Iowa City Retreat

So, it's been almost a week, and I haven't posted about the retreat yet. Well, that's about to change. Here are a few of the highlights:

Always find out what's in a box before you decide to carry it through the hotel lobby. We were down to two boxes left--plus the cart-load--and we didn't want to have to make another trip just for two boxes, so the two of us that weren't pushing the cart decided we could get them. When we got everything up to the room where we were having the sessions, we found out that I had carried one of the subs--and wall-sat with it in the elevator because I didn't want to set it down--and the bass player had carried the mixing board. Nothing like finding out that you've just carried thousands of dollars of equipment to make you glad you didn't find out what it was by the sound it makes when you drop it.

40 people worshiping to 2 guitars and a djembe can be as good as over 1,000 people rocking out at Anthem. Yes, for the Saturday morning worship, we only had 3 people in the worship "band". For the Friday night worship, we had 2 guitars, a bass, a djembe, and an extra vocalist. It seems more personal when there's room to spread out during worship--and I think I may be getting too old for front-row-during-Anthem style worship.

Salt in a bar is going to be fun. I know, you're jealous, but you can come visit and experience Salt in a bar if you want. It's a nice little place with a moose in the bar itself--I'm not sure if it's plastic or an actual taxidermied moose. Besides, worshiping God while people in the next room are drinking beer? How can God NOT use that to bring people into his kingdom?

Here's a conversation that I've had many times this past week. Me: "I don't like Iowa City." Other person: "Why not? I love Iowa City." Me: "It's too big for me." Other person: "Wait. Aren't you from Des Moines?" Me: "Yeah, and I hate Des Moines too."

Hotel beds are too soft. I've gotten used to futons and dorm room beds. I can't sleep on big, fluffy mattresses. I need to feel the random springs or bars digging into me.

I almost forgot the big one. We don't know the name of the church yet. It might be "Cornerstone Church of Iowa City", but it might not. We discussed possible other names, and I think we ended up having over half a dozen suggestions, with "Anthem Church" being the most popular.

Well, that's all I can remember, so I'll now go rest my poor, poor handses. (Another reason I shouldn't be up against the stage during Anthem--I tend to pound my fists, and now my knuckles are all bruised)

The details fall into place

So, this weekend is the Iowa City retreat. This means I won't be in Ames tonight or tomorrow morning. How does this fit into the title, you ask? I'll tell you.

Last night, I went to Salt, without a clear plan of how I was to get to Iowa City. I figured I'd just ask our favorite drummer. When I asked him, he said he had to be there really early, and he would be leaving around 11:30. I thought for a second, and realized this actually works better for me than arriving when we're actually supposed to be there (7:00, 6:00 if you want to prayer walk).

The thing is, Kirkwood wants me to take a placement exam because I never passed an English class at ISU, and I guess they don't like that. I had no idea how I was going to get out there to take it--short of asking someone if they'd mind giving up their day to drive me out and back--until last night, and I didn't even think that he'd probably have to go early. God's just working on some of the little things. I can't wait to see what He does there.

Also, this is going to be the first time I've been to the IC--other than that 7am Saturday stop at McDonalds on the way back from New Orleans that one spring break.

I call a trebuchet!

I can't remember where I was when this conversation came up, but there was talk about the New Jerusalem and how, if God wanted, he could create "enemies" to attack the city so that we could re-enact the siege of Gondor. Now I just happen to be reading through Revelation during my quiet times (I'll finish it up today) and I skipped ahead to the description of the city.

The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using.
--Revelation 21:16-17 (NIV)
footnotes: 12,000 stadia ≈ 1400 miles; 144 cubits ≈ 200 feet; the word for thick may instead translate to "high"

Now one thing stands out to me: it will be as high as it is long. A city 1,400 miles high! For comparison, the International Space Station operates at around 200 miles up. I'm wondering if that's how high the structures we'll be living in (if there are any structures, we might just be chilling in God's presence, and not need homes) or if that's the height of the wall--and not 200 feet. If the wall is that tall, then the whole "let us play the part of Gondorians" idea won't work out too well.

