What do religion and breaking a cinder block with a sledgehammer on someone's abdomen have in common? Answer: the Rev. J. Brown.

Brown is no stranger to martial arts; he received his black belt from Tae Bo founder Billy Blanks in 1986. A graduate of Concordia University in Austin, Texas, and now an associate pastor at Praise Lutheran Church, 1115 W. Dupont Road, Brown uses his martial arts and theological training to spread the gospel.

Wednesday morning found him at Concordia Lutheran Elementary School giving his five-point Christian Martial Arts message: foundation, faith, fitness, focus and follow-through. As he lectured, Brown called upon volunteers to help, using his martial-arts skills to demonstrate principles as well as hold the audience's attention.

The students were captivated and eager to be a part of the presentation before they even knew what they were volunteering for. To demonstrate follow- through, Brown told fourth-grader Kanan Flynn he was going to punch him in the nose. Students were perched on the edge their seats, waiting for the result. But the blow never came.

“This shows a lack of follow-through,” Brown said, smiling.

He began his martial-arts demonstration by breaking a board balanced on two concrete blocks, then upped the difficulty of what he was breaking with each of the five points. He smashed a small patio block in two, broke boards across his shins and even tried to break a candle, including the wick.

He finished the demonstration by balancing himself between two folding chairs, placing a concrete block on his lower abdomen, and then had Concordia Lutheran Elementary teacher Rich Schwantz use a sledgehammer to smash it. Dust and pieces of cement flew through the air.

The audience applauded and cheered as a cement powdered Brown got to his feet and thanked the audience for having him. It was just another routine day on his sin busting mission.

Brown takes his message to all ages. He has written two books, “Street Smarts from Christian Martial Arts,” published in 2006, and “Breaking Barriers” in 2008. In 2009 Brown opened Trinity Martial Arts Club at Praise Lutheran Church.