France Day 6: May 22nd

Today we spent nearly all of the day in the center. We began by eating croissants for breakfast. It was a Sunday so we cleaned up and welcomed the members of the church into church. The service consisted of prayer and singing. We sang in French and Arabic, with some occasional English. During the service the church members would share what the Lord was doing in their lives, what the Lord was teaching them, and asking the others to pray for them. The group would then take time to pray for the individual members of the group. It was a sharp contrast to anything I have seen in America. This was one of the most authentic pictures of the Body of Christ I have ever seen. The church showed a very serious desire to be prayer warriors for one another. The man who was scheduled to preach the message had to leave at noon (we started at 11) so he was unable to preach. After church we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant (on a usual Sunday the whole church stayed and ate together at the center, but not on this week). After lunch we returned to the center and began reading a story of a 3rd century North-African martyr. In the middle of the story a Tunisian couple from the church came back to the center to talk to us. They shared their testimonies and answered our questions. After this we finished the story and had a long discussion with the pastor that ended in singing worship songs. We then had dinner. After we cleaned up dinner we watched a movie about an Arabic man who found Christ. It was a very eye opening and worship-filled day that left me with a lot to think about. (There was nothing that was picture worthy or that I was allowed to take pictures of today.)

France Day 5: May 21st

This morning we had bread and coffee for breakfast, shocking I know. After that we went to the beach…at the Mediterranean Sea! It was a beautiful beach day and I also got a few minutes of reading in. The beach did not have sand; instead it had rock/gravel. I was told that the water was going to be really cold; however, it felt the same to me as a typical day at Virginia Beach. It was a great morning.

After the beach we drove for a few hours to the city of Avignon. We took a tour of the Pope’s Palace there. For about 100 years (1309-1403) the papacy was actually located in Avignon. 9 Popes actually lived in Avignon, although the final two were actually during a schism and therefore there was actually a Pope in Rome during their ‘reign’ as Pope. We toured the palace and learned a lot about Catholic influence in France. It was interesting to see that many of the statues of statesmen, monarchs, and clergy had their heads chopped off. This was done during the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a time when the French common people stood up to their oppressors, namely, the monarchy and the state church. This was just another reminder of the darkness that has been a part of France for so long. After the palace we drove back to Lyon and checked back into the hotel.

France Day 4: May 20th

I woke up on the 20th and ate bread for breakfast, which became somewhat of a theme. We spent the morning prayer-walking through the streets of Marseilles. It was a very discouraging experience. The streets looked more like a third-world country than what we would traditionally think of in France. The people had stands at which they sold cheap goods and many people looked poverty-stricken. (Before we left we were warned about the pickpockets and thieves in Marseilles, therefore I did not take my camera along today).


After lunch we saw two very different building projects. The first project was by the local Islamic community. They are building a giant mosque in the city of Marseilles. This mosque will cost them 22 million euros (roughly $30 million) and will be the largest mosque on the continent of Europe. They showed us a model of the building and then gave us a tour of the site. The ceremonial ‘first stone’ had been laid just shortly before we arrived. After touring the site we stepped outside and prayed for the building and the people who will enter it. We prayed that our Sovereign God will use this building in some way for His glory. We then visited a very different site. The next building was three-stories high and has (barely) survived multiple fires. The inside of this building had rubbish and debris everywhere. It was the site where the Marseilles pastors wanted to build a Protestant church. The local mayor has agreed to give them the building for a lease of 90 years rent free, but it will take them 280,000 Euros (roughly $400,000) to fix up the building. We spent time praying over the site and praying for God’s provision.


The day finished with us going to the Marseilles ‘center’ to eat pizza and hear testimonies. We heard many stories of North Africans who came to faith in Christ. It was very encouraging to hear these stories. Seeing the building sites that day had left me heart-broken and discouraged (which is not necessarily a bad thing, I think it is good to feel that way every now and then). However, hearing these powerful testimonies was just a reminder that no matter what seemingly huge, human obstacle is in the way, God is going to draw people to himself and glorify His name. We introduced ourselves to the local community of believers and had a nice time of fellowship before leaving for the night.

