‘I Saw a Lot of People Abusing the Platform’—Cory Asbury Explains Why He Left Worship Music

After spending more than five years away from worship ministry, Cory Asbury says God has brought him back to the place where it all began.
While on the road with Forrest Frank’s “The Jesus Generation” tour, Asbury spoke with ChurchLeaders about his upcoming album, “Outsing the Angels,” releasing Sept. 18. During the conversation, Asbury opened up about why he stepped away from the worship music industry, what led him back, and what he hopes believers rediscover through his new music.
Asbury, best known for the triple-platinum worship anthem “Reckless Love,” said the past several years have been nothing short of a spiritual renewal.
“Man, there’s been so much going on. I think it’s felt like a renaissance of the soul for me,” Asbury said.
Cory Asbury Says Forrest Frank Helped Restore His Love for Worship
According to Asbury, years in the worship industry left him discouraged and cynical.
“When you’ve been in it a long time, you can get bored with it. You can get cynical. You can get jaded,” he said. “I thank the Lord through Forrest [Frank], honestly. It’s awesome that we’re here for this concert.”
RELATED: How Forrest Frank Influenced Cory Asbury’s Return to Worship Music
Asbury credited Frank with reminding him that ministry doesn’t have to lead to cynicism.
“He was a big catalyst to show me that, hey, you can be in this thing and you can keep your heart pure. It doesn’t have to be cynicism that creeps in,” he said. “You can stay completely transparent, completely honest, and completely pure before the Lord, and that’s all that matters.”
The worship leader said seeing his teenage son and his friends passionately pursuing Jesus also reminded him of his own first encounter with God.
“I think it reminded me of what it was like for me as a kid getting encountered by the Lord for the first time and that raw passion and that love and that exuberance,” Asbury said. “I think this song and this album is hopefully a reflection of that.”
The title track, “Outsing the Angels,” reflects that renewed passion.

Facts Only

* Cory Asbury spent more than five years away from worship ministry.
* Asbury spoke with ChurchLeaders about his upcoming album, "Outsing the Angels," releasing September 18.
* Asbury credited Forrest Frank with restoring his love for worship.
* Asbury stated that prolonged time in the industry can lead to boredom, cynicism, and jadedness.
* Asbury indicated that Forrest Frank showed him that one could be involved in ministry while keeping one's heart pure.
* Asbury compared his rediscovery of passion to his first encounter with God as a child.
* The title track of the new album is "Outsing the Angels."

Executive Summary

Cory Asbury returned to worship ministry after spending more than five years away, speaking on his upcoming album "Outsing the Angels" while touring with Forrest Frank's "The Jesus Generation." During the conversation, Asbury discussed stepping away from the worship music industry, what led him back, and what he hopes believers rediscover through his new music. Asbury referenced a spiritual renewal over the past several years, stating it felt like a renaissance of the soul. He credited Forrest Frank with helping restore his love for worship, noting that years in the industry had previously caused discouragement, cynicism, and jadedness. Asbury suggested that Frank demonstrated that ministry could maintain purity and honesty without leading to cynicism, emphasizing that remaining pure before the Lord is what matters.

Full Take

The narrative centers on the tension between professional experience and spiritual authenticity within a highly emotive industry. The pattern observed involves using an established, highly successful figure (Forrest Frank) as the catalyst for personal transformation, effectively reframing disillusionment not as a failure of the system but as a side effect that can be overcome through a renewed internal standard. The suggestion that prolonged immersion breeds cynicism suggests a systemic critique of large, sustained creative or religious enterprises; the solution offered is an internal recalibration emphasizing transparency and purity before God. This taps into the inherent human desire for authentic connection versus polished performance. The implication is that true spiritual vitality resides in the initial, unmediated passion, which can be rediscovered by intentionally stripping away jadedness to align with foundational spiritual experiences. A key question arising is whether the pursuit of "purity" itself risks becoming a new, unattainable standard, or if it functions primarily as an internal compass for authentic expression rather than an external regulatory mechanism.

Sentinel — Human

Confidence

The text reads like direct reporting from an interview focusing on an individual's personal spiritual journey and artistic reflection, displaying strong human narrative presence.

Signals Detected

Moderate sentence length variance; natural conversational flow.

Passionate framing established through direct quotes and personal reflection, indicating human voice.

Relies on a single primary source (Asbury) for its core narrative, typical of interview reporting.

No immediate signs of LLM confabulation; content appears focused on relayed personal anecdotes.

Human Indicators

Direct, emotionally resonant quotes reflective of personal spiritual experience.

Use of conversational phrasing and emotional tone ('Man, there’s been so much going on', 'raw passion and that love').

Contextual framing around a specific public event (tour) and related media appearances.