YourLifeMinistries.com | A Raw Unfiltered Community of Honesty
Written By: Jameson Ketchum and Jeremy Seick

J

onathan Swift once said “May you live all the days of your life!” I can’t help but think of this notion while browsing yourlifeministries.com, a truly unfiltered and true to life ministry site inspired through Jake Luhrs, front-man of the wildly popular August Burns Red. Alongside band mate Matt Greiner, fiance Kris Welch, and longtime friend Chris Carroll, Luhrs has found a way to expand on his love for hanging out with kids for hours on end after each and every show he plays. He wanted to hear more stories, give more encouragement and spend more time with kids who may be going through the same thing he was just years ago. With a strong emphasis on community and relationships, Luhrs and friends have broken down the wall between them and the fans, them and those looking for guidance, healing or just an ear. I sat down with Luhrs and Carroll just before curtains up on their Portland stop of the AP tour alongside Bring Me the Horizon. The two couldn’t have been more willing and eager to talk about the site, which to date boasts introspective blogs from the four partners, a prayer wall and more to come. Please visit www.yourlifeministries.com to see more.

Alright, so just to start with, when was the first seed of Your Life planted for you?

Jake Luhrs: It was probably seven months ago. August Burns Red toured with a band called A Day to Remember and we were in Chicago and we just finished playing a show and I was at our hotel and I felt like God was telling me that I needed to start a website and at first I was like “Well, start a website for what, you know?” I’ve never had any desire to start a website for anything, but He told me to. Basically, I felt like God was saying that I need to start a website for these kids that I was talking to at night after shows because every night after I play I go out to the merch table and I just talk to kids  about whatever, whatever they want to talk about or just try to give them a few extra minutes of my time. And usually it’s like “Man, you did a great job” or like “I love your band” and all this stuff but then as it grew, because I’ve been doing this for probably like five years now, as it grew the kids were like, telling me really really personal things about like, drug addiction and lust, pornography, stuff like that or how our music has brought them closer to Christ or refreshed their relationship with God and all these things and it was really amazing how I feel like God’s been using me and the band. And then God was like “Yeah, you need to start a website for these kids just be more involved in their lives and instead of just having a couple minutes here and there. It’s become so big like now that I start thinking, about our fan base, the kids that had come to the merch tables…Not to sound big-headed but there’s a lot of kids. Like on this tour, for example, I’ve been spending probably an hour and a half, maybe close to two hours after we play with kids just talking and taking photos. So anyways, the whole idea about YourLife was, you know, to be more involved with these kids on a spiritual level and being able to have them talk to me about whatever it is they want to talk about, whether it be, you know,  porn, lust, drugs, you know, struggles or victories, you know like things they’ve overcome, and so I was like “Ok” and it was amazing. He just gave me a list, it was just a list. My hand would not stop going and I was like, “Alright, I need this, I need that, I need this, I need that.” And then I had a day off in Chicago the next day, and it just so happens that one of my good friends from Columbia, South Carolina, is actually a web designer, so I called him, I said “Brandon, I need this website, and I need it done. I don’t care how much it costs. These are all the ideas. Let’s get together, let’s make this happen.” And it took a few months and I definitely had to work some kinks out, with like the ideas and how things needed to be worked in, but then I realized God wanted me to do this, but I needed a team and I wanted just a few people, you know, and people that I knew were strong in the Lord and didn’t just say they were Christians but actually followed Christ and I knew that Kris ,my fiancé, who unfortunately can’t be here today because she’s at home, she’s amazing, she’s just awesome, and Chris Carroll, he’s strong in the Lord, and Matt (Greiner), he’s been my fellowship for years, since I’ve been in this band, and so I knew that those were the guys I wanted involved.

“Rather than just being a Christian band and you know, having daily devotions together or whatever, that we’re like, “Okay, we’re going to take it to the next level.” We don’t want to just be known for being Christians in a Christian band, we want to actually do something and talk about kids with God, you know?”Ok, you definitely answered the first couple questions in that one [laughs.] So I hear you guys are getting really good feedback so far. What is some of the stuff that you’ve heard?

