the words do not exist to express what kind of weekend i had. at least not in my vocabulary anyway.
lets start with the beginning. thats always a good place to start. im warning you......this is long, but its worth it.
friday - i noticed something as i was walking to the back of the line with my two cans of food in my hand. these people look like normal people. where are all the people with blue spiked hair and fifteen wallet chains? where are the people in wife beater t-shirts with tattoos galore? where are all the people with pants big enough to fit two people in and piercings in places that shouldnt be pierced?
i think i was the only guy there with long hair. wait, i think there was one other, but thats it.
this was definitely the most tame crowd that i have ever seen at the crush.
listened in on some interesting conversations while standing in line.
the group of high school kids in front of me were discussing a girl whom apparantly had made her rounds among the whole group. then the conversation turned to music and hardcore bands.
one of the kids said, 'man, i wish bands like limp bizkit and korn were christian bands.'
his friend made the comment, 'yeah, wouldnt it be cool if they suddenly became christian bands, with the following of fans that they already have.'
i kid you not. those were actual comments.
i couldnt help but laugh, and then my attention turned to the group behind me.
they were all older than me and well dressed. polo shirts and tommy hilfiger all around. i think one of them was even a youth director.
the funny thing was that they were talking about their band and how their guitar player was always breaking his strings because he played so hard.
then their conversation turned to skateboarding. they really knew what they were talking about. had the lingo down and everything. i was impressed.
anyway, we finally did get to go inside.
of course i went to the only place to watch a show, the very front in the pit.
the first band, american made, was....unique. when they were doing sound check they looked like a normal christian hard rock band. they had a guitar player and a bass player and a drummer. i noticed that there was an extra microphone, but didnt think anything of it.
they started off with a heavily distorted guitar driven hard rock intro to their first song. then, out of nowhere, this big black guy in alterna gear, wallet chain and all, jumps out and busts into this rap thing.
it was a little weird at first, but i got into. i mean, there are a lot of rock/rap groups out there, but they are usually fronted by a white guy trying to rap. this was a straight up black guy rapping just like he would if he were solo. it was really cool.
after their set was over, i saw candice and jessie from fire by night. i talked to them for a few minutes while the next band, stereo deluxx, setup onstage. jessie had brought a friend from church, kayla, with her.
kayla and i hit it off instantly. we talked about school and music and all kinds of stuff.
then stereo deluxx started playing. they were a much more mellow band with a chick lead singer. i wasnt nearly as impressed with them, but they were okay. the lead singer kind of had the shirley manson, im a freak, thing with a voice like gwen stefani, going for her. it was weird.
after their set, we see vance and jennifer sitting down, so we go over to say hi. again, kayla and i were talking/flirting. nothing wrong with that is there? i think we already covered that one.
anyway, we recruited vance and jennifer to come up front with us for skillet. and let me just say that skillet rocks in concert. the bass player is the lead singer. they also had a guitar player and a chick keyboard/synth player. they were all decked out in their rock star gear. then, there was the drummer, also a chick, who looked like your average run of the mill young person. she was incredible though. she looked out of place up there, but she sounded amazing.
like i said, they rocked. this was one of the only concerts where i actually got totally into the music and forgot where i was. thats how powerful the music was.
the really cool part was when the whole band left the stage exept for the lead singer. he did this 15 minute long devotional. it was awesome. he was talking about how you can kill a christian but you cant kill his message. and it was so powerful. people were on the floor praying, and i was right there with them. then, the band went straight from that into a version of holy and annointed one. it was so great to worship God with that many people. i hadnt worshiped God that much since last weekend.
kayla left while i was in the pit, so i didnt get a chance to tell her bye or get her number.
after the show i was on this incredible spiritual high, and i just happen to see candice and jessie as i was leaving. i stopped jessie and told her to get kaylas number for me. jessie was all excited about it and told me that she would.
now, that night i had the worst dream that i have had in ten years. apparantly i was a writer or something. or maybe it was just my journal. anyway, i had written something that said that i was going to kill a couple from my church.
in my dream, there was this little guy who looked almost like a lepricon, but he wasnt one. somehow he got ahold of the journal where i had written that and distributed to everyone in the church. every single member of the church was looking at me and wanted me to suffer. and everywhere i went after that this little guy was there and he was trying to persecute me and destroy my witness as a christian. this little man was just the essence of evil and there was nothing that i could do to stop him.
i went to bed about 12:30 friday night and i didnt get up until almost 1:00 p.m. on saturday, so i had a long time to dream about this. and everytime that i would wake up, i could feel this presence of evil around me. then, when i would go back to sleep i would just slip back into this dream in a different scenario. it was really terrible.
