Christian Rock, a New Member of the Family, and what got dumped on Sarah at a Toby Mac Concert.

Good morning all!

Last night, Hubby took me to Toby Mac's Hits Deep concert.  Now, this was definitely outside the box for me.  First of all...rock concerts have not been my friend of late.  Second of all, we JUST saw Piff the Magic Dragon last weekend and honestly, two big nights out among people...that's a lot

for me.  (Let's just say this is the month when all those "PERFECT" Christmas presents are happening.)

Side note, see this show. It's hilarious!

Also, while I do enjoy Christian contemporary and rock music, I'm not an avid listener and other than the headliner, Toby Mac, I had zero knowledge of any of the other acts playing this very concert.

To fully understand me (who would want that?) we have to go back to the dawning of, well, me.  See, I was raised in what can only be called a super ultra mega religious conservative family. All of my elder relatives were in THE MINISTRY  (not the band, no, service to GOD) and I, too, was educated parochially and then went into the ministry as a parochial school teacher.  As far as my upbringing was concerned (and I'm not making this up) when it came to music, popular music was the work of the devil (unless it was Perry Como or The Kingston Trio.  The Osmonds were a big too edgy and the Partridge Family...well that was just going to send you straight to Hell.)

When Christian Contemporary music started popping up, it was a whole different battle for my elders. See, in my family, the PIPE ORGAN was the only proper instrument in church and, really, if there must be something else, I guess we could get crazy and play trumpets, but only on Easter Sunday.  When it came to this new music, this...well, AMY GRANT...that was considered at the very least useless, and, in some realms, more damaging to good Christian teens than say, satanic backmasking.   (You younger folks, go look that up.)

And this was all before Brittany Spears wrapped a snake around herself.

Wow, did I get off topic.  

Anyway, my point is that I wasn't exactly raised listening to CC music. Which doesn't mean I haven't had the opportunity to get into as an adult. Plenty of adults (most of them in my church choir) listen to K-love and know all the songs and all the artists.  Not me.  I liked listening to the radio as a teen, we all did, and in college I experimented with alternative rock, but by the time I became a full on adult, my musical tastes were pretty much set and, not being a big scholar of music, I'm perfectly satisfied with my CD collection as it is.  I'm more into movies now anyway, so my last several music purchases have been movie soundtracks.  But, thanks to a recent change of churches, my church choir, and musicians like Mike Westendorf, I'm learning.

So we're at this concert last night and I don't know any of the songs or any of the artists, and there were a lot...but still, I was having fun.  The message was positive, the music was high energy, and the crowd was awesome.  

As we know, Sarah has had issues with concerts in the past.  There have been multiple Rick Springfield concerts where she's gotten a rum and coke dumped on her.  There was that Melissa Etheridge concert where she sat next to a guy who either was a Nazi or had no idea that his over head hand gesture was really, really, really funny, given that he was at a Melissa Etheridge concert.  (Crack a book, dude!)  There was the Pat Benatar concert where she sat in front of people who argued for ten minutes about who was really supposed to be in the seats, and then DUDE shouted, "Play Love is  A Battlefield" the entire concert and then when Pat did, he didn't recognize it.  And how many countless other concert mishaps have there been?

Well, something got dumped on Sarah this time too...all courtesy of the older lady behind her.  

Love, and the courage to, how do I put this...PRAISE JESUS! out loud.

See, I grew up in one of those churches where we show our love for the Lord by sitting very quietly

I mean, is there a single person who looks like they're enjoying what they're doing?

and focusing on how sinful we've been.  The lady behind me clearly came from a different denomination.  She was definitely not ashamed about her faith, nor was she shy about adding commentary to the performers' talking points.

She started slowly, a few "Amens" and "Yes Lord" as the opening act performed.  The second act was a little loud, but she managed to get a "Mm, Hm yes!" over to me.

Right before the intermission (this was a Looong concert with a half dozen artists playing) the MC came out and talked about how HOPE is so important and how he'd gone to Ethiopia and met with a young family of children whose parents had died and how a 12 year old boy was the head of household and how HOPE in the Gospel moved some Americans to sponsor the kids.  The story started with how the parents died.  

Lady behind me:  Oh Lord.

MC: These children lived in four mud walls.

Lady behind me:  Oh Lord Jesus.

MC:  There was no floor. They had no beds, and no roof. When it rained, they were sleeping in mud.

Lady behind me:  Mm, Mm.

MC: They had no school supplies.  They had no clothes. They couldn't go to school,  These four children just wandered around with not enough food, no clean water, no way to go to school and they slept in mud.

Lady behind me:  Oh Lord.

MC:  But then, someone filled with the HOPE....

Lady behind me: Mm, say it!

MC:  Filled with the hope of the love...

Lady behind me: Say it, Say it!

MC: With the hope of the love of Jesus...

Lady behind me: He's sayin' it! Ses Lord!

MC: Sponsored these children and now they have a roof and they have a floor and they have four beds and they have school supplies and they have clothes!

Lady behind me: He's sayin' it!  Lord, he's sayin' it!

MC:  And now they know the HOPE and the LOVE of JESUS!

Lady behind me: HE SAID IT!  Yes, LORD! HE SAID IT!

Now, I'm not sure if it was the story about these children in Ethiopia, or the verbal expression of unashamed faith from the woman behind us...but guess what?

It's a GIRL!

Yep, we, the Bradleys, have now sponsored a young girl in Rawanda. Her name is Claundine, and a buck a day and some letters from us to her will build her a house, clothe her, feed her, and give her the hope in the love of Jesus.

That's a mighty powerful buck a day. Yes, Lord.

Can't wait to tell Skippy and Peaches they have a new sister.

So...in summary...my plan going forward it to listen to more CC music on the radio because, and I know there are those who are going to disagree with me, one can only listen to so much 80's jams before you need something else. Plus, I think I can go to concerts again without worrying that my shoes are going to get ruined by rum and coke.

 I also plan to include less sitting quietly and more "YES LORD PRAISE JESUS" in my life.

Also, I have a new kid to care for, so there's that!