It has been an incredible couple of days. Check this out!
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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
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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
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Matt, Anna, Clay
1:12pm
My Durban wake-up call came at 6:45am. I slept fairly well. I awoke for a bit at 2:30am (dentist time… tooth-hurty… HAHA), but I fell back to sleep in about 30 mins. The rest of the guys didn’t fare so well. Olson thinks he only got a couple of hours sleep, MWS struggled… basically everyone had a rough night.
I had a great video Skype home last night. Mary and the kids were all there. They had just made some cupcakes for our new neighbours… and were eating the left overs while we talked. I miss those guys. Mary is doing a great job with those little fellas. They are happy and healthy and full of life. Thanks babe!
Anyway… I digress. We all enjoyed the breakfast buffet this morning… albeit bleary eyed. Yesterday I embraced Africa and had curry chicken and basmati rice for breakfast. It was a strange start to the day… but hey… when in Africa… do as they do. This morning however, I decided to take a pass on the curry and had some Weet-Bix instead. It took me back to my high school days when I would set the alarm for 6:45am, slam down five of those wheat nuggets of goodness, and be out the door by 7am.
As fate would have it, Jimbo D decided that he would try the curry this morning. He was about to take his first mouthful when Manix said,
“Curried Liver… cool”.
Jimbo dejectedly put his fork down and claimed that he didn’t eat organs.
I wanted to retort with:
“The skin is an organ… you never eat skin on your chicken?” But… my filter kicked in and I said nada. Well done me.
The flight from Durban to Johannesburg took all of 45 minutes. Most of us slept. I read some more of Crazy Love. Reading that book in Africa is uber-convicting. I have been reminded that Christianity was never meant to be as easy as us evangelicals empowered by our 5 minute quiet times have been led to believe.
Take up your cross and follow me is probably more of a command than a suggestion.
The Christian life should be serious fun. I often forget about the serious part.
As we wove through the razor-wired streets of Johannesburg, I was thankful for our little house in Springhill, TN. However, I do know that my current comfy lifestyle allows me to be anything but radical. Actually… most of my Christian friends passively encourage my materialism. I need to reassess what I buy, and how and why I give.
6:42pm - Dinner at venue
Jimbo, Christa, Michael W, MO
10:40pm – Hotel
I just got off the stage here in J-Burg, and I must say that that was the most amazing show that I have ever been a part of. The crowd was with us the whole way, and there was a deep sense of God in the room.
Michael W. was kind of mugged by the mosh pit when he stepped out at one point. It was all done in love… but I was a little anxious there for about 5 seconds. Fortunately, “Arkansas Mitch” was there ready to take care of business if things got big:)
All in all though… an amazing night… and one that I will remember to my dying day.
Grace and peace,
matt
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4:15pm
We have just finished sound check, and everyone is trying to get in touch with home. We exist in a MacBook world…
Everyone slept quite well last night… and we are all now implementing our personal jet lag solutions.
My steps are:
1. Drink lots of water (6 bottles so far today)
2. Get some sun (This resets the body time clock. Olson, MWS and I caught some South African autumn rays by the hotel pool this morning. It was life-giving).
3. Be active (I lifted weights and swam 2-laps of the small pool).
4. Avoid day time sleep (I feel like sleeping… but I am here blogging).
5. Take sleeping pills at bed time (I will try to avoid this…)
I will be 100% jet lag free by Wednesday. You can take that to the bank.
10:32pm
It was an incredible concert tonight. Thousands of people crammed into the room and joined their hearts with ours. It appears that the South African folk are great singers and passionate in their love for Jesus. MWS was in fine form, and he threw in a few different songs than usual which kept us all on our toes.
I heard a rumor that some of the boys are ordering pizza… I’d better go and check on that.
Love,
matt
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