(Took this photo at a Fridley parade in 2002)In Saint Paul MN there is an island on the Mississippi that is used for various functions. On the 4th of July, it is used for "Taste of Minnesota". This is a party with food vendors from all the restaurants and "Carnie" vendors. Mixed with three stages of music from children to christian to cheezy 80's bands like Bay City Rollers, BadFinger and a 100 others that can be booked for under 20k.
Well it's kind of like a Mini State Fair without the "all you can drink milk, local TV stations doing live broadcasts, and 4H arena.
It was my daughters Anniversary so we met her, her husband and our granddaughter at the "Taste" for the afternoon.
At the christian stage we heard a Brazilian Praise band. Well actually I heard a lot of metal drums and piercing vocals without ever understanding one word in 20 minutes. Expensive sound system and high end FOH board was not enough to find a way to make the music understandable and balanced.
Then we heard Darnell Davis and Remnant. In-spite of the horrible mix, we listened and praised up a storm with the most authentic black gospel group around. I'm always refreshed to hear and see them.
What struck me was how difficult it was to have a Christian event in a secular environment with a carnival all around, and have any chance of the Holy Spirit reaching through the distractions to the hearts of believers. Jesus really needs to the be the focus in events where He is called to, or it can look like a freak show of people raising their hands and praising God while non-believers cruise by saying "yup, there are those wacky christians I don't want to be like. Raising hands and praising God (should) be part of a worship experience, but not really meant for non-believers to gawk at and mock.
Well in all of that someone may have been praying for someone else to come closer to Christ and may have invited them to the event as a "soft sell". That event (like going to a starbucks) could certainly have been used to bring someone, one step closer to Him. Certainly the organizers who charge 50k to use that space don't care about that. Just show them the money and don't offend the city.
What both Jane and I were taken with is that we both do not enjoy massive crowds any longer.
10's of thousands of people packed together like cattle, eating bad food, while extremely overweight women are seen everywhere wearing clothing that look like they were painted on them and gang bangers cruise around looking for trouble with the gang task force tracking them down and kicking them out.
We got home that night and vowed to find a way to not have to do those kinds of events again unless it has solid ministry attached to it and an end game.
I wonder how tired Jesus grew of crowds in the few years of His ministry. Of course after ministry times with crowds he went away to pray and get filled back up by the father, there are not any out front references as to how He felt about crowds.... I'm sure the needs of everyone coming to see him and not the local Hebrew Rock Band kept Him focused on the task.
We came home and finished the night by burning up the standard $40. fireworks box from Sam's Club. You know the one. They have names like Mortar Steel Burning Fire, Butterfly Nights and Cosmic Showers yet they all look about the same and burn for 30 seconds at a height of 6ft.
You have to ooh and ahh at each one for the sake of the kids, but you again are reminded how much packaging and names sell a product.
Just before packing it in Jane, Jordan and I took a midnight stroll around the neighborhood. We watched all the fireworks shows in our neighborhood, commenting on all the illegal ones that were being blown off by intoxicated adults. All in all, (like Christmas) most of what the day was about went un-noticed to most all but the veterans, service men,women and families around the world.
We thank them for their service and protection of our nation.
I'm proud to be Christian, living in a country called America. It is not a Christian nation but it is one steeped with religious traditions and laws that make it generally possible to exercise our faith without obstruction. Lord have mercy on us and help us to be more like Jesus in all we say and do.
Well it's kind of like a Mini State Fair without the "all you can drink milk, local TV stations doing live broadcasts, and 4H arena.
It was my daughters Anniversary so we met her, her husband and our granddaughter at the "Taste" for the afternoon.
At the christian stage we heard a Brazilian Praise band. Well actually I heard a lot of metal drums and piercing vocals without ever understanding one word in 20 minutes. Expensive sound system and high end FOH board was not enough to find a way to make the music understandable and balanced.
Then we heard Darnell Davis and Remnant. In-spite of the horrible mix, we listened and praised up a storm with the most authentic black gospel group around. I'm always refreshed to hear and see them.
What struck me was how difficult it was to have a Christian event in a secular environment with a carnival all around, and have any chance of the Holy Spirit reaching through the distractions to the hearts of believers. Jesus really needs to the be the focus in events where He is called to, or it can look like a freak show of people raising their hands and praising God while non-believers cruise by saying "yup, there are those wacky christians I don't want to be like. Raising hands and praising God (should) be part of a worship experience, but not really meant for non-believers to gawk at and mock.
Well in all of that someone may have been praying for someone else to come closer to Christ and may have invited them to the event as a "soft sell". That event (like going to a starbucks) could certainly have been used to bring someone, one step closer to Him. Certainly the organizers who charge 50k to use that space don't care about that. Just show them the money and don't offend the city.
What both Jane and I were taken with is that we both do not enjoy massive crowds any longer.
10's of thousands of people packed together like cattle, eating bad food, while extremely overweight women are seen everywhere wearing clothing that look like they were painted on them and gang bangers cruise around looking for trouble with the gang task force tracking them down and kicking them out.
We got home that night and vowed to find a way to not have to do those kinds of events again unless it has solid ministry attached to it and an end game.
I wonder how tired Jesus grew of crowds in the few years of His ministry. Of course after ministry times with crowds he went away to pray and get filled back up by the father, there are not any out front references as to how He felt about crowds.... I'm sure the needs of everyone coming to see him and not the local Hebrew Rock Band kept Him focused on the task.
We came home and finished the night by burning up the standard $40. fireworks box from Sam's Club. You know the one. They have names like Mortar Steel Burning Fire, Butterfly Nights and Cosmic Showers yet they all look about the same and burn for 30 seconds at a height of 6ft.
You have to ooh and ahh at each one for the sake of the kids, but you again are reminded how much packaging and names sell a product.
Just before packing it in Jane, Jordan and I took a midnight stroll around the neighborhood. We watched all the fireworks shows in our neighborhood, commenting on all the illegal ones that were being blown off by intoxicated adults. All in all, (like Christmas) most of what the day was about went un-noticed to most all but the veterans, service men,women and families around the world.
We thank them for their service and protection of our nation.
I'm proud to be Christian, living in a country called America. It is not a Christian nation but it is one steeped with religious traditions and laws that make it generally possible to exercise our faith without obstruction. Lord have mercy on us and help us to be more like Jesus in all we say and do.
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