September 4, 2010

• How I Spent My Summer, # 2: Ignite Chicago (deerlife, ML-J, Crowder & the keytar)

  A little while ago in How I Spent My Summer, # 1, I explained how I ended up getting a $ 95 parking ticket.

  That took place after a trip we took out west, but since I’m not ready to post on that yet, meh, I’m not going to post on that yet.

  I am going to post on a trip Mr. Deer & I took to Ignite Chicago, a Christian music festival, later in July. It wasn’t in Chicago, but in Schaumburg, one of the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

  Ok, so I’m out of order here. It’s my blog, right?

  Well, all I can tell you is that sometimes you just gotta get out the keytar and let it rip…

  Since you know deerlife always has a book nearby, I did have a Bible along as well as ML-J’s “Great Doctrines of the Bible.” (During two days of bands, there is quite a bit of downtime, so what better way to pass some of that time than by reading?)

  Right before the David Crowder*Band came on stage I’d read chapter 22, “The Lord Jesus Christ.”

  Here’s a little excerpt:

  The Bible makes it very plain and clear that the whole essence of the Christian position is dependent upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

  Now that is in many ways what you will call the ‘differentia’ of Christianity. That is the thing that separates the Christian faith from all other religions. Their founders, while important, are not absolutely essential to them. If Buddha had never existed you could still have Buddhism. If Muhammad had never lived you could still have Islam. In other religions it is the teaching that matters and the person is not essential; other person might have done it equally well, and the teaching would remain unaffected.

  But that is not the case with the Christian faith. Christianity, as has often been pointed out, is Christ Himself. He is not only central, He is absolutely vital, and therefore we have to see that we are concerned primarily and always with Him. this is something that I shall have to emphasise, of course, time and again, but the touchstone of anybody’s profession of the Christian faith is, of necessity, such a person’s relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. What proclaims at once that so many people who call themselves Christian are not Christian is that Christ as a person is not at all essential to them.

  I am referring here to people who think that a Christian is just a good man or woman. Obviously, you can be a good man without ever mentioning the Lord Jesus Christ; but in Christianity He is vital, and if the truth concerning Him is not the truth, the whole position vanishes. Now that is something that one cannot overemphasize. The Christian faith is entirely concerned about Him, who He is, what He has done, and what He has made available and possible for us. And therefore you see the vital importance of our being quite clear in our minds, and absolutely right about all these things.

  So I make no apology for putting it as dogmatically and as bluntly as that. To me, those who apologise for saying such a thing are very doubtful Christian, if, indeed, they are Christians at all. There is an intolerance about the Christian faith, expressed like this by the apostle Paul: ‘But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed’ (Gal. 1:8). And we must say that same thing. The truth is clear, it is well defined, it is perfectly definite, and we must be certain, therefore, with regard to what we believe about Him. It is not enough to say, ‘I believe in Christ.’ What do we believe about Christ? What is the teaching about Him? That is what now concerns us.

  Now I was already quite happy that DC*B was coming on stage and getting ready to play, but then really exploded with joy when I heard them cranking up their first song,

  “No One Like You.”

  Just what I’d been reading!

  Just what the Bible teaches!

  No one like HIM!

  Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord;
  neither are there any works like unto thy works.

  Psalm 86:8
  

  Amen!

  (BTW: the videos here aren’t from Ignite)

  Ok, and now you can be sure the excitement didn’t end there.

  If you’re familiar with Crowder, you know that no Crowder concert is complete without the keytar.

  

  “Behold the Keytar”
  williamhartz’s photostream / cc by nc-sa 2.0

  Please note that this is the classic red Keytar.

  Not that green one that shows up on occasion.

  Anyhow…

  Well, so in case you were there,

  if you were sitting close enough,

  you know that was me really standing in for Crowder for part of the time.

  I mean you know that these musicians are doing gigs all the time and it’s taxing being on the road all the time.

  Behold deerlife!

  Behold the keytar!

  

  HT: Colin!

  So sing along with the keytar!

  Aren’t you looking forward to singing

  forever and ever and ever and ever and ever?

  Foreverandever Etc…

   

  • 11:17 PM
  • 1 Comment