Fall Breakaway 2004

WARNING: this will be a long post.
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This weekend I went to XA Fall Breakaway. (XA=Chi Alpha=check LSU XA out
HERE.)

Patrick, John, Matt and I went up in Pat's Mercury...I think it's a Sable...Friday afternoon. We got to Woodworth, LA (still don't know exactly where that is on the map) after 5 p.m. The retreat was at the Assemblies of God camp there. We chose our dorm bunkhouse, registered and started meeting many new people. Matt and I went around exploring the camp grounds.

Supper was great, a great way to meet a bunch of new friends. At 7 p.m., we had the first session. Let me just say the worship band they had, Common Grounds, was AWWWEEESOME. Not only musically...but really anointed. As we walked into the sanctuary, they were playing Matt Redman's Facedown (latest release/2 thumbs up) in the background. Worship was phenomenal...then Eli (forgot his last name already) gave a message that amounted to: "what God does IN you he wants to do THROUGH you." In other words, what God has deposited in you...He expects to make a withdrawal from that, i.e., you can't just be a "loner" Christian on your campus. You have a responsibility to reach out and preach the gospel. Following was an altar call for people who needed healing and renewal..I went up and strongly felt God's presence...many people were crying. As we ate snacks later on that evening...everyone was just amazed at what God had done.' the most powerful thing for me in worship at the end was realizing I loved each and every person in the sanctuary...even people I didn't know. I had been asking God to help me feel His love for people and bam there it was. I had this inexplicable extreme love for everyone there.

Next morning after a delicious breakfast/MUCH coffee, (accompanied by zombie-ish faces of many college students who didnt get much sleep), we had another awesome worship session, followed by work shops. We had to pick 2 (difficult decision). I chose 1) Evangelism and 2) XA Campus Ministry. All I have to say about Evangelism class was that the guy who taught it , Nate, was right on. Back to the basics: you want to evangelize effectively?
1) Be consumed with the Word
2) Keep up a life of communication with the Holy Spirit
3) PURITY PURITY PURITY.
He gave "practical pointers" after that...but that was the essence. And Nate has the most awesome dredlocks ever.

Then came lunch. Then came chilling in the bunks.

Then I was on the LSU volleyball team (they must have been desperate)...we lost, but came so close to winning. Beach-volleyball without the beach (i.e. sand). Loads of fun.
Then I went to the pond aka swim hole to swim for a couple hours...there was this awesome slide into the pond that we all did crazy stuff, like going down backwards, etc...at least I didn't RIDE someone else down, as some people did.

Then Patrick and I had a talk about how I'm doing spiritually. I tried to open up...i think I did. The truth is I'm doing okay and all...it's just I've felt emotionally weird since college started. I'm not depressed or anything...I'm really enjoying myself but...

...it's like all of the sudden, I feel like I don't know what I'm living for. I was doing campus ministry at my high school; now that's over. Throughout high school, I was working hard to be valedictorian/get college scholarships; now that's over, now I've once again started from the bottom. It just seems like I'm meandering through life right now. Life includes staying up late, supply and demand curves, lifting weights, Highland cafeteria, the Book of Acts, derivatives, new friends, Oedipus the King, afternoon naps, Microsoft Excel, hanging out, and a hodgepodge of other things that compose....a hodgepodge. Just a bunch of stuff...but I feel like BLAH. Blah everything. Not like just "blah serving God" but blah everything. I mean it's not the traditional blah, I suppose. It's blah as in I'm really having fun and college is cool but...here it is, ok.:

WHERE IS MY LIFE HEADED? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE? aah!

Anyhow, Pat and I talked about stuff and the future of me leading lifegroup next year, etc...

Then we went to dinner. I had the most fun time of my life ever washing dishes. OK, there were colleges from all over Louisiana at Breakaway..and LSU got the evening slot to help with clean up. So we were washing dishes, assembly line style. I was at the beginning, picking up the nasty pans and stuff, scrubbing the worst off to pass down the line. Basically, we had a blast doing dirty work: we sang our hearts out. Everything from VeggieTales to "Lean on Me" to the Donut Man songs, .... we closed out when somebody brought out the old classic, Jesus Freak. I now have a greater respect for "urban artists." I busted out the 2 rap verses of the song and I tell you what...I truly am a white boy. I concentrated so hard I was sweating. It takes a lot of energy to rap! Anyhow. Whoever thought washing dishes could be so fun?

Then we went to evening service..."Barbaric Christianity." i.e., John the Baptist. Being willing to come out of our comfort zones to serve God. After that, massive altar call for renewal, etc. and for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Those of us who had been baptized in the Spirit already were asked to pray in tongues around the building, walking around...it was a massive powerful time of worship and prayer. I'm curtailing this blog post now because I need a nap...but it was awesome trust me.

Then I stayed up eating snacks, playing "hacky-sack," listening to Chris/Adam play guitar at the pond.

Breakfast next morning=great, service=great. Message=John 13: world knows we are Christians by the love we have one for another.

Closed out with LSU guys meeting at the altar. We all got in a circle and prayed for the person in the cetner one at a time. It was a high point of my life seeing all these guys praying for each other, hugging each other, loving each other. It was out of this world.

Then we left (always hard to do after retreats) and drove back. here I am back again and I'm going to take a nap.

Summary: XA Breakaway:
-made friendships that will last through my college career
-allowed me to feel God's presence
-confirmed God wants me among these people and probable ministry
-was a blast
-gave me an extreme love for this group of people, allowed me to feel loved, made my jaw drop open that these everyday people are so anointed and such prayer warriors.