Worship band Consumed by Fire is a group of three brothers — Jordan Ward, harmonies/percussion; Caleb Ward, lead vocals; and Josh Ward, guitar/harmonies.
Their parents, David Paul and Vonda Sue Ward, planted 11 churches. This influence meant the trio learned from a young age to depend on the Lord not only by faith, but also through a long history of seeing God come through time after time.
“What was wild in our upbringing is, if the Lord told [our father] to plant another church, they didn’t have the whole salary thing figured out,” Caleb said. “They just had faith. They were constantly, in our lives growing up, the ‘what if?’
“We would think that XYZ is going to work out financially but we didn’t know. We would leap, and time after time we would watch God come through.”
‘Encourage and give hope’
Their parents’ impact led to a ministry full of songs that encourage and give hope to those who are struggling. Because they have written many songs with this theme, they always prayerfully choose which ones to release next or to include for a given concert.
The song Caleb referenced — “What If?” — is on their 2023 album, “First Things First.” It was one of those prayerful choices made for the K-LOVE Fan Awards kickoff concert that ended up impacting many.
“When I got to the Friday night concert, I wasn’t doing well physically or mentally,” one attendee said. “In fact, it was all I could do to even make it. My business isn’t doing well, and I’ve been very afraid for the future.
“’What If?’ touched me in a very personal way and while listening, I started crying. That song as well as another song they played — ‘First Things First’ — were catalysts to some major breakthroughs God did in my heart that night.”
Events like the K-LOVE weekend don’t only edify the attendees. They also encourage the band to keep going. Testimonials like the aforementioned always leave the group at the “highest level of encouragement.”
“What If?” came directly out of a time when the brothers were going through a lot themselves.
Asking tough questions
Their father — their anchor — had a stroke and was in the hospital for 15 months and then was bedridden at home after getting out.
During that season they slowed down their pace. They weren’t on the road as much. They weren’t writing or recording as much.
It was a time of questioning.
“When I look back to writing ‘What If?’ in that season, in all that was stacked up against us, I said we wrote this song in faith,” Caleb said.
As they worked on it with songwriter Brian White, the brothers acknowledged that they weren’t the only ones going through these kinds of struggles. As the song came together, they tried to answer the question: Who is this song for?
But, in fact, they knew. It was for everyone, as there isn’t a person without doubts. Every person has to deliberately choose faith.
“’What If?’ is a direct companion to ‘First Things First,’” Josh added. “Whenever you surrender everything and it starts looking crazy, you’re thinking, ‘Man, what are we doing here? What if this happens or that happens? I’m going to end up in shambles over here.’
“Dad always used to tell us that whenever an eagle pushes a baby chick out of the nest, if you haven’t ever flown before, jumping is terrifying,” he said.
Calm and focus
Another principle the Ward couple drilled into the trio was that God is absolutely good and the devil is absolutely bad. They don’t swap jobs.
Not only is God good but He’s for His children, and He has their best interests at heart.
“My mom said that the enemy wants us to think that it’s a pipe dream, but God gives us the desires of our hearts. One, He’s the One who gave it to you and two, He’s the One to bring it to pass.
“You don’t have to get caught up in the hows and the whens and the whys and all of these things. You just keep on doing the last thing that He told you to do — and He gets the good out of it,” Jordan said.
There are, however, times that the band has “everything going wrong” on the way to a concert. “Almost on the daily” they have to fight panic, feeling like they need a miracle even before arriving.
During those times, they make a conscious effort to keep calm and focus while finding a way to serve others.
“I’m thankful to say that even in our hardest moments and the darkest nights, instead of turning from our faith, we hold onto it even tighter,” Caleb said. “We let our roots grow deeper through all these years and through even the pain.
“I attribute that to our father, our mother. We watched them go through a lot of challenges in ministry over 35 years, and they did just the same thing.”
“We try to remember the things that Dad used to tell us,” Jordan concluded. “He said, ‘Boys, do not stop talking until you’ve talked the Word of God, until you’ve talked the promises of God.’ These other things might be circumstantially true, but what’s true to the Word of God?”
To learn more about Consumed by Fire go to www.consumedbyfire.com.
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