(August 8, 2008)
It was an exceptional night at The Coffee Connection...
(It didn't start out that way.)
After the Chase was playing, Nathan and Jenna Strong and the boys in the band, Gary and Matthew. Our local folks hadn't been coming out for off night concerts and this being a Friday night concert rather than the regular Saturday night, the crowd was slim at the beginning of the evening. I had warned Jenna that might be the case... But After the Chase was performing their music as if the place was full, as it should have been, everyone not there was missing out! (Now, those of you not there will never know who "Uncle Bob" is; they sang about him, but you just had to be there!)
Jenna's mom and dad were in the audience, having driven up to camp at Lake Siskiyou and then go visit friends and family on the Rogue River in Oregon. It was a good thing they were there, they made up almost half of the audience. Thank God for Mom's and Dad's! I had sat down by Jenna's dad, kidding with him, saying I wanted to sit by him so I could get the inside scoop on Jenna and the band. He shared how that since the age of 5 she'd been singing and dancing her heart out... and that her worship dance gave him chills. That reminded me of my own daughter; we'd made a connection and so we shared about it all as we listened to AtC's music.
When I had introduced them to the slim audience, I thought how we'd just have to get started and sing an audience in. It had happened several times before; as the music would play, people would come in and stay. But by the first set break on this night only a couple more had come in and stayed. Still it was all good: good music (great music!) and good conversation; a warm inviting spirit was in the place. At the break we passed the love offering bucket (to Jenna's Mom and Dad!?) and the band played on...
As it was getting dark outside on this nice August night, the sliders were open, the deck lights on the front sidewalks were turned on As the music was movin' on out onto the street, through the front window we could see four or five ladies, dressed mostly in white dancing to and enjoying the music out on the sidewalk, under the lights .
Gary, After the Chase's drummer invited them to come in, and then Nathan and the band all encouraged them,
"Come on in, there's no cover charge! Come on in!"
And so they did !
Nathan asked them where there were from. "Portugal?"
"No! Spain!"
Nathan knew Spanish and welcomed them again in their own language to come on in. "Listen to the music! Dance if you want to! You are welcome!"
By that, a connection was made at The Coffee Connection. They then leaned out the door and invited all their friends (about 25 of them!) who were standing outside, to come in. The Spirit was warm and inviting; the room was suddenly full and brighter! And now there was no room and they all wanted to clap and to dance.
I jumped up and began pushing tables and chairs to the walls and soon with a little bit of help we had a dance floor cleared. They were from Spain and were touring America. Speaking in Spanish, Nathan shared and laughed with them and drew them in. Though he sometimes struggled with his Spanish they willingly helped him with tough words.
Then Nathan and Jena and the band sang all their upbeat songs again so our new friends could dance. This new gathering wasn't an accident. This was an opportunity to share the Truth. This connection at the Coffee Connection was a divine appointment... a God moment. After The Chase shared the love of Jesus through their songs and conversations in Spanish. Jenna helped Nathan interpret the Spanish for us.The group was so transparently open to it all.
God's love was in the place and it gave me chills. Holy goose bumples! We discovered later they were on a quest of spiritual spots.They had just been to Taos, New Mexico, and now they were here in Mt. Shasta, another "spiritual place"...
Who would have guessed it, that God would draw them from all across Spain to go on a spiritual quest together, and during that quest God would, in timing that can only be His, bring a band up from Petaluma with someone in it who knew Spanish to be in Mt. Shasta, so that at the same time they were to be in "spiritual" Mt. Shasta and just happened to walk by a certain coffee house, God could draw them in, by his gift of music and with His love, to give them an opportunity to hear about his Son Jesus?
When After the Chase had run through all their upbeat songs Jenna sang a mellow one, and as she sang the group from Spain gathered arm in arm in a circle dance, and they welcomed us American's into their circle as Jenna's mom and others joined with them. Cultural barriers and language barriers were gone as the circle shared the moment, swaying to another song of simple truth. More goose bumples...Truth had been spoken and was being spoken in word and song to a group from Spain who were searching for spiritual truth. Jesus had gathered with the "two or three gathered in His name" at the beginning of this special Friday night concert, and then He gathered in a whole bunch more for a truly amazing evening of song and dance with a special anointing upon it. It was as it was advertised: a special Friday night concert.
God is still chasing after those who are supposed to be his own and He is catching those who are willing to be caught!
After the chase He wants to draw you further into His circle of love. So be ready and available to receive it and then to share it.
Be ready, 'cause He just might catch you by surprise!
~~rob
