PUSHING A ROPE IN MINNESOTA
What a week! Master’s Voice had the wonderful privelege to travel to Minnesota last week. It was my first time in the state, and let me tell you, northerners kind of have gotten a bad rap for being rude. They were nothing but genuinely kind to us the whole trip. They attempted to make fun of an alleged Oklahoma accent, but I assurred them it was they who had the accent.
When you sing as often as we do, it is rare that everyone is at their very best at the same time, but, perhaps, even more rare was that we were all at our very worst last week. Me, Drew and Joey were all extremely vocally ill all week. We are still feeling some of the lasting effects of it today. It is so frustrating to sing to a packed house…wanting to do your very best….but it just ain’t there. It is kind of like pushing a rope. The harder you try, the worse you do.
Nevertheless, the crowd enjoyed us. We couldn’t give them they performance we wanted to, and we had to avoid some of our better songs that…well, just weren’t there, but we did sell completely out of product! We had 1 saved Thursday night, and then had 3 more saved Sunday night! Wow…that will never get old! We received about 20 emails since we have gotten home from our new fans asking us to come back soon. In short — we are eteranlly grateful for the doors God is opening up for us in new states.
MY HEAD IS DOING BRAIN THINGS
I have been a Chicago Cubs fan since I was about 9 years old. I love them….which sort of explains why the baseball season is such a long one for me. Please pray for them…geesh!
I had a great time a week and a half ago when MV was able to attend a Cubs/Cardinals game in St. Louis. Pastor Brent Hutsell and his wife, Melissa, were also there. We had a great time. The Cubs lost….(insert joke here)….but it was a lot of fun. There is just something about getting in the stadium…smelling the brauts cooking, the smell of the grass, the sound of the crowd…pure nostalgia!
My application point is this — I stood almmost the whole time and watched people who didn’t even know each other embrace, scream, cry, rejoice, cry some more, just become enthralled with absolute enthusiasm while watching a grown man playing a kids game hit a round ball with a round bat. I saw two men…who undoubtedly smelled like b.o., beer, and who knows what else – hug. You hear that? Two complete strangers rallying behind their team.
And then we go to church and watch a woman come forward and the most amazing way, God snatches her from the throws of Hell, forgives her sin, redeems her, cleanses her, gives her a fresh new start, sets Heaven before her, promises her eteranal life…..and the surrounding members, who had allegedly already experienced this life-changing grace…stood emotionless….with a golf clap and a head knod….already questioning her sincerity. Where is the passion? Is the church that cold that we can’t even shout when someone gets saved these days? I pray God illuminates our minds, allowing us to see how complacent we have become. Lord, cause us to be miserable in our sin, so we can return to our first love.