JL: From other ministries, they’re stoked that because of the pedestal that Matt and I have, and even Chris, he was, you know he was the drummer for a band on Solid State as well, Inhale/Exhale…just that we have this pedestal and that we’ve got this recognition that we’re using it for God, and we’re just kind of taking it one step outside of that box, out of the comfort zone. Rather than just being a Christian band and you know, having daily devotions together or whatever, that we’re like, “Okay, we’re going to take it to the next level.” We don’t want to just be known for being Christians in a Christian band, we want to actually do something and talk about kids with God, you know? And…Sorry, I just kind of lost track of where I was going with that… um… can you say that question one more time for me?

Yeah, just kind of some of the feedback you’ve heard from kids or others.

JL: That’s right, that’s right. So kids…Sorry, I go off on tangents. So I have kids tweet me or email me and say how amazing it is that they have the opportunity to talk to me through email and that someone really cares and to know that their favorite singer or their favorite drummer or whoever really wants to listen to what they have to say. And that’s what these kids really want, people to just listen, you know? They just need someone to listen to them and care. And other ministries are totally excited. XXX.com (Triple X Church)…Craig, the founder of that ministry, that guy’s awesome… I emailed him directly and that guy’s assistant emailed me back and said “Well I kind of deal with this kind of stuff” and what I just wanted was that so I could promote their website on my website and that if I have kids that struggle with that kind of stuff, send them their way. And then a week later he emailed me personally and said “My assistant emailed you but I really like what you’re doing and I really support this and you want to have this ministry” and asked me real like “How far do you want to take this thing?” and “How far do you want this thing to go?” And to know that I got support from guys in ministries that have been around and they see what we’re doing and they really are encouraging us, it just is more of a sign from God that I’m doing what I’m here to do.

Yeah, definitely. And Chris, what did you think of Jake coming to you with this idea?

Chris Carroll: Well I was just really stoked on it just because Jake’s story in itself is just an encouragement to me in my faith. We’ve been just such good friends for so long, well over a decade, and just to see where Christ has brought him and his heart. It’s incredibly humbling for him to come to me and say “Hey, I want you to help me to do this”. So, it was absolutely amazing and such a blessing because we’ve wanted to do ministry together for so long and God has just been so gracious in that. And He’s just allowed us to be on the road together doing ministry and then also through the website too. So I was just immediately, without hesitation, I just was like “Yeah, I would absolutely love to be a part of this” just because there is such a need for people to be open and honest about their faith and not just something we try to do is just within our testimonies, be like “This is who I am. This is where I’ve been and who I am” and so, to have the opportunity to share in that with Jake and with Matt and with Kris is just an awesome opportunity.

Kris, what do you love most about Your Life Ministries?

Kris Welch: I love the heart behind it. There is a pure, honest desire to reach out to people and love on them without any notion of recompense. I feel that is a rare quality these days, even in the ministry field, and I believe that desire is what manifests the drive and pursuit behind YourLife.

So kind of just walking through the site a little bit for a kid that’s just an August Burns Red fan and that’s what’s attracted them there, what are they going to find?

JL: You’re probably not going to know about the site unless you came to one of our shows and more like, I would probably tell you, “This is a way to contact me personally” so then you’d probably show up at a website and Chris talked about our what not. Basically, you’re going to see us for who we really are and for what we believe in. You’re going to see our testimonies and how real life is, you know what I’m saying? And just like, kind of what I wanted to portray is like an edgy, just real feeling. It’s not you go there and everyone is smiling and it’s like, “Here, look, here’s a way to contact us and our testimonies. Here’s what we’ve been through. Here’s our blogs.  Here’s blogs about our personal walks with Christ and our own questions” And there’s video blogs about what we’re doing to talk to kids and what we’re experiencing spiritually. There’s things like, you can go to our Twitters, there’s a prayer wall, there’s scripture of the week and stuff like that. It’s just very Christian based but I didn’t want people to go there and be like “Oh, this is just some religious thing.” It’s way deeper than that. We’re trying to show relationship with this website.

