Winter Jam 2018

This past Saturday, I went to Winter Jam. My first concert was Winter Jam 2016, and ever since then, I've been coming back every year. For 2016 and 2017, I even made a road trip along with seeing it in my city, because I couldn't get enough. There's just something so special and so beautiful about worshiping God together with complete strangers, whom you probably won't see again until Heaven. Last year, the band Newsong included in their set this beautiful part during their song "Arise My Love" where laser lights of a sort formed a cross for most of the song. Different colors of light and some fog would be used, along with the cross lighting, at different points in the song, until one line....

"The grave could not hold the King."

When that line was sung, the cross faded, and an image of Jesus appeared on the screen behind it.

It. Was. Beautiful.

They kept it in their set this year, which I was very thankful for, and I managed to snap a couple of pictures during it...

 The laser light cross is life-sized. I don't know much about what the real cross that Jesus died on looked like, but I imagine it was roughly the height that the lighting crew put together here. Something about this image is powerful to me. We're all at the foot of this cross. (Yes, I was up in the  high seats so I wasn't technically at the foot of this, but imagination) It's only made out of laser lights, and yet... When you see it... You feel like you're looking at the real thing. It's amazing to think that the King of all the universe once hung on that. I imagine looking at Him hanging there... Watching Him die... Being powerless to help Him... Knowing... I put Him there...
And then...

He is risen

It brings tears to my eyes every time. 

I put Him there... and yet, He died so that I could be forgiven and free 

so that you can be forgiven and free.

I know this is kind of a different blog post, and there is so much more that I could say about Winter Jam 2018... But this... 

This is the most important thing about it every year.

Remembering this.

Celebrating this.

The grave could not hold the King. 

Let's worship Him today, and remember this. 

P.S. Link to listen to the song Arise My Love is below :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsojJwdq9jg&list=PL0Gl8wEqZzpz4IJP7mD3ZBxowi_gaqED3&index=16

P.P.S Just for fun.... This video is my reaction to seeing the band Skillet live for the first time...