First Church of God

Yesterday Jonah and Sara found super cheap tickets for the U2 show and somehow talked Candi and I into going with them.  So here we are in Soldier Stadium, in these seats that are, according to our tickets, visually impaired.  Hey, we’re here, along with 70,000 other crazed people, about to see U2!  And these seats aren’t so bad.  Sure, we’re looking at the back side, but we’re in the second row, and I guess they walk around a lot on this 360 degree stage.

Okay, this is crazy, but we now discover that the band will be walking out of a tunnel to our left; they will be ten feet from us!  TEN FEET!  I’ve got my phone out, set on video, ready to hit the capture button the second I see them.  We watch the security guys faces for clues.  A few of them nod to each other, the crowd roars with excitement!!!   

False alarm.

A half hour later, after a few more false alarms, my thumb starts to cramp from being poised to push the button for so long.  The anticipation continues to build!  This place is packed with people ready to explode!  I’ve never seen anything like it.

I can’t help but wonder what it will be like to worship Jesus in person some day.  The crowd will be even larger, the band even better, the anticipation a hundred times more intense.  Imagine Jesus making his magnificent entrance into an arena in the sky with a multitude of angelic musicians!  This U2 entrance gives me just a glimpse of what awaits us when we worship God in heaven someday!

But that’s later.  Right now U2 is about to come through that tunnel.  And when they do…  The lights are out… the entrance music kicks in, the crowd screams!  There they are, ten feet in front of me.  Click the button.  Shoot, my screen had gone blank, so clicking the button only brought back the screen.  Quick, hit the button again.  Ahhh!  I turn it on too late, and catch them walking away.

I missed my big moment to capture a memory.  Who cares.  This is AWESOME!

The next 2 ½ hours is truly a spiritual experience.  For many of the 70,000 gathered here, it’s the closest they will ever come to a worship service.  I’m amazed how people just naturally raise their hands in worship as Bono sings passionately about the streets with no name.  They must sense something supernatural going on, amazing musicians using their God given abilities to make beautiful music that stirs something in your spirit.

Lord, let me be stuck in this moment for a while.