Your I am Living video is so good. We’ve definitely watched it a lot over here.

JL: Oh thanks, I appreciate it.

In your opinions what’s the biggest obstacle that kids are facing right now?

JL: I would say religious people is a huge one. It was for me, and I know that it still is big because there’s a big difference between a follower of Christ and like, a religious person. I think people need to stop pointing the fingers at other people and just because you are a Christian that you’re better than somebody else, like, you’re not wicked, and you have to understand that that’s a big issue for me, because a lot of kids that come to me need to ask questions, they have an agenda, they have a little kind of anger in their tone, and I can tell it’s because they’ve been pushed away by religion and they haven’t been accepted by anyone because they think differently. And that’s what we need to show to people like, if you’re a true follower of Christ then you can love on people and you don’t condemn anyone and you don’t judge anyone. A kid came up to me the other day and said “My friend over there is homosexual” He’s like “Do you believe that’s a sin” I said “Yes.” He said “So what, you’re going to condemn him?” And I was like “What? Who are you?” and he was like “Are you going to judge him?” And this kid just came up to me with an agenda and it’s like, you have to understand that it’s way deeper than like, you can’t just point your finger about that. That is just only one. What would you think is another, Chris?

CC: I think it’s kind of…That was going to be my immediate first response…was just religion in general. I think ignorance, I guess, and not in a sense of saying that people are ignorant but ignorance in a sense of not knowing why you are choosing to not be a believer. Or knowing why you are choosing to be a believer. Just saying “Well I don’t believe in that” or “That’s bull crap” or whatever, you know, well, why? Where’s your defense behind that? Because if you say “That’s not for me” then I want to hear why, I want to know exactly why and I want to be able to say “This is for me and it’s for you too and these are the reasons why.” Religion has a huge part to do with that-why people write anything that has to do with Christianity, write it off immediately, by and large they do just because. I grew up in a Baptist church in a small town and so I saw so many churches that had more of an agenda than love or anything like that. We were kind of talking last night and just some cities that have this spiritual apathy and just spiritual lethargy and it’s just sleeping and just don’t believe but they don’t know why they don’t believe and they’re just drifting and just whatever’s happening is happening. In the word it’s like “Be hot or cold,” you know, if you’re going to hate me then hate me, if you’re going to love me then love me, don’t just be aimless. Obviously our desires for students, for youth, for young people to just be absolutely head over heels in love with Christ, He is with us, so that was kind of the same answer (laughs) but I think that is just about kind of the biggest thing though, is religion, that’s not what we stand for. We don’t stand for that. That’s what Christ wouldn’t stand for. He hated…

“Young believers build a fair portion of their faith on what they are taught, and they seek this education at their churches, youth groups, etc. I feel that the Western church has focused intensely on being so relevant to the culture today that tolerance is seeping in and it seems to be loosening it’s grip on a biblical platform.”JL: That’s essentially what murdered him.

CC: He didn’t hate religious people, he hated religion. But I feel like that comes back around to us being open and honest about our testimonies. We’re just kind of  like, “Well, here we are” like “We’re broken dudes, we’re broken people, but we love Christ. I’m a sinner, I will be until the day I die” but so that just kind of goes hand in hand.

KW: I’d have to say relevance. Let me be clear by saying that relevance is not a bad thing until it causes one to lose focus, and then it becomes destructive. Young believers build a fair portion of their faith on what they are taught, and they seek this education at their churches, youth groups, etc. I feel that the Western church has focused intensely on being so relevant to the culture today that tolerance is seeping in and it seems to be loosening it’s grip on a biblical platform. It puts young believers in a confusing position because they are at a point in their lives where they are trying to gain knowledge on their faith, and when they are learning things that aren’t biblicly sound, they aren’t sure who or what to believe.

Kris, more specifically, what are some of the biggest obstacles for women and girls today?

