Crazy Disciple

La Machine

Richard and Anna invited me to go see "La Machine" tonight, and it was incredible.  It is so incredibly hard to explain what we saw, as I barely understood it myself...  BUT (you had to know this was coming) I will try...   

Apparently La Machine is the vision of a person who has taken ordinary, mundane things and turned them into rather grandiose musical instruments.   The instruments were created to make sound in typical ways, much like horns or flutes, or slide-pipes; or to make sounds in very percussive, atypical ways, though explosions, fireballs, steam, or water pressure. With all of these "instruments" several people (upwards of 50 I would guess) form an orchestra consisting of both standard instruments, and these highly modified, and sometimes completely created instruments.   It is particularly interesting in that the space in which they perform is a bit like a midway at the fair.   The instruments, and playing areas are inter-dispersed amongst the crowd, and the show is constantly moving and changing.  It was absolutely incredible.   SO...   without further ado, here are some photos:

Visiting friends tonight

I left Paris today and took a train all the way to Saint-Maur-des-Fossés.   Sounds far eh?   Well actually, its about 20 minutes outside of the city... it was like night and day though, it was so quiet and so qaint out there.  It actually reminded me a bit of Tulsa, with a whole lotta French added to it.   I went to have dinner with the Velasquez family.   They are a family that we met when in Europe last winter, and also the two kids Paola and David came to Tulsa this summer.   So anyway, it was awesome.   I am exhausted though, it's 12:20 am in Paris and I am barely propping my eyelids open.   None the less, I wanted to share some pictures of the night with you. Here are David, Paola, Elizabeth and Julian...   with an occasional Mocha.   ENJOY

 

You Reign

I'm riding the #8 metro towards Creteil and I just got wallopped with Spirit of God... I had to get off the Metro so that I could write this. I stood there on the metro, trying not to look at the homeless guy who chose those two seats as the place where he would sleep... Watching people's faces as they saw him, and then worked to NOT see him. It broke my heart. The song, "you reign" began playing on my iPod, and it was nearly all I could do to not break down in tears. I was changed, yet again.

"How could we live, but not see, your sacrifice, your Glory? You reign, you reign... Over everything Lord, you Reign. With power and justice divine, over everything Lord, you reign." -

Enough said

Sent from my iPhone

Some pics from tonight's excursion

I walked a few hundred miles tonight...   well, not really.   I did walk a lot though, and just took pictures of people as I encountered them.   I was really wanting to grab some images of people being people, in a miraculous place.   Besides that., there is something amazingly cool about walking around with a 50mm lens, no matter what country your in.

Just saying Hi

It turns out that this video camera is becoming my window into communication with you, my friends back home, and also my way of bringing you into the experiences of being here in Paris.   So much of Paris is riding the metro, walking in huge crowds, or getting lost in some amazingly interesting places.   For me however, there is just something really special about the Eiffel Tower.   Yeah, I know... what a cliché.  I do like to walk by it though, and I do like to see it...   it helps me get my bearings in certain parts of the city, and it seems to always take my breath away.   So anyway, I was walking last night by the Eiffel Tower (if you follow me on Twitter, you know this already) and happen to see that there was no line...   It was a cold and damp night, so I took advantage of the opportunity.  

Crazy Disciple - Paris 9-23 from Scott Mocha on Vimeo.

Still going... one week later

I passed the one week mark without really noticing.   It seems I had cereal for breakfast this morning instead of a baguette, and my stomach is fighting back because of the milk...   oooh man.   Either that, or I am about to give birth to an alien, and he is screaming from inside my stomach...    Lets hope for the first option.

I'm missing home a lot today.   I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I just miss home...   Home says it all.  Probably feeling yucky has a big influence there too...   Pepto would be nice, maybe a little Oprah and some chicken soup... FROM A CAN!  YEAH!

They sure know how to say "Beinvenue à Paris!"

