Timing has dictated that this article is getting written 5 days after the actual event, but I just have to tell you what God did last Thursday at English Valleys High School in the little town of North English, Iowa.
If you haven't looked yet, be sure and go to either our church website at www.northenglishchristianchurch.com or become my "friend" at Facebook, and you'll see some amazing pictures from an event entitled, "The Strength Show." The night featured a local Christian band called "The Ransom Project" (www.theransomproject.com) and a high school friend of mine, Mike Gillette. I won't give you the background on either, but encourage you to check out their respective sites.
The Ransom Project was fantastic...Mike's part was amazingly unbelievable...but what really blew us away was what GOD did. I confess, I had lost some sleep the few nights before the event as I went over and over all the details, wondering what I'd forgotten and what I could have done better or differently in preparation. The fact is, I didn't know HOW it was going to turn out, and I was just hoping and praying that NONE of us were going to be embarassed by the night! I mean, both groups had made significant concessions to make this possible (fees, travel, etc.) and I didn't want them to feel that they had wasted their time...OR effort.
As it normally goes, we were running a little late by the time we got everything set up and headed out to the EV Malt Shop for supper. And we were running even later by the time we returned, getting back to the high school just 15 minutes before we were to start. Little did we expect the surprise that awaited us as we approached the school parking lot!
I had secretly hoped and prayed for 100 to come out - I mean, that would be respectable, wouldn't it? Instead, as we got near, we could see that the parking lot was nearly full! Uh-oh...now what were we going to do? We parked and headed inside, only to discover that the gym was already FULL and people weren't slowing down in their arrival! We ended up putting chairs all across the front of the bleachers (about 50) and it was SRO (standing room only) in the stands (never thought about it before, but that makes some stupid sense - standing in the stands!). We took rough counts and calculated around 400 people came that night!
I got to participate in the show, and was privileged to make some closing comments about the strength that can be found only in Christ - a strength offered to any and all who desire it. But perhaps the best part of all was seeing a community enjoy being together as a community! How easily we can settle for functioning as a bunch of independent small groups when God has designed us to function as one large group: interdependent, supportive and mutually beneficial.
My faith was too small...again. But I believe that God's purposes triumphed over all, and that this will end up being just one of many good things that God has in store for our community as we pull together...and seek to honor Him!