However, there's also the problem of will. Would we even want to do anything besides bask in the Glory of God? I would say we probably wouldn't want to, and I know we wouldn't need to.

Anyway, the description of the size also makes my jaw drop. 1,400 miles square. If you were to drive from Des Moines to Las Vegas, you'd have gone about that far. But this is a city, not a country. That implies lots of people in close quarters. Figuring with the population density of Paris--no real reason for picking that city rather than any other--there will be around 106 billion people in New Jerusalem. 106 billion people! That's 15 times the current population of the earth, all living together and worshiping the King. And if the city is going to be 1,400 miles tall, using the population density of Paris is going to be very low--building codes in Paris don't allow for skyscrapers. Just being in that body of worship is going to be amazing. I can't wait to see it.

This can't be normal

So, now that it's warm out, I've mostly stopped wearing shoes. This is because shoes make my feet too hot and they're uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I have problems when I switch from shoes to flip-flops. The soles of my feet get hard fairly quickly--probably because I walk around so much--and if I'm not used to walking without shoes on, eventually the heel starts to crack. Right now, I've got about a half-inch split on my left heel, which as you can imagine, is uncomfortable. Every time I take a step, it tries to split a little wider--as do all the other mini-cracks that haven't begun to hurt yet--so the only way for it to heal is if I stop walking, but I'll have the same problem as soon as I start walking again--not to mention that I won't be able to get anywhere. This happens to me every year, and I know it will go away after a while, but it is annoying as it's happening.

Music

So the past couple days, I've had a song stuck in my head--For You, by The Calling--that I hadn't heard in a couple years. And yesterday at church--stay with me, I promise this is going somewhere--the topic was about the Bible--how it is the truth, and the benefits of reading it (including giving light to the eyes--Psalm 19:8). I only knew the lyrics of the chorus to the song, so it got annoying really fast, and I decided to look up the lyrics online, and saw this:

Within the darkness
You are the light that shines the way.

And this:

Someone's changed me
Something's saved me
And this is who I am.
Although I was blinded
My heart let me find out
That truth makes a better man.

Now this is a pop song, released in 2003 for the Daredevil soundtrack, and I'm seeing Christian references in here. I've been seeing these kinds of things a lot lately--like little arrows pointing to God--and every time I notice one, it makes me smile. The best part of this--in my mind--is that the song was stuck in my head for the chorus, and my mild OCD made me so upset that I had to get the full lyrics. And I can't even begin to point out the references in another song on that soundtrack--Bring Me to Life, by Evanescence--which I only listened to because the soundtrack was now on my mind.

Big Temptation

So, I was coming up to check my email about an hour ago, and I saw some people I knew sitting in front of the library. I stopped to see what was up, and they were praying. They were going to read the book of John--near the "Ask an Atheist" people. After a short time of reading, two of the atheists came closer--one holding a hardcover Bible, the other holding his Macbook. It felt like there was going to be trouble, and I got concerned that I would try to argue with them, thinking back to this post. A little later, the one holding the Bible came over and basically started attacking the guy who was reading by using references in the OT to show that "God makes no sense".

As this was happening, there was a struggle within me. My flesh wanted to go on the offensive and use the same tactics to break down science. The Spirit, however was saying "Just be still. Nothing can be gained by attacking them in the way that they attack. Remember: Power under, not power over." My flesh would then respond "But they started it! And besides, science claims that something that can't possibly have happened had to happen, and they believe it! Why shouldn't I respond in kind?"

This went on for over half an hour, but I stayed where I was, only telling the people around me that I had the temptation to rise up and fight back. They knew that it would be to no avail to fight back, and reaffirmed my decision to be still, though they also had the temptation to counterattack.