Vision of You Recap

I blogged so much leading up to the Shane and Shane concert at North Side that when I got down cleaning up the church Sunday night at 12:30, I couldn’t even think about blogging. But alas, here I finally go. I think I will just hit some highlights for me.

Bethany Dillon – She’s getting married to Shane B. in a few weeks. I wonder if they will know any musical talent to sing at their wedding?! She opened up the concert in a great way. But my favorite part of the night was when she was getting into her jam, “All I Need,” when about half way through, she broke a guitar string. Instead of making us listen through the rattling percussive string rattlings and the out of tuneness we would have experienced, she graciously sang, “I broke a string, and the end.” It was fantastic. Her fiance ran out to the rescue.

Screens Galore – I am a visual learner. Sometimes I find myself liking songs that I don’t even know the words the lyrics too. I have liked the Shanes’ songs, but to many of them, I never realized how rich of lyrics they had until seeing the words on the screen. They had this three screen thing going where lyrics on the left screen could move over to the center and such and for me, it was pretty much a stellar visual. It enhanced the whole concert for me because I was able to connect with the lyrics much more and they also knew how to enhance certain words to make them stand out. And can you imagine the amount of coordination that has to go into all that? If they miss a cue, the whole song is messed up. To me, those screens changed the whole event.

David Nassar and World Vision

David Nassar gave a stellar message. You normally don’t hear a message at a concert, but this wasn’t just a concert. He gave an appeal to World Vision, an organization that not only gives kids in third world countries a chance at food, medicine, and education, but it also gives them a chance to hear the gospel.

With eloquence and passion, Nassar told us not just to financially support a child. We needed to get prayerfully involved in their spiritual condition. At intermission, it was amazing to see over one hundred children get sponsored through the people in attendance. It’s a beautiful thing when God’s people put feet to their faith (James 1:27).

Starfield

Starfield, a worship band from Canada, was great. Amanda noted that she didn’t know any of their songs coming into the show, but in the middle of each song, she found herself singing along to some pretty heartfelt worship songs. That’s a sign of great songs on which you are singing along by the second chorus.

They did a great job leading in worship. Their humility shone through as they said that it was an honor to open for a group that they admired and respected and expected to lead us in worship that night. They were a delight and had some nice rock anthems for the evening.

Shane and Shane

Working with these guys all day off stage and being led in worship by them on stage was a great dynamic for me. Since we only had a few hours to prepare for the concert after church on Sunday, we were working around the clock. And these guys were leading the charge. They worked hard. They served our church. And they invested in the lives of our volunteer team which spoke volumes to me.

Plus, they can just flat sing. I got my voice back a couple of days later but am still recovering from trying to sing along with them. I loved watching how their songs ministered to our family at North Side.

While at 12:30, I was tired and ready for my bed, I thought I don’t ever want to do a concert again. When I thought about those 100 kids who were going to get a chance at a better life and THE life, it made it all worth it. Thanks to the 800 plus who came out that night and our incredible crew of volunteers who made Sunday night memorable!