Matt Smallbone

I am home! My family is amazing and we are partying like it’s 1999.

The best things about being home are:
1. Late night hangage with Mary
2. Wrestling with the three amigos
3. Not wearing any black clothes
4. Having my own washing machine
5. Being able to drink tap water

I probably won’t be super proactive with blogging for the next week or so as I reacquaint myself with those I love the most. However, there is so much to share… so please keep checking back.

In a nutshell… Africa changed me… and I will walk through those changes with you over the next little while.

In the meantime… here is a video of some shows that we played in South Africa that was shot and put together by Michael W. Smith’s daughter Anna.

Warning! You will see me without my shirt on. I am planning to lose 15-20 pounds before the October tour with Toby Mac and Third Day. Thanks Anna… you have spurred me to greatness!

Last night’s concert was a sweet beachside event (2.5hrs north of Rio De Janeiro) which had about 10,000 folks from all over Brasil. We hit the stage a few minutes after 10pm and the crowd were pumped for a massive night.

Once again the worship tunes were the big moments. Michael barely sang a word in Above All and Draw Me Close. As the crowd sang the songs in Portugese, I just closed my eyes and marveled at the God who is known throughout the four corners of our big blue planet.

Today I hit the beach with Olson and Clay. We made some memories that will stay with us forever. I might even tell you about it one day…. but not right now:)

Matt

The 10.5hr flight from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo went smoothly. Once again I sat with Jim… and once again he proved himself to be an A-Grade plane companion. I spent most of the trip watching movies. I really enjoyed Invictus. (It was an especially powerful movie to watch after 10 days in South Africa). It’s probably the best movie that I have seen this year (followed by Avatar and Sherlock Holmes). Morgan Freeman played a great Mandela… and Matt Damon did a great job of everything except the South African accent and throwing cut-out passes. Five-stars from me.

Anywho… we left Smitty and Joey in Sao Paulo (they had a press day), and the rest of us headed to Belo Horizonte to catch up with the Franklin Graham Festival folks. The world is a much better place because of the Graham family… so I was pumped to join with them again. We played Thursday and Friday night at the festival and had a great time.

The schedule meant that we have spent the last 4 days in one hotel. This never happens. NEVER. We were able to catch a national soccer game, we ate at the ‘Baby Beef’ buffet twice (I had more red meat than any human should ever try to ingest), checked out Brazil’s first city and played a pool tournament. This group is pretty good at making fun happen in the down times.

The highlight for me, however was the daily devotions with the Franklin Graham team. Mr Graham is a great leader, and it was refreshing to sit under some old-school teaching. I could probably afford to be more fundamental.

It was a great experience to sit under the teaching of an organization that specialize in mass evangelism. The recurring theme was that we should endeavour to fill our time with things that impact for eternity.

Mr Graham said something that stuck with me…

“If you really love people, you must tell them about Jesus” (sic).

It’s a simple message that I haven’t really been confronted with all that much recently. I have muddied the waters with intellectual musings on things like predestination and the real presence.

It was probably a gentle dig at the emerging church. I think that it is possible that the modern evangelical church has gone too heavy on being ‘seeker friendly’ of late.

Michael Olson often talks about the challenges that are associated with being a “Professional Christian”. I think that the Billy Graham Evangelical Organization do it with class. I was proud to stand on the stage at their event.

I have seen many beautiful parts of the world in my life so far, but I think that God really turned it on in creating Cape Town. This place just takes your breath away. It is a rare jewel in which iconic mountains and beaches co-exist.

The concert was the biggest of tour so far. Another sell-out. Another crowd that knew every word of every song. The Saffas are in great voice. The World Cup crowds will be incredible.

During the encore, Michael W. was awarded a plaque for platinum sales of the A New Hallelujah DVD in South Africa. It’s no wonder that everyone knows the lyrics.

My left-pinky has a bit of an infection… so playing bass has had it’s challenges over the last few days… but these crowds are making the pain very worthwhile.

On a quasi-political note… it has been interesting to learn about the apartheid years from the locals. The security guy who looked after us today served in the secret service pre and post apartheid. He told some bloody stories. One point that he made that I thought was interesting was that, (in his opinion) apartheid South Africa operated just like the USA did prior to Martin Luther King. The only difference was that the USA never made any kind of official apartheid laws.

It’s been good to be reminded of what can happen when good people say nothing. The next holocaust could be just around the corner.

We all need to do our bit to make sure that stuff like apartheid is never legislated ever again. Perhaps we should all consider getting off the lounge chair to vote during elections…

That would be radical.

Matt

11:50pm

Tonight’s concert was again incredible. Another sold-out show. Well over 6000 people came together to worship with us… and I once again felt God walking in the room. However, it has been a heavy day indeed.

Africa is doing me in.

As a first-timer to this continent, I am daily confronted by things that I never saw in Toowoomba, the Gold Coast or Nashville, TN. The kaleidoscope pieces of my life have been unsettled, and my materialistic nature is under attack.

Tonight’s venue was a massive church which was as spectacular in construction as any mega-church I have seen in the USA. There was, however, one enormous difference. Lining one side of the church property was a high fence with razor-wire, and beyond the wire was a ‘slum’ or ‘squatter’s quarters’. There were at least 2000 people living in make-shift housing. It was heart wrenching. They were hungry while I was feasting on lamb shanks and pavlova.

Check out this video that I made with Michael Olson… it shows the contrasting elements of my day…

The church that we played at are doing a wonderful job with these (mostly) Zimbabwean refugees. They feed the people twice/ week and run all sorts of outreach events for them. The South African government gave these people squatting rights on the land beside the church and the church gave it the OK. It seems like they are being a city on a hill for these displaced people.

Matthew 25 is a very unsettling piece of the Bible. Jesus describes the end times, and more particularly he describes how He will separate the people of the world into two groups… the sheep and the goats. It becomes clear that one of the groups (the righteous) get to go to heaven… and the others must  ”depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. In this passage, the unrighteous are charged with not feeding the poor, not giving water to the thirsty, not welcoming strangers, not clothing those who were without, and not visiting the sick and the incarcerated.

I read that passage and it really messes with my theology… A LOT. It seems to say that at the end… Jesus will make some eternal decisions based on our passion for social justice. There is obviously more to it than just this… but it is worth considering the implications of Matthew 25: 31-46 for a while. Go and read it… and let me know what it speaks to you.

Whatever the case…Jesus has a great heart for ‘the least’… and so must I.

matt