSTY MARSHALL about his hard-hitting 'American Holocaust' album

Dusty: Absolutely. There's a way to lovingly point people back to Christ and not put their sin on a pedestal. We need Christ for all areas of life not just our sexual preferences. We need him for all areas of our sin, not just one thing specifically. Our goal as evangelical Christians should be to point people back to God in hopes of restoring them, not to condemn them to hell. I think there's a healthy balance, like you said, in doing so.

Tony: Obviously these are issues that you've wrestled with and thought about for a long time. Was the recording of the tracks on 'American Holocaust' done over a long period of time?

Dusty: It sure was. It was about a two year process. I was on tour with my family when I started writing the album and we were ministering. The writing process took at least about a year and a half and the recording process about six to eight months. It was a long drawn out process; I learned a lot and I got very involved in the Pro Life ministry here in America during that time. It is very personal to me and God was very much challenging me to write about it because it isn't a topic that is very popular to have people speak on but I knew that I needed to be obedient in doing what God called me to do, so that's why I did this album.

Tony: Abortion isn't the only issue that is tackled full on in your album. We mentioned workaholics. Give me a couple of other subjects you focus on on the album.

Dusty: There's a song called "Salt & Light" which speaks on false conversions and how there's almost this movement in America where we're just trying to get people to repeat a prayer so they'll get into Heaven one day. And that's not the Gospel. The Gospel says we are to repent and believe; there are actions that follow and simply repeating a prayer doesn't punch our ticket to get into heaven one day. Being light and salt; speaking into the culture, transforming the culture rather than letting the culture transform the word of God. That is something that I encourage Christians to do, to speak to the culture and be the light and the salt of the Earth. Salt stops things from spoiling and decay and light reflects the light of Christ, pointing people back to Jesus.

Tony: Another big issue within the Church as it's perceived here in the UK, we get a lot of American preachers on TV delivering what is sometimes referred to as a prosperity gospel. What do you think about the preaching of acquiring greater and greater wealth?

Dusty: I believe it's absolutely toxic in telling people that being a Christian will bring prosperity and that God wants us to have fancy and expensive things. I think the toxic part of telling people that is that it is a very man centred gospel, rather than a God centred gospel message. It's very much what can God do for me not how can I serve God. It is very toxic and it's deceiving and it's also a false God that is not able to save because it's not the God of Scripture, it's not the God of the Bible. It's a God which we have created that will give us health and wealth. It's just another idol which we've created. It's a toxic thing wherever it is, the prosperity gospel.

Tony: What about the issue which is currently taking up a lot of people's attention on the newscasts, and it's really fronted by your current President, the attitude some parts of America now have towards immigrants and immigration? What are your feelings on that?

Dusty: That is an area that I don't know a lot about. I'm very focussed on the Pro Life side of things, evangelising side of things and the Gospel message itself. To be honest with you I don't know a lot about what is going on in the immigration side of things. But I will say the word of God should always be our guide in deciding on those things.

Tony: So, to summarise, the overall message of 'American Holocaust' is about getting back to the word of God?

Dusty: Absolutely. It has to be our standard; it has to be the focus of our church services. What we see today in our culture is the result of trying to tickle people's ears, trying to please people, trying to put people in seats, trying to fill up rooms and not offend anyone rather than holding to the standard of God's word. That's what we need to get back to and that is also one of the theme topics on this album: not departing from God's word and getting back to it; not living in fear of offending people but living in fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of knowledge.

Tony: Are you somewhere, at the back of your mind, a little bit concerned that when this album gets heard and gets around it's actually going to do your career a bit of harm? Because some of your support base aren't going to like some of the stuff which you're talking about on 'American Holocaust'.

Dusty: When I first started writing the album it was definitely a concern of mine because we have a very intimate relationship with the people that support us, we communicate with them regularly. But the bigger issue was are we going to be faithful to God? I knew this was something he was calling me to do regardless of the persecution I might face, regardless of the relationships it might cost me or support it might cost me. I knew it was something I had to do and God would take care of me and my family. I have three young daughters, all under four, and my music is how we support ourselves. I just had to trust that this was what God wanted us to do. But if we had to face some financial hardships because of it then that's what it was. But it hasn't been that way. There hasn't been much backlash, there has been some but not a lot. I have a church here, Apologia Church in Phoenix, Arizona, that supports us and is behind us and even promotes what we're doing so I'm grateful for that.