Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Getting Slamm'd

It was a big event for Cornerstone.

The Gospel Komedy Slamm rolled back into Cornerstone Christian Center on Saturday night, after a several-year hiatus, loaded with top-notch talent and lots of laughter. Even with some last-minute replacements, it had a great line-up and was an excellent show for the many guests in attendance. Even CNN showed up to film some footage and do interviews with some of the performers for a docu-piece on Christian Comedy.

The stand-up comedians included Dat Phan, (who won NBC’s Last Comic Standing Season 1), Gilbert Esquivel, and Jay Lamont. The event also featured several great singers, (including one of my personal favorites; Joan Simpson), a young girl danced and brought the house to a "Standing O" and then the night concluded with an incredible performance by a teenage sax phenom named J. Boykin (remember the name). The Slamm was emceed by my good friend; the always hilarious Lamont Bonman (aka: The Rev. Monty B. Sharpton).
But beyond the laughter, beyond the lights, beyond the music, beyond the singing, beyond the performers and performances – there was something that really stood out to me. It was none other than the team of dedicated servers from Cornerstone who were making the big night run smoothly.

The iServe Team was impressive. They were parking attendants, ticket-sellers, ticket-takers, ushers, greeters, assistants, engineers, stage-hands and cameramen. They came early and left late. They set-up before and cleaned-up after. They came, they saw, they served.

As I watched them serving gladly, and greatly, I felt the Spirit of the Lord move upon my heart. I felt God say; “this is what it’s all about.” That is the reason that we are here. That is the reason that Cornerstone is here. That is the reason that we are saved and sanctified. That is the reason that we are in the community. We are here to SERVE.

I was blown-away the other night when I heard Mickey Drexler, the CEO of the clothing retailer J. Crew (and former CEO of The Gap); tell Charlie Rose in an interview that he wouldn’t give 5 cents for a company where the public could not get a hold of the CEO and upper management. He basically stated that the reason that they are there is to serve the people. What a concept.

Jesus said of Himself, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). That was His personal mission statement. To become true followers of Christ, His focus must become our focus – His mission must become our mission. That stated; our mission in this life should be “serving and giving.” In the world, greatness is determined by how many serve you; but, in God’s kingdom, greatness is determined by how many people you serve.

Saturday night at Cornerstone, I witnessed greatness in action.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Our Team did do an outstanding job! and the Komedy Slamm was so much fun. Glad we were a part of this event!! -k