Praise Him
1Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him. 2Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for Him on the ten-stringed harp. 3Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy. (Psalms 33:1)
I started a post sometime early last week. We had just returned from spending another day helping with our family’s recovery efforts in Hazlehurst, Georgia. At that time, they were still out of power from Hurricane Helene. But since then, their power has been restored, for which they were praising the linemen who have been working non-stop in the southeast since Helene hit almost a month ago. When I first started this post, I really wanted to bring attention back to the recovery efforts and continue to point out amazing organizations like Matthew 25: Ministries, who continue to provide resources in hard hit Florida and North Carolina. We cannot take our eyes off these disasters so soon.
And because of that, I do feel guilty for the rest of this post.
Last Saturday, my family and I attended Brandon Lake’s “Tear Off The Roof” Tour when he came to Savannah’s EnMarket Arena for the very first time. Mr. Lake added extra stops on a second leg of his tour, this time traveling with Benjamin William Hastings. When I saw the tickets post on pre-sale, I snagged a handful to take the whole family, plus one. And it was a good thing I got them early, because Savannah’s show sold-out.
Much like when we attended Elevation Worship’s first tour stop in Savannah in 2023, the local area worship fans came out very strong to support one of their favorite artists with Mr. Lake. Unfortunately for me, I had drill weekend that Saturday with the Georgia Army National Guard and I was released late, so we missed Mr. Hastings’ entire set. He came out halfway with Mr. Lake and the two spent some time discussing their song writings and how they will trade songs. Brandon Lake has had his hand in writing worship songs for artists such as Maverick City Music, Bethel Worship, Elevation Worship, Cody Carnes, KB, Brooke Ligertwood, and, of course, Phil Wickham. If I had one complaint about Brandon (I feel like we’re on a first name basis now that he said he treated Savannah like his hometown), was that he did a number of the songs he wrote with those other artists. Which he did AMAZING performing live, but my issue with it is that I would have much rather just heard the songs only he has released. What is crazy about Brandon is that he is still relatively new. His break-out album was “House of Miracles” in 2020. Just four years ago. He has made some amazing music for the King of Kings in the last four years. And he is just getting started.
While he only has three more stops on his current tour (which wraps up in four days), if you ever have the chance to see him live, you have to go.
I love Christian Music concerts. They are fun for the entire family. They are full of music praising Jesus and that music continues to get better and better as a revival is in the works. But they also give people the opportunity to help others. World Vision has been present at almost every concert we have attended (sponsoring a child earned my wife and I the opportunity to meet Crowder at one of his shows a few years back). Brandon also pushed the audience to support his local church (Seacoast out of Charleston, SC) in their efforts to help those affected by Helene in Asheville, which I was proud of Brandon for making it a point to address the need and lift up his local church in doing so. You can go to Brandon’s YouTube page and watch some of his shorts or mini documentaries to see what a great person he is and how much he loves Jesus, but I suggest the best way to experience that is find a way to see him in person.
I pray that everyone reading this post gets such an opportunity, or the opportunity to see whoever their favorite worship artist is. There is a lot of horrible things going on in the world right now. A lot of people who need saving. A lot of people who need to know that Jesus is coming, and He is coming sooner than later. Take some time out of your busy schedule to go to a show that helps you reconnect to the Holy Spirit. That allows you to surrender to worship. That brings you around thousands of Christians who are not ashamed to lift their hands in praise for the Lord of their life. Take a friend that might not truly know Jesus yet. Abandon the worries of this world to spend a night giving your all to the one who gave His all for you.
There is a number of songs I could share today for this post, but below is the live recording of Benjamin and Brandon performing “Abandoned”: a soul-stirring, lyrically beautiful, song that Benjamin traded Brandon for once they were done writing it. Click below and be blessed.
Common Sense Reborn 