New York Recap

We are home from New York! It was an awesome weekend that allowed us to experience a renewed sense of God’s power and majesty. We had a wonderful time of ministry at Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday night. Thank you so much for your prayers! We had such a variety of people at this concert: normal New Yorkers, visitors from out of town and even homeless people. It was probably the most diverse crowd we have ever led in worship. We were so blessed to see them respond as we worked to lead them to the Lord in worship. We also had the chance to share the Gospel with them. It was an awesome time of ministry and we are so grateful for your prayerful support!

We saw 2 more incredible shows while in New York. On Friday night, we saw “South Pacific” and the cast that led this show to 7 Tony Awards this year. It was amazing!

We also saw, “In the Heights” the story of a Hispanic neighborhood in Washington Heights in New York City. This show was absolutely incredible. The writer of this show is also the lead actor performing in it and is super talented. This show also won the Tony for best musical this year.

The highlight of the trip had to be our Sunday morning visit to the Brooklyn Tabernacle. I never cease to be amazed by the astonishing work that God is doing through this incredible body of believers. Their services are 2.5 hours long so even though they are spaced out over an entire day, there is almost constantly a worship service going on. They happen at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 3:30 PM and 7:00 PM. We attended the 12:00 PM (noon) worship service and truly had an encounter with God as we worshipped.

The church relocated a few years ago and this was going to be our first visit to their new location. We arrived at 11:30 AM only to wait in line to get into the building. That’s right….wait in line. We waited in a line that stretched for nearly a full city block for more than 20 minutes to simply get into the building. At right is a picture of the line.

When we finally reached the door we were blessed that someone recognized that we were visitors and offered us seats on the main floor. We considered ourselves very blessed by this since after only a few years in this new building they have already outgrown it. There is another building across the street for overflow. That’s right…..overflow. Those in the overflow room watch the service via video.

Once the service began we were swept away by the presence of God. It was tangible. The only way to describe worship at this church is to envision a wall of sound. It’s not loud as much as it is completely overwhelming. There is no escaping it. Band volume is not an issue in that it is too loud….it’s an issue in that sometimes you cannot hear them because of the passionate singing that is happening from within the congregation.

I cannot help myself but thing about what God could do if every church pursued Him with this kind of passion? Regardless of style, can you imagine what our country looked like if there was a church making this kind of impact on every corner? How do you think our country would be different? What kind of things would we be doing? How many lives would we be impacting?

That has me thinking long and hard about what we are doing and why we are doing it. It’s something to pray about for sure!

I will leave you with a few more pictures from the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Be Blessed!

 

Worship At The Brooklyn Tabernacle

"How Great Is Our God" At The Brooklyn Tabernacle

 

Tech Team, including Carol Cymbala (center) director of the choir

 

Tech Booth & Band

 

The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

NYC Day 1

This city totally amazes me. How this many people from this many places can coexist in such a small area is beyond me! As we walked down the streets of Manhattan today it was amazing to hear so many different languages being spoken around us. The busy-ness of this place is unbelievable as well….. everywhere you look there are people and they are all going some place in a tremendous hurry!

We have had a great first day. We have already spent a great deal of time walking around, taking in some of the sights and sounds of this incredible city. And, we plan to do a lot more while we are here.

 We got a great start to day 1 with an incredible Italian meal. We also went to see the musical “Jersey Boys,” the story of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons. The music was incredible! It was overwhelming to hear and consider all of the hits and familiar songs that this group made famous. To name just a few: “Who Loves You,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” ”My Eyes Adore You” & “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” and many, many others. I cannot imagine the vocal flexibility it takes to sing the lead role of Frankie either…..WOW!

I will offer you a huge caution with this show. When I am going to a secular production, I always have to remind myself that I am not going to church. That was very, very evident while seeing this show. It contains a large amount of profanity. I was quite surprised by the language. Again, the music was amazing but the language is something you need to be prepared for. It gets pretty thick in the middle of the show. So, if you u plan to see it, consider yourself warned.

Tonight we are off to see “South Pacific” and celebrate our anniversary at a very nice steakhouse overlooking Central Park. We are excited and enjoying our time here!