KW: There are tremendous pressures on women in society today. There are certain ways for women to look, dress and act that our culture dictates to be desirable. It’s very difficult to ignore  and avoid those demands and remain unaffected. God created women with this inescapable need to be loved. We yearn for love, just as men have that same yearning when it comes to respect. I think a huge obstacle for women is pushing through the standards of society and recognizing that the love and approval from God alone is enough. Another obstacle for women is having a voice; their own voice. Submission by biblical standards does not mean being silent, or allowing others to think and speak for you.

Being as you guys are so influential, not only musically, but in other ways, Do you have that pressure daily as you are speaking into kids lives? How do you humble yourselves daily knowing that you kind of have that influence?

JL: I just don’t. I mean why should I take pride in something that’s not even mine in the first place? Like, I don’t take credit for the stuff I speak into kids lives. That’s just the way I look at it. God uses me, I don’t use God. And so when kids are saying “Man, your music has changed my life” It’s like “Yeah, it changed mine too.” And I think humility is one of the greatest things that we all need to learn and stay consistent with because pride will wreck you. And we know that’s Satan’s big one. I’m just thankful for what I have and I’m thankful that I’m doing something good in this world and that I’m doing it for God. I don’t like to take credit for that because it just doesn’t sit right [laughs].

Can you share like, maybe a fan story that really got to you? I know you just went to Europe like a couple days earlier, right? Just kind of talk to kids?

JL: Me and Matt and my fiancé Kris-we went to Austria for nine days and we prayed with kids. We had a couple speaking engagements. We actually had a Sunday service in a bar. The bar was closed on Sundays but they opened it up for us and we had kids coming in and we had worship and I spoke and Matt spoke and prayed with kids and it was very obscure but very amazing.

I’ll tell you a story. I know a guy, he came to me and watched a show, and he said “Yeah man, you guys are so amazing, you have no idea what your music does” and I was like “That’s awesome, thank you,” and  he’s like “I’m an ex heroine addict” and I was like “Oh wow, that’s tough” and he’s like “Yeah, me  and my four buddies at home that are ex heroine addicts and when we wake up in the morning we crank your music and we just listen to your music and it helps us through our day and it reminds us to stay away from our addictions and everything else.” And I was like “That’s awesome” and I said “Next time you come through invite them out and we can hang out” and two months later we played the same place and he brings all four dudes and himself and we sat down and we talked about their struggles and we talked about my struggles and how my music has influenced them and inspired them to be better people. Some guys knew God and some didn’t but that all comes- just being able to plant a seed or being able to help with the music is really amazing. One of these guys had a scar right here (points to inner forearm) and it was a cross. It was a half inch on his skin because he shot up too much, he almost OD’d. He wakes up and he listens to our record and that to me is like…that’s amazing.

Wow, that’s awesome. Chris, you have a blog about benchmarks. What are some of the benchmarks that you feel like you’ve had to get you here?

CC: Oh wow, there’s tons of them. I’ve been an incredible selfish failure at life so [laughs] It’s true! When I was writing that blog I was thinking “There’s all these things that would be selfish actions that I should have listened to You” and I chose to try and justify and at the time I obviously did not know or had no perception of God’s glory being revealed through those things and those things being used for God’s glory but that’s why God is God. Everything is going to bring God glory, we may not see it. So when I was writing that blog I was just thinking back on just these things and how amazing it is to me that I could willingly choose to slap Christ in the face, more or less, and still be blessed and given an opportunity to come and share my life and my heart with people. If I treated Jake the way I treated Christ at certain points in my life then I think Jake would be the furthest thing from a friend to me. But to be able to be redeemed and have my sin become a fragrant offering to “But to be able to be redeemed and have my sin become a fragrant offering to God just absolutely blows my mind. I’ll talk about with Jake and Matt on this tour, just being like, “Man, praise God that we have the opportunity, I’m so incredible grateful to have the opportunity to be provided a bus and food and things so that God can use us to just share love with people.”God just absolutely blows my mind. I’ll talk about with Jake and Matt on this tour, just being like, “Man, praise God that we have the opportunity, I’m so incredible grateful to have the opportunity to be provided a bus and food and things so that God can use us to just share love with people. And so I think pretty much my mid-twenties was a time I was very selfish. I thought I knew who God was and I thought I knew God’s character and stuff like that. So it was during those times that I chose a lot of very selfish actions and instead Christ uses those things. It’s not that I regret doing those things because obviously, I feel like the path that God had for all of us is… I feel like He would desire for all of us to be head over heels in love with Him our entire lives but He also knows what we’re going to do and why we’re going to do it and He’s going to work those things around so that He’s  loving us and that because of our sin we realize how great His love is. I think my whole life is riddled with benchmarks of this thing where I’m like “Wow, I’ve seen You get glory in this situation because when I brought this to You and asking for forgiveness and You just turned this around” and am able to use it in my testimony, or He is able to use it in my testimony to reach people. Within the first two weeks of the site being up I was able to sit and read prayer requests and there is so many that pinpoint things that I’ve struggled with and that I do struggle with and it’s amazing for God to use those things.

