Truth and Blending Tour 2003
Daily readings are from the book Christ as the Reality.
Day 1 - Friday, March 14: Spokane, WA
Photos
- The saints prepared a wonderful lovefeast
- Singing before watching a video of Brother Lee from Galatians training on Christ being revealed in us
Day 3 - Sunday, March 16: Atlanta & Stone Mountain, GA, Knoxville, TN
Started today with the Lords table meeting, then took a small detour to Stone Mountian, a huge granite hill rising out of the countryside. After a quick trip up and down we loaded the vans again and headed to Knoxville. Arrived, ate, shared with the saints from our days' reading. We enjoyed Christ as the reality of the meal offering, being composed of fine flour, His perfect humanity, oil, His divinity, frankincense, and salt, without leaven or honey. This offering is baked and presented to the Lord for His enjoyment.
Photos
- Lord's Table meeting in Atlanta, GA blending with the saints.
- The sisters atop Stone Mountain, GA
- Good times in the brother's van.
- Relief of Confederate leaders Jefferson David, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson
- View of the trees from the top of Stone Mountain
- The meeting in Knoxville, TN.
Day 4 - Monday, March 17: Knoxville, Great Smoky Mountains, and Charlotte
Photos
- Packing up lunches in Knoxville before our day's drive.
- A view of the Great Smoky Mountains from the Appalachian Trail.
- We had a great time of singing with the saints in Charlotte!
Day 5 - Tuesday, March 18: UNC Charlotte and Raleigh
Today we visited our first campus, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. About passing out about 800 tracts in 1/2 hour, we had an exercised time of singing on the campus. After leaving the campus, we drove to the Raleigh-Durham area where about twenty of us played ultimate frisbee for about 2 hours. That was followed by a meeting with the saints in Raleigh where we shared the most recent messages on the humanity of Christ. This humanity is essential for the tent of meeting life, where the acacia wood overlaid with gold supports the structure of the tabernacle.
Photos
- Heading to the campus at UNC Charlotte.
- Shelley and another sister speak with a student.
- Our first campus singing time!
- A group photo at a saint's house near the campus.
- Singing during the evening meeting.
Day 6 - Wednesday, March 19: NC State Raleigh, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke
This day was a more relaxing one as we head into our long driving days tomorrow and Friday. After meeting with some of the local saints in the meeting hall a few blocks from campus, we spent a couple of hours passing out Generation newspapers and singing. In the afternoon we visited and walked around UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University before taking in a North Carolina barbeque dinner (complete with hush puppies) at a local restaurant. Dessert came in the form of a prayer meeting with the saints back in Raleigh, where the foremost item was a burden for the current events in the Middle East.
Photos
- Singing at NC State in Raleigh.
- Patrick and David walking back to the meeting hall from NC State.
- Some sisters at the meeting hall.
- North Carolina barbeque dinner.
Day 7 - Thursday, March 20: Savannah and Jacksonville
Today was our biggest day of driving with about 11 hours on the road. Heavy rain turned to clear skies as we drove into Savannah, allowing us to take a 2.5 mile walking tour of the historic downtown. As we returned to the vans it again started pouring down rain, and news reached us that a couple of tornados had touched down about 30 miles away. The next stop was a photo op of the Atlantic ocean before proceeding on to Jacksonville. The saints there greeted us very warmly, and we enjoyed a great time of singing and sharing with them. They were very excited to have us visit, and the hospitality was excellent. Today's readings show that we need to be "Jesusly" human, not humanly human. Some people may build up twelve inches by what they do, but tear down fourteen inches by what they are. In the church life, we need the humanity of Jesus much more than the gifts, the so-called baptism, or the knowledge of the Bible. A normal Christian is not an angel, but a Christian with a normal humanity, the humanity of Jesus.
Photos
- Happy van time in van #1!
- Brothers find a fountain in Savannah
- There are many monuments in the downtown park
- A group shot on the Savannah River
- Brothers at the beach
- Sisters at the beach
- The meeting in Jacksonville
Day 8 - Friday, March 21: Gainesville and Atlanta
Gainesville, about a two hour drive from Jacksonville, is home to the University of Florida with about 46,000 students. We spent a couple of hours on the campus, singing and passing out Generation magazines. The afternoon drive to Atlanta was our last van time, and we read chapter fourteen on the humanity of Jesus for the church service. In Paul's epistles to Timothy and Titus he very much stressed the humanity of those who serve the Lord. In I Timothy chapters two and three he uses a number of words to describe the qualifications of elders and deacons in the church; none have anything to do with power and gifts, but rather they have to do with human virtues. After spending some time in Atlanta traffic, we had a great meal of buffalo wings with the junior high and high school students and shared with them from the day's readings.
Photos
- Brothers and sisters singing at UF.
- Can you see the alligator? Not sure if it is actually shown in this picture, but it was spotted where the circular ripples are.
- Jamie is telling us that, yes, we really have to be ready to go at 5:00am tomorrow.
Day 9 - Saturday, March 22: Flight back to Spokane
After an early start, many took the opportunity on the plane to catch up on a little rest. The last reading of the trip was chapter 16 which shows Paul's concern that the saints would take the humanity of Jesus. He lists five ways: call on the Lord (II Tim. 2:22), breathe in the Word (II Tim. 3:16), be in the Body (II Tim. 2:22), exercise our spirit (II Tim. 1:7), and realize the Lord Jesus within our spirit (II Tim. 4:22). The saints in Spokane greeted us at the airport, and they provided lunch for us. We then overflowed our enjoyment of the trip with them.
