Was This the Best NASCAR Prayer Ever?

At the end of July 2011, Pastor Joe Nelms, of Family Baptist Church in Lebanon, Tennessee, gave a most unusual prayer at the opening of the the NASCAR Federated Auto Parts 300 race.

There was definitely a reaction from the crowd and he got a big cheer at the end. Pastor Joe said he was trying to inject some life into the prayer, get peoples attention. that he surely did! He now says that he has received some inquiries at his church, so it would seem that he did spark some interest from his audience. 

Naturally there were some detractors, but the majority of people viewed it positively. As one news writer said, "Clearly, Nelms is single-handedly putting the fun back in fundamentalism". Faith is in a battle for survival, and this Pastor is right up there on the front lines. 

The clip was carried, by Reuters, ABC, and the Huffington Post, among others. In fact, Huffington did some research and posted two other videos of his unconventional prayers. that would indicate he is trying to reach people. 

Of course it has also made the rounds in the blog world and sure enough, someone put music to it. Here is the original clip first, but do listen to the "songified" one that follows~the tune  is kind of catchy...

Here is the Original Prayer

And Here is the Musical Version