I know if you live in or around the Albany area you may have seen a poster or heard someone speak about the CD Release event. I want to quickly (yea right) unpack the heart behind the night and what we believe God is going to do in, around, and through the event. This is why I want you to get your ticket and join us.
I have been carrying a four point mission statement for months about what I desire the night to be so I’ll just list and expound: Glorify God, Magnify Christ, Spotlight the Cross, and Unite a City.
Glorify God-
We realize as a band/ministry that everything we say and do should be and hopefully is for the glory of God( 1 Corinthians 10:31). Every song is about Him, for Him and given by Him so we want to give honor where it is due and it is surely His. He is the Greatest of all time and we will make it the aim of the night to make much of that. We are trusting and desiring that everyone leaves the release event with the desire to honor God in every area of their life.
Magnify Christ-
John 3:30 says, “He must increase and I must decrease”. We firmly believe for God to be glorified then we must make Jesus the ultimate treasure in our life. He must be the goal and prize that we are pursuing with everything that we have. Jesus is the only eternal answer and refuge so He will be magnified above all. He will be lifted above the music, the “show”, the volunteers, the venue, the cd, the… well you get the picture. He’s the point!
Spotlight the Cross-
I totally understand that preaching the cross is foolishness to some and to want to spotlight it may seem odd so I want to be very clear. The cross was a place of brutality, torture, and death. It was the place where Jesus hung and was nailed for the forgiveness of our sin. He willingly gave his life so that you and I could go free. Why spotlight the cross? Because we need to drink deep from the reminder well that, that was our cross, our judgment, our sin that fixed Jesus securely on it and to abandon any conversation of the cross would be to abandon the dynamic gift given to us by a perfect God. Beyond the cross being the tool in which God crushed Jesus in our place it’s beautiful because Jesus is no longer on it! He is alive…MAN! I AM EXCITED!! EXCLAIMING WITH EXCITEMENT EVEN!!!!
Unite a City-
How incredible is it going to be to have Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Pentacostal, Non- Denominational… and on and on in attendance in the same building lifting up Jesus. I see this event as an opportunity to bring the body of Christ together to worship God and then share. This isn’t about a certain church or at a certain church. This is about Jesus and his name being championed through our city. I firmly believe that God can change a campus, a church, a family and a community. My desire for this event is to see the body of Christ come together for the sake of the kingdom and the advancement of the gospel only to leave encouraged and empowered to share their faith, live their faith and see their faith impact Albany, Ga and ultimately the world.
I want you to know I am crazy excited about releasing this album because this was written from, about and to serve scripture. Therefore, this album is slammed packed with the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this is going to be a tool God uses to change lives, to bring the lost home, restore broken relationship, deliver those in spiritual, emotional and mental bondage. The only reason this album is going to be powerful is because it is for and about Jesus. Can’t wait for you to hear it!
So, I would love for you to come. Every last one of you… You can get tickets here
http://www.eventbrite.com/org/1368491853
www.facebook.com/tjmauldinband
And I will post up another one of TJ's posts from his website, because it really spoke to my heart this morning and it may speak to a few other people's hearts as well.
The Problem With Self-love
Unless self-love is abandoned the believer shall forever shrink back when called actually to take up the cross for Christ. - Watchman Nee
I always write from a place of, well, weightiness. I am not trying to be some deep thinker or well worded theologian. In fact, if you know me you know that I am neither. I am simply following Christ, loving his church and occasionally glancing in the mirror at myself as his reflector. I write when something strikes my joy. I write when I want to communicate my heart and point people to Jesus. I write when I don’t like what I see, when I stumble and more often then not when some of my own deficiencies are exposed. I write. Tonight I want to write on self-love. I love myself way too much. I love my wants, my opinions, and things way too much and you know what? That communicates to Christ that my love for him is more like, like and to my wife that my love for her is based on my wants alone. I am not writing from a place of self-pity or condemnation. I am writing from a place of great hope because in all of my selfishness I can hear Jesus speaking, convicting, and prodding me to die to myself. So, am simply sharing with you what I am walking through internally. Self seems to be the subtlest idol we as believers bow down to on a daily basis and I believe it does three things to cripple, chain, and sometimes kill our walk with Christ.
First, self-love keeps us in a place where “we” matter most and when we live in that place we will not forsake it all or even most of it for the sake of the gospel. I am reminded of 1st Corinthians 16:9 that says, “a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” The greatest adversary you and I will ever face as Christians in America are our selves. The fear for our life, persecution, and famine are not the things that keep us from serving Christ from a place of self-less ambition. It’s our self and us thinking that we are owed grace. The bottom line is that we love our things and ourselves and when that love is threatened we retreat into a place of casual Christianity. As if there was such a thing.
Second, self-love keeps us in a place where we can’t love others fully. A sure sign that you are in love with yourself is when you enter relationships thinking, “what am I going to get out of this”, when the attitude should be, “how can I serve, support and surrender to this person for the glory of God”. I am the worlds worst and especially with my wife. I like to do what I want to do too often and that doesn’t glorify God, give security to my wife nor sanctify me as a man who is following Christ. The bottom line is that we love ourselves and our things and when they are number one we neglect Jesus and those he has called us to love.
The last problem with self-love is that it keeps us from taking the gospel where it needs to go. When we are in love with self we will neglect the call on our lives to go, even if it is just across the street or with a colleague at work. Listen, when we fall in love with Jesus and divorce our stinking flesh and it’s desires we will find that Jesus was no respecter of person and that he loved everybody, including us. When we look into the undeserved and powerful love of Jesus our response should be to love everyone with selfless ambition. The bottom line is that if we are in love with ourselves then we haven’t or haven’t often enough looked at the wretchedness of our sin and rebellion towards God and his tender mercy towards us. He loved us when we were and sometimes still are unlovely. Oh, and he said we are suppose to “be like him”.
Love you
tj
Ok, now that I have put you on TJ overload, I will just remind you to check him out on your own. It's always a good thing to support a brother or sister in Christ and lift them up. So if you can't make it or don't live in the area, send up a prayer that TJ's ministry through his music can reach the lost and just glorify Christ.
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