My letter to Bonnaroo.
Hi, my name is Jon Strong and I’m with Summit Church in Orlando, Florida. Last year I attended the festival and it was truly an amazing experience. One thing I noticed was how badly the local christians portrayed themselves and their faith, full of hate and judgement. I’ve talked to my church, and we’d like to go this year and add to the love that is already so vibrant at Bonnaroo; one of the ways we’d like to do this is by giving away free water to the citizens of Bonnaroo.
We’d also like to rent a booth on that main walk to Centeroo, maybe a place where we would hand out bibles to people who wanted them — I’m not quite sure yet. I would like to state upfront that the main point of this trip would not be to convert Bonnaroo attendees to Christianity, nor to tell them what bad people they are, because they’re not. The main focus of the trip would be to love as Jesus loved, without condemnation, and to spread the true message of His teachings.
I don’t know what the outcome of it all will be, but I do know a lot of people won’t be as thirsty as before. And we’ll get to enjoy some great music, and an awesome atmosphere.
So I’m emailing you about what procedure would need to be taken to bring in that much water (at the most 10,000 bottles), perhaps where we could store it, and how much a booth would cost for the 4 days. And if there’s anyway you guys would like to be involved, your help is welcome.
Thanks so much for your time, and I await your (hopefully) quick reply.
Sincerely,
Jon Strong
Summit Church
http://www.summitconnect.org
I’m at a lossaroo about Bonnaroo. Whataroo is Bonnaroo and Centeroo?
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me, too…what is Bonnaroo?
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I’m in the dark with paper stars on this… It sounds like someone got all crazy-like over Australian-sounding names. o_0
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The people that are holding up those horrible signs: are they the Fred Phelps people? They sure do sound like it. Jerks. Unfortunately this is how people see Christians. The judgemental garbage has to stop, and such people can learn a thing or two from good examples like this: http://www.revolutionnyc.com/idea.htm For some reason the idea seems to be that judgemental fundamentalists own Jesus,the liberals own tolerance, & everything is black & white. For instance: A lot of Christians probably automatically judge that prostitutes go to hell. But those protsitutes could be run-aways that are now just trying to survive & are controlled by a pimp. Or all chicks that do porn are going to hell, but they could just be acting out because they’ve been abused by men in the past (not all, but it happens: one example is Traci Lords). A lot of Christians think that God hates gay people & that they’ll go to hell. But to that I would have to say: “Gluttony is a sin, right? But what if an overweight person can’t help it? They were just born to be fat. Then neither is it a sin to be gay, because gay people can’t help it.” Or what about the person who is addicted to drugs? And all the other
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issues in life that are complicated and not by any means black and white. It’s so sad and terrible that so many “Christians” push others away with their judgemental monopoly on God. They throw Bible verses at people “The word of God say this, the word of God says that”. I’m sick of people justifying their own hate with the Bible. And what about them? Guh. GUH I say!!! Lol. There are supposed Christians on OpenDiary that cram their front pages with scripture after scripture and add “anti-gay” instests to their interest list, and other anti-person things. I see Jesus as a revolutionary and a hippy, minus drugs. He didn’t condemn anyone, he ‘dared’ to party with them. Tax-Collectors, prostitutes, regular guys, anybody. He loved them all, and by his Kind words and example, people found him inviting. Yes, he knocked over the tables in the temple because of the money changers, but that was different because it was his house. The point is that he didn’t go around condemning people, and actually said even he wouldn’t be the judge of people. And we’re supposed to emulate him in the fullest. How dare some of these people who call
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themselves Christians, misrepresent the Loving, compassionate, non-judgemental and tolerant Jesus. Funny how they never quote the scripture “Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wondersin Your name? ” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matthew 7:16-23 I know it is the will of God to love people and treat them with the same freaking dignity that Jesus showed others. I guess I’ve just revealed one of my biggest peeves, lol. Good for you for trying to present Jesus to people in a loving way. So many people have a twisted view of what Christ’s love is. It’s beautiful that you’ll be handing out water in the midst of those unfortunate other Christians that are throwing scripture. 🙂
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awesome.
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ryn: sure, most people don’t think about what Christmas actually is (a Christian holiday), but that’s the point. People fail to realize and sometimes respect others just because they think they’re the only ones in the world, or at least the only ones who matter. I just think people should be more thoughtful.
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