"Sit Down, You Look Like a Fool..."

“…So I’m going to ask you to stand to your feet if you want to say ‘yes’ to Jesus tonight…”

I was watching the audience seated in front of me in the back room of the restaurant as our speaker gave the invitation: a few dozen Serbian teenagers shifted uncomfortably in their seats, fixing their eyes pointedly at different areas of the dusty tile floor. In front of me, a boy with a stylized mop of dark hair gave a small shrug and shoved his hands deeply into the pockets of his tight black jeans. Someone coughed in the back of the room.

No one moved to stand.

I heard the ‘clink’ of plates from the kitchen several rooms away and then the sound of someone’s rubber soles scuffing against the ground.

And then, across the room, a young man stood, his chair squeaking loudly across the floor as he rose forcefully to his feet.

I realized I had been holding my breath and quietly released it.

The group had been reserved throughout the night, and I knew that it took a lot of courage to stand first in a situation like this. Now that someone had responded, it would be much easier for others to follow.

But nobody joined him.

The young man stood alone in an awkwardly silent room…

Two seconds passed.

Then five.

Then ten.

It felt like an eternity.

One of the boy’s friends nudged him, whispering something in animated Serbian and gesturing for him to sit back down and stop acting like a fool.

This was becoming excruciating to watch, and I knew the young man MUST be feeling the pressure to change his mind about his choice to stand.

But he refused to sit back down.

He looked down at his friend with obvious irritation and whispered something back - and then began gesturing for his friend to stand up and join him.

The friend remained seated but quickly looked back at the floor, obviously unwilling to stand, but clearly finished trying to pressure the young man to change his mind.

After several seconds, nobody else had moved, and there in the back room of a Serbian restaurant - standing alone among a skeptical, possibly judgmental group of his peers - a young man publicly said ‘yes’ to the message and person of Jesus.

And began the amazing journey of being a Christ-follower.

“Dang,” I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, turning to my daughter afterwards, “God is gonna use courage like that to change the world.”

God’s gift of forgiveness and new life is completely free - Jesus has already paid the full price with His life - but truly walking in a relationship with Jesus will cost us everything we have.

In Luke 14: 25-33, Jesus challenges us to count the cost of genuine discipleship, and the truth is that following Jesus requires great courage and humility.

But the privilege of walking with Jesus is MORE than worth the cost.

Jesus said that He came to give us “life, and life to the fullest,” in John 10:10, and that is exactly what He has purchased for anyone who chooses to receive it - Jesus sacrificed Himself for our freedom and fulfillment, and He offers it freely to the entire world.

And this is why we do what we do.

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. 

Already in 2019, we’ve shared this message in 8 nations and seen thousands respond to Jesus. Zach is currently speaking on music evangelism at YWAM in Ensenada, Mexico, and over the next few months, we’re scheduled to perform and minister in FRANCE, ROMANIA, MOLDOVA, THAILAND, LAOS and the USA.

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!Thank you, friends - we love you and we’re so grateful for your friendship and partnership in reaching the world with the 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:

Also, please check out our “mission” video if you’d a little more in-depth look at what we do. Thank you so much for standing with us, friends - we’re so grateful for you!