What a great day yesterday was! I started off my day attending church. Bro. Matt preached from Luke 12:13-34. The sermon was part one of two parts on the economic downturn. He reminded us that God is in control of the economy and everything else. God cares about us and will provide for us. I will have to post his sermon notes on here later. They were really good points and puts this whole economic situation, and life in general, into a Godly perspective.
The highlight of my day came later in the evening. I got the opportunity to go and see two of the greatest Christian music artists of all time in Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman at the Robinson Center in Little Rock. What a terrific show! To make the night even better, we were on the second row! That's right, we were probably 10-15 yards from Smitty and SCC (b/c of the orchestra pit). They opened the show together with some praise songs before Steven Curtis Chapman took the reigns. He did all of his current songs,
Yours, Miracle of the Moment, Cinderella, Magnificent Obsession, and a few others. Smitty came out towards the end of set and they did some of each others older songs. That was really cool. Steven Curtis Chapman also spent a lot of time talking about the death of his little girl Maria Sue. For those that don't know, Maria was SCC's 5 year old daughter. He and his wife Mary Beth adopted Maria from China. She was accidentally killed in their driveway last May 21 when her brother accidentally ran over her. All that said, I was inspired by a comment SCC made regarding God's plan for our lives. He said that at Maria's memorial one of his sons said that this current moment in our lives is like looking really close at a beautiful painting. Up close the painting just looks like a bunch of chaos, different shades of paint and lots of different brush strokes going in several different directions. He said that is what our life is like on God's scale. Its only when we step away from the painting and see the whole picture, that we can really appreciate its beauty. WOW! How big is that? When we look at our lives right now, sometimes we just see chaos and craziness, but when we look back on our lives and see how God has brought us through life's struggles and successes, our lives are a beautiful masterpiece! Woo-hoo! I thought this was really well said.
After about an hour and a half, Michael W. Smith came out and did his set. I was so blessed to have been able to be led in worship by Smitty. He is just awesome. He is really good at worship leading. He also gave a brief testimony. He spoke of the time, about 20 years ago, when he actually realized the sovereignty and love God had for him. Smitty said that he accepted Christ at the age of 10, but the realization of who God was and is didn't sink in until later. I could relate to Smitty here. I accepted Christ at the age 8. I know I was young, but even at that young age, I understood that I was a sinner. I understood that my sin separated me from God. I also understood that Jesus came and died on the cross to pay the price for my sins and then rose again 3 days later. I put my trust in Him back then and accepted Him as my Savior. Unfortunately, I didn't fully realize the power of what lived within me until April of last year. Like Smitty, I am a child of the great God. The King of Kings, the Master of the Universe, the Lord of Lords. He's my daddy! He loves and cares about me. He likes me and is quite fond of me. My sins and trespasses against Him are forgiven. He holds no record of wrongs. He is God of the universe and He is my God. I am so glad that I have this peace and hope.
The show ended around 10:30. We finally got out of the parking garage and got home around 12:15 am. Yes, I am dragging today, but I feel good because I have been filled up spiritually. Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith put on a great show. I hope that I have the opportunity to see them again some day.
