On The Road Again: Matthews, NC or Tennessee's A Brother To My Sister Carolina

Tonight I played a house concert at the Tabors' home in Matthews, NC. I stood near a corner and let the hardwood floors do the amplification, and people huddled together on couches and chairs to form a very attentive audience. The Tabors (and their five sweet little girls) invited their friends and neighbors, from different backgrounds and beliefs, and spent an evening listening, interacting, and singing. It was a great conclusion to this short solo run. I've enjoyed the immediacy and simplicity these small solo concerts have afforded me, and look forward to doing more in the future (next month I'll be in the DC/Baltimore area). Tomorrow is the long drive back to Nashville. Thanks to all who came out and joined me in celebrating God's goodness through these hymns.

Setlist:
Come Ye Sinners
Jesus Everlasting King
His Love Can Never Fail
O Come And Mourn With Me Awhile
Thou Lovely Source Of True Delight
All I Owe
Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder
Jesus I Come
What Wondrous Love Is This
My Lord I Did Not Choose You
Free Grace
--Q&A--
And Can It Be
I Need Thee Every Hour
'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus
Be Thou My Vision

On the iPod:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses

On The Road Again: Morganton & Winterville, NC

I’m playing a weekend in my (original) home state of North Carolina this weekend. Friday night I was in Morganton, where I played at Faith Pres. The folks who brought me in asked beforehand that I involve the audience as much as possible, so I picked songs that they were familiar with (thankfully, these coincided with what I’ve been playing lately!). It was a truly sweet time of singing together, and questions during the Q&A time were thoughtful and kind. My parents drove in from the Winston-Salem area, and I dedicated “His Love Can Never Fail” to them. I got the chance to stop by their house for lunch on the way to Winterville and spend some time showing them how to use their new Macs (my mom got a Mac mini a few months ago and Dad just got a Powerbook).

Last night I was in Winterville, where I went out to eat before the concert with Mark, the guy who invited me to play. Who knew that there would be a great little Thai restaurant in Winterville? Amazing.

The concert happened to fall on the first night of a youth retreat that the church (Christ Pres) is hosting, where churches from all over NC came and brought their youth groups. I am always a little nervous about playing for youth – Will they be bored? Will they talk over me? Will they make fun of me like they did when I was a teenager? – but these teens were very cool, singing along and some even standing unprompted (a strange trait of playing in churches is that often people won’t stand unless you tell them to, so this was actually a big deal—ok, never mind, I know that sounds dumb). I played a little longer than normal because groups were still streaming in, stretching their legs from long van rides and generally wondering who the lanky dude with the guitar was.

Afterwards, I retired to my hotel room and watched an episode of The Simpsons before turning in. Tonight I travel to the Charlotte area for a house concert.

By the way, Reggie Kidd has posted a blog entry about my visit to Orlando last weekend. It’s the first time a blog post has made me blush. Thanks Reggie.

Setlists:

Morganton
---------------
And Can It Be
Jesus Everlasting King
Jesus, What A Friend For Sinners
Come Ye Sinners
His Love Can Never Fail
Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder
Jesus I Come
--Q&A--
All I Owe
What Wondrous Love Is This
Free Grace
My Lord I Did Not Choose You
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
On Jordan’s Stormy Banks
Be Thou My Vision

Winterville
---------------
Come Ye Sinners
And Can It Be
Jesus Everlasting King
O Come And Mourn With Me Awhile
Thou Lovely Source Of True Delight
All I Owe
--Q&A--
Jesus I Come
--more Q&A--
My Lord I Did Not Choose You
Free Grace
His Love Can Never Fail
Arise My Soul Arise
On Jordan’s Stormy Banks
Nothing But The Blood
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
Be Thou My Vision

On The Road Again: Orlando, FL

I played at Orangewood Presbyterian this past Sunday, leading worship in their morning service and playing an acoustic concert that evening at The Grove. I heard their worship pastor, Reggie Kidd, speak at the Sacrifice of Praise Conference several months ago, and was thrilled to visit his church and get to know him a little. He has a book about worship coming out this fall called With One Voice: Discovering Christ’s Song in Our Worship. You can read his blog here and pre-order the book here.

