Icthus Festival, Wilmore, KY

It's been another great time in the US. I have to admit that the live DVD recording at the beginning of the week, although a brilliant experience for all still brings with it its pressures, and it was a good feeling to get this behind us and feel we could let our hair down a little on the other 3 dates - well at least if I had any any hair I would have done. I'm not generally one for traditions and unnecessary routine but this week I have certainly got stuck in my ways each day. So yesterday morning started in its usual way for me, the first World Cup game at 9am, followed an hour later by the second and an hour after that the third and final game of the day-oh what joy. One of the fun things  has been having an American friend Tom out with us doing lights. I'm not sure how many conversions of the usual kind took place the last 4 days but one unexpected one was Tom's conversion to soccer and sharing with us in all the excitement each day. I think now he'll think twice just as we often do about how legitimate it is to have the World Series baseball in the US, when not one other country in the world has even really heard of it.

We have fond memories of playing at Icthus and were excited to come and do our bit again in rallying the US church troops in an hour of vertical rock and roll that left us all short of breath. I think we can safely say that rarely have we enjoyed so much repeatedly playing these songs of The Mission Bell and last night was no exception-we really had a great time. I'm on the plane home again now, knowing that the grass will need cutting again and needing to go to the pet shop because Harry's fish died whilst I was away. We are bracing ourselves as a family for a very busy few weeks ahead, and are already looking forward to holidays in August-see ya soon.

What an amazing country America is, it's so diverse. Today we are in Sullivan Really feels like we are in the middle of farming land.

I have been lucky enough to have a bike with me this past week which has been lent to me from Quintana Roo, a triathlon bike company based in Chananooga TN. The guys down there Deano my old friend from the UK and Steve 'the boss' shipped a beautiful titanium 'Tiphoon' to me so that I could continue my training.

On one of my long rides today I had time to reflect on just how blessed I am to be traveling and bringing a little piece of God to those that Delirious? have the pleasure to meet. On a 3 hour ride my mind wandered off and for some strange reason I remembered the street kids in South Africa, those kids have nothing and everything is a battle. Man, for those kids life is simple, 'where do I get my next meal from?'... Martin talked a little bit about the simple things of God during the show tonight, we complicate things, life is fast we love our toys, I pods, computers PSP's etc. The bottom line is finding time for those that you love and time to engage with our maker, that's as simple as it gets.

My mission this year is to raise some cash for those street kidsthat have nothing, in August this year I will be doing my first 'Ironman', 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and then a full 26.2 mile marathon. It frightens the life out of me, 'will I finish?' For those kids I'll do all I can.

Thanks you Sullivan you have treated us well, I hope we get the chance to come back and join with our new friends again some time.

Cheers.

Stew

Wow, What an incredible night of worship the guys brought to Blountville, TN. I really don't know where to start.
 
God is good, all the time!
 
The evening was just an awesome time of praise and worship to our Lord. Many experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit for the first time and where moved. Its obvious that God has truly anointed these men for His glory.
 
When we started to organize this event we had but one prayer. That the people of our area (especially children and youth) would experience something they had never witnessed or been part of before. Low and behold God showed up. He answers prayers. Right in the middle of "Historymaker" Martin asks for ALL of the children under the age of 16 to come up to the stage. Once the stage was full he began to pray a prayer of blessings over them, calling out gifts on certain ones. As we all stood in the presence of the Lord, many adults with tears streaming down their faces (including me), we realized the utter importance of this moment. Martin then stated that this is not the next generation or future generation of the church but that this "Is the Church". He then grabbed the hands of this little, beautiful 2 1/2 year old girl w/ pigtails (Sophia Bray) and began dancing, everyone was dancing!!! Words cannot do this moment justice.

I want to say thank you to all the guys in the band and the "roadies" that travel with them, May God continue to bless you all. Thank You for being the vessel that brings the message to the world. We will cherish all the conversations, memories, and moments from the entire experience. Keep the fire burning.
 
Till we meet again,
Mark Smelser
layperson
Celebration Church



photography © kevin bryan

 Lori is the director of Ministry Development for the Arts, Willow Creek Association.

February of 2005 was the first time I experienced Delirious live.   Halfway through the first set, during Majesty , I was hooked by the depth of lyrics and their passion for Jesus.   After the concert, I had the privilege of meeting with the band and taking time to just sit and hear their hearts as they met with the worship leaders from Willow.   During that time, I was marked by their authenticity, humility and pure love for God and each other.   From that moment on, I was determined to bring Delirious back to Willow so that even more could get a small taste of what I had that night.

