Musicianship

Thank you.  It's very obvious that you all prayed and I'm very appreciative!  This week was SO different from last week.  For starters, I didn't nearly break my foot.  (My foot is still quite sore, especially since I haven't had time for rest, but it will heal!)  That's a win in my book.  Once again, I found myself busy every day and every evening.  Little things always turn into big things.  A "small" project takes, what seems like forever sometimes.  BUT all in all it was a good week.  It seemed like meetings went well and were productive.  Lessons were well planned out.  Both kids and adults showed up to play paintball and for youth group.  Personally, I had some very sweet times with Jesus and though the enemy tried pretty hard to bring me down, it just wasn't happening this week.  I was even able to drive up to North Jersey and see my friend/Uganda roomie who will be moving to Uganda permanently soon.  It was very much a blessing to see her and catch up.

This past Thursday night I was invited to a Tenth Avenue North concert.  I'm always up for a free concert, so of course I went.  It was nice to have a night away!  For those who don't know, Tenth Ave is a Christian band.  They've become increasingly popular over the past few years.  I'm sure that if you listen to Christian radio you're familiar with their music.  They are a very big deal to people around here because one of the band members is from here and I believe he grew up going to Delanco (the camp I've been involved with here).  

We got to the show a bit early and as we waited for the doors to open we chatted a bit and were greeted by people who knew others in my group.  Once we got to our seats, which were very close, we saw even more familiar faces.  It was so strange and yet such a sweet gift to see people I recognize after only being here for 3 months.  

The opening band was called Rend Collective Experiment.  They're an Irish band and I'm pretty sure I've heard of them before, but Thursday night I was blown away by their performance.  Let me preface this by saying that I'm generally pretty critical of musicians.  Not only am I classically trained, but I love music theory and I've been in some sort of band constantly for the past 15 years.  I can hear when the harmony is off, when a guitar is out of tune, or when the drummer speeds up.

Rend Collective Experiment was amazing.  It was difficult to take my eyes off the stage while they were worshiping.  The passion that was exuding from each musician was blatant.  They were having a blast doing what they clearly love to do and drawing us into worship.  Beyond that though, I have never heard a live performance that was so spot on and nearly perfect in my whole life.  I was so mesmerized by them, my focus was completely on the music and the pure, stunning sounds that were being lifted to God.  Every note was crisp.  The harmonies were intricate and perfect.  I'm completely blown away by their extraordinary skill and obvious love of music.  They each seemed to play multiple instruments too (and NOT common instruments either!).  It's so rare to see such a group with such amazing musicianship.  I've seen other bands live who do a great job, but they don't even compare.  Maybe it's because I was there to worship God, but it was just so darn easy to lift my hands to the One who created the earth while I was surrounded by such beauty.  I am not sure that I've ever heard another earthly sound that was so pure and heavenly.  

I've truly heard angels sing during times of worship before and those times were amazing, awe inspiring, and holy.  This experience with Rend Collective Experiment is the closed I've come to hearing such amazing sounds again.  It was incredible.  If I wasn't broke, I'd have bought every piece of music they've ever recorded!  I believe they're on iTunes... I encourage you to check them out.  I'm not sure it will have the same effect as the live versions, but definitely worth it!  

The second act was very good too.  Her voice was very pure and she had amazing control.  Then Tenth Ave came on.  They were very good, high energy, and very genuine.  Their passion for both Jesus and music is very evident.  I was pleasantly surprised... not that I thought they'd be bad, but I'm just not as crazy about them as everyone else around here seems to be.  I would definitely see them again and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing their stories and witnesses to how God has worked in their lives.  Praise be to God! 

Tonight at youth group as we looked at the creation account we decided that God is so kooky... in a good way of course.  I'm excited to see what our kooky God has in store for this busy week ahead.  Thanks again for praying with me last week.  Please let me know how I can be praying for you!