Day of Fire: Interview with Day of Fire

MQ: Is there any message you want to convey through your music - maybe specifically to folks our age, this generation? You mentioned 'people searching for truth' ...

JB: Right.

MQ: - everybody is searching for something and they may not even necessarily know what it is, but they know they just want something different than what they've got.

JB: Right.

MQ: Is there anything that you would hope that whoever gets the album and listens to it, that they might take away from it?

JB: Yeah. I would hope that they could see a different side of God. A lot of music only shows one side. There is some really, hardcore, dark music - Christian music out there, that talks about the pain and torment of life and all that. And then there is some music out there that just talks about the happy, peaceful, joyful side of God - and a joyful side of life. And our music - like I want it to be, right there in the middle - that it connects with people in pain and brings them into the light of God. Also I want to show the intense side of God. God loves us violently - you know what I'm saying? Like I talk about my drug addiction, God ripped me away from my drug addiction. He didn't come in there, and it wasn't just a peaceful word spoken over me. God pulled me out of my situation and violently destroyed the enemies that were trying to destroy me. I want people to know that that's a side of God too. I want people that look at the church - well I won't say the church, but when they look at the 'system' of what we call the church, they think that's God. They think, "Oh, God is when you wake up on Sunday morning, and you go for an hour and half into a service, and you wear a suit or whatever, and you listen to a sermon, and you follow these rules, and you talk this way - that's what God is." Man, God is not that, you know what I'm saying? And if I could ever convey anything, it's that God is a being, He's the most powerful being in the universe ... and He's intense. He's peaceful too, you know? But you can't just say God's a peaceful, loving God without saying He's a God of war and a God of judgement. He's all that! Some people want to stereotype Christians or people that follow God into this one little category because that's all they see. They think that's what God is also. But really, there are many, many aspects to Him. I want to show a different side of Him.

MQ: Joshua Brown wants to show a different side of God Cool. I totally agree. For folks that are dealing with tough stuff, they look at what they think the church is and say, "Well, that's not me! I'm not all clean-cut. I don't fit into the whole, 'getting dressed up on Sunday' thing." And they think, "Well, I've messed up. I've crossed some sort of boundary that I can't cross over." What you've said is so true - it doesn't matter to God. He's going to meet us where we are - whether I think I've got it all together, whether that's just something on Sunday that I show - whether I really do or not - as opposed to somebody that's just grappling with it day in, day out. That's awesome that you want to communicate that, because I think that's something that we all need. I have friends that are the say way. I'll say, "Do you want to come to church?" "Oh, I don't fit in there - I'm not going to go." Well, who cares? Just come, hear the message ...

JB: Right! Totally.

MQ: ...that's the truth. He'll meet you where you are - no matter you've done - it doesn't matter. It's like, "Where are you today? Are you where you need to be?"

JB: Right. And you know what else it is too? There's something in people - all people - that they look at ...well, when you think that God is just a church service or whatever, you think to yourself, "I don't want to be a person that just goes to church all the time" because that's all they see. There's something in them that says, "You weren't made to go do that. Don't go do that. Don't go sit in a church - don't become a modern statue in a building." And the truth is, God didn't call anybody to live their life to go to a church building. You know what I'm saying?

MQ: Yeah!

Joshua Brown talks about God's will for us

JB: Maybe God has called that person to live on the edge. And that person that is already living on the edge without God, he needs to see people that are living on the edge for God...like crazy, intense people. There's something in them that doesn't want to settle for mediocrity. Even though they may be living that life, that's not what they want, man. If you're a crazy person without God, you need to find some crazy, crazy folks that know Jesus that are doing crazy, insane stuff, 'cause that's what God's about.

MQ: Yeah, it's like we're all wired a certain way and it's just like, God's going to give us what's best for us. So is God going to take us out of something and put us somewhere where we're unhappy? I don't think so! You know what I mean?

JB: Right.

MQ: For example, John 10:10, there's abundant life here and now - and people think that church life is just some boring, sitting and listening to a sermon. Well, that's just a weekly refresher for the rest of life.

JB: Right. Exactly!

Continue to page 3...

Day of Fire interview continued...