The Miracle That Inspired “You’re Not Finished”

CANCER AT AGE TWO 

As a mere two-year-old toddler, Kaleb was diagnosed with childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia.   AML is a cancer in which bone marrow produces abnormal, immature white blood cells (blasts) that can’t fight infection, crowding out healthy cells and causing symptoms like persistent fevers, fatigue, easy bruising/bleeding, bone/joint pain, pale skin, recurrent infections, and swollen lymph nodes.  It’s the second most common childhood leukemia, often develops rapidly, and is treated primarily with chemotherapy, with good outcomes for many kids due to advances in therapy.  When Kaleb was diagnosed, about twenty years ago, he was given only a 10% chance of survival.  After an injury to his vocal chord during a procedure, he also wasn’t expected to speak, let alone sing.  His family asked the Lord for a miracle … and received one.   

ANTHONY’S TRIAL

In his own words, Anthony shares about a dark time in his life several years ago.  ”There was a period in my life I was a mess, like a whole mess and leading worship at the same time.  I felt like an actor who had to get into character to sing the songs, cuz I didn’t believe what the songs were about anymore,” Anthony confesses.  He went for help, to the most reliable source he could think of.  “I went and sat on my dad’s couch, the couch I grew up sitting on, talking to him, I said, ‘Dad, listen, you preach to the world, you’re Tony Evans, I think that’s beautiful, but I need you to speak to your son right now.  Cuz I’m over it.  I’m about to turn this mic off, the proverbial microphone as it relates to my faith.’  And he listened to me, and listened to my feelings …He said ‘I understand your feelings I get it, we’re not gonna negate those, your feelings are real, I understand that.  You feel left out, you feel lost, you feel abandoned like God’s forgotten about you, feel like He’s left you, but what you need to understand is that your feelings do not have intellect.  Your feelings cannot think. They can’t be the engine they have to be the caboose.   You have to bounce your feelings off the truth,’” he says.  “He flipped (a family Bible) open to Philippians 1:6, and said, ‘Anthony this is the truth whether you feel like it or not: I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.’  He said, ‘Anthony the reason why you feel dead to your faith is because you know the coach very well, you know the plays very well, but you’re doing nothing to execute what you know on the field of your life, so you don’t know what it feels like to win as related to your faith.’  And I was like, ‘Dang, that’s what I get for having Tony Evans for a dad! He let me have it but he was right.”  

YOU’RE NOT FINISHED 

As Anthony explains it, he and his sister, Priscilla Shirer, were doing an event together and afterward met Kaleb’s mother, who told them the story of her son battling AML as a toddler and how the Lord answered their many prayers for his full recovery, as well as his speaking and singing voice.  They were amazed by her story, later met Kaleb, and found that he did indeed have a uniquely beautiful singing voice.  Anthony and Kaleb then teamed up with Danielle Munizzi (daughter of Gospel legend Martha Munizzi) to write You’re Not Finished, referring to God’s work in each of His children, as well as the counsel given Anthony by his dad, Dr. Tony Evans, when he was in a hard place in life some years ago.  The song was also, of course, inspired by Carson’s unexpected battle with leukemia.  “What blew my mind and encouraged my heart is that the young man speaking to me about his faith in what God can do was that little boy from that story,” Anthony shares.  “Not only did he survive, but he ultimately learned to speak and worked diligently to learn how to sing. It is my honor to have written and produced this song with Kaleb Carson.  He is a living testament to the power of prayer and faith in the face of adversity.  As a living, visible testimony, I thought there would be nothing better than to perform this song with Kaleb.  My hope is that in hearing his dynamic voice you will be reminded that in spite of what you may be experiencing, it’s not over until God says so.  

Kaleb Carson adds, “God pulled me out of that situation, and this song comes from that real-life experience.  I’m so honored to have had the opportunity to write this song alongside Anthony and Danielle, who are both amazing songwriters and singers. 

This fall, Anthony and Kaleb will also be hitting the road with multi-GRAMMY Award-winning Chandler Moore for their acclaimed worship nights.  

To learn more about Anthony Evans, click the LINK!

To learn more about the song You're Not Finished, click the LINK!

CREDITS

Anthony:  Two-time Billboard No. 1 Grammy-nominated Gospel artist/starred in Disney’s Hollywood Bowl Production of Beauty and the Beast/worship leader/songwriter/producer/arranger/author of Unexpected Places: Thoughts on God, Faith, And Finding Your Voice, Divine Disruption and When Faith Meets Therapy/2012 contestant, and later a talent producer for NBC’s The Voice/son of well-known pastor Dr. Tony and Lois Evans
Kaleb: Cancer survivor at age two/singer/songwriter/emerging artist on the Gospel music stage