For freedom?

These are some lyrics from a favorite song of mine by Lauryn Hill. It's called "Freedom Time"

It's freedom, said it's freedom time

Yo, there's a war in the mind, over territory
For the dominion
Who will dominate the opinion
Skisms and isms, keepin' us in forms of religion
Conformin' our vision
To the world churches decision
Trapped in a section
Submitted to commiting election
Moral infection
Epedemic lies and deception
Insurrection
Of the highest possible order
Destortin' our tape recorders
From here and like under water
Beyond the borders
Fond of sin and disorder
Bound by the strategy
It's systematic deprivaty
Heavy as gravity
Head first in the cavity
Without a bottom
A faith, worse than Saddam
Once got him
Drunk of the spirits
Truth comes, we can't hear it
When you've been, programmed to fear it
I had a vision
I was fallin' in indescision
Apollin', callin' religion
Some program on television
How can, dime and the wisdom
Be recognized in the system
Of Anti-Christ, the majority rules
Intelligent fools
PhD's in illusion
Masters of massconfusion
Bacholors in past illusion
Now who are you choosin'
The head or the tail
The bloodshed of the male
Or confidence in the veil
Conference is in Yale
Discussin' docctrines of Baal
Causin' people to fail
Keepin' the third in jail
His word has nailed
Everything to the tree
Severing all of me from all that I used to be
Formless and void
Totally paranoid
Enjoy darkness as the Lord
Keepin' me from the sword
Blocked from mercy
Bitter than Cerce
Hungry and thirsty
For good meat we would eat
And still, dined at the table of deceit
How incomplete
From confrontation to retreat
We prolong the true enemies defeat
Destitute a necessity
Causin' desperation to get the best of me
Punishment 'til there was nothing left of me
Realizin' the unescapable death of me
No options in the valley of decision
The only doctrine, supernatural circumcision
Inwardly, only water can purge the heart
From words, the fiery darts,
Thrown by the workers of the arts
Iniquity, shapen in
There'e no escapin' when
You're whole philosophy is paper thin
In vanity
The wide road is insanity
Could it be all of humanity?
Picture that
Scripture that
The origin of a man's heart is black
How can we show up for
An invisible war
Preoccupied with a shadow, makin' love with a whore
Achin' in sores
Babylon, the great mystery
Mother of human history
System of social sorcery
Our present condition
Needs serious recognition
Where there's no repentance there can be no remission
And that sentence, more serious than Vietnam
The atom bomb and Saddam and Minister Farakkhan
What's goin' on, what's the priority to you
What authority do we do
the majority hasn't a clue
We majored in curses
Search the chapters, check the verses
Recapture the land
Remove the mark from off of our hands
So we can stand
In agreement with his command
Everything else is damned
Let them with ears understand
Everything else is damned, let them with ears understand

It's freedom, said it's freedom time now

Who

I've been meaning to write about an experience I had about a month ago and have never gotten around to it. So, for this post, I will update you on one of my favorite moments I've had since getting to Austria.

It was a Friday and I was spending the day alone exploring Vienna. Trying to discover new places and get lost, I would randomly jump on "Strassenbahns" (street trolleys) that I didn't recognize and go with wherever they took me. It was getting to be later at night and I was unsure of what to do next when an elderly man came up to me and asked for directions. In my broken German I tried to help him but at the same time was unsure of where he was asking about. I decided after that to go to a homeless banquet that was being put on at a church I knew about in Vienna. They decorated their sanctuary as if they would be hosting diplomats and politicians. It was such a lovely idea. As I walked in, I looked around and, to my slight dismay, didn't see any members of the church that I recognized. Unsure of what to do next I sat down in a chair in the back of the sanctuary. The next thing I know, I hear a voice, in German, saying "My friend! I didn't know you were coming here!" and looked over to see the elderly gentlemen who I had previously given directions to. This started the beginning of a lovely evening.

He invited me to be his date that night and sit with him at the dinner table. His name is Preni, and he's 67 years old. He speaks 9 different languages and thoroughly enjoyed displaying all of the different words he knew in these languages. The one language he did NOT know, was English. The church members that were running this dinner didn't recognize me and treated me like the rest of the homeless people. It was so much fun to hang out with Preni, speak in broken German, and be surrounded by these lovely people. I made a lot of friends that night who I'm unsure if I'll ever see or talk to again, but I'm always looking for them. It was an awesome experience and opened my eyes to possibly what I may be doing for ministry during my time here.

Please pray for me as I explore what options there are to work with the homeless of Vienna.

Auf wiedersehen!

One month

It's been a month since I last wrote. I'm not sure what has come over me lately, but I'm having a really hard time keeping in touch/ verbalizing what is going on in my brain. Let's see what I can fill you in on...

Completed another month of language school. Now on to level 2A.
I went on a retreat with a church in Vienna.
Traveled to Germany for another retreat for one week.
Visited a concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria.
Attended 2 dance parties.
Welcomed spring weather.
Witnessed the "Critical Mass" bike demonstration in Vienna.
Had about an hour of homework every night.
Added many more feathers to my collection.
Enjoyed a visit from a Canadian friend.
Found out we most likely will NOT be receiving a visa here in Austria.
Learned more about myself.
Walked to a castle.
Pulled over by Austrian police while riding my bike.
Got sick and had 2 ambulances come to help me.
Allowed God to drastically and dramatically gain my full attention.

I plan on doing a better job of posting on this. I'm thankful to those who read. Please feel free to respond in anyway.