Can One Story Change Your Life?
“Ow…!” The man stumbled and bit his lip, stifling a curse. He could taste the grit in his beard.
“This is stupid,” he kicked at the dry rock that he had tripped over with a sandaled foot, “I don’t even LIKE this stuff.”
He jerked his head back up and shouldered his way through the crowd, annoyed at how difficult it had become to follow his friend through the densely packed mass of people. The air was humid and smelled strongly of dust, sweat, and someone’s recent fish lunch.
“You HAVE to see this guy,” his friend was the one who had dragged him here, promising him that he wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it, refusing to stop talking about it for days, “I can’t even describe it, you just have to hear it…”
And finally he had agreed to come along, if only just to shut his friend up.
It hadn’t seemed like too bad of an idea at the time, but now that he was here, he was dirty, hot, and annoyed - and beginning to regret his decision to come along.
“And all to hear some religious guy speak…” he grimaced and began to shake his head… and then stopped. Ahead of him, the crowd had gone quickly and strangely quiet - someone was speaking.
Forgetting his annoyance for a moment, he strained his neck to see and hear. Through a gap in the crowd, he caught a glimpse of an ordinary-looking person talking to the crowd with quiet intensity.
He was telling…a story:
“…The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up… The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away…”
In spite of himself, the man was silent, straining to hear more.
“…The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘they will respect my son…’”
Standing there in the dust and the heat, the man listened, captivated, as the man called Jesus told stories. [Matt 22:35-37 MSG]. For the first time in his life, he was hearing about the kingdom of God in a language that he could understand.
The Bible states that when Jesus taught, “the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” [Matt 7:28-29]
And this is our goal - to COMMUNICATE with people who may not have a relationship with Jesus in a language they can understand. Recently, my daughter Sierra explained it this way:
“Because our goal is to engage with people who do not yet have a saving relationship with Jesus, we work hard to create music that connects with non-believers in a language they can understand. Our experience is that when we limit ourselves to using words and musical styles that are familiar to Christians we often confuse and alienate those who have never heard about Jesus.
When we read the Bible, we find stories of Jesus using stories and parables about everyday life to reach the people of His day - communicating real, deep truths about the Father and His Kingdom in a language that ordinary people could understand. Our goal is to do the same thing - to use music and words to to clearly share the truth and hope that we have found in the person of Jesus Christ.”
We are driven by a passion to reach the world with the life-giving message of Jesus Christ - it’s why we do what we do, and we believe it is worth being INTENTIONAL to reach out in a language that the world can understand. This is why our music might sound a little different, this is why we push so hard for authenticity, and this is why it’s so important for us to point to Jesus in all we do.
Jesus said, “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” [John 10:10 MSG]. We’ve experienced this life through Jesus firsthand, and we’re passionate about sharing it with the world.
Our mandate is to reach AS MANY AS POSSIBLE with the message of Jesus – every time you pray for this ministry, support the mission financially, or share the music and the message, you help us reach thousands with the love of Jesus, and we can’t thank you enough for your partnership. Over the next few months, we’re scheduled to minister at large outreaches across the USA, and in MOLDOVA, THAILAND, and LAOS.
If you’re interested in being part of our team, here are THREE easy ways you can help:
1) PRAY: We have countless stories of being strengthened to fulfill our mission overseas as a direct result of the faithful prayer of friends like you.
2) SUPPORT: Every gift helps us reach the nations with the love and message of Jesus!
3) SHARE: Music is our tool to reach the world with this message. LIKE, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE on social media if you like it – it helps more than you know!
If you haven’t heard our latest CD, THROUGH IT, please check it out! You can listen on Spotify or watch our latest video here:
