Date Night: NEEDTOBREATHE Concert

LEELAND Concert

At the end of our church's annual Mission to the City mission trip to Des Moines, we had a concert on the grounds of the Iowa Capitol, only a few blocks from our Downtown campus location.  

What an awesome time of worship with a great band!

Luke and I had a song from the band Leeland in our wedding ceremony, so we were not strangers to their music, and definitely love it.  Worshiping god to their music is definitely a joy and spirit moving thing.  But not only did we get to listen to it, we got to enjoy it LIVE, OUTDOORS, on a BEAUTIFUL evening, with our FAMILY, OVERLOOKING THE CITY we are trying to reach with the message of Jesus Christ, the very city we had just spent a week serving and praying over, and mixed in with some HISTORY and a lot of TRUTH FROM THE WORD.  It was unforgettable.

A man of many talents, Leeland not only say songs that he wrote, but he also shared the Gospel, verses and a few bible stories with great passion and excitement.  Our love for his music definitely grew.  Not to mention Leighton got to give him and his keyboarding brother a high five before the concert started.

The title of their latest CD is The Great Awakening with one of the songs being about The Great Awakening in the 1700's where the gospel seemed to spread rapidly and change lives at the hands of faithful people allowing God to use their lives.  During that time, someone wrote a poem, which Leeland put to music!  Here are the words:

The Great Awakening

One man wakes, awakens another

Second one wakes his next door brother

Three awake and rouse a town

And turn the whole place upside down

Many awake, will cause such a fuss

It finally awakes all of us

One man awakes with dawn in his eyes

Surely then it multiplies

Listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mj8I1chdB0

What an amazing song to reflect on.  One life changed for Christ can end up having a huge impact on a city and even the world.  How challenging to think about the last time I shared my faith with another, or a next door brother!  This picture of evangelism and discipleship is precisely what Luke and I are so excited about and we have planted our flag at our church, Walnut Creek Church.

Since we are the topic of Leeland, and Im assuming I still have your attention,  I might as well share the  lyrics to another great song of is!

I Wonder Lyrics

At the Stars in the Night I wonder

And Your lightning in the sky I shudder

Your glory is a blanket that covers

Every living thing

I'm in awe at the majesty of who You are

Your love is a seal burns inside my heart

All of the day I want to be where You are

Holy Father

And it feels like there's not enough praise inside of me

With all these words, all my heart can sing is holy

You are holy

Jesus Christ

You bled Your love, laid down Yourself and gave me life

In naked shame You hung and You were lifted high

Here I lay in awe and wonder

I am afraid

For no one's ever sacrificed and loved me this way

So on my face I fall under Your heavy grace

Here I lay in awe and wonder, oh, oh, and I wonder

I'm in awe at the majesty of who You are

Your love is a seal burns inside my heart

All of the day I want to be where You are

Holy Father

And it feels like there's not enough praise inside of me

With all these words, all my heart can sing is holy

You are holy

Oh , and Jesus Christ

You bled Your love , laid down Yourself and gave me life

In naked shame You hung and You were lifted high

So here I lay in awe and wonder

Oh, I am afraid

For no one's ever sacrificed and loved me this way

So on my face I fall under Your heavy grace

Here I lay in awe and wonder, oh, oh, and I wonder

Oh, oh, and I wonder

And Jesus Christ

You bled Your love, laid down Yourself and gave me life

In naked shame You hung and You were lifted high

So here I lay in awe and wonder

Oh, and I am afraid

For no one's ever sacrificed and loved me this way

So on my face I fall under Your heavy grace

Here I lay in awe and wonder, oh, oh, and I wonder

Oh, oh, and I wonder

Listen to I Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_45BT0cLuE

Aaron Gillespie Concert

My boys were excited all day for the concert. Well, mostly for McDonalds that they knew they would get to eat before the concert with the Rude's and Richey's. I got a few shots in at home before we left for dinner and the concert!

All 5 of us getting ready for the concert. Luke and I love talking our kids with us everywhere. These little men have gotten to experience a lot of fun activites.

After the DTC Band opened up, Aaron Gillespie, from the band The Almost, played for us. It was a great finally to a wonderful Mission to the City week.

Quinn & Leighton kept themselves entertained by playing with a big pile of sand.

Brooks did so well! He is sooooo cute & loves to smile!

Phil Wickham Concert

As Mission to the City week is coming to an end, we pray that the fruits of it are just begining! Hopefully the service endeavors, invitations, love and the gospel planted seeds in peoples lives in Des Moines. Hopefully many new faces will come to church tomorrow night and sunday morning as a result!

Tonight was a free concert at the Simon Estes Ampatheater on the river downtown. It was a great concert! Phil Wickham sang great worship music, shared an honest and real testimony, and entertain all of us. He shared his testimony about being a pastors kid but how he had to come to the point where he himself entered into a relationship with Christ and accepted his payment for his sins. His testimony was very different than the one that Steele Croswhite shared, which is the amazing picture of how God transforms the lives of many and offers his saving grace to all! Steele Croswhite, a good friend to the Downtown Church, and pastor/worship leader at our sister church in Salt Lake City, Utah, opened for Phil. It is always great to hear his music and passion for Christ. I am always blown away by his testimony and how God captured his heart. In the worlds eyes, he had it all, sold thousands of records, was on tour with his band, made money, had status and experienced all the women and beer he wanted ... and wasn't satisfied, wasn't fulfilled. The love of Christ changed his life when he believed that Christ died on the cross of HIS sins. His life has been about sharing that with others ever since as he shares the gospel with his words but also in action through his love for others and his changed life. Hopefully many people heard the gospel. Super Sweet!
Here is a picture of some of the 1700 attendants!

Carla, Meg, myself, and Yvonne enjoyed pretty good seats at the top with our 7 kids and one more on the way!Leighton and McCabe were being so adorable in their matching shirts!

My 3 Main Men!

1. Luke, the best husband and father!

He has had a long, hard week at Mission to the City and getting the new building ready. I am so thankful for his example to us as a family of being a hard worker, being united with and serving people at church, going the second mile, sharing the gospel, and doing all of it without complaining!

2. Leighton, the most enjoable and sweet 2 year old.
This video is awesome. When Leighton wasn't playing in the dirt, he was sure good at dancing to the songs!

3. McCabe, the wonderful and facially expressive little boy!

McCabe loves his daddy! McCabe has really become quite affectionate towards Luke lately and always reaches and climbs and crawls towards him when he enters a room. In this sweet video he is begging for Daddy to hold him and climbing right out of my hands.

Though I personally didn't get to participate in as much of Mission to the City as I would have liked to, I can say that I am greatly encouraged by the stories I heard and am excited to see the lasting fruit from the week of faith.

Man it is sweet to see God working in this city. I am so humbled that he placed me and my family right in the middle of it and among men and women at church wholove us everyday and spur us on toward love and good deeds.