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!

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• Werner posted on June 14, 2010
  Great seeing the SA footage, and yes, Africa sure does have a way of cutting through the outer fluff. ...

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

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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.

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• Sara posted on May 31, 2010
  Have really enjoyed your postings...thanks for keeping us involved with what is going on.