To God Be The Glory

I watched part of the We Will Stand CCM United concert last night and then Brad joined in when he got home from church.  WOW! SO MANY POWERFUL MOMENTS AND MEMORIES.  I thought it would be really cool to see all those Christian artist together, but I wasn't prepared for the wave of emotion I experienced.  I was thinking I really should never take for granted that all those songs are living testimonies...they are never just melodies....they are pure worship and worship never dies!  Music is so closely related to our emotional beings and Christian music combines both our emotional and our spiritual beings, so it is even more powerful....Add a little dancing in the spirit in there and you are wholly immersed in worship! :)

Thanks to my mom, I can even sing along to Evie's songs and, somehow, I remembered a lot of the words to Don Francisco's, He's Alive (and that has no shortage of words :)....I think mom was enjoying those songs when I was 4 or 5 years old.  It was the most blessed trip down memory lane.  Brad and I are especially fond of Larnelle Harris, he came to Olivet Nazarene University while we were there and our choir was able to sing with him.  One of Brad's most memorable moments from that experience was that Larnelle spit on him....haha...and you thought that would be a deeply meaningful memory!  We also, because of our connections with Olivet Nazarene University, were able to be a part of the college choir for Praise Gatherings when they were held in Indianapolis, IN and hosted by the Gaithers.  I knew that was a privilege even then, but some of the magnitude of the privilege hit me last night....I still cannot believe I was able to be a part of those assemblies of Christian musicians each year I was in college.

I do not mean to exalt the artists as people.  I try to be very careful of that because I know we are all just human, but I admire them for their tireless efforts to be witnesses for Christ through music.  Even though we often look at them and see something glamorous, pouring themselves out as offerings at every event and concert can be anything but....even though it is their passion.  I'm just thankful for the messages they have given us and for their faithfulness over all these years!  God has really used them for His glory because they have been willing to allow Him to speak through them.