saturday - i woke up feeling like crap after this until i realized that it was just a dream. i still felt very weird after this because i knew that it was satan trying to put doubts into my head.
see, when i was worshiping at the concert i told God that everyday from then on i was going to die to the world and sin and take up my cross and walk with him throughout the day. when i woke up from the dream, i didnt feel like doing that.
now, i didnt tell anyone about the dream all day because it freaked me out. so i kept it to myself and planned to write about it in the journal.
flash forward to saturday night at bible study. there were only a few of us there, so we decided to spend time in worship.
im all about that, especially after the night before. it was incredible again. john played a mix tape that he had made of some different praise songs, and we all just worshiped in our own way. man, i love worshiping God.
anyway, after that we just started talking about different things in the bible, mostly the book of revelation.
then, john was telling us about how he had had a really terrible dream earlier in the week. he said that for a split second when he woke up he heard this screaming and gnashing of teeth, like what it sounds like in hell.
while he was telling this, i made the decision to share my dream when he finished. but vance jumped in right after he finished.
vance shared about his dream from the night before....another nightmare. in his dream, he had killed someone and buried them in his house. he was getting away with it because no one suspected him of it, but his conscience was killing him about it. he got all paranoid and ran away. he ended up running through the desert and then back in our hometown at the home of the same couple that i was going to kill in my dream.
weird, huh? you havent heard the best part yet.
after he finished telling his story, i shared my dream. when i was finished, vance asked me what the little guy looked like.
i told him, and he said that the same little guy was in his dream.
told you it was weird.
he said that once he got back to that couple's house, the little guy ran by. when he asked them who he was, they told him that it was just some guy that was staying with them.
the power of satan and evil is strong. strong enough to even control the dreams of two strong christians.
it was really scary to say the least. im feeling weird talking about it right now. i keep getting chills up my spine.
sheesh.
nicole (i love nicole) said that before satan was cast out of heaven, his job was to lead the worship. therefore he hates when christians worship. she also said that before we went to sleep that we need to put on the full armor of God and ask that he watch over us in all things. guess what. it worked.
neither of us had nightmares that night. i did feel the presence of evil around me throughout the night, but i wouldnt open my eyes.
after we finished talking about everything, we decided to spend some more time in worship, knowing full well that we would be inviting more of the same stuff. during this worship session i told satan that he could bring whatever he wanted on me, i was *going* to get down on my knees everyday and die to the world and take up my cross for God.
satan doesnt like to be tested.
there is one thing in this world that i am truly scared of and it goes back to my childhood.....dogs. leaving johns house, guess what runs directly at my truck. you're really good at this guessing game. its one of the ugliest, meanest, most snarlingly gross looking dogs that i have ever seen in my life.
but it was strange. i wasnt scared. i love defeating satan. dont you?
sunday - had a good day at church. brother gary preached a good sermon on what sin is at the very core.
fire by night practice was awesome. get this, everyone was there. i know, i know. its hardly believable, but its true. everyone did really well in all their different parts. i guess i did really well on my comfort speech too. it was a really great practice.
jessie gave me kaylas number and told me that she will be in town next weekend. i'll be calling her for sure.
sunday night we continued on with our study of the book of revelation. this week we went over the messages to the seven churches.
then, the bottom fell out of the sky and it started pouring. it also tried to lightning in my living room. tornado warnings and everything.
i didnt even get to see the X-files because that stupid weatherman wouldnt get off of my t.v. wasnt real happy about that one, but its okay.
monday - had a decent day at work. everyone was generally nice and i got several little candies and things. did some more flirting with the previously mentioned person. things were good.
then i got an idea. i had to go to the grocery store anyway, so i decided to get jennifer a card and leave it on her car. well, they had these cute little bears there. they were called rainbow bears, and came in all different colors. since jennifer is an alabama fan, i got her a blue and orange one for auburn colors. te he. the card had a picture of frasier on it and said something like, 'for enough intense sexual fantasies to send a psychiatrist crazy...' then you opened it up and it said, '...thanks. happy valentines day.'
i wrote my own little message inside and it was something like this:
jennifer,
just kidding about the fantasies thing, but you have to love frasier. i realize that you have been extremely busy lately, but i am still very interested in us going out. i know that this is lame and cheesy, but i am going to do it anyway. i guess what i am trying to do is ask you to be my valentine. if you are in the least bit still interested, then give me a call or page me when you get in tonight. i hope to hear from you soon.
p.s. i hope you like the auburn colored bears.
its a little after 10:00 now. she hasnt called yet. i really hope she does.
and yes, i know that that was a very cheesy thing to do, but i cant help it. im a hopeless romantic.