Salt

It is hard to describe the Church where we just shared our music. Rarely have I been to a church filled with so many lives, changed, dramatically. You could stop every single person, listen to their life story, and each would have one of those testimonies that would leave you in tears. Recovered drug addicts, porn addicts, bikers for Jesus, x-rockstar-crazy-partiers, etc. -Basically rough and tough guys (and their wives) that have had their hearts made tender by the Love of Christ. It was as if a chunck of the crowd gathered, banging their heads to Jimmy Hendricks rendition of the National Anthem at Woodstock, was transported to this little church in Indiana in 2006 -and they all got saved. And I mean for real - "Got Saved." I felt like I was meeting a bunch of Keith Greens. There was a light shining from every soul I met. From the multi-colored-haired girl in the back right up to the rough-and-tough Born again Pastor, who's nickname used to be "Bear." He reminded me of my Dad in the way he could relate to everyone in the room. He had an everyman aura about him.

The Church is located in downtown ... Indiana. It is pastored by Tom Camp, Jeremy Camp's Father. Yes "that" Jeremy Camp. Sometimes I think the congregation reflects its pastor and it surely did in this case. It has passion, devotion and a spirit that can only be described as Salty. Even the Church Building itself has a dramatic born-again story. It used to be a Strip Club until the Church bought it and turned it into a coffee shop by day and bible-study/church by nights and weekends.

We had a great time sharing our music there and getting to know the Camp family. I can't say enough Good things about the Camp Family. Jeremy comes from good stuff.

In the Camp family, We got to know Trent and April the most for those few days and I was touched and moved by Trent's life story and his transparency when it came to his Life transformation. I was struck by the Spirit of the witness Himself. Many times I hear people talk about their past life and come close to bragging about it. "Yeah the good ole days when I used ta' drink and smoke pot. Then I got saved." There was none of this with Trent. Anything about his past was for the purpose of amplifying the change in his life made by knowing Christ. It wasn't rehearsed or canned either. It was just there. And by golly, it made me just want to be "there" like Trent is "there." I sat and admired his wife April and her prayerful struggle with deciding whether to move her husband and kids to a "Safe" neighborhood as opposed to staying where she was because she wanted to be a witness in a place where there is none. I had no good answer but to offer her prayer. There was a woman down the street from where she lived who had been raped by a man for 14 hours and it had her understandably spooked.

Yeah, That is what I am talking about my friends, brave, salty people.

I will be praying for that sweet and powerhouse family this week. I will be praying for Trent and April and that decision. I will be praying for the Camp Family, and the Church they pioneered that transformed a strip club into a Light shining in a Dark area. If you think about it this week, pray for them as well.