But I recently read a note someone wrote me that was clearly left unsigned, not for the purpose of vitriol, but out of shame and embarrassment.

Dear skull church person,
I think your ministry is great and all, but the one think I think you should touch on is what about Christians who have fallen away from God. How to get them to come back. I’m 18 years old, and I have an addiction to pornography and masturbation. I know both are so wrong, but I can’t seem to stop. I know I’m a christian, but my walk with Christ is dead. I need help. Please pray for me.

As I read this note my heart went out to him and a million others just like him that are saved but struggling. It’s clear that he feels that what we are doing isn’t helping him in the battles he is fighting as he tries to walk with God. But here’s the thing: skull church can’t do that. There’s no way it can. Skull church is there to present the gospel to those who have never heard it, with the intention that those who commit their lives to Christ would get plugged in at a local fellowship where they can be baptized, hear the Bible taught consistently, get into a small group to grow as a disciple, and begin serving. If that’s fresh life, great. If it’s another church, also awesome.

Looking to an evangelistic outreach to move forward in your walk with God would be like taking your car back to the dealer anytime it’s out of gas. A dealership is a great place to get a car, but it’s not enough if you want to keep fuel in the tank. You need to go to the gas station every week, sometimes more. When you look at Paul’s evangelistic ministry you see this. People would get saved as he would preach, but then he would point them to bodies of believers to grow in their new walks with God. (1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.)

Don’t misunderstand me, I care very deeply about helping those who are struggling with sexual temptation. I have spent the last decade of my life calling this generation to God’s plan for sexual purity and trying to give tools to help them fight for it at O2 Experience events. And at fresh life we have done whole series on this subject, talking about these topics at length (see here and here) But skull church is a one trick pony. It only has one gear. It’s there to amplify the gospel, from the loudest speakers possible, to as many people as possible, until all have heard or Jesus has returned.

I can’t think of a better way to start out the new year than by seeing people walk into forgiveness and grace through Jesus, and that’s exactly what we saw happen at the first Skull Church event of 2012! The Mayan calendar may be signaling the end of days, but for those touched whose hearts were touched by the gospel last night, this year is the beginning of a brand new life. It was also nice to expose Montana to some hip hop; living sixty miles from Canada we don’t get a whole lot of that.

I am so excited to announce that on October 5th pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie will be speaking in Montana. Ever since God got a hold of his heart as a teenager Greg has sought to share the gospel with as many people as possible. As he has been faithful to proclaim the message God has opened doors for him to preach all over the place–from Madison Square Garden to Dodger Stadium–through the Harvest Crusades. It is an honor and a huge opportunity to have him come and speak at Skull Church.

I am not going to give any spoilers but we have also booked an incredible guest band for this event. It’s going to be quite a night! Pray about who you can invite and bring with you. If you live outside of Montana invite someone over and have a Skull Church viewing party. We stream in HD and have heard stories of people hooking laptops up to tv’s, beaming it from an iPad to an apple tv over airplay or watching thru their playstation. Whatever it takes! And please pray that God will move in power and that many will come to know Christ.

Take a moment and visit skullchurch.com where you can invite a friend to attend or watch the webcast by email, tweet about the event and get more info.

We just finished the first ever, out-of-town skull church event. It was two hours away in Missoula, Montana. Zoo-Town, as it is called, is a college city and has a bigger population than the greater Kalispell area. We have had a heart to come here and preach the gospel for years and I am so thankful that God has given us the opportunity.

This whole thing was a step out in faith for us. We have never done ministry here, my radio show isn’t on the air, and even though we have seen God do amazing things through skull church at home and online, we have never tried to take it on the road. I don’t have a problem telling you that it was a little scary. Would anyone come?

The venue was way rad. A super vibey old-school theatre. (we tend to be drawn to the phantom of the opera type of rock and roll clubs to do church in.) When our setup teams arrived the cleaning crew hadn’t yet arrived to mop up from the previous show and it was gnarly. Their was still the smell of freshly smoked pot in the air and a mixture of vomit and spilled alcohol on the floor. What better place could there be to preach the gospel?

Missoula is a city that needs the gospel. It has the feel and worldview of what you would find in any university town. Pastors that partnered with us in this outreach told me that it is a very unchurched city with very low numbers of the people attending any place of worship at all. We definitely encountered some very vocal and hostile opposition as we sought to shine the light of Christ but we also found many to be very open and interested as well.

Each night we had great crowds. We didn’t know what to expect and were blown away as hundreds poured in. In addition to those there in person we had several thousand joining in on the live webcast from all over the country and other parts of the world. Best of all, by the time the weekend ended we saw eighty-nine people make professions of faith in Christ!

I am overcome by God’s goodness for letting us be ambassadors of the gospel. I am thankful to freshlife for being a church that cares about the lost in other places. And I am blown away by the mighty men and women of my team that not only fought a giant this weekend–they ran to the battle.

Here is a lookbook to give you a feel of what we saw God do.

Last night 32,000 people gathered at Angels stadium and 3,045 people made public professions of faith in Christ! I am always in awe at these events as I stand there watching God move so powerfully in the hearts of so many and it is a massive honor to get to be apart of these events.

