My Rock and Worship Roadshow experience

Friday, my wife and I went to the Rock and Worship Roadshow’s stop in Dallas, TX.  The show was at the American Airlines Center.  We were blessed enough to receive some VIP passes from some great friends.   Here is my review of a great night

Sidewalk Prophets

These guys played a three song set to start off the festivities.  Prior to the show, I had heard of these guys but never really listened to them short of some of their fill-in appearances on last year’s roadshow.  The opened with their rendition of ‘Man in the Mirror.’ It was a a great opener.  High energy got people up out of their seats.  Their song ‘These are the words I would say’ touched on the concept ‘be strong in the lord.’  Which really strikes a chord with those who are going through something tough or have gone through something.  This song brought tears to my eyes because it really struck a chord with me because my wife and I are going through a season.  Every single solitary word in this song hit on what we are experiencing at this moment.

Remedy Drive

Nebraska was in the house.  I have to confess I’d never heard of these guys until a week ago.  I have since realized that I’ve heard ‘All Along’ while listening to my Pandora or radio before.  I was really impressed with their musicianship and I really liked their tunes.  Plus they are from the greatest state in the union, Nebraska.  Which by default moves them up in my book.  One thing they said has stayed with me after the concert and that is that ‘after the darkness comes the dawn.’  Which said another way is that good times are right around the corner.

Fee

Steve Fee came on and blew the doors off the place.  He opened with Rise and Sing and I felt like I was at a true, authentic arena rock show.  The only exception is that the love songs we sang were about Jesus and not some other human being.  It was an incredible set.  After the band left the stage, I began to wonder why I don’t have any of their music in my collection.

Francesca Battistelli

This was my wife’s most anticipated artist.  She loves her music especially the ‘dents in my fender’ and ‘it’s your life.’  Francesca’s set was very well done and I came away impressed with her vocal abilities as well as her backup band’s ability to create a jazzy groove.  My favorite song of the set had to be ‘It’s your life’ with it’s great rock groove.

Family Force 5

It’s probably because I’m a thirty something but I had never heard of these guys prior to the show.  I did some obligatory YouTube and Google searches to see what these guys are all about.  But to say I knew all about these guys would be disingenuous.  After seeing them live, I came away impressed and a fan.  The kids (I guess I can say that now) went nuts when these guys took the stage.  I can see why.  I grew up on hip hop and rap music.  I really like how they mixed musical styles.  I may not fit their demo but man I could bob my head to that music.  I feel like I have to justify my midlife crisises (not a word but I’m going with it).

David Crowder*Band

Okay I’ll admit this was the most anticipated set of the night for me.  Everything Glorious is one of my favorite songs of all time.  I’ll leave out why because I think it could be a blog entry all on it’s own.  Love their songs and how they layer different instruments in the composition.  They really mixed musical genres all keeping Christ centered.  It was a thing of beauty.  I think my favorite was their cover of Hank Williams ‘I saw the light.’  I really enjoyed listening to the band talk during their set.  We seem to share the same worldview (that is to say uber-geekiness).  I take this stance on the inclusion of the Mario Bros. theme music and their robotic drummer Steve-3-PO.  Which is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.   Overall their set was incredible and I came away more of a fan if that’s possible.

MercyMe

MercyMe continues to be one of my favorite bands.  So so many of their songs apply to my life (which is to say my own walk with the Lord).   Their performance was really awesome and I really loved how they kept Christ at the center and made it a point to do so.  My favorite was the inclusion of a ‘Homesick’ intro to I can only Imagine.  Their set list had a great mix of their hits and new stuff.  It also did a great job of covering a great spectrum of styles they have in their catalog.  MercyMe was like the exclamation point on a great night worshipping God.

They of course as the headliners had the coolest stage setup.  A massive LED board behind them that really did a great job illustrating what the band was playing and singing about.  It really added to the experience and the worship.

Summary, conclusions, and personal feelings of the night.

