Above All Night Two Recap

Last night was another packed house with people from all over the area, state and other parts of the country.  People from different walks of life and faith filtered into the building to witness the last moments of Christ's life on display.  They were hungry, hurting and hopeful and they didn't leave disappointed.  Today, though, I  want to focus on some of the cast members and what God has done for them already in this production as well as a group that I have yet to highlight.

Makeup Matters

One group I've yet to highlight are the ladies who do the cast's makeup.  While a number of the Jews do their own makeup, the Romans, Priests, Apostles and Leads have their makeup done by a volunteer crew.  These ladies show up at 4:30 for every performance and often are doing makeup right up to performance time.  That's 3 hours of work on nearly 100 people.  Some of these ladies are also in the performance or work backstage, so they put in a ton of hours and are rarely noticed.  They do more than just our makeup, though.  They encourage us to do our best each night and share stories of past performances they've seen to help us prepare ourselves.  They are a wonderful group who sacrifice and uplift.  We're truly blessed to have such a remarkable team. 

A Miracle in the Moment

One of our Apostles has had a difficult situation hit his family since the beginning of this week.  Jason Covey plays Simon the Zealot and he brings a fiery passion to his performance (he's the one who yells loudly and beats his fist against the table during the Last Supper).  It's his first year as an Apostle but he has fit right into our group and uplifts us all with encouraging words and prayer.  This week, we've been lifting him up in prayer for his daughter.  She had been very sick and couldn't even eat she was so weak.  He left last night to come to performances with a heavy heart.  I  know this because when I    asked him about his daughter, the only words he could get out were "Not good." However, our prayers are never unheard by the One God we serve.  As soon as he opened the door from our Apostle meeting room, there was his daughter standing before him.  She was completely healed!  Just an hour before she was too weak to stand or eat, the color drained out of her face.  Now, she was lively as though nothing had afflicted her. What a great God we serve who hears our prayers and does the impossible!

Throughout the performance, our cast was energized and invested.  I heard from several people of God doing great works in their lives this past week.  Many also shared stories of how people they had invited and offered to buy tickets for had shown up on their own accord.  I had invited some of my neighbors and offered them free tickets as well.  On the Thursday night performance, they showed up having purchased their own and were blessed.  Other Apostles shared similar stories as well.  Alexandria is hungry for Christ, and it shows by the willingness of people to come to Above All on their own.

Altar Reports

One thing I  noticed last night was an entire group of young people walked down without an adult to the altar.  They didn't need an adult to drag them down to pray.  They desired to seek God on their own. Those young people were so hungry for God that they began speaking in tongues as soon as they got into the altar.  

Another teen I  prayed for had never been in our church before.  She came down to pray for her family, but she got more than that.  Young women from our church laid hands on her and she was blessed by God.  They connected with her and I  could see a warmth behind her eyes that did not exist when she first walked down. God transformed her situation through her courage to step out in faith.  Moreover, our church connected with her in a way that will open a door for her and her family to connect further with God.

Through Above All, God is changing lives, both in the audience and in the cast.  It's only been two nights and their are more testimonies to come.  I can't wait to share them.