You know that kids are going through the same thing potentially.

CC: Yeah, it’s amazing when you see both sides of it. I’ve been the person that’s a moral justifier of my own actions and I’m also, by the grace of God, I’m also able to not do that anymore [laughs]  not to say I won’t do it again, because I’m human.

Kris, in talks with Jake he has said several times how you are a rock for him and an encouragement to continually to pursue the Lord. Like Jake’s blog about his car, oftentimes relationships can become idols. How have you guys been able to find the balance between God and your relationship?

KW: There isn’t much need for balance in a sense of separation, but rather the two are intertwined. God is the foundation of our relationship, and most of our conversations are spiritually based. God is number one in our personal lives as well. Reverential fear and awe of His unfailing love and sovereignty keeps Him securely in that place. Not to mention, this relationship is a blessing from Him, and we keep that in mind. I think the more intimate your relationship with God is, the easier you find yourself able to see Him in every aspect of your life, and at that point prioritizing is simple.

So where do you guys see YourLife going in the future, in the next couple months and in a year or so?

JL: Well, the next couple months and year is a big difference [laughs.] The next couple months just kind of…No one knows about it. It’s not that well publicized.

Do you kind of want to keep it separate from ABR? You don’t want it to be “The guys from ABR are doing this…”?

JL: Right, it’s not ABR at all. It’s me, Matt, Kris, and Chris and I would say it’s just our own thing. We decided to take this on because we feel like God is going to use us tremendously through this ministry and I feel like for a couple months I want to spread the word and have kids know that there is a place to go where we’ll listen and we’ll try to guide them and we’ll pray for them, love on them, and try to show them God through all that . But in a year from now? I would love to go and speak in place and give my testimony, I’ve done so already a few times. I’d like to go to events, I’d like to just have some more people involved I guess. Really, I just want what God wants for it. I’ve already had kids say “Thanks man, you’ve really helped me.” Good, there it is. That’s it. Wherever God wants us to go, that’s where I want Him to take it. If it ends in a year, then it ends in a year and God got what He wanted out of it.

What I’m going to do is I’m going to pray for this ministry and I’m going to ask God for signs and direction. What path He wants me to take, where He wants me to go with it, where He doesn’t want me to go with it, and I’m going to, because it’s a desire of my heart, I’m thankful it’s a desire of my heart. Sometimes you do things for God that you don’t want to do. This is something that I do want to do and I have ambition and I’m encouraged and that’s it man. Just be willing to sacrifice some things. Some things that God wants you to sacrifice for the direction of this. Right now that’s money, and that’s hard because I know God will provide. Maybe down the road it will be something else but that’s what I want to do, just freaking live life, love God, tell people how much God does love us and how real He is  and that’s what we’re doing.

Final thoughts?

KW: If we can change the life of just one person by showing them that they were created by God, that He loves them desperately, that He will never leave them or forsake them, and has plans of hope and a future for them…then I would say that YourLife has been an incredible success.