Now that my very weak attempt at a newspaper review is over, I can get to meat and potatoes of this thing.  Quite simply I have never worshipped my creator like that.  I know that is bad to say (especially since the worship leader at my service at church is a friend and might read this blog).  But there is something about church that makes me hold back.  I know we should hold nothing back because we are in his house but I do.  It doesn’t hold back tears especially if the song sings my heart. But I for some unknown reason keep my hands down.  This wasn’t the case on Friday night.  I held my hands and I sang as loud as I could with everything I had.  I was in a room with thousands of other people but I was able to sing to one guy.  And it was a beautiful thing.  The whole night was so moving.  Every song allowed me release and sing to my creator.  I couldn’t even take pictures because it was so surreal that I wanted to see it through my eyes instead of my viewfinder.  I walked out of AA center changed because I have tasted true worship.  Something I want to taste more of.

Who finds whom?

I’ve heard a lot of people end their salvation stories with, ‘…and that is when I found God.’  One of my favorite songs, ‘You found me’ starts with the words, ‘I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad.’  Hearing this stuff really has me thinking and pondering who finds whom?

So which is it?  Do we find him or does he find us?  I know the natural response is that we find God because he is all knowing.  God’s omnipotence means that he knows where we are and where we are going to be.   So we aren’t lost in a location sense.  This regular guy’s opinion is that we are lost because we take our eyes off of him or believe we can walk without him.  Jesus talked in parables chasing after the lost sheep.  The lost sheep doesn’t know it’s lost.  The sheep is wandering off chasing some bright and shiny object.  The shepherd sees the sheep wander off and has to go in pursuit to recover his property.  Cross the streams, climb the rocks, and cut through the brush to bring his sheep back to the fold.

I may be way off but this is why I believe the God finds us.  He sees wherever we are at.  He crosses the streams, climbs the rocks, and cuts through the brush to bring us back with him.  The sheep may realize that it’s in danger and my try to find its way home or run further away.  Ultimately the shepherd finds the sheep and brings it home.  No matter what we do he brings us home.  So in my mind he finds us.  What do you think?

My Michael Vick Take

Let me start off by saying I’m dog lover. I love my little pug and she is a family member to me. She greets me when I get home. As a pro-dog person, I’ve had a keen eye on the Michael Vick proceedings. I believe that his conviction and punishment were just.

I watched portions of his 60 minutes interview while I made dinner for the family and I have to say that my feelings on this have changed. I initially believed that this man should have known better and that I would be okay with him never playing again. I don’t feel that way anymore. I believe in second chances. I believe in that everyone deserves a shot at redemption if they feel bad about what they did and change the course of their life as a result. I believe Michael Vick needs a second chance to redeem himself. If he truly renounces what he did, then he should get a chance to play again. Now if he blows this second chance and reverts back to a point where he’s involved in dog fighting then all bets are off. Vick seemed genuine in his regret during the interview. How much of that was coaching of his legal and image team remains to be seen. I choose to believe at this point that he regrets this ever happened and wants a second chance.

With all that said, what changed my mind you ask…Couple of things. The fact that Tony Dungy is laying his name on the line for this man says a lot to me. I view Tony as a pretty stand up guy and for him to vouch for Michael Vick admittedly buys him capital with me. I’m willing to give Mr.. Vick a second chance because Dungy thinks he’s changed. Second and really the most important is because of my faith. Without getting into a big spiritual discussion here, I am going to say that my faith has taught me that we need to forgive when no one else will because we are forgiven when we shouldn’t be. I think that applies here.

I am going to continue to watch this situation unfold. If Vick has changed his words will become action. If his words are just that…words then he will fall back into the same traps and lose this chance. I’m willing to watch this thing unfold. I hope has seen the error in his ways and has made a true change.

Road Trip!! (finding some truth along the way)

We took a trip to pick up my oldest from his grandma this past weekend.  We met halfway in lovely Wichita, KS.  This trip resulted in roughly 18+ hours in the car.  Sounds like a lot but I love a good drive.  I get a lot of good thinking behind the wheel.  When I used to have a 45 minute commute to work, I had to have a tape recorder nearby because as I drove I would literally download my brain out of my mouth.  Lots of good ideas.  To capture these ideas I would record them and transcribe them later.   This trip allowed me to think about a lot things.  Mostly my Christian walk and how it is speaking through my family, work, and me.