In case anyone’s interested, here are the day’s setlists:

Morning Worship:
Come Ye Sinners
Jesus, What A Friend For Sinners
Jesus I Come
Be Thou My Vision
All I Owe
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Evening Concert:
Come Ye Sinners
And Can It Be
Jesus Everlasting King
His Love Can Never Fail
O Come And Mourn With Me Awhile
Thou Lovely Source Of True Delight
All I Owe
Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder
What Wondrous Love Is This
Free Grace
My Lord I Did Not Choose You
-Q&A Time-
Singing together:
‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus
On Jordan’s Stormy Banks
Nothing But The Blood

“His Love Can Never Fail” is a new one that will be on both Indelible Grace IV and my solo album (God willing). Derek Webb is singing the version on IG4. I love this song.

“My Lord I Did Not Choose You” is a Josiah Conder hymn I wrote music for that will also be on my solo album. I hope to begin recording early next year.

I’m enjoying the Q&A time that I have during these solo concerts (unless it’s a large venue, where it’s too awkward to do one). It’s good to actually interact with folks instead of just singing and yapping. One of the questions at The Grove was about my musical tastes, where I mentioned Pedro The Lion, one of my favorite bands. This led to a brief discussion with some girls after the concert about whether or not it’s important to label yourself a Christian (David Bazan, lead singer of Pedro, confesses the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, but stopped calling himself a Christian several years ago). Perhaps I’ll elaborate in a future blog entry. Or perhaps the topic will disappear and end up in the same place where “Conferences, Pt. 2” landed. I also got into a lengthy and really fun conversation with a socialist. (Note: I’m not a socialist. They are fun to talk to though. At least this one was. Thanks Gabe.)

I leave for North Carolina this Friday to play three more solo concerts. If you’re in the area, I hope to see you there!

The Law.

I watched a new show last week on FX called 30 Days. It was created by Morgan Spurlock, the guy behind Super Size Me (the documentary where he ate nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 days). In each episode of 30 Days, he puts someone in a situation that they aren’t used to for – you may have guessed – 30 days. The episode I watched took a Christian man from West Virginia named David and had him live in a Muslim community in Dearborn, Michigan. Not only did he live with a Muslim family, he had to follow the same customs they did. He grew a beard, didn’t eat pork, drank no alcohol, and had to recognize prayer time five times a day.

The show followed David’s struggle to fit his new experiences with the misconceptions he’d held, and highlighted his search for the differences between Christianity and Islam. One local leader claimed that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all worship the same God, but scoffed at the idea that Jesus was the Son of God because he died on the cross, and God cannot die. The most interesting part of the show to me was David’s discussion with another Muslim leader about alcohol. David asked what was wrong with a having a beer, and the leader said “but the one might lead you…can you guarantee that one will not lead you to the two, to the three…” That is the same argument I’ve heard against alcohol from Christians! Christianity, different from Islam, teaches moderation and liberty in approaching alcohol. It says something about the human heart when some Christians have replaced a Biblical perspective on alcohol with an Islamic one.

As I saw this and other Islamic laws that piled up as the program continued (including a scene where David is abruptly woken at 5:30 AM by the day’s first call to prayer), the thought struck me: Christ has fulfilled the law. Muslims and Jews still feel the burden of the law, the weight of God’s expectation on them. David was impressed by how devout his hosts were, but I saw the heavy load they carried. Pleasing God is a task that no one is up to. No one except Jesus.

Earlier in the evening, at neighborhood group, I led a short time of singing. One of the songs was “Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder”:

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior’s name
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has brought us nigh to God

When Christians act as if they can obey the law in order to be made right with God, they act like Muslims. Jesus has hushed the law’s loud thunder. We are free. We are free. We are free indeed.

Bread.

Last night, at neighborhood group (my church’s weekly small group meeting), the icebreaker question was “What’s your favorite smell?” My answer was “freshly baked bread.” There is a Sara Lee bakery on 8th Avenue, and I try to roll down my window whenever I drive by, just to get a whiff. Even mentioning the smell made me want to smell, or better yet, taste, some good bread.

After neighborhood group, my wife and I went to see the Nashville Symphony play in a nearby park. We sat on a blanket with some friends we’ve gotten to know over the past few months. One of them, Mary Katherine, offered me something to eat: freshly baked bread and brie cheese. Brie is my favorite kind of cheese.

There was a knife to cut both, but it proved unwieldy for the bread. So instead, I picked it up and tore it. The only other time that I tear bread is every week at church for communion. As I raised it to my lips, I was overwhelmed with the reality that Jesus was there. He gives good gifts to His children. When we ask for bread, He will not give us a stone. Sitting there enjoying music and conversation, He gave me a tangible reminder that His body was broken for me, that He provides for me, He is always with me, and that He gives me overwhelming grace instead of the punishment I deserve.