Meeting God on the Island

We had a wonderful time at the reception dinner after the concert in Cerro Veronese. We met “Danny” who promoted the event. “Danny” is a musician and producer in a wonderful blues band called MOBLUS (mo’ blues). He gave us a couple of their CDs. Really nice sound!! We also met the mayor of the town.

The next morning we headed to Verona airport to fly to the island of Sardinia. When we arrived on the island we had to wait nearly an hour for the taxis to pick us up. It gave us a chance to grab a pizza. Oh my GOD!! People, you haven’t had pizza until you have pizza in Italy. It is soooo goooood!!

When the taxis arrived, we were happy for a few minutes. Then we realized we were better off with “Mad Max” behind the wheel on a bad day. We had “Evul Knieval” and his twin brother “Evil Knievel” behind the wheels. I was exhausted so I fell asleep very quickly for this 75-minute drive. When they awoke me at the hotel, they ladies told me the horror story. I had my true revelation when “Evul” and “Evil” picked us up from the hotel the next day to take us back to the airport. Can you way reckless abandon?! But, that’s another story…

When we got out of the taxis at the beautiful hotel in Sassari on the island of Sardinia, it looked like something from a movie or a book. It looked surreal. The tiny street that was smaller than most 1-way streets in America was a bustling 2-way corridor right in front of the hotel. It looked amazing, frightening, enchanting and wonderful – all at once. There were so many people walking the streets shopping at the various clothing and merchandise stores. It was so cool!!

After chilling out for a little while, we got prepared for sound check. The church where we were singing was only a few meters away so we walked… down this amazing street… pass some enticing stores… through this bustling crowd… down this frightening alley… down an even more frightening, unpaved alley way… to this amazing, glorious cathedral in a courtyard that you would totally miss if a local hadn’t gotten you to it.

When we entered the building it was totally awe-inspiring. It forced you to consider the love and sacrifice of Jesus – with all of its paintings and statues. Yeah… this building gets you when you first walk in the door. And, in the Italian tradition, it was COLD!! But we were prepared – mentally prepared for this encounter.

After sound check, we sat in the back room. I finished sharing my testimony with the group. I started in Cerro Veronese telling them about my life story and how God had delivered me. I opened up and told them of what I had encountered during my foolish youth… the crazy mistakes I had made in ministry… the times I had completely failed God and his people… how God had wondrously forgiven me and restored my life. I told them what the song, “Look Where You Brought Me From” was all about. I told them where the song “In Your Blood” came from. We were all nearly in tears when we got finished talking.

When we stepped onto the stage we were completely charged! It is so much fun being on stage with this group. But something amazing started happening this night. We started feeling the presence of God very early in the set. When we started singing “In Your Blood,” I believe we all had a new appreciation for those lyrics. The intensity continued to build. We did our African remix of “Fight For Me.” It was a huge hit! But I kept feeling the need to go in deep and worship God intensely.

As I started playing the intro to “You Are Lord,” I just wanted to sing a love song to the Lord. I started asking Him if I could do so – but it came out in song. Very quickly we knew something supernatural was happening. As we started singing the song, the audience vanished, the ceiling disappeared and we were in the face of God. He listened as we sang, “You are Lord. I offer you my worship.” He listened as we sang, “Holy are you, Lord God Almighty! Worthy is the Lamb!” Before we could start the “Hallelujah chant,” I found myself weeping in worship. I told God how awesome it was that we were worshipping in this amazing place of worship, thousands of miles away from home. Yet, in every language, in every tongue, worship is the same because He is the same. And we can all join together and sing “Hallelujah!” But my prayer came out in song over the microphone. As we started the chant, we could hear this Italian crowd singing “Alleluia! Alleluia!” It felt as though the earth began to quake. Heaven was in a dance with earth and God kissed his creation. When we ended the song, we were paralyzed from anything but worship. We could do nothing but bless God. We couldn’t explain the moment to the audience… I didn’t know enough Italian to even attempt it… and I was too caught up to try. But as we started opening our eyes we saw that the audience was in worship just as we were. They went with us! They were clapping and cheering and lifting their hands. And we could tell that it was no longer applause for a performance… they were worshipping with us. The Holy Spirit had translated the moment and they understood it very well. This went on for a few minutes… just pure worship! What an amazing sound!! I can’t even write it without crying again.

Yeah, we met God on the island of Sardinia, in the town of Sassari. He was very present.