We found a lot of good modern Christian stations between here and Wichita.  This isn’t Gospel but modern rock that praises God.  I am a normal guy who loves the Lord.  Do I have shortcomings? You betcha.  I am not perfect because I am a Christian.  I try to achieve perfection because I feel that Christ deserves that much but I come up short on a daily basis.  I am made perfect because I believe and he loves me back.  Now getting to the point.  I heard Matthew West’s ‘Something to Say’ and the message behind says that everyone’s life speaks for the Lord.  What is my Life saying?  As I said before, I’m a normal guy.  I love sports, my wife, my kids, playing the guitar, etc.  I have areas of my life that are far from perfect.  They are broken.  I need fixing.  I look to the Lord to show me how.  I’ll never be Billy Graham and stand at a pulpit and preach to the masses or Bart Millard and sing God’s praises to thousands.  My life is my testimony.  I heard something on the Dan Patrick Show about Tim Tebow.  They were talking how he operates in a football locker room and Dan said that Tebow just takes on an attitude of ‘I’m here to help you.’  He is not the standing on a street corner screaming for people to repent.  This really spoke to me and so has this verse.

¹⁶"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may ^(T)see your good works, and ^(U)glorify your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

So putting it all together.  I am a normal guy who is trying to let the Lord speak through my life.  I will not thump my bible in your face but I am here if my friends, family, or whoever wants to talk about the Lord.

Monday Musings

1. Thank goodness the Celtics lost.  I don't know what it is about the Celtics I don't like.  I think it's scars from my childhood where my Dad revered the Larry Bird and trash talked his young Laker-fan son.
2. The coolest thing about Twitter is that an Astronaut can tweet from space.  Follow this guy at @Astro_Mike.  I can just see him floating in front of his keyboard.
3. Jalen Rose on Mike and Mike gave shout outs to folks that were twittering him while on the air.  The game is changing and the world is getting smaller.   Wouldn't be surprised if the 'request line' is replaced by a twitter feed.
4. Realize I'm probably Twitter-heavy right now, but I read twitter like a news wire.  It has become my way of following the news as it happens.  I follow News organizations, politicians on both sides of the aisle, and watch things like Twit-Scoop.  Twitter provides a great vehicle to watch stories develop real time.
5. If you haven't visited Lifehacker.com or Instructables.com, then you're missing out.  These are great sites for how-tos and ways to use a little elbow grease to save some $$.  Plus if you're a pack rat like me than it is a great way to deplete your inventory.
6. Speaking of Jalen Rose,  I'm listening to the podcast of Mike and Mike from Friday.  He's tremendous.  He is captivating, carries conversation, and knows how to deliver a point.  He's got a tremendous future in the broadcasting business.  Combine that w ith his basketball chops.  He'll be a force.
7. Yellow Ledbetter:  Does anyone know the lyrics to that song?
8. Pelosi needs to answer for 'CIA mislead me comment'.  If the CIA did lie or mislead her, they can be prosecuted.  She needs to put her $$ where her mouth is.
9. I needed to read this today.  "Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you." Galatians 5:1
10. All Joe Biden needs to do now is send out the google maps link where his bunker is located.  Put a mic in front of this guy and he disengages the filter.

The Sunday Bullets

 

1. Duck-Duck-Goose vs.. Duck-Duck-Gray Duck:  So far DDG is winning by a large margin.  The only place I’ve ever seen DDGD is Morris, MN
2. I can’t be the only person who loves Wasabi Soy Sauce Almonds
3. Apparently there was some rhyme and reason for not releasing Gitmo photo and holding tribunals.  The viewpoint is a little different when you have all the intel in front of you.
4. I was really hoping the Lakers would have lost to Houston.  I think Chauncey and the Nuggets can get it done
5. Joe Mauer is awesome.  Brent Gardner thought he had home plate but Mauer made a great play.  Mauer is the man
6. Why does my 2 year old think he’s 17?
7. The Penguins of Madagascar is a really really funny cartoon.  If you haven’t seen it you should.
8. Covering the words of Jesus in Sunday School and we talked about becoming ‘Fishers of Men.’  I definitely cannot fish by the net full but I pray that I am learning the skill to cast my line.
9. Made my own Salsa Verde this week.  It was pretty good but I need to find some fresh tomatillos.  If you used canned tomatillos it may taste a little sour.