Thursday night's session was for the hardcore Christian. Not necessarily hardcore about their beliefs, just being into hardcore rock. This Beautiful Republic kicked off the night with some fantastic rock music. The cover of Gnarls Barkley's hit song "Crazy" was excellently done...COMPLETELY unexpected, but excellently done. They went on to discuss their love for Christ and play some truely Jesus centered songs. When Ben, the lead singer, started swinging his mic around Aerosmith style, I thought someone was going to lose a tooth! But they didn't. Praise God for that. I enjoy music when its good - rock, rap, soul even country (as long as Carrie Underwood is considered country).
Then, the night was capped off with a wonderful message from Underoath/The Almost star Aaron Gillespie. I must say, not bad for his first time speaking. Engaging and insightful for many of the people there. I don't have the official numbers but I do believe that the night session was the peak in attendance since MANY people showed up to hear the guy. At the conclusion of his session, he closed out with some awesome acoustic tunes. It was fantastic. He invited the crowd on stage with him as he played. Needless to say, he had to ask people to "back-up a little bit, yes?"
Great night from people with a great heart.
I got the chance to speak to Ben from TBR because we stayed in the same hotel. He sparked a great convo about the balance of grace and discipline. The guy has a great heart. I look forward to hearing some BIG stuff from these guys.
1 day of coverage remaining. Tune in here to Collision Course for the most comprehensive recap of the Awakening COnference. Tomorrow we'll conclude with the sessions from Willow Creek's Darren Whitehead, Mike Servello and Marco DeBarros.
Cheers!
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4 comments:
Hey Steve,
YOu did a great job. We are looking forward to you doing the same at the genconference. I thought the New Life crew did an excellent job bringing together all diffrent cultural expressions in a godly way. IT was great to see it. We're going to try an do the sam in utica. Sorry I didnt get to say bye, but you guys left by the time i came upstairs. - see you in afew.
Thanks. Mike, no sweat my man. I had to get the crew back to Newport so that the parents didn't have to come and pick up too late. Really looking forward to Gen Con.
I'm thinking of sending a crew to Utica to smuggle some ideas from GenChurch.
Man! everyone has been blogging about Awakening cept me! haha. Love reading your thoughts! Your last post sparked my thoughts: we have a live mix DVD of your Rap Concert. Ill make sure i include it with your Darren Leadership session.
Wow. I just watched our video from "after the pain". Unbelievably powerful. I cant wait till you can see this.
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