Behold the Lamb

Brad & I decided that our gift to each other this year would be tickets to Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb" tour at the Ryman. I am SO GLAD we went. It was AMAZING! The acoustics in that place are absolutely gorgeous. I think that everyone should go see that tour at least once. The first half was a "songwriter's in the round"... Every artist with him sang at least one of their own songs. I loved EVERYONE and foudn several new singer/songwriters we are in love with! Michael Card was there too... and it was such a neat thing listening to him. I remember being 8 years old, listening to "Scandalon" over and over again... I think that was when I really fell in love with music, and not just music, but especially music with a deep spiritual message that provokes me to fall deeper in love with Jesus.

The second half was the actual "Behold the Lamb" part. Have I said yet that it was AMAZING? They began with Andrew reading this quote from introduction to the Jesus Storybook Bible:

It's like an adventure story about a young Hero who came from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne, everything to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that have come true in real life.


You see, the best thing about this story is—it’s true.


It takes the whole Bible to tell this story. And at the center of the Story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle—the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And what a beautiful picture they painted! The songs started in the old testament, telling the prophecies, and the lineage of Jesus. One song blended into the next. My favorite was "Labor of Love", sung by Jill Phillips. (The song is in the video I posted on Christmas).

It was not a silent night
There was blood upon the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love

It just made me think about that night in a way I never had before.

They ended everything, by having us all stand, and in that beautiful place with GORGEOUS acoustics, we all sang Gloria, in Excelsis Deo, and they on the stage listened to us sing.

It was magical and wonderful and awe-inspiring and I left feeling very much like I was taking the presence of God with me. He is always with me, but there are times where I feel him more powerfully than others, and this was one of those times.

Anyone and everyone that can NEEDS to go with us next year!!!