There was music from Kutless, Crystal Lewis, and David Crowder Band; Greg Laurie brought the heat in the pulpit with a message on the conversion of Levi the tax collector.

Legendary pro-surfer Bethany Hamilton also came and shared her story last night. She had her arm bit off by a shark and then went on to surf professionally. Amazing. If you haven’t seen Soul Surfer, the movie based on her life, you have got to check it out. Her faith in Christ and desire to be used by Him is all over it. It was a real joy to get to meet her.

Last night we kicked off the month of August with a bang! Exquisite weather, Gourmet burgers from the Flathead burger company, excellent music from the Skull Church band & Emery. Best of all we saw many people respond to the gospel, giving Jesus total control of their souls. A lot of things went wrong and we had to roll with crazy stuff like power surges and equipment failure on the fly, but hey, no one ever said it would be easy. The Uprising continues…

I am super excited that we are taking Skull Church on the road for the first time this fall! On September 16-17 there are going to be two explicitly evangelistic nights of outreach at the historic Wilma theater in downtown Missoula. In addition to music from the Skull Church band and gospel messages, there will be musical performances by Blindside and Family Force 5. Join me in praying that God will move and that many will come to know Christ!

The Missoula event will be webcast live (as every Skull Church event is, including the one this week in Kalispell) so you can invite people to watch online, or post a link on FB, Google+ or Twitter. You never know how God might use it.

This weekend we had our second O2 Experience of the summer. I have been putting these O2 events on for the past 7 years in different places ever since God told me to call out a generation and warn them about what they are giving up when they abandon His plan for their sex lives. They are trading their destiny for a bowl of soup. In exchange for temporary pleasure they are not only forfeiting the highest and fullest enjoyment of the powerful and beautiful gift of sex, but they are sacrificing their spiritual birthright that is theirs in Christ.

It may seem like a good idea in the moment when the bass is pumping and the lights are dimmed, but when you think of the big picture, it’s not a good deal. In the end it’s your eyes being poked out, your spiritual power being amputated and your life cut short, in exchange for a night with Delilah. What I want them to see is that choosing to embrace sexual purity isn’t missing out, as the enemy of their souls would have them think. It’s just the opposite! Choosing anything but God’s plans for purity is how you miss out, on much more than you know.

This was the first time we have done an O2 in Montana, and it was awesome to see the event completely sell out. Our team did such a killer job, and all the bands and guests that were on the stage put their hearts into it. It was a lot of work, especially with a Skull Church event the same week. But it was all worth it. Seeing God move in hearts and watching people respond; making first time decisions to follow Him, or rise up and embrace His plan for sexual purity moving forward, (regardless of what was behind them) you just feel humbled and in awe that you get be there in the room. I can’t believe God let’s me be a part of this. Above and beyond.

Here is a photo lookbook to give you a sense of what went down.

There are sounds that I love: the soft steady hum of bicycles spinning down the road, the roar of a jet doing a fly-by, the crackle of fireworks exploding on the fourth of July. Those are a few of my favorites, but there is no sound that can compare to the voices of people praying to God, turning from their sins and putting their faith in Christ in unison. Whenever I listen to a person call on the name of the Lord, I am filled with joy and am grateful to be listening to eternity unfold.

As we did our best to lift Jesus high and amplify the gospel at Skull Church last night we saw a great number of people stream forward to make a public profession of faith in Christ and vocalize their commitment to God in prayer. One touching sight was watching a father and a son come together. A spiritual legacy in the making. I always try to visualize those who are joining in digitally as I preach as they outnumber those there in person. Last night, for instance, we had people joining in from all 50 states and from over 30 countries. And even though we couldn’t hear their voices, there were also people who prayed to receive Christ joining us online as well.

It was a joy to have music from The Almost. They are in town to perform at The O2 Experience on Friday night and partnering with Aaron Gillespie and his band is always a pleasure. His heart and perspective in ministry are in lock step with our DNA. He’s all about making Jesus famous and thinks outside the box. And I will tell you, Kev and our house band were in rare form. I have had their new song stuck in my head all day. I can’t wait for their album to drop…

Here are some snapshots to give you a glimpse of what God was up to last night.

That is what Skull Church is all about. We are pointing to Jesus’ death and telling people to prepare for the day when they are going to stand before God. He is our maker and one day there is going to be a manufacturers recall. (Hebrews 9:27) I will be giving a message that I have called, “The best way to die.” And as always there will be great music, including a brand new song from the Skull Church band which blew me away when I first heard it.

If you can’t make it in person, you can join us online or on the radio and I hope that you will view the webcast as an opportunity for you to partner with us in the proclamation of the gospel. Beginning at 7pm MDT at skullchurch.com the HD stream is available for you to link to on fb, tweet about and email to your friends–no matter where you live. You could even hook your laptop up to your tv and invite someone over to watch it with you. If you are on the go, check out our mobile stream, which works on iPod Touches, iPads and iPhones, by pointing your browser to the website.

And please keep the event in prayer!