In the fall of 2005, we began planning our annual Arts Conference. This is the time that we bring together church artists from around the world to focus on creating moments in their church services through the use of the arts.   The theme and focus for this year was collaboration.   Martin, Stew, Tim, Jon and Stu G are a great example of collaboration themselves...having worked together for over 16 years...writing music together..traveling together...living in community.    From my earlier experience, I could see the give and take, the way they finished each others sentences, the fun they had together and the way they treated each other with respect.   There could be no better choice for our event than this group of guys!   So, Tim and I started talking about Delirious performing at the conference and recording a live CD & DVD.

Gratefully, Tim and the band were very open to the possibility of this live project, and after much prayer and discussions, we got the green light from all the people necessary to move forward.   In addition to many phone calls and e-mails back and forth, on April 5th , our production team took a road trip to Peoria to meet the Tim, Ian Cattle and Andy Hutch to lay the groundwork for the concert at Willow.   This again was an awesome, collaborative experience.   It was so good to sit face to face and further build our relationships.   Everyone's heart was to do this together in a way that honored God and each other.   The excitement and enthusiasm from our team at Willow was contagious...the opportunity to use the gifts we've been given is a blessing we do not take forgranted.   Multiple set designs, a visit from Andy to plan the video shoot and too many e-mails to count.   At last the week had arrived!

Monday, June 12th...the bus broke down with all the gear and we got a late start on load-in.   Other than that, rehearsal went great and we were so thrilled to have haze!   Our hearts went out to Tony who spent the night programming lights!   His efforts were more than worth it, as you will see on the DVD...way to go!  

Tuesday, June 13th began with an early morning rehearsal before the conference started.   Everything looked great!   Sounded awesome!   It sure would have been nice to have more time, but we made the best of what we had...   At 6:15 we opened the doors to people running to their seats...then Martin and the band came out early to record the audiences' voices singing some of the choruses.   Before the concert even began, we felt the presence of God move...I'll never forget that acappella "Our God Reigns"...it was just beautiful!

7:00pm the concert kicked in with Here I Am Send Me and the electricity in the room was unexplainable. Martin and the band took us on all on a journey that night...inspiring us to tell the world about our great God and Savior...encouraging us that even when life is overwhelming we stand on a Solid Rock and have a God that Reigns over all...He is our Friend and does Miracles in our lives... reminding us that we have a responsibility to make history and Paint our Towns Red...and most of all, humbling ourselves to Take Off Our Shoes and worship His Majesty.   Thanks for taking us to the throne and creating an experience that goes beyond that night.   I can't wait to relive it with the DVD and CD.  

God, thanks for creating and gifting Martin, Stew, Tim, Jon and Stu G and using them to draw us all closer to You.

Lori Finnegan

photography © hutch

landing in foggy edinburgh, me and officer meast weren't sure what to expect from frenzy. but by lunchtime, the sun was out and over 6000 people were being treated to one of the most impressive festival lineups i've seen in ages. that lineup obviously included delirious. which is why i'm writing this, der.

by the time the hillsong united crew (nutters), and david crowder band had finished, God was just all over the place. i think everyone knew it was going to be a special end to a special day. with a thunderous intro, the boys took to the stage. the place went nuts. thousands of people going crazy is pretty awesome to watch, but when they're going crazy over the name of Jesus, its just amazing.

right from the powerful opener, all this time, they played a blinding set. literally. mr hutch on lighting must have consumed one too many cans of red bull or something! the whole thing was visually stunning. new favourites like fires burn, rain down and stronger stood out for me; musically tight and powerfully delivered.

but something new happened tonight.

i've had the pleasure of seeing the lads play many a time over many years, but i've never seen them like tonight. serious. something was different. the songs were louder, the passion more obvious, and the cry to mission more urgent than ever before. God met with many people tonight i have no doubt. challenging hearts. breaking chains. birthing dreams. and so after all these years, it would seem that God is still doing new things. opening new doors. bringing new challenges. i'm just excited to see what happens next. huge thanks to our hosts justin, jimmy and the frenzy crew - may God continue to use you to affect your country in this amazing way.

see you next year frenzy.

photography © tim green