Stewards & Family, Consumed By Fire Joins Our Story Our Song

The Contemporary Christian worship band composed of three brothers from Oklahoma, is living out God’s calling for their lives. “If it wasn’t this form of ministry, if it wasn’t music, it would just be something else. Ministry is what we were born to do,” Caleb says. 

From an early age, Caleb, Josh, and Jordan Ward were involved in ministry learning from their missionary parents who spent decades traveling the world, planting churches and spreading the Gospel of Jesus. The trio began stewarding their own ministry as teenagers looking to use their gifts as well. 

Now adults, the seasoned musicians considered setting down their music ministry when they lost their Father in 2022 but the experience rekindled a new fire in their faith and desire to honor both their calling and their Father’s legacy in ministry. The result is their current release, First Things First. 

“What happens when you get out of the way, and you just let God do His thing? There’s something there with First Things First. That song. That’s our prayer. I mean, that’s why it hit us so hard. There’s high highs, there’s low lows, but what’s your steady point of grounding through that? Recognizing what’s really eternally important, you know? It’s our surrender,” Caleb shares reflecting on the new doors the song and album have opened for the brothers, bringing chart-topping success and new ministry opportunities. 

Consumed by Fire on the set of Our Story Our Song. Image: Jessica Patterson

“Let’s face it, to do any kind of ministry, to do any kind of dream bigger than you, at some point there’s such a tremendous sacrifice that you feel. And there’s a feeling like, am I ever going to get to the ‘there’? Wherever ‘there’ is, you know. To the point where the daily walk with the Lord becomes, if you’re not careful, if you’re always focused on ‘there’, that daily walk can take a backseat,” shares Jordan. “I don’t want God to just work in spite of me anymore. I want him to work with me as he did in the book of Acts. And I think that’s when you see miracles, signs and wonders. God, I’m committed to this walk as much as you are.“

Josh adds,”I think, you know, what we’re alluding to is whenever you are pressed like that, whenever you get in those situations that seem hopeless, you find out real quick what your hope is really in. I’m so thankful we were raised in a family that talked about the goodness of God.”

While wading through the grief of losing their father, the brothers found themselves processing their Godly callings as fathers and peachers themselves.

Caleb, a father of two young boys, said, “I was thinking of this the other day, when you think about your kids and wanting to be the best example you can be. They’re watching whether you like it or not, they’re watching. But I heard Dad, I heard him so clearly, he would always say to us, man, no matter what happens, you’ll always see me run back to the word.”  

Consumed by Fire on the set of Our Story Our Song. Image: Jessica Patterson

Jordan continues, “How do we carry on the generational torch here? That’s a big practical thing we want to do. To carry on the generational legacy was something Dad was very proud of to do with us. And that’s something we want to continue because we believe in stewarding that part of Dad’s heart to pastor. It’s hard to hear that still small voice in a room full of noise. That’s something we kind of live by. David would say. ‘in the stillness, you are there.’ And I think sometimes unplugging getting away from the noise, like Jesus would have. You’d see moments where he would walk up a mountain to get away, just him and his father. And I think that lays out a practice for us as well. So we always encourage people, to be shepherd you must also go be in His stillness. We go out by the water. We wrote a song years ago called He Waits For Me about our secret place with the Lord and how much nature is involved in that for us.”

“Some people have a prayer closet, we have a prayer Lake.” Josh concluded jovially. 

Consumed by Fire on the set of Our Story Our Song. Image: Jessica Patterson

On Our Story Our Song Consumed By Fire takes us on a walk in the Great Outdoors and invites us to consider the impact of going all in with Jesus as teacher and friend. They perform live in a cozy Nashville home as rain gently falls outside. Subscribe, like, and comment for more behind the scenes exclusives.