Kathie Lee Gifford has only been out of her “Today” seat for 10 days or so, but the broadcasting legend and showbiz stalwart is settling into her new life in Nashville with gusto. Gifford gave a shout out to her friend forever, Hoda Kotb, on Tuesday, while visiting the Fox News broadcast of “The Five” from Music City. Like everyone else, Kathie Lee Gifford was surprised and delighted by the timing of the arrival of Kotb’s second adopted daughter, Hope Catherine.

Last night, April 18, Kathie Lee was spending time with a more recent dear friend, Nicole C Mullen, the renowned Christian singer-songwriter, on The Trinity Broadcasting Network’s show, “Praise.”

Mullen is most familiar for her timeless classic, “My Redeemer Lives,” which she wrote more than 20 years ago, and recorded in 2001.

She has two Grammy nominations, nine Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association, and other accolades in her genre. In 2011, Nicole C Mullen was inducted into the Christian Music Hall Of Fame. Along with her musical talents, Nicole is known for high energy dance routines that she choreographs, and her powerful interpretive renditions onstage, which only add to the emotion of her songs.

Kathie Lee Gifford made the most of every dimension of Nicole C Mullen's talents in their song and film project, “The God Who Sees,” which is already having an impact that neither artist could imagine.

A God-given gift

Even looking back on her momentous career in music, world travels, and collaborations with fellow artists like Michael W Smith and Amy Grant, Nicole C Mullen has been stunned and encouraged by the “moving and impactful” reception already stirred for “The God Who Sees.” “It's been 20 years now since ‘Redeemer,’ Mullen reflected with host, Javen.

“And now, God has given me another song. She further elaborated that only with “God's hand in it” full-length project so new be having such a powerful response.

From the start of the collaboration with Kathie Lee Gifford, Mullen explained the feeling of both artists that “this was our offering, and God said ‘I'll take the loaves and the fishes and turn it into something great’.” The songwriter reiterated that particularly in the current selfie-obsessed culture, there is a crying out to be seen, to be known, and to be loved.

The most powerful message of the project, in Mullen’s perspective, is to assure anyone experiencing the project that he or she is seen, known, and loved by God, “fully exposed and in the raw” as they are.

Kathie Lee Gifford made her entrance for the interview, commenting that “I look like Steven Spielberg,” directing in the hot Israeli desert.

Kathie Lee teased that her show business career began when she got paid $10 to sing at her grandmother's birthday, and after that, began doing small singing gigs with her sister in Maryland. Since there was no “film culture” locally, she set her sights on California. She wrote to Walt Disney, with the full support of her family, insisting “I know you like Annette Funicello and Haley Mills, but you oughta meet me.” The mother of two, a son graduated from Oxford with a Masters in screenwriting and an actress daughter who dropped out of USC understands that school isn't for everyone.

“I hated school,” she confesses. “I wanted to act, and learn that way.” With 16 albums and four best-selling books, Gifford has trained herself in many disciplines and been mentored by close famous friends like Dolly Parton and Barry Manilow.

Serious and current subjects

Kathie Lee pursued one of her deepest passions in her book, “The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi,” written with Rabbi Jason Sobel. She and her late husband, Frank Gifford, went on their first rabbinical studies trip to Israel in 2012, and the famous football star was sure that he was on the first flight back home until receiving a mountaintop teaching that transformed his outlook.

Gifford feels that so much of the current Bible translations are “sloppy,” because they depart from the original meanings of Hebrew and Greek. The King James version, after all, was written to please a monarch, not proclaim the gospel of the Messiah.

Kathie Lee ended up giving an impromptu Bible lesson on languages and parenthood, proving that she takes her studies of Scripture seriously.

“I'm postmenopausal, I haven't slept in 20 years,” she teased.

Turning to “The God Who Sees,” Gifford and Mullen related how the song lyrics are taken from Hebraic translations, but deal with very current themes, through the stories of Hagar, Ruth, David, Mary Magdalene, and Christ. The perils and prejudice surrounding immigration, mental illness, and abuse are all represented and perfectly depicted, all under the prevailing love of God, who sees and loves, even through tragic horrors.

The full length film closed the evening, with the authentic desert of Israel, and its rocks and stones, giving way to meadows of poppies, olive groves, and bursts of glowing green that is part of the same land. Nicole C Mullen portrays the journey and emotion of each scriptural figure.

Mullen didn't just bring her full interpretations on film. As an added treat, she sang “My Redeemer Lives” live, sounding as vibrant as those scenic fields. The message of the song in the singer was as potent as ever, and perfectly fitting for the celebration of Passover and Easter.
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