Come Thou Fount

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be
Let thy goodness, like a fetter
bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart Lord take and seal it
seal it for thy courts above

-written in 1757, by a twenty two year old Robert Robinson.

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There is something spectacular about singing in a crowd.  I believe the voice is the greatest instrument every created.  There is nothing like the sound of many voices with all of their different timbres and tonalities focused and channeled together towards a common goal.  It’s a beautiful thing to behold, but it’s more a beautiful thing to partake in.

A group of college students & staff from Campus Outreach Raleigh took the mountains of Asheville during the Valentine’s Day weekend to see if we could find God residing in the mountains of NC.  It appears He’s there too.  I know of one girl from UNC who made the decision to become a Christian over the weekend!  Isn’t that cool?  My friend, Daniel Simmons who is an Area Director with Campus Outreach Raleigh, gave a series of really good talks that clearly articulated the Gospel.  We were reminded of timeless truth while we got to engage our hearts with God.  I was responsible for the L.A.V.A (an acrosstic for: Lights, Audio, Visual, & Atmosphere) during the weekend.  I was also responsible for all the music.   So naturally I called my band of brothers (who also happen to be some great musicians):  Daniel Miles, his wife Renee, and Rocky Phipps were willing help me out.

On Saturday when most of the people went skiing, the band took a nap, ate a good meal, and roamed the streets of Asheville. During our wandering we found a great used bookstore, some street musicians, an art gallery, homeless people, a thrift store, and a guitar shop.  I got to play an electric Kay archtop (similar to this) from the 50′s into a 5 watt Gibson Maestro amp.  It was an awesome combo that made me want to play Chicago blues for hours.  I didn’t want to leave.

I was really intrigued by Asheville.  It is a city filled with friendly, creative people amid the backdrop of the appalanchians.   I could see myself wanting to live there in the summertime, but not the winter.  The city streets seemed to funnel a chilly breeze that I’m not use to dealing with.