Before they come to Minnesota Thursday Night, MercyMe hads some business to take care of.

For the past three years, contemporary Christian band MercyMe has played a concert at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. And every year, the Rangers have sold out the game when the group performed.

MercyMe made its annual appearance on Saturday, Aug. 28. playing a pregame concert at 5 p.m. and then singing the national anthem. MercyMe was part of the Rangers’ Faith Concert Series presented by I am Second and KLTY/94.9 FM.

And, as he has done in the past, Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton joined the action, addressing the crowd at 5:15 p.m.

“MercyMe is from the area, and I’ve gotten to know them over the past few years,” Hamilton said. “It’s been a good time knowing them, because they’re all solid guys. And anytime you get to speak and address the power of Jesus, it is something to get excited for.”

I am really looking forward to Thursday Night at the Minnesota State Fair because I get to go see MercyMe perform again. This will be the fourth concert I have seen them play, and if it’s like the previous three, it will be awesome again.

Growing up on the prairies of So Dak, I was exposed to a heavy dose of secular pop & country music. If it was played on the radio, I heard it. I went to college in in the Twin Cities during the 80′s and heard everything from 80′s synthesisers to the Boss, Prince, Huey Lewis and Madonna. I was never exposed to Christian music until my lovely wife started taking me to concerts in 1996.

Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore and the Distance, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Rich Mullins and The Newsboys… We went to several live shows, and I started to appreciate their talents. In 2004 we went to a December 11th Christmas concert featuring Steven Curtis Chapman. The opening act was MercyMe. I will NEVER forget the concert at Excel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN because that was the day I heard Angels singing in male voices- with guitars.

I had never heard this band before that day, but I had apparently heard their song “I Can Only Imagine” several times on the Twin Cities radio station KTIS while riding in wife’s car. I used to rip on Christian artists for lack of originality, but after listening to the music of MercyMe live, I will admit that I was wrong.

Many of my friends and family would be surprised to learn that my top 3 live bands of all-time now includes MercyMe. They are officially on the same level as Prince & U2 as I am concerned. Bart Millard’s vocals are distinguished as the short purple highness and Bono. I will ALWAYS buy a ticket to go see them live. It is worth every penny, and I always leave their shows more positive with peace of mind. Go figure.