HOLY HAUNTED HOUSE

okay, so, i'm in san jose, ca. it's about 30 minutes south of san fran. i left las vegas yesterday morning and headed south/west. it took a bit longer than planned, but i made it to my aunt eileens house. my aunt eileen is actually my moms' dad's sister. did you get that? my grandpa bobs' sister. anyway, has anyone seen the episode from seinfeld where elaine and jerry visit jerry's parents in florida? the similarities are unbelieveable! it's so funny. i don't even know where to begin! lets just say that A LOT can be said between two people in a matter of 12 hours! wow.

so, if you've read in my previous posts, i am staying with a complete stranger while here in san jose. remember my, 'this should be interesting?" well, let the games begin. she's a great girl. we've talked a bit and compared stories. and as we were sitting on the bed in my room, i was showing her pictures of my family on my computer and i got to corey mann's blog. i was telling her that he's this incredible radio personality who quit to be a youth pastor of sorts and it was so unheard of because he was so great in the radio world. then, on his blog, he has a picture of this guy holding a sign on the street corner. very similar to the 'bullhorn guy.' and so it began. i tried to explain that i go to this church that did a sermon about the bullhorn guy. and that i'm the kind of Christ-follower that doesn't agree with the guy on the corner. i don't think that i have to force feed people my faith. i know people have different stances on this but mine is that i'm not going to force you to listen to my beliefs. if you show an interest, ask me questions or anything, i'll be happy to share my faith with you. and you can take it or leave it. this is where it got interesting. my roommate says, "i knew i'd never be a 'christian' when i went to one of those 'holy haunted houses.'" to which i said, "i'm sorry, the what?" she went on to describe this church that did a haunted house where...wait, did you read that??? the CHURCH that did a HAUNTED HOUSE. just making sure you're paying attention. well, aparently, each room is set up to be a different reason that you're going to hell. not kidding. she could be making this up, but the passion and hatred for christians was there so...take that as you may. so, as you go through this 'holy haunted house,' each room has a different theme and justification for why the person will be going to hell. i.e. this girl will go to hell because of having a baby out of marriage. then drinking. then drugs. then abortion. then lying. and the list goes on. aparently, at the end, you all come into what sounded like a sanctuary where the pastor/priest/preacher (she didn't know what he really was) asks everyone if they would like to repent. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? and the people who raise their hands get to leave and if you don't raise you hand, you get the honor of staying and listening to a sermon about how you're going to hell. happy halloween. i was so stunned by this, and still a little skeptical about the legitimacy of all of this, that all i could bring myself to say is, "if that's christianity..." and then i stopped and finished by saying "i don't believe in that. and i feel sick, thinking that some people believe that is the way to reach people. my faith is different from that."

what do you say to someone that, five minutes earlier i just told her i was a christian and all about my church and now she thinks i'm one of those psycho fanatical people? i have an incredible urge to find whoever thought that was a good idea and cause him physical harm. honestly. i'm not a scriptural expert, can anyone give me a scripture or example where Jesus forced someone into following??? or am i just launching the whole, 'free will' debate.

and to think, it's only day one.

thinking that life in california may be more of an adventure than i expected...

k