France Day 3: May 19th

I woke up feeling great on the 19th, and it ended up being one of my favorite days. We had focused on the Roman history of France the day before and today we focused on the persecution of the Huguenots (the Huguenots were French Protestants). The first thing we did was go to the Musee du Desert (museum of the desert, alluding to the Israelites in the desert in Exodus). The first room we walked into had a giant picture of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. (We had not officially gone into the museum yet so I was unaware of the no picture rule they had (there were no signs up either), so I have a picture of the Luther painting but nothing else at this site.)Then I looked around and saw pictures and artifacts of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and the other reformers. Needless to say I was pretty pumped! The museum was the house of a 17th century Huguenot. We went through the different rooms and saw the many instruments that they used in their secret worship services. One room, the ‘Bible room’, was particularly amazing. It was full of old French Bibles and showed the commitment to Scripture that these believers had. This museum really made me realize how easy we have it and unfortunately, how lightly we can tend to take Scripture. These believers could have easily budged on a few pieces of doctrine and been free from persecution, but instead they stayed faithful and suffered for it. After discussing the museum and it’s implications for our lives we went to lunch.


While at the museum we were told about the different forms of persecution. Children were just sent to Catholic school, men were sent to row ships until they recanted, and women were sent to the Tower of Constance (Tour de Constance). The next place we went to was a medieval city that was walled in. Inside the walls was the Tour de Constance. As we walked through the tower we were told multiple stories of martyred women and the lengths some women went to to help their fellow prisoners. It was gross to see the inside of this concrete tower and hear that 40+ women were stuffed into a little room. The conditions were terrible and at times they would do things like shave the women’s heads for humiliation. After walking through the tower we went through the city and I stumbled across another room dedicated to the reformers (bottom picture). After walking around the city a little more we drove to Marseilles and ate a typical French meal and went to the hotel. A day filled with history, theology, and persecution. It left me with much to think about and be thankful for.

France Day 2: May 18th

As many of you know the first week of our trip was originally supposed to be in North Africa. The point of this first week was for ‘cultural immersion’. Many of the people we came into contact with in France came from North Africa or North African descent, so the trip leaders thought it would be wise to take us to North Africa and be exposed to them there. Due to the change in plans we ended up spending the majority of the first week in the south of France doing ‘cultural immersion’. However, instead of being exposed to strictly North African culture, we were exposed to different facets of French culture and history each day. On the 18th, the focus was on the Roman influence in France.

We woke up around 5:20, which was not a problem for me since I had fallen asleep the night before around 8:30. We ate croissants in the center for breakfast and made sandwiches for ourselves for lunch. We the loaded up two vans and headed down three hours south to the Pont du Gard. The Pont du Gard is the site of a Roman aqueduct. We walked through a museum that gave us a very thorough history of how Rome came to rule in southern France and the impact that has on the modern day French. We also learned how they made aqueducts and why there is an aqueduct there. We then left the museum and walked out to where the aqueduct was and saw the beautiful site. It was huge! After taking some pictures we ate lunch.


After lunch we drove for about 20 minutes to the city of Nimes. In Nimes we visited another Roman amphi- theater, but this one was much larger than the one in Lyon. At the amphitheater we were given little MP3 devices that would guide us through the amphitheater and tell us about the different things that went on there. Not only did this amphitheater hold real gladiator fights, but it also was a place of Christian persecution and martyrdom. This tour reminded me once again of why this area of the world is so lost. I was unaware that intense Christian persecution went all the way back to the 3-4th century in France. I knew of the French Revolution and how the French had harbored hatred for the Catholic Church for hundreds of years prior. I knew there was intense persecution of Protestants in the 16-17th century (we learned more about this the next day). But I was unaware of the roots of this persecution back in the Roman era. As I began to process this it made sense that France is now basically split up into two groups. The first is the typical Frenchman who accepts atheism and postmodernism as truth. Though this group is emotionally Catholic, they are not practicing and are generally hostile to evangelistic efforts. The second group in France is North African immigrants. The number of North African immigrants is soaring in France and they bring their cultural and religious traditions with them. As we left the amphitheater, my heart was broke for the people of France. We then went to our hotel in the south and had a little bit of downtime to get settled in. We looked for a French place to eat but nothing was feasible on this night due to our late arrival so we ate a Chinese buffet. After dinner we stayed and talked for a long time (which ended being what happened at every dinner, it’s French culture). We had a very interesting conversation about what actually makes up a church. It was fairly late when we got back to the room so I got right to bed.

