I’ve attended Bonnaroo with my daughter for the past 4 or 5 years. This is an experience I have come to love. It’s amazing to see so many diverse people lay down their differences and dance. As the 2015 lineup is released, I am reminded of a few things I learned on my first trip to the Farm:
1 – “gourmet coffee” does not mean good coffee.
Yeah, things aren’t always what they’re promoted to be. Reminds me of a proverb I learned as a child, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (14:12)
2 – The music I once loved hasn’t changed, I guess I have. – Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper just wasn’t as amazing as I remember him being in high school. Perhaps Paul knew what he was talking about when he said, “If any man is found in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5: 17)
3 – Hippies are more accepting than most Christians I know.
How much more appealing might we be if we would, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”? (Romans 15:7)
4 – Being drunk does not make you a better dancer, it just tends to make you think you are.
It is possible to have too much fun. That’s why, “It isn’t smart to get drunk! Drinking makes a fool of you and leads to fights.” (Proverbs 20:1)
5 – Just because you wear a shirt with a bible verse on it doesn’t mean you don’t smoke pot.
We all know that actions speak louder than words. This is why we should “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
6 – Just because you haven’t heard of a band doesn’t mean they aren’t a great band. – Dawes
When reading the Bible, I am often caught or guard by the power of something I had formerly not noticed or found irrelevant. “The word of God is living and active.” (Hebrews 4:12)
7 – Visitors at bonnaroo quickly begin to develop a language not understandable by those in the outside world.
It’s really great when you can come together with like minded people and feel free to be yourself. It would be amazing if our churches felt this same freedom to be who they were truly made to be. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
8 – There is something that stinks worse than a porto-potty…100 porto-potties being used by 100,000 people that have not been cleaned for 4 days.
Just the same, if a person hangs with a crowd of different dreams, goals, desires, morals, convictions and/or consciousness than themselves, their life will get off track. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
9 – This father is willing to stand in line with a large group of unshowered people for 2 hours in the rain to see an artist he has never heard of – for his daughter. – Mac Miller
This gives me a hazy glimpse into what my Father is willing to do for me. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9,10)
10 – I actually can’t remember the 10th one. Guess I’ll have to go back again to figure this one out.
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.” (Psalm 57:7)