A Night with Jesus Culture

I recently had the privilege to see Jesus Culture, one of my favorite bands, live in concert - oh wow, what an amazing Spirit-filled night of worship!!  

For the last few years, I've been complaining that Jesus Culture never comes to the east coast.  They're a  band that grew out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and there was really never a good time for me to get out to Cali for a conference or show.  But, in January I was able to see Jesus Culture perform at Passion 2013 while I was volunteering as a Door Holder, and it was an amazing night!  Francis Chan preached an incredible, heartfelt word and then Jesus Culture led worship for about an hour afterwards.  One of my favorite nights ever... "wow" doesn't even begin to describe it!  

Francis Chan and Jesus Culture at Passion 2013

After I returned home from Passion, I became determined to see them in concert again - this time with friends in tow.  Well, low and behold... I found out that they were coming to Charlotte for their One Nights tour!  So, I jumped on board the early bird pre-sale and scored seats for my friends and me on the fourth row!  

We traveled over to Charlotte on a rainy night and settled into our fourth row seats.  We were fortunate enough to have an empty seat next to us so that we could spread out a little during worship - and we were quite thankful for that!  Derek Johnson opened the show and it was exciting to hear "I Belong to You" live (here's the acoustic version).  Then, Banning Liebscher preached a 30-minute message on being a light in our cities.  His message was very encouraging as he reminded us of the truth that light always defeats darkness - the battle is real, but the victory has already been won!  Of course, my favorite part of the night was the one and a half hour worship session led by Kim Walker-Smith, Chris Quilala, and the Jesus Culture band.  They played many songs off of their new albums, Still Believe (Kim Walker-Smith) and Live from New York (Jesus Culture featuring Martin Smith, formerly of Delirious?).  They played so many of my favorites, including "Holy Spirit," "Walk with Me," "Spirit Break Out," "Alive," and "Alleluia." Here are some pictures of the evening: 

Derek Johnson opened the show

 Jesus Culture! 

Kim Walker-Smith - absolutely amazing 

I encourage you to check out their music!  I honestly don't think that I've ever encountered a band whose songs cause me to worship the way Jesus Culture's music does.  They don't sing scripture, per se, but rather they sing about the effect scripture has on their hearts as they come face to face with Jesus in all His glory.  I also love that they sing about the Holy Spirit, who is often tragically the "forgotten God" as Francis Chan calls Him - but oh how special to sing songs about the Great Counselor who walks with me every day.  I recently heard someone say, "I can't think of any songs about the Holy Spirit... how strange!" And, of course, my response was, "Do you want me to sing some to you?!"  I love their passion and the way they aim to ignite a generation for God's glory.