Music has the power to transform one’s feelings, and when the band, Rend Collective, visited our campus, they did just that. “I definitely felt God during the Rend Collective Concert. The moment when I specifically felt Him most strongly was when they sang the song titled ‘Weep With Me.’ This song spoke volumes to me and is speaking to me even more right now. It made me realize again that living for God doesn’t always mean your life will be perfect.” GU student Mark Jones continues, “However, He will always be there even on the days when you feel like you just can’t make it. It’s okay not to be okay, because when we are weak that is when He makes us strong. So yes, I did feel the presence of God at that concert. What I felt has stuck with me every day since. It was exactly what I needed exactly when I needed it.”
“There truly is something special that happens when God’s people come together to worship Him, and at the Rend Collective concert I have no doubt that lives were touched and spirits lifted. It was amazing to see so many people from the Greenville community and beyond come together for the sole purpose of worshiping God in community through music. The word ‘joyful’ is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the atmosphere that night. During Rend Collective’s set, as well as Cody Carnes’, I noticed numerous audience members raising hands, jumping for joy, and everyone singing at the top of their lungs in praise. Something that I really appreciated was not only that the band encouraged crowd participation through jumping, singing and dancing which kept energy high, but also that there were times where the music stopped and a few of the band members would talk about worshiping God even in the midst of struggles, or break down Biblical truths. Personally, one of my favorite things that I heard that night was, ‘Seriousness is not a fruit of the Spirit.’ We shouldn’t be afraid to worship God and have fun at the same time, because the Lord calls us to be joyful!” quotes Noah Schlosser.
Finally, Matt Herrick gives an insight to his perspective at the concert, “When Rend Collective arrived at Greenville University, the whole community of Greenville was unified, and I enjoyed a powerful joy. This was a portion-piece of their Good News Tour, a nationwide tour, and we were mightily blessed to have them. This wasn’t a particular group of student’s concert, an undergrad-driven concert, a GU-only concert, or a main-liner concert. This was the Good News being celebrated and all were welcome. It was awesome to experience a band of Christian Irish musicians celebrating away at the hope they’ve been given by God. However, it wasn’t just the band celebrating. Rend Collective had done a marvelous job at bringing the audience into a sacred place of celebration in life and worship to God. The colorful confetti shot loud and rained down through the air, the booming drums were pounded with excitement, and there were several tinky instruments that, when played, sounded really cool, and I had no idea what they were. One particular moment, which stood out to me, was as lead singer Chris Llewellyn acknowledged that not all people feel like celebrating hope in life with the despairing bones being exerted by human struggles, he brought all of us into a time for lament in song – praising Yahweh – in the certainty that God is good and sovereign through even our own cringing fears. This was a huge reminder for me that not only in my grandiose times of plenty, but in my mere human loneliness, despair, and cry that God is ever-present and wants to be authentically worshipped with nothing more than a very broken heart and a warm-teared face. While in all this celebratory praising to God, at last we could finally cry. God could tightly hold his wandering sheep, and safe we were – even in our own tears. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News and how broken are the ones that hear it.”
Media by Russell Lamb.
