Guest Post...

Well, you know Michael Gentle - who I would like to dub, the "concert dude".  He sent me an awesome story about going to the Newsboys concert on Friday and I wanted you all to get to read it too... the full email - here it is:

Hi,

I want to share a cool story with you about my experience at the Newsboys concert on Friday.

The concert was awesome.  There were three opening bands, "Article One", "NewWorldSon" who has a real unique sound, and then "Rush of Fools".  What was most awesome about the concert, was the ministry that took place.

I had three tickets to the concert.  I had invited my brother and his fiancé (my niece's mom), but because of my brother's work schedule he didn't go.  But his fiancé wanted to go. This was cool because neither one goes to church, although they both went to Catholic church when they were kids.  She said she used to go to these types of concerts in youth group. So, I was hoping that this concert would spark something in her.

Now, I had one more ticket to give away.  I decided to call Mark, who is one of my best friends 11 year old son.  His mom is a Christian, and I think his dad accepted Christ a while back, but hey don't go to church. I think the last time they went, Mark would have been really young.  I called Mark on the day of the concert, in the afternoon. He answered the phone and I asked if he would like to go to a concert. I explained it was a Newsboys concert, a Christian rock/pop group.  He said yes.  So, the three of us attended the concert. It was awesome!  And Mark was really getting into the music. This was his first concert!  He was clapping, waving his arms with the crowd, it was quite cool to see.  He seemed to like the band "NewWorldSon".  And, he also seemed to enjoy the Newsboys. So, after the concert, I picked up a couple NEWWORLDSON CD's, and had one autographed for Mark.  I asked Mark if he wanted his picture taken with them. He was a bit hesitant, shy I think, but he eventually said yes.  So, I got a really cool photo of him with the band. So now we are ready to go home and as we started to head out I asked Mark what his favorite band was, and he said the last one, the Newsboys.  So, I asked him if he wanted a Newsboys CD, and he said yes, with a smile.  So, I bought him one of their greatest hits CD/DVD combo, and a Tour program.  He was enjoying reading the program in the car.  And when he got home he told his dad that the concert was really cool.  Now, Mark is a video game junkie.  He dad was playing a game on X-Box, and then Mark played a couple rounds, then his dad took over.  Then to my surprise, Mark asked his dad if he could put in one of the CD's. He actually wanted his dad to stop playing X-Box so he could play a CD. We ended up putting in the DVD of one of their live concerts.

It get's better.  About half way through the Newsboys set, Peter, the lead singer shared a message about Christ and shared a little bit about his testimony. He asked everyone to bow their heads.  Then he asked if anyone wanted to trust in Christ tonight, to raise their hands. I had to take a peek, and it looked like Mark had his hand part way up, wow, that was really cool. So, on the way home, I asked what he thought about the message Peter shared, he said it was pretty cool.  Then I asked if he raised his hand, and he said yes!!!   I asked him how he felt about it, did it feel weird, was it exciting, different, and he said kind of weird.  So, then I shared what it meant to be a Christian, and shared a little bit about my testimony, and told him that if he's ever sad, mad, or whatever that he can talk to God because He's our friend.  He didn't say much, as I'm sure it was a lot to take in.  But, if anything, a seed was planted tonight!!!

Kristina seemed to also enjoy the concert. I didn't get a chance to talk to her much about it, but I hope that the music and the message that Peter shared, sparked something in hear heart, and that she will be excited about going to church again, and hopefully will want to visit Grace.  A while back I shared my testimony with my brother and told him about Grace Chapel.  He said he would visit some time, so I hope that they both go along with my niece.  ")

So, the concert turned out to be a real exciting time.  Great music, and ministry.  More awesome than I expected. Isn't God amazing and cool?  Although I'm not gifted at evangelism, all I had to do was invite someone to an event, and God did all the work.  Then I was able to follow up with some questions, and then share my testimony.  I think I will share this experience (shortened version) on the blog.

To see a highlight of the concert, you can visit the following link. What you see there, is what I saw at Rolling Hills. Pretty cool stuff. I took some pictures and video with my digital camera too. The video turned out pretty good, but the audio was all distorted because of how loud the sound was in the building.  Oh well.  I will drop of a CD some time so you can look at some of the photo's and video I took.

http://www.newsboys.com/go_tour/video/

Michael

Comments

[Mr. C]

Super Cool! :)

[Michael Gentle]

Hi, I want to post a follow up to my Newsboys story. I mentioned that not only was the concert a great time of music, but also of ministry. God can work in many ways. If you don't have the gift of evangelism, or don't really know how to share salvation with a friend, there are other ways that God can reach them. One thing that I found to be a great tool, is simply sharing your testimony with a friend. Share your story of when you accept Jesus as your savior. Also, share some cool stories of what God has done in your life. Maybe share some cool experiences that you had at a youth event. Another way to help a friend get to know Jesus is to invite them. Invite them to youth group, invite them to a Christian concert, invite them to a retreat, and let God do the work. God can work through the staff, music, etc...Then after the event you can answer your friend’s questions, or ask them some questions about what they experienced. And it might also be a good time to share your testimony with them. I'm happy that my friend's son Mark, who is like a nephew to me, got to experience the Newsboys concert and hear a message about Jesus, and responded. If you invite a friend to an event and they don’t respond right away, that is okay, because by them being there, a seed was planted. Be patient, and pray for them, that what they heard and experienced will open their hearts to wanting to know and experience more, and hopefully some day they will accept Jesus as their savior.

[Mr. C]

I am a firm believer in the testimony...and in Jesus ;)