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It’s pitch black dark except for a few bands of light streaming through the windows. The noise coming from inside is deafening. Hundreds of voices are screaming songs in unison. Our hearts are pounding, hands clammy as we pile in through the back door. We’re about to take the take stage – and bring some Kingdom. Part of our ministry in Mzuzu has been visiting local schools to share messages, testimonies, words of encouragement and songs with students of all ages. I could not help comparing the welcomes we have received here to very similar, yet different ones I’ve seen in my past.

 
My life a year before the Race saw situations oddly similar to this. A period of my life involved someone who makes a living touring the world, bringing joy to people through their music. I’ve stood on the other side of throngs of screaming fans from behind metal barriers and security, I’ve been escorted through backstages, made the occasional cameos in the spotlight…What if? What if…the kingdom of Heaven is like a U2 concert? What if? What if…we were all so freakishly ecstatic to receive true freedom, to receive the word of God, that we trampled each other to be the first?
 
One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is go to shows and listen to live music. I’ve often found myself at said shows staring at the crowd around me thinking, ‘Is this what Heaven is going to be like? These people are so excited right now to be in the presence of man…what is it going to be like when we’re standing before our Creator?’

 
These days instead of ‘cars to fetch us’ I find myself 10 deep in a Kia rattling down dusty roads to the next home, school, church where I have the opportunity to take a stage and share who Jesus is to me, and what he’s done and is doing in my life. My ‘credentials’ are my Bible and journal. And the performance comes from me this time, not someone I am supporting. The ‘show’ is an intimate testimony. Though I see dramatic differences between the then and now, I have been getting a kick out of what is the same.

 
Our ‘show’ comes to a close, we are whisked offstage and guided out of side doors to be met by mobs of foreign faces, frenzied handshakes, embraces and requests for signatures in books, Facebook contacts, etc. Wait a minute…I’ve seen this before…

…and I’m sure God is getting a kick out of it too. We are his performers here in Mzuzu. We have seen multitudes of students stand after our presentations and give their lives to Christ in packed auditoriums. THESE are the standing ovations! It truly is a comfort to know that more and more souls aren’t going to be turned away at the pearly gates for insufficient credentials. They’ll simply utter, “I’m with the band…”.