Today I have been blessed. A certain store in the local mall, C28 clothing, put on a free concert. Due to rain the concert was moved inside a parking structure. C28 is a Christian Clothing company based on Colossians 2:8. Their message is that of not following the pattern of this world, but that of Christ. It was a great event, especially for such a unique setting in a parking garage.
One of the bands that played is called Seventh Day Slumber. This was the third time I’ve seen them perform, the first time being probably around 8 years ago. Part of the bands message is for the lead singer to share his testimony about how God has radically changed his life. This was the third time I’ve heard him speak and without a doubt the most powerful. He shared that the only memories he had of his father were of him beating his mother. At age 9 he broke into his first house and began a criminal lifestyle which landed him in jail on multiple occasions. At age 14 he began using cocaine and did so until attempting to end his life with a lethal dose at the age of 22. He shared that through it all his mother, a devout Christian, had been praying for her son as she watched him slide farther and farther away. She happened to walk in shortly after his overdose and found him convulsing on the living room floor. Joseph shared that it was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, with tubes and wires attached to nearly every part of his body, that he felt the touch of a Father for the first time. He shared that God met him in that ambulance and touched his heart and showed him that his was a life worth living.
Today Joseph is 36 years old, has been married for ten years and has three sons. The very place is he is today is evidence of Gods grace and goodness. He shared that going from where he was, to where he is now, would’ve been impossible without the hand of God.
As he continued to speak he asked the crowd a series of questions. “Where do you find yourself, have you given up hope, are you wondering what reason you have to live?” To married people, “Do you find yourself ready to give up, fed up with your spouses behavior, ready with clenched fists and grit teeth to march to the court house to let a judge end your problems?” From a man that has truly hit the bottom, came a message of hope and healing. One of the most powerful moments of the night came in the middle of their performance. Between songs they played audio clips of letters they have received from friends and fans. One letter read:
Dear Seventh day Slumber
I’m broken and hurting. Yesterday my husband of 18 years left me. Without ever knowing how he was feeling, he decided to leave. I feel rejected and unloved. Does God even love me?
In response to the letter Joseph penned the song Caroline:
Where do I begin? There's so much I want to say to make it easier
Tomorrow's on its way. Do you believe I want to take your painful memories?
I know you want to run away. I know that you can't see tomorrow
Caroline
Let me wipe away your tears, and give you life. Make you feel beautiful again
Caroline
Don't throw it all away. I'm here tonight, to take away your pain.
Yesterday is gone and everything that made you cry has fallen to the ground
I'm here to bring you home. I will always take you back, you haven't let me down
I know you want to run away. I know that you can't see tomorrow
Caroline
Let me wipe away your tears, and give you life. Make you feel beautiful again
Caroline
Don't throw it all away. I'm here tonight, to take away your pain
And when you're feeling all alone and you can't go on….Remember I am here
And when you think you've gone too far, I'll meet you where you are, My arms are open wide
Caroline
Let me wipe away your tears, and give you life. Make you feel beautiful again
Caroline
Don't throw it all away. I'm here tonight, to take away your pain, Caroline
As they closed the show Joseph gave every person standing in the lower level of the Temecula promenade mall parking garage an opportunity to stand before God and give him their heart. To say I’m done doing this for me. “The drugs aren’t doing it anymore, alcohol isn’t enough, the sex isn’t fulfilling anymore, I’m empty and I want to be filled.”
To married people in the audience he said very pointedly “If this is you, take your spouse by the hand and walk forward and place your marriage into the hands of God. Invite the One that created the universe to work in your life and your marriage as only He can.”
I was moved to tears as people flocked toward the stage to meet with God. This wasn’t an alter call for 14 and 15 year old kids to get hyped up on Jesus and caught in the moment. This was a moment in which people of all ages, young and old, husbands and wives took a step forward, from where they are to move into the place that God wants them to be.
God is a God who heals, who delivers and who saves. Please watch this video of the song Caroline. Its written from God’s perspective as he is speaks to HIS child, be it Caroline, you, me or anyone else. Better yet, open it in a different window, hit play and LISTEN to the song while reading the lyrics here on this page.
Play Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hnqApOjl9w
