Day at the Stadium

Although I would have enjoyed spending the day with my Dad, he graciously gave his Carolina Panthers tickets to me and Matthew because he wanted instead to stay home with Mom. Dad, I've told you already but THANKS again because we had a great day.

Yesterday, Matthew and I dropped Philip off at Ruth Ann's house at 9:30am all ready to go with her to church. We then headed up I-85 toward Charlotte. I've been to the Charlotte airport several times in the last few years but it's been since college that I've driven all through the downtown part of the city. We found the stadium very easily and were on time as it was 11:00am. The game began at 1:00pm so we had plenty of time to buy lunch and find a spot to park. It took us about 15 minutes of driving around town to find McDonalds however their credit card machine was down and we were saving our cash for parking. Next stop, Burger King. We got our order to go as we decided to find a parking spot near the stadium and eat in the car. Throughout this time the weather was at a steady rain, but the sky was light so I was praying for it to clear up. We were looking at sitting outside for the next 3-4 hours!

After eating, we left the car and walked the 5 blocks to the stadium -- now a heavy drizzle. Charlotte is not as big as some cities I've been to, but the buildings there are still quite tall and the massiveness of the stadium just adds to the excitement. Quickly the sea of turquoise blue began to surround us and there were the huge panther statues that welcome you to the stadium. I was as giddy as a child at Toys R Us for the first time!

Anyway, the game was really exciting, and the Panthers beat the Cleveland Browns 20-12. The Lord blessed us with perfect weather (not more than a mist once seated inside the stadium and just on the comfortably cool side!). The people around us were using some bad language and drinking up the beer but everyone remained on the friendly side. The people directly behind us could have come right out of the Blue Collar Comedy Show. They were soooooo countrified and one guy kept making up funny one liners (i.e. after Julius Peppers slammed into the Brown player with the ball, "You just got some Peppers, now you want the salt?!").

As we were riding into Charlotte that morning, I tuned the radio to find a sermon as it was Sunday morning and we were missing church. I came across a Franklin Graham message. He was saying that Jesus Christ was the only way to heaven as we cannot enter the presence of a holy God on our own merit. He said some say what about the millions of Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists? Graham said they must come by way of Christ also; He died for us to cover our sins. Those religions don't have anything which will do that for you but they can make it to heaven too if they would just believe in Christ as Savior. In just as bad a predictament are the millions of church-going Americans who think they're heaven bound but are also lacking that personal salvation in Christ. He made it so clear that I feel ashamed that I am not daily telling everyone I encounter of their opportunity for heaven.

I don't think it's very likely to be in the presence of millions of people at one time (at least I don't have anything like that on my calendar); however the 70,000 in the stadium was overwhelming enough. As I sat there, I thought, "Christ died for each person here and this is only a small, small representation of the world." It simply amazes me. Thinking that Christ being fully God hung on that cross knowing each of the names of all people throughout history! How can I not serve Him fully each day? And yet I don't.