Ashville, Speeding Up and Shutting Down

the new stuff I'm currently listening to: The Decemberist

the old school stuff I'm currently listening to: The Cranberries AND Queen

movies currently watching: Wayne's World 1&2

Visiting Ashville this weekend was a wonderful change in pace. I went to get back a bass guitar that was lent to me which I lent to Andy, but I also wanted to escape High Point for a little while. It was good. I was in such a good mood yesterday as soon as I got out of the cloud of the city and onto the open road. The music was loud and the windows were down for two hours of fast mountain driving. I left my worries here and went with an open head to a beatuful beautiful place. Montreat, which is where Andy resides, really awakens the wild side of my hear... the part of me that wants to go into the wilderness and survive, the part of me that wants to take risks and be brave. There's not much room for that in the city or at school... I just need to go camping more often, and I'm not talking about wuss camping... I'm talking about hardcore in the wild camping. But it was good to see Andy and his friends. I get along so well with all of Andy's friends just after a short while of knowing them.

When I initially got there, we went to downtown Ashville to a city-wide festival they were having. I'm serious, the entire downtown was overrun by bands, vendors, and very very drunk people. It was interesting though. There were so many different types of people there, I felt like I was in a different part of the world. I was almost overwhelmed by the diversity and just observing it all.

After that we went back to his campus and (shhhhh) broke into the campus conferrence center to play hide-and-go-seek. It was slighly dark, slightly scarry, but very very fun. We thought we were in risk of being caught though because there was somebody parading around the building with a flashlight, so we left. But then we went and broke into the sanctuary and just sat and talked for a while. Sleep was so wonderful that night. As soon as we got back to Andy's lodge it started raining pretty hardcore. My bed was right next to an open window, so the orchestra of rain falling on the rhodadendrins (don't check the spelling on that one) and ivy put me to sleep in record time.

In the morning we went back to Ashville to have lunch with one of his friends who had been away in Peru on missions. He was a pretty interesting guy. He asked our waitress and sheff if they had anything they would like to be prayed for before we prayed for our food. I've never experienced someone so on fire for evangelism. It was quite encouraging. The majority of the rest of the day invovled Andy and I trying to find the house of his friend who had the bass guitar. It took an hour to find it I think, but it was an adventure. Andy was slightly discouraged, but I enjoy that kind of stuff. After that we went to buy new music and then we went back to his lodge and I was able to learn how to brew rootbeer. I've got a batch sitting on my fridge, but it won't be ready until next Saturday.

Okay, the stuff that has been on my mind as of late... We, as men, are so consumed by the noise of this world. It is often the noise that drives us rather than the Holy Spirit. We say that we do but we do not yeild complete controll. It's not the American way. And what representation do I see on TV of us. The secular world portrays what it preceives and it portrays insecure, close-minded, self-righteous individuals. But then I look to the other side of the entertainment venue. I turn to a "Christian" channel and what do I see. I see "the man" standing on a stage wearing a nice suit with really crazy hair and nice jewelry, yelling at me like a car salesman. Salesmen are tricksters. They will manipulate your mind into feeling like you need something. And what is even more sad is that some of them are just in it for the power. This is not how the gospel was intended. The gospel does not need a fancy suit, a crazy awesome sound system, or a smooth voice to get it's point across. If anything, all of the above only adds to the hum and buzz of every day life. The gospel is the power of God, and man can do nothing to enhance it. It enhances man. A lesson God taught me this year was that through my weakness, His strength is made complete in me. In other words, as soon as I get it out of my head that I can do something amazing for Him, the faster He will sweep me up and move His power through me. Seperate from God, I am nothing. But speaking of the whole poor representation thing, the English band Massive Attack wrote a song which contains the lyrics:

"(God) the teachers are representing You so badly, Jah forgive us for representing You so badly, so badly"

Agreed, Massive Attack. We represent God as Christians so badly and we think that the world hates us because of the prophecy of Christ. "When the world hates you, remember that it hated me first." The world does not hate Christianity because it shines with the light and love of Christ. The world hates Christianity because it is the overbearing parent who is always yelling and saying just what you should and shouldn't do. We shouldn't be encouraged because we're hated right now. We've got alot of work to do on the interior before we are hated for the right reasons. But we are on a turning point. There is a new foundation being laid in the hearts of the new generations. There is a revival in the making where we will return to the church which is spoken of in the New Testament. We will return to a focus on a life in persuite of the Love of Christ. It is only a matter of time. Let us pray though that God will use the evil among us for good. Let us pray that we continue to proceed through the muck of our current situation and not lay stagnant. Peace and love.