Chris Tomlin Burning Lights Tour

Last night the Club 20-40 group from Chain of Lakes went to hear Chris Tomlin’s concert at the Target Center.  The concert is part of Tomlin’s Burning Lights tour.

 

We tried to get a group of twenty to attend the concert as that would have gotten us a discount on tickets.  But when we found out the Target Center put a $12 surcharge on every ticket we ended up with a smaller group.  Our tickets were $37.

 

Our tickets were two rows from the top of the Target Center.  When Tomlin did a shout-out to the people sitting the top of the arena, I shouted out, “our noses are bleeding!”

 

Despite the cost of the tickets and the placement of the seats, the concert was terrific.  Keri Jobe started out with a half hour of music.  Her songs were understated and beautiful. 

 

The energy level skyrocketed higher when Chris Tomlin took the stage.  In reading some on-line articles I discovered the he sees himself as a worship leader as much as a performer at a concert.  This identity shone through last night.  He often stopped singing to let congregation sing—and we felt like a congregation singing for God. 

 

For anyone who loves Praise and Worship musical genre last night’s concert was like being in heaven.  As we sang I could imagine that this was what heaven will be like—singing from the top of our lungs in love and appreciation for God. 

 

Chris Tomlin is in a category by himself in terms of worship music popularity.  According to Christian Copyright Licensing Institute (CCLI) every between 60,000 and 120,000 churches are singing This songs.  This means that between 20 to 30 million people are singing his song.  Tomlin has the number one most-song and five of the top 25 according to CCLI

 

Most of the 18,000 seats at the Target Center were full last night, and I’m guessing that almost everyone there had sung a Chris Tomlin song.  We sang many of his well-known songs and many from his new Burning Light CD.

 

The singing and the lights and the atmosphere was electric.  It felt like the Holy Spirit anointed the entire evening.  When we left almost everyone had a smile on their face.  We were in a worshipful setting—it seemed that almost all of us left in a different place than when we came.

 

I hope that many of my Presbyterian friends will continue to embrace Praise and Worship as a musical genre for worship music.  Given the intensity of last night’s concert it’s obvious that many in our culture want to sing this music and when they do will sing at full-throttle.