It felt a whole lot like we were experiencing Skull Church Seattle last night. So far May has steadily continued April’s shower thing, in Montana at least. Aren’t we supposed to get some flowers? Amazingly, the wet weather didn’t stop people from queueing up, umbrellas in hand, to get in. And it didn’t dampen the mood either. It was an awesome night.

All the music was next-level. We brought in a newer band called Samestate and they were great. Check them out here. I preached on a scripture from the book of Ezekiel, which in an evangelistic setting, was definitely a first for me. The city of Jerusalem was about to fall under God’s judgment and false prophets have told the people that everything will be fine because they are Jews. Ezekiel tells them otherwise. “Even if these three, Job, Daniel and Noah were in the midst of it they could deliver no one but themselves by their righteousness.” (Ezekiel 14:14) Salvation, he is saying, is a birth right for no one.

Perhaps we need this wakeup call in America like no where else. Living in a nation where the majority describes themselves as some kind of Christian you can easily become desensitized to the gospel. Having believing parents or a godly heritage is not a substitute for personal saving faith. It’s impossible to ride the slipstream of someone else’s faith into eternity. It was a powerful thing to watch people respond to God’s Word and make professions of faith in Christ.

here is the Skull Church May lookbook.

Our goal at Skull Church, from the very beginning, has been to amplify that message to as many people as possible, from the loudest speakers possible; until the end comes. Good Friday is the most natural and obvious day for that to happen, as it is the day set aside to remember the events of skull hill, but until last night we had never had a Good Friday/Skull Church event. It was awesome. And getting to do it at the Majestic made it even more special.

Both Red and our house band did a tremendous job. Our team was in rare form. The crowd was full of energy and anticipation. But the one memory I will not ever be able to forget is the invitation. I have never seen people respond to an invitation to receive Christ quite like that.

I had just finished explaining what it meant to respond to Christ and to follow Him publicly. I was in the process of saying why you shouldn’t put off doing this until later because life could end. Before I had even the chance to make that case or actually call them to respond, someone got out of their seat and walked forward. He was wearing black and actually startled me because I didn’t see him until a face appeared at my feet. But then I looked up and saw dozens began to stream forward from several different aisles. We hardly even had time to get the nets into the water but the fish were jumping into the boat! Hundreds of them. The band wasn’t quite ready to play and I was overcome by the way God was moving in people’s hearts, but it was beautiful.

The best part is that we get to do it again tomorrow because Easter is on it’s way! We have Shawn McDonald and for King & Country joining us in Billings and at the Majestic for Fresh Life Easter at 10am MST and it will all be webcast live at freshlifechurch.com

Here is the Skull Church Majestic lookbook.

You see, He knew something that His enemies and even His followers didn’t know. He knew that the grave could be defeated, that death itself could be overcome. Waiting beyond the cross was the crown of glory. With just a quick leapfrog over the tomb He could take hold of the enemies’ flag and lay it at His Father’s feet. In so doing He would not only take His life up again; He would be able to share the spoils of His victory with all who would entrust their souls to His care.

The events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday are the most thrilling subjects in all the world and must be shouted from the rooftops for all to hear! We are now just five days away. This is it…don’t get scared now!

If you don’t have an event to attend on Good Friday make plans to watch the Skull Church Majestic webcast with music by Red. It begins at 7pm (MST) at skullchurch.com. Make sure to invite a friend who doesn’t know Christ to watch it with you!

It was also a real pleasure to have Eisley perform, in addition to the Skull Church band, last night. We have been playing Eisley on Fresh Life Radio since day one and we have tried a few different times to get them out but it hasn’t worked out for one reason or another until now. It was worth the wait. They have a great sound and great hearts. They have shared the stage with an impressive array of artists; from Snow Patrol and Coldplay to Switchfoot and MuteMath. Check out their music here.

Here is the March lookbook.

To honor the magnitude of the day, we have gone all out and planned something super special. The Majestic Valley Arena is the largest venue in Northwest Montana, and since Good Friday is the biggest day of the year for Skull Church; it only made sense for the two to go together.  Skull Church Majestic.  It  just rolls off the tongue.  Oh yeah and we will be joined for this epic night by the band Red.  They have appeared on Conan, the Tonight Show and have lit up Billboard charts and we are excited to have them at Skull Church for the first time.

We are praying for God to move in power in the lives of those who come as the message of the cross is unleashed.  Of course, it will all be webcast live in HD for those who can’t make it. Maybe even think of inviting some people over to your house or to watch it together.  You never know what God might do!   If your church or youth group isn’t doing anything on Good Friday you could even put an event together to watch the event streamed online.

It’s all going down on Friday, April 6th at 7pm (MST.)

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.

There is nothing I have experienced on the earth that is more powerful, overwhelming, and awesome as the birth of a child. Even though my wife and I have been through it four times now, my amazement has not worn off one bit. Days later, as I hold this little girl in my arms, I find it staggering to think that she is the basketball sized lump that my wife had been carrying around last week.

As I spent the days leading up to Skull Church helping care for our little newborn, both in the hospital and then at home, I found myself thinking a lot about birth and what Jesus had to say about rebirth. Specifically, I couldn’t get this one statement out of my head. One night Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) The more I thought and prayed about it the more I sensed God calling me to speak on this verse.

There are so many parallels between physical birth and spiritual birth, and with the miracle of life being so fresh in my mind, the message practically wrote itself. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I wrote a good deal of it while holding little Clover. It was a very personal and special message to prepare and to give. And it was an absolutely transcendent experience to see Skull Church transform into a Delivery Room as many people responded to the gospel and made public declarations of faith in Christ!

One of the great things about this event is the far-reaching scope of the webcast. Last night we had viewers all over the globe, from Mexico to New Zealand. And we saw commitments to Christ made in: New York, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and Utah. It was also a real treat to have a musical performance by Luminate. They are a fantastic band, you should give them a listen.

Here is the lookbook from last night to give you a sense of what went down.

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.