Day Two 7/17/25
This morning we met in the hotel lobby at 6:30, then drove to McDonalds for breakfast. The woman at the counter was rather surprised to learn that there were going to be 31 people in pink shirts coming through the line. She did a great job taking everyone's breakfast orders, although apparently there is a limit to how much you can put on one order, as the computer system closed the order with 4 people left to go, and that caused a bit of a delay while they sorted that out.
After leaving McDonalds, we watched some cartoons on the bus and played some more games including a bus version of UNO, which required people to change seats based on the cards they had.
We also played a trivia game, but before we knew it we were at Whataburger in Jackson, MS for lunch.
During lunch, we read and discussed the first part of a document describing the theological foundation of the theme of this year's NYG (ENDURE). We talked about the information that bombards youth today, and how that leads some not to endure in their faith. This Gathering focuses on helping youth ENDURE whatever challenges they are facing with a resilient faith in Jesus and live a life of love in His name. Those in my small group also learned a new word - hermeneutical. The quote from the document was "Only Matthew in the New Testament rivals Hebrews for the range and hermeneutical complexity of the Old Testament texts it cites". We looked up "hermeneutical" and found that it means the theory and methodology of interpretation of texts. The point was that the book of Hebrews is to a large extent an interpretation and exposition of the Old Testament (and is understood better if one has a sense of what actually happened in the Old Testament, which requires being active/diligent/constant in reading Scripture, including the Old Testament...).
After lunch we got back on the bus and our driver (who has been Daryl ever since Hanibal, MO) took us across the bridge that goes over Lake Pontchartrain. It is the longest continuous bridge in the world, stretching 23.86 miles! Motorists have been known to freeze in fear in the middle where they lose sight of land on either side.
This is the entrance to the bridge
This is the weather as we crossed the bridge. It rained shortly after we got across (from about 2-2:30), and crossing the bridge we could see the clouds building and rain in the distance.
On the bus ride, we also watched a "Gilligan's Island" episode talking about voodoo in a humorous way, followed by some nap time and then a Bible study (voodoo part 2). The Gilligan's Island episode showed voodoo dolls and portrayed the witch doctor in a silly way, as he used his voodoo dolls to cause silly things to happen to the other characters.....We talked about evil and about revenge. We are not to take revenge using a voodoo doll (even if they did work) or in any other way. There is evil in this world - we do some of it and some of it happens to us. However, when it happens to us, it is not our job to take revenge. Romans 12:19 says Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written, "vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Rather, we are to love our enemies and do good to those who do evil to us.
Lord, this is not easy for us to do. Give us strength to ENDURE the evil in the people around us and the courage to leave it to You to make all things right in Your time. Forgive the evil within my own heart. When I want to take revenge, remind me that ALL sin is equally evil to You (including my own sin). Give me the power to forgive and love those around me, even when it's tough.
We arrived at Greenwood Cemetery, a public cemetery/mausoleum.
We arrived at Greenwood Cemetery, a public cemetery/mausoleum.
All the dead in New Orleans are either cremated or buried above ground because of the high water table.
We walked through the cemetery, looking at the variety of tombs and thinking about the concept of above ground burial.
Many of the tombs were "family tombs" with many people inside. When a person dies, workers place the deceased on the top level and the previous top casket is moved to the second level down. The casket that had been in the second level is opened and the remains are placed in a third casket at the bottom of the tomb with others who had previously died. Temperatures in above ground tombs can reach 150 degrees farhenheit (much hotter than the relatively constant temp of 50 degrees below ground), so essentially it is a slow cremation.
The cemetery is quite large, and arranged with streets running through it, complete with street signs.
Our hotel (the Westin) was just a short drive from the cemetery. We unloaded EVERYTHING off the bus and got it moved into the hotel.
Next, we went to Mulate's
but since they weren't taking reservations, we put our names on the list and walked down to a park next to the convention center. The park has a statue commemorating Hurricane Katrina and this will be our meeting place when we meet the bus from the convention center.. You can see the tree trunk of the lower part of the sculpture on the right side of this picture...
This is the top of the sculpture!
We broke into small groups and found a place to sit in the park for a short time to continue reading/discussing the article Theological Foundation.
The food was delicious - meat pies, frog legs, fried alligator, cheese sticks, jambalaya, and more, topped off at the end with bread pudding!
Pastor led a Bible study on that street corner.
Next, we went to Mulate's
This is the top of the sculpture!
We broke into small groups and found a place to sit in the park for a short time to continue reading/discussing the article Theological Foundation.
then when Pastor got notification that we had reached the top of the wait list we walked back to Mulate's
While we waited for the food, we danced to the live music.
The food was delicious - meat pies, frog legs, fried alligator, cheese sticks, jambalaya, and more, topped off at the end with bread pudding!
Everyone had a good time trying new things.
After a brief stop back at our hotel, we set off for a walk down Bourbon Street. We all had on bright pink "Jesus Loves You" shirts, and we received mixed reactions - Pastor, walking in the front, got mostly a negative reaction (laughs and people making side derogatory comments to their friends), whereas Art and those in the rear got mostly positive comments ("I love Jesus too!").
We turned off Bourbon street and walked toward Jackson square, where there is a statue of Jesus which projects a large shadow onto the wall of the church behind it. Jesus beckons us away from Bourbon Street with its many evils, and toward Himself. For there is no forgiveness of sins, life or salvation to be found on Bourbon Street. That is only found in Christ. Bourbon Street may seem tempting/alluring, but in the end only Jesus brings what we need and what our soul desires.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).
We sang our closing song (You are My All in All) acapella with our mini flashlights lit.
Then we walked back to the Westin
and up to our meeting room, where we talked about our walk and detailed our plan for tomorrow (going back to Bourbon St early tomorrow morning to compare what it looks like in the evening and in the morning...)
When I can't see Your face
I will lift my gaze and offer my surrender
And when I can't see Your plan
I will lift my hands and offer my surrender
I'm learning to trust, learning to trust You
Learning to trust, learning to trust You
Learning to trust, learning to trust Your heart
While I'm running with You in the dark
Lord, I don't always know what You're doing
But I know You will get me through everything.
(From 'Running With You in the Dark', slightly modified
Tenth Avenue North)
Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows (Mathew 10:31)
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