That's in the Bible somewhere, right?

Well... no... but if Jesus were on earth today, He might relate a parable to turn-of-the-millennium musicians and use Ray's paradoxical illustration to drive home a spiritual truth or two-perhaps even the part about losing your life so you can find it.

Ray knows all about that stuff: rock 'n' roll, cut-out bins at record stores, unrealized potential and near misses, big hopes and broken dreams-and at least one circuitous route back to the place where dreams are realized anew.

Paradoxes, after all, have defined Age of Faith's life, death, and radical reincarnation (listen to its new, rootsy-acoustic release Embrace if you're skeptical). "The last two years were a wilderness for me, a real trial," says Ray, presently recuperating in an Asheville, N.C. hotel room after one of the band's 150 annual gigs.

Age of Faith debuted as a power pop-rock duo for Benson Records in 1990 and recorded a follow-up three years later. "Our sound was a late '80s rock thing," Ray says somewhat guardedly. To define "late '80s," he reluctantly breathes a few taboo names and phrases: Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, keyboard-oriented‹-even recorded tracks during live shows. The man is brave. He doesn't even whisper.

"Nothing did really well," he admits. "We were a duo playing sweaty rock with the tracks rolling!" But when bookstore cash registers missed their cues for cha-ching choruses, Age of Faith found itself without a home in 1994. Then the little Gastonia, N.C. duo (and sometimes group) split up. "We all just decided it was over," Ray explains. "Going on would have been trying to beat a dead horse. We needed to lay it down. Still, making records isn't something that happens to everybody, and I felt as though a dream had died and I also wondered what I was gonna do next.

"You know, I figured that with all the friends I had in the record business-and with two major releases under my belt-I'd just get a new contract for myself. I really wanted to do solo stuff. It was time for me to face the crowd alone."

At this juncture, Ray's vocal inflections turn humorously incredulous. "No record company would touch me! Nobody even looked at me! It just didn't happen," he sighs. "That taught me a lot about trust."

But snub after snub also helped Ray hear more clearly his first love beckoning him. "As it turned out, I did start playing solo-but as a worship leader at youth group events and church camps," Ray recalls. "I traveled all over the place-just me and my Jeep Cherokee and my guitar. I mean, I was a youth pastor before I even put Age of Faith together, so I've always loved leading others in praise and worship-I still lead worship for the youth group at Parkwood Baptist back home." But after a year, something was still missing.

It wasn't his elusive record deal-Ray had sworn off record labels after finding joy again leading kids in worship.

No, the missing puzzle piece was Ray's self-described "rock side."

"I was losing that," he says. "I wasn't able to use those gifts. Leading worship isn't performing." So Ray decided to recreate Age of Faith with new members in February 1996-just for fun. "When I put it back together, my whole point was to just play a couple of gigs a month. Just give me an outlet, you know? I was so totally into doing worship anyway."

But a lot can change over the course of 730 days-especially musical tastes (i.e., no more inspiration from Bon Jovi). "I was listening to Counting Crows, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Hootie & the Blowfish," Ray says. "Just different artists with a rawer sound." Before he knew it, Ray was playing more and more shows with a new and improved Age of Faith. The ball began rolling. Song demos were made-but for an independent CD the band planned to sell at shows themselves. It was not to be.

Age of Faith got signed again.

"I had already come to a point where I said, 'It doesn't matter anymore,'" Ray says regarding his attitude before Gray Dot Records heard the tasty, rootsy noises coming from Age of Faith's custom project. "I was totally content doing it for fun-for my own enjoyment. But like I said before, when you're ready to not get a record deal, that's when you'll get one. If you're in Christian music to get a deal-if you're not satisfied using your gifts in whatever venue you're in-your motives are wrong."

Ray and band (Drue Bachmann on bass, Steve Blair on drums and percussion and Daniel Polydores on guitars) proceeded to re-record the songs that would eventually become Embrace. "The guitar tones changed a little bit, some drum things-not a ton was different," Ray says. Along with the Age of Faith core was a bevy of supporting talent, including Third Day's Mac Powell-who lends his husky baritone to the first single, "The Love of Jesus"-and producer Jeff Tomeii, who helped on projects by Collective Soul, Indigo Girls and Smashing Pumpkins.

"People have told me that I grew up as a writer on this record," Ray says. "I've been wanting to see more of the raw emotion that's in me come out in the songs." If there's any one word that captures the raw emotion of his heart at the moment, it has to be "grace."

"God forgives. He's not concerned with your past," Ray says. "I grew up not believing that. I thought that God was mad at me all the time. It's just not true. On stage I try to preach that God is a God of love and forgiveness and grace. We strive to have a very grace-oriented ministry." Yep, grace to be sure, but there's still no glamour, Ray insists-not even with a brand new sound and a record deal (again). "I was still doing all of our booking up until last October," he explains. " We still move all our equipment ourselves. We have a van and trailer and a road manager. It's all self-contained. It's a lot more work, but it's worth it."

Perhaps Age of Faith's down-to-earthiness has a little bit to do with their roots. "Christian music isn't a great big thing in North Carolina," Ray says. "Hey, I still mow my yard. I still change my baby's diaper. In the band we're all from the same region-and it's Southern culture. Very home-oriented. I don't know any other way to live. We're not trendy, that's for sure. Whenever the next big fad train rolls into town, we sure won't be on it."