it's all about the life changing story

Easter is a big day in my faith system. It's actually bigger than Christmas. Christmas is great and everything but, in the worldview of the evangelical Christian, it's simply a precursor to the celebration of the apex of Christianity...the atoning death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I've been doing the church thing from the womb and have seen lots of different portrayals of the life of Christ. I've played the apostle Peter in a Passion play. I've gone to Easter cantatas. I've participated in a bunch of different Easter rituals, including egg hunts. I reckon they have their place. From my perspective, it seems that the focus of all the rituals tends to be on the production rather than how the Passion story can actually change someone's life.

This Easter was different. The church I attend, Chestnut Mountain Church, did a life drama based on the life of a guy at our church. The guy, Chris, had grown up in church and knew the right answers but he never allowed it to change his life. He ended up making some poor choices and lost his job, marriage, and the respect of his friends. The result was multiple run-ins with the law and jail time. After a long, dark road of addiction he ended up repenting and asking Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior. The songs, video, personal testimony of Chris, and drama of the conversion were so well done that the focus stayed on the message of God's life changing power. It was balanced. Brutally honest. Crystal clear. Real life kind of stuff.

Yesterday was proof that a church can communicate the claims of Jesus Christ with poignant relevance. Kudos to the leadership of CMC.

Oh yeah...I got to play bass yesterday. Rippin' good fun for sure.