Tour Day 4 – Faith Southern Baptist to Salvation Army

Hey everybody!  The blog is immediately below this paragraph, but I wanted to start with a call to action for the Salvation Army in Bowling Green, KY. The A/C in this branch is out.  The Captains at that location are in the trenches every day trying to provide just a little love for these people with a warm meal, a room, and a cool place out of the sun. It is $30,000 to replace it and we want to engage the New G family to help them. So, if you feel like you could help, please go to www.ngsingers.com and click the “Donate Now” button.  It will have a field called “Purpose of Donation”.  Just put “Salvation Army A/C” and we will direct the funds to the Bowling Green Salvation Army.

Now on to today’s update:

Ok. How do I say this?

Hmm…

Ok.

Ya know, in my life I have struggled with my faith. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what is true for sure. Like 100%, right? If you are the kind that will eviscerate someone for that, well I guess I’m ripe for the picking. However, there are a few times in my life where I feel like the only way that a thing happened is if God did the thing. As I’ve aged I’ve become much more calculated as to when I make a pronouncement like that. I’m still mulling it over, because, tonight…

Tonight.

I’m still a little stunned.

This morning when I woke up and was contemplating this blog I assumed it would mostly be about our tour of Mammoth Cave (which was amazing and could be a blog post in itself). But no, it was much more. This afternoon we pulled into the parking lot of the Bowling Green Salvation Army. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent time at a food kitchen/homeless shelter, but it’s not intrinsically happy.  There is a lot of pain and disillusionment going on, and you felt it when we walked in.  So, in good New G style we put on a happy face and got set up like champs.  Bemo promptly got everyone on the risers and started the routine.

Crash!

“Hey somebody get a phone, and call 911!”

The singers just stood stunned as a woman who had showed up for a meal fell to the floor in a seizure. Nearly none of the other clientele even looked over – a testament to how frequent events like this are in their lives.

Imagine a space about half the size of the Ashland UMC fellowship hall with the singers set up on risers en masse in the corner just holding hands and praying. We had them sit down while the paramedics fixed her up, but the scene had been set. We were able to communicate to the singers that she was going to be ok (she was!) and calm everyone down, and then we went about our performance.

It was a very stripped-down performance. A truncated informal, really, with Ain’t No Grave at the end. Most nights it would pass as a rehearsal. But you could tell that something was different. It just felt like God was there to love on some people who rarely felt love.  Some of whom may be incapable, physically or mentally, to really accept or receive love that way we understand it. I think that maybe God doesn’t use our ability or willingness to receive love as a requirement for whether he is going to give it.  He just gives it.

The words to the song “We Can Make A Difference” hit a little harder tonight, “Do you know a man who’s needing a hand? Don’t walk on by. A sister is sad, lost all that she had, we gotta take the time”.

It was not lost on our singers the lives full of deep suffering present in the audience. As they came down off the risers there were hugs, conversations, and singers praying with the audience members. So. Much. Compassion. Like I would imagine Jesus sitting at the table with the tax collectors.

Friends, this is why I’m a Christian.  We all come to our faith with lenses tinted by theology and tradition. But none of this is why I’m a Christian at all.  I’m a Christian because when we do stuff, God DOES stuff.  I desperately hope that is what our singers are learning.  If there is a “way” that I hope they find, it is this: to be able to hold on to the belief in a God who acts.

Don’t forget!! Please go to www.ngsingers.com and click the “Donate Now” button.  It will have a field called “Purpose of Donation”.  Just put in there “Salvation Army A/C” and we will direct the funds to the Bowling Green Salvation Army.