Ep 1281 | Satanic or Sanctified? Skillet Gets Real About Christmas Controversy | John Cooper

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey

Blaze Podcast Network

Christianity, News Commentary, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 19.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Allie welcomes Skillet front man John Cooper for a heartfelt Christmas episode. They unpack the backlash to Skillet’s heavy metal “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and dispel any misconceptions that it is demonic. John shares about his own faith journey from strict legalism to rock gospel and highlights the power of music in evangelism. Amid controversy, John shares how a TV commercial featuring a song by him led two adult industry workers to find Christ and how the death of Charlie Kirk influenced the recording session for Skillet's latest single. Tune in for raw faith, redemption stories, and why true worship defies genre lines. Check out Skillet's music video for "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" here: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiErbpZHfbk⁠ Buy Allie's book "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.toxicempathy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Timecodes: (00:00) Intro (03:20) New Christmas Song (11:30) Perception of Rock Music (17:20) Dangers of Deconstruction (26:40) Forming the Band Skillet (34:30) Sharing the Gospel on Tour (45:15) False Prosperity Gospel (49:00) Importance of Worship (55:30) State of the Music Industry (59:45) Christ's Second Advent --- Today's Sponsors: A'del — Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠adelnaturalcosmetics.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and enter the promo code ALLIE for 25% off your first time purchase. PreBorn — Would you consider a gift to save babies in a big way? Your gift will be used to save countless babies for years to come. To donate, dial #250 and say the keyword BABY or donate securely at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠preborn.com/allie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Every Life — Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠everylife.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use promo code ALLIE10 to get 10% off your first order today! Fellowship Home Loans — Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fellowshiphomeloans.com/allie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start with a free consultation. You’ll even get a $500 credit at closing. Terms apply. See site for details. Carly Jean — Go to ⁠carlyjeanlosangeles.com⁠ and use code ALLIEB for 20% off your order. Olive — Olive is a food scanning app that exposes what labels don’t, like seed oils, dyes, additives, even hidden toxins. Download Olive now and instantly see what’s hiding in your groceries! --- Episodes you might like:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ep 1268 | Islamification Update, Christian Music Dominates & Why Women Aren’t Well ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000737142458⁠ Ep 1223 | The Forrest Frank Formula: Why Christian Music is Trending | Dr. Raymond Lynch ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1223-the-forrest-frank-formula-why-christian-music/id1359249098?i=1000719536332⁠ Ep 1121 | Jinger Duggar Vuolo on Escaping People Pleasing & Setting Biblical Boundaries ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1121-jinger-duggar-vuolo-on-escaping-people-pleasing/id1359249098?i=1000683836661⁠ Ep 920 | Russell Moore, David French & the Fake Threat of Christian Nationalism | Guest: John Cooper https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-920-russell-moore-david-french-the-fake-threat/id1359249098?i=1000638231068 Ep 316 | Resisting Woke-ism in the Church | Guest: John Cooper ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-316-resisting-woke-ism-in-the-church-guest-john-cooper/id1359249098?i=1000495518787⁠ --- Buy Allie's book "You're Not Enough (and That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.alliebethstuckey.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Relatable merchandise: Use promo code ALLIE10 for a discount: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is rock Christmas music demonic? That might sound like a funny question, but this was really a
0:07.1	controversy that went on when Skillet released their Christmas song, O'Cum, O'Cum, Emmanuel.
0:13.1	We've got John Cooper of Skillet here today to talk about some of the blowback that they got, but also
0:20.7	his heart and the very touching
0:23.0	story behind it. His testimony, too, woven into the story of why they wrote this song
0:29.5	and why skill it does what they do is just incredible. You guys are going to absolutely love
0:34.3	this conversation. It is brought to you by our friends at Olive. Olive is a food scanning app that exposes what labels don't. Things like seed oils, dyes, additives, hidden toxins. This is how we make America healthy again by seeing what is really in our food. So download the Olive app today. Download the Olive app today.
1:07.8	John Cooper, welcome to the podcast. Good to be back. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you doing?
1:12.0	Good. I like all the Christmas decorations. It looks a homey in here.
1:17.3	Thank you so much. I feel like I need some hot cocoa. Yeah. Well, we got you water. Is that okay? Yeah, water's fine. Room temperature water?
1:19.7	Room temperature water is just as good. Do you like cocoa with marshmallows or without?
1:24.7	You know, I probably without, I'm actually not that much of a marshmallow gal.
1:30.3	All right. I know. It's a big revelations today, unrelatable. I'm telling you what,
1:35.6	and people are going to be like, I'm not listening anymore. She hates marshmallows. Exactly. What about
1:40.3	you? I go full marshmallow and whipped cream if they have it. Yeah. Like a like with the sprinkles too. Take it all. You live in a cold place. Yeah, actually, you know what? We moved to Nashville about a year ago. You don't live in a cold place anymore. Yeah, today it's cold, but no. You're the only one moving to Nashville, I hear. I hear no one else is moving there. It's the hidden gem.
2:02.5	That's right. But it is a great place. Good people are moving there. Yeah. So I'm from Memphis.
2:08.2	And then my wife is from Wisconsin. And I married into Wisconsin. That was part of the deal.
2:13.7	Yeah. And I took it because she was a good woman. Yeah. But after 25 years, I am so glad to be gone. It's freezing up there. Yeah. It's constantly snowy. You're bringing in mud, snowy mud all the time. Yeah. Or salt, because it was just salt everywhere. And it's just, I'm so glad to be back in Tennessee. Yeah. Into the south. And Memphis, y'all didn't go back to Memphis,
2:34.1	though. No, no, close enough. Memphis is a, Memphis is a tough place. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I got
2:41.8	held up at gunpoint in Memphis before we moved, so that was 2001. Oh, long time ago. So it's
2:47.9	always, it's, it's increasingly become a rougher place. Yeah. And I remember getting held at my gunpoint and I was like, I could leave here, you know. Yeah. And then you left for the snow. You're like, the snow's better than this. Yeah, yeah, six in one hand, you know. Yeah. Well, now you're back into the south. Okay. speaking of Christmas and hot cocoa, you had a Christmas song come out, and I was pumped about it. I thought it was so cool. For those who haven't heard it yet, let're doing. In a new head.
3:46.1	Okay. Okay, I loved it.
	...

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