Saturday afternoon, I was getting ready to go have dinner with some friends and I heard the thumpa thumpa of some 4/4 techno grooves penetrating through the Paris apartment.   Now for those of you who are reading this blog and have no idea what I am talking about, bear with me.   So I hear and FEEL the bass, on the SIXTH FLOOR (7th US floor) of an apartment 200 meters from the Place de la Republique.   Of course, my curiosity got the best of me, and I had to find the source.  Walking out of the apartment building, I was greeted by several hundred thousand people dancing in the streets around countless huge trucks.  Each of these trucks had more subwoofers, speakers and dacers than any moving vehicle should ever dream of, and to top it off.. each had its own DJ.   Ladies and Gentlemen, I have now stumbled into an event called the "Techno Parade!!!!"

So anyway, I could go on and on... but here is some very RAW footage of the event.  It is left in its unedited form so you can hear the crowd, and the volume of the music on the streets.   If you play this, turn the volume down...    and for those of you who appreciate a good dance beat (Hey Dan!!) make sure and get to 2:38 where this insane break beat pops out.  it was so crazy that I started dancing with the camera, or you probably would have heard and seen much more...   They sure know how to make a guy feel special, all of this just for me?   Man, j'adore Paris!  :-)

enjoy.

Paris techno parade - raw footage, but still cool from Scott Mocha on Vimeo.

A Better Look

Here is a better look at the beautiful painting from yesterday's service at C3Paris.   Inspiring!

The First Service at C3 Paris

Last night, I struggled to sleep. Everything that could get in the
way of an amazing Sunday was rearing its ugly head. I emailed home
in the midst of it all; just needing a friend from to know what I was
feeling. I kept thinking of the loss of that lens, the broken
headphones, my terribly bruised knees, and all that I had left
behind... Those moments will make or break a person. The minutes
dragged by, and sleep was slowly ushered in.

Through the night, I woke up every time I moved, the hard concrete
floor that had become my bed was not too forgiving on a recently
wrecked, aging and out-of-shape body. I probably should have found my
way to prayer, but I found myself instead in a place of discontent...
It was not a helpful place to be.

The alarm went off at 8:20 for church at 9. The apartment I was
staying in was literally a block away, so I got ready, grabbed a
baguette, and walked to the church. Arriving, I found the band
getting ready, carrying in a full drum kit, basses, guitars, amps and
all the fixin's. Wow, I thought, they do this every Sunday...
Completely build up and break down for ONE SERVICE. Hearing of my
experience at Destiny, I was invited to run sound. Running sound in
this case meant balancing four microphones through a ten channel board
to somehow match un-mic'd amps and drums... C'est impossible! And
then here comes the best part... I actually EQ'd the
microphones!!!! Now THERE is an idea :)

Service began, and all of my issues from the night before dissapeared
into the moment. Singing worship in French and English felt AMAZING!
And I think it sounded pretty good too.. Considering what we had, it
was more than amazing, it was divine.

After a small exhortation and offering message, the band started in
playing 'Vertigo' by U2... There is a point in the song where the
words say "give me something I can feel" and THAT was the point of the
song in this service. Two artists, a mother and daughter from
Switzerland proceeded to step up on stage and start painting a canvas
that covered the entire back wall of the stage. The painting
continued as Pastor Mark McCord taught and shared from his heart. It
was incredible!

Wow there is so much to say, but I should probably send this soon. I
am actually writing this post from my iPhone, as the living situation
is still a bit up-rooted and different. None the less, I feel like I
really got to make a difference today. I served and became a part of
this new group of people. I worshipped God with some new friends, and
some people that feel like we have known eachother for much longer. I
connected, I experienced what I came here for. I, today, for the
first time, honestly feel like a missionary. Today I was ordained in
a whole new way... Thank you Jesus!

- Sent from my iPhone -

The painting finished

After Pastor Mark closed, the band played one last song... How great
us our God... But in French!!!!