France Day 1: May 17th

On the morning of May 17th I arrived at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris at about 5:45 in the morning. Our flight had left Washington DC at about 4:40pm on the 16th. Therefore, the time difference took away our whole night. We got all of our things ready and then waited in the airport until about 8:20 when we got on a train to Lyon. We were on the train for about two hours and then we arrived in Lyon just to get on a tram that led us to the ‘Center’ where we would be doing most of our activities. We quickly went and checked into our hotel (which was about a half a block away from the center) and then ate lunch at the center. After lunch we went on a prayer walk through the city of Lyon.


The first place we saw in the city was a Roman amphi- theater. We talked there about the different cults and religions that are present in the city. We also saw a group of children there who were on some sort of field trip and were informed by our leaders that they would certainly not have any way of ever hearing the gospel in the present state of things. After the praying at the amphitheater we walked around and saw some Roman Catholic churches. We spent some time discussing the impact that Roman Catholicism has had and does have on the people of France. Unfortunately the impact, for the most part, has not been a good one. We then walked around the city a little more until we arrived back at the center. We then ate dinner and went to bed. By the end of that day I was completely wiped out and ready to get some much needed sleep. Overall a majority of the day was spent traveling therefore this post is slightly shorter.

Stupid Song Lyrics -- Christmas Edition

Here is one that I updated from the archives. Hope you enjoy as we enter this festive season . . .

Once again, we have arrived at the second Wednesday of the month, which can only mean it is time for another episode of Stupid Song Lyrics. In honor of the Christmas season, I thought it appropriate to delve into some of the more questionable lyrics from some of our holiday favorites. So, without any further ado . . .

1. “I saw three ships come sailing in, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. I saw three ships come sailing in, on Christmas Day in the morning.” Subsequent verses: “And what was in those ships, all three?”, “The virgin Mary and Christ were there”, and “O, they sailed to Bethlehem, On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day . . .”

I guess I’m missing something, because I don’t remember the biblical passage that describes Mary and the baby Jesus on a ship—a ship in a flotilla of three vessels—sailing into the land-locked town of Bethlehem on Christmas morning. Is this figurative or metaphorical language? Is the writer of this song using one of those “paraphrase” Bibles? Or are these just . . . stupid song lyrics?


2. From “Here Comes Santa Claus”: Santa knows that we’re God’s children, that makes everything right.

Talk about your blanket statements. That makes everything right? Everything? You know, there are a lot of terrible things going on out there in the world today—murder, kidnapping, terrorism, starvation, violence and tragedy of all kinds. But you’re telling me that as long as we all realize that Santa (a fictitious character) knows that we are all God’s children (or as Bing Crosby sings, “we’re God’s chillin’”), well, then, that makes everything right. You’re okay. I’m okay. The world is okay. It’s all good.


3. In Little Saint Nick, the Beach Boys continually harmonize, “Christmas comes this time each year.”

Except for that one year when it came in March.


4. “Everyone’s dancing merrily, in a new old fashioned way.” Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Don’t let this one confuse you. When you are rocking around the Christmas tree (which all of us do, right?), dance in a new old fashioned way, not in the old old fashioned way. You see, at one point, there was only one fashion. Then, a new fashion came along so we had to distinguish between the old fashioned way and the new fashioned way. But as is always the case, eventually, an even newer fashion came along--this was dubbed the new new fashioned way. The problem is, when people would refer back to what had gone before, it was confusing. People would ask, "Are you talking about the old old fashioned way or the new old fashioned way?" This song exhorts us to dance in the new old fashioned way. Thank you for letting me clear this up.


5. The Little Drummer Boy states, “The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum.”

Really? A couple of animals were keeping time? Now how exactly did they do that? Were they tapping their feet on the ground? Clapping their hoofs together? Scratchin’ on a first century mix-master machine? Seems kind of unrealistic. Besides, in any band, the drummer is the one who keeps time, so why would the little drummer boy need someone (or something) else to keep time for him in the first place?


6. And finally, I want you all to enjoy your Christmas to the utmost. Don’t hold back from having the most splendid holiday ever. Celebrate with gusto! In other words, I want you to Jingle ALL the way! Don’t jingle half the way. Don’t jingle a little bit and then give up. Don’t talk a good game and then stop jingling on December 15th. Don’t make excuses. Jingle ALL the way! You can do it!