Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 15:21:21 (PDT)
From: Tina Eldridge
Subject: San Antonio Transcript

Mitch McVicker concert with Brad Layher
Thursday, April 6, 2000
Community Bible Church
San Antonio, Texas
(also appearing were Bebo Norman and Andrew Petersen)

Mitch:  Hey!
 (applause)

[Only Love Will]
  (applause)

Mitch:  Thanks, it's so good to be here, so, and it's
kinda put me in the mood to do a stupid song.
(audience laughter)

[The Lemonade Song]
 (applause)

Mitch:  Well, this is my favorite hymn

[On Christ the Solid Rock I stand]
 (applause)

Mitch: Oh, I love the hymns.  I think wow, what a
shame if they weren't around for, uh, things like that
statement of faith.  Brad and I have gotten - by the
way, this is um,  Brad Layher (applause)...

Brad:  Thanks.

Mitch:...um, we get to take some long drives and alot
of times on our drives we're like 'wow, what do you
want to talk about for the next 12 hours?', and one
time we were just like 'well, if you could be any
animal, um, what, what animal would you be?' and I was
like wow, you know I think I'd be a polar bear, you
know, you get to play around in the snow and ice and
never get cold and uh, you get to find Cokes floating
around in the water... (audience laughter)

Brad:  No people, don't encourage him!! Bad!!!

Mitch:...no, for real, I mean, I saw that on TV, and
plus I was like you know what, I think I could do a
pretty good polar bear impression; a pretty good polar
bear call.  So, I worked it up and it goes like this:
"hmmmmmmmmmm" (audience laughter)

Brad: (to audience) No!!!

Mitch:  so uh, on one of those long drives, this is
one of the songs that, um, Brad and I ended up writing
on one of those long drives, just kinda out of the
blue.  This little thing that Brad has is a mandola,
and he was practicing it in the front seat, and uh, so
we just decided we'd go ahead and write a song on it
because it just fits better in the front seat than
like a guitar or something, (audience laughter) and
it's cool beacuse you can still, like, steer with your
knees and stuff (audience laughter).

Brad:  Hey, it ain't funny!  You don't have to ride
with him!

Mitch:  So, this is something that we came up with on
a long drive.

[Home]
 (applause)

Mitch:  Thanks.  Brad is switching over to play the
hammered dulcimer for this song. (numerous "woohoo's"
from audience) Woohoo!!!!!!!

Brad:  Thanks.

[Heaven is Waiting]
 (applause)

Mitch:  Thank you, well, that song is, um, is a song
that I got to sing on the soundtrack to a musical
entitled "Canticle of the Plains" that I got to write
with Rich Mullins a few years back, and um, I spent
about two and a half years traveling, doing concerts
and writing songs with Rich, and uh, when we weren't
traveling we were living in the same place out in New
Mexico.  Then, uh, just over two and a half years ago,
I was invloved in the car wreck that ended up killing
him.  Needless to say I got messed up pretty good too
myself.  I had, um, broken bones, collapsed lungs, I
was in a coma, in the hospital for a month, in therapy
for months after that.  Uh, slowly but surely things
are gettin' better, even when I wondered if they were
ever going to.  I wondered if I was going to have the
quote "normal" life that I was planning on having and
heading towards.  And still, two and a half years
later, I ain't out of the woods yet.  I'm still
dealing with some things because of all that.  I still
see with double vision and the experts tell me that
it's gonna clear up someday, sometime.  I'm still
waiting for, uh, nerves in my body to heal up so I can
see and sing and move like I used to.  And I guess
that's all happening - well, I know it's all
happening, it's just happening at such a slow pace
that I can't tell from day to day, I can only tell
from like year to year. Through this whole thing, I've
said 'God, if You could just help me out here, lemme
know what's going on, uh, cause it don't make sense, I
can't figure this out.  Give me a sign, give me an
answer - something', and uh, God didn't.  Uh, what I
do know is that God works good from tragedy, and uh, I
go just because you go through something life changing
like that, it doesn't mean life is over, it just means
that life is different than you thought it was going
to be.  Um, I've said many times 'Lord, heal me.  You
say right there in the Gospels that whatever we ask
for in prayer we will receive, I'll give it a shot
then:  heal me...please...pretty please...'  What I've
learned is that just because things aren't happening
at the rate that we would like them to doesn't mean
that God's not working.  Um, I dunno how the Head
Honcho of this universe works, but God *is* healing me
and He has heard my prayer when I wondered if it had
been heard and He is working.  And, uh, this is a song
that uh, I got to write with Rich before all this went
down, and uh, it means a lot to me to get to do it.  I
spent the last two and a half years trying to find the
good in this, and I know that there's a bunch of good,
I've seen a lot of the good.  Um, for example, one of
the perks of being in this particular situation is
like tonight, with my eyesight, this crowd looks huge.
(audience laughter)  This is one of the "good things"
thar has come from this.  Um, I love to do this song. 
A lot of peple have come to like it - I like doing it
because I remember writing it with Rich, and uh, we
wrote it for him to record and he didn't get to.  Life
has worked out to where I've gotten to record it now,
and uh, I'm glad.

[My Deliverer]
 (applause)

Mitch:  Well, I would like to end with this next song,
uh it's, it's uh,  whoa - I think my tuner just busted
and I ain't got a good enough ear to do this without
one of those! (Brad walks over and "fixes" tuner) Oh. 
You know that Brad has a degree in civil engineering? 
(applause)  Each day it's evident in a new way.

Brad:  Mom is so proud.

Mitch:  Uh, the past couple of months I've been
working on a new album that will be out...sometime,
and uh, this is one of the songs that's going to be on
it, um, and uh, it's probably my favorite song that
I've ever gotten to write.  I think it just talks a
little bit more about the Kingdom of God than anything
else I've been able to come up with, and the Kingdom
of God is something very intreauging to me.  It just,
it just rarely makes sense, uh, but I think sense is
our own hang-up. I think we're the ones that things
have to always make sense for, I don't think God is
terribly concerned with making sense, I think God is
concerned with the Truth.  The Truth is...we are
blessed.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit" said Jesus,
"Blessed are the pure in heart".  He says that about
us, though we are murderers.
Boom...boom...boom...(makes hammering motion).  Each
sin, we are nailing Jesus to the cross, yet we are
blessed says Jesus.  Wow, it don't make sense, but
that's what I'm thankful for.  So, I thank y'all for
listening to us and I hope to hurry on back!

[Someday]
 (applause)

Mitch:  See ya!!

(applause)         

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