In this world of pain, anger, distrust and abuse I constantly look to present the message of hope found in Christ in a relevant way.  If you’re like me you want to present the plan of salvation and the concepts of perseverance, identity in Christ and future hope in a relevant and compelling way as well.  Unfortunately the world’s answer to frustration and pain is to pile on the negativity and anger to the point where many young people are losing hope.  We have that message of hope.  

I believe Christians have the best message but we need better messengers.  

A giant of the faith used to say “If it’s Christian, it should be better.”  I agree.  Our art must compel people to contemplate, our music must be better produced and our books must be better written.

God is raising up one such group of artists in the band Ashes Remain.  [Sample Music Here]

Ashes Remain’s lead singer, Josh, is a man I’ve gotten to know over the last few years.  This past year Josh also came on as Captivate’s worship pastor.  When the band is not on tour and home in Baltimore, Josh jumps in to support the vision of his local church.  If you came to Captivate you wouldn’t realize just how vital his role is because from day one he has never sought to put the light on himself.  He doesn’t want the mic every week, he’s never acted like it’s about him and instead Josh has spent his time building others up and helping them reach their God-given potential.

The reason I want to introduce you to Ashes Remain is two-fold.

1.  Get you to buy their album tomorrow on iTunes, Amazon or at a Christian book store!

2.  Get you to bring them in to perform at your next outreach event this winter or spring.

Here is why you should get to know AR:

1. They are signed nationally.

You’ll know the other artists on their label: Addison Road, The Afters, Blindside, Caedmon’s Call, Decyfer Down, Jonny Diaz, Disciple, Sara Groves, MercyMe, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Shane & Shane, Laura Story, Derek Webb, Phil Wickham, Heather Williams & Darlene Zschech

2. You can listen to their album.

If you would want them to do some lower key worship type of sets checkout “Everything Good” “Right Here” and “Change My Life”. The CD is one that you can actually listen to all the way through. There honestly is not a ‘throw away’ song on the album.  http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/listeningparty/party2.asp

3. See For Yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62YiKOGTOak

4. They’re on the way up:

They’re already performing with great bands you know such as Skillet, Switchfoot & TobyMac. Here is one upcoming show: http://www.awakeningfest.com/html/artists.html

5. They have a single on your local radio station:

Their song “Everything Good” is on CCM radio all over the country right now and is listed on Billboard Christian singles after only a couple of weeks.

In a recent sermon at Captivate Church I was in the middle of a point about the path we can create for a guest to be able to receive the word of God.  I was affirming the wonderful work done by our various teams to ease the mind of our guests so that they may hear the Gospel presented clearly and convincingly.  As I preached, it occurred to me that while the service was very diverse (60/40) it seemed that African Americans were on one side while Caucasians sat on the other.

Here is what I know about our church.  We do not have a bigoted bone in our church body.  The problem was that based on habits, people tend to sit with who initially invited them.  If an African American friend invited them, they’d sit wherever their friend sat.  If a Caucasian had invited them, they’d likewise sit with them.  The ethnic diversity is awesome but how the seating arrangements may have looked to a guest would give off an impression no one in our congregation would intend.  In this case an oversight could speak louder than the preacher.

So I stopped the sermon and said:

“You know what?  You’re speaking a sermon right now for a guest and it’s a terrible sermon.  All across this room I want you to look across your aisle and see if that person looks like you.  Then I want you to stand up, switch seats and when you sit back down make sure the person to your right and left look nothing like you.  Ready?  Go.”

At that point you would have thought pentecost just happened again.  Amid the rumble of conversation people started to re-arrange themselves and our church began to realize that we do in fact speak the sermon even in the small things.

I want to encourage you today.  Don’t wait for your pastor to ‘preach’ this weekend.  Go and preach with your life.

God is alive and we are the sermon!

Recently I’ve had a few conversations where someone brought up the concept of preaching to a decision vs. teaching exclusively about better living.  The general theme has been that many churches in our area will teach you “5 steps to being a good Dad” or “3 steps to a healthy marriage” but leave out the most important first step.

The first step we must take in any area of living is to make Jesus Lord over that area.  The common expression that sums up this principle is “He is Lord of all or he isn’t Lord at all.”  When we jump over this vital first step, we get nothing more than human effort.  Simply hearing a humanist message in a church building does not make it less humanist.  

The challenge is that the flesh doesn’t want to hear about His Lordship; the flesh wants to hear about managing relationships.  Pastors everywhere are faced with the challenge to fill the seats.  The thinking often becomes “If we can teach people how to be better parents or better neighbors then we may have a larger audience.”  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not likely that someone raises their voice in a meeting and says “Don’t preach Jesus.”  It’s usually much more subtle but every bit as disastrous.

What’s the big deal?  Behavior modification without Savior modification.

So what’s the solution?

You want to be a better father?  Jesus must be Lord in your life.

You want to be a better neighbor?  Jesus must be Lord in your life.

You want to be known as an honest businessman?  Jesus must be Lord in your life.

Approaching life without Christ is reserved for the atheist.  There is no such thing as self-help to the Christian.  If self could help we would not need the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  The good news is that Jesus wants to be Lord and bring about an abundant life. In every area of life, take the first step and acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus.