Steven Curtis Chapman concert!

One of (or if not my very) favorite Christian singer/ songwriter/ artists came to a local festival and my hubby and I went to see him, Steven Curtis Chapman! He has written many of my favorite songs, and one of his songs my hubby sang in our wedding!

I was very excited to see him in concert. I had seen him once about 15 years ago at Focus on the Family's 25th year anniversary celebration. This time he played by himself for almost and hour and a half! He was jet-lagged as he had come from China just 48 hours before. He had sung at a friends' funeral the day before, and so he was a little emotional and exhausted. I know I would be!

We stood the whole concert up in the front to be close to him. He sang several of my favorite songs, including "Dive" which he opened with, "The Great Adventure", "For the Sake of the Call", "Cinderella", "Love take me Over", "More than Conquerors" from his newer CD, and "I will be Here" which Joshua sang at our wedding. He talked some about his family, his history (when he sang a few older songs), and their choice to adopt. He talked about the ways that God has changed his life, and how moments can be meaningful. We all had a little "moment" in the concert when he played Cinderella and we danced and sang along. It was really neat!

I really enjoyed his concert and getting to know him a little more. I also read his recently published book, Between Heaven and the Real World, in the weeks following the concert. I had read some of the stories before in his book, "Speechless" which I read years ago, and in his wife Mary Beth's book Choosing the See. I loved that a little boy from Peducah, Kentucky dreamed big, but never big enough to play in concert at Carnegie Hall! He is most humble, and gives glory to God for his success, another thing I appreciated about him. He was just wonderful!

This is some of the verses that he sang about...

Romans 8: 1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.