Disturbances

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." -2 Timothy 4:3-4

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" -Galatians 1:6-9

New Orleans is a very disturbing city! I am not saying that I dislike New Orleans. On the contrary, I love it (it is one of my favorite parts of the trip). However, New Orleans is a disturbing city nonetheless. There are about 2 strip clubs on every block, Voodoo is regularly practiced, and the city is very much haunted.

This morning, I went to Cafe du Monde for some beignets for breakfast. After that, I took a tour of the Voodoo Museum. I knew a little bit about Voodoo from my previous trip to Haiti in 2006, but I learned a whole bunch more today. What worries me so much is how entwined Voodoo is with Christianity. Many of the "gods" they pray to are based on Catholic saints, and they even have images of Jesus on many of their altars. Many Voodoo practitioners are convinced that they are Christian, and some in the Catholic Church (including former Pope John Paul II) have agreed with them.

I just recently got back from a 2 hour long ghost tour. The tour guide took us to the location of documented hauntings in New Orleans and told us the history of the locations and how they came to be haunted. We didn't go inside any of the places and no one saw anything paranormal, but I was scared to death for the entire two hours. There were tears of horror in my eyes the entire time, because I know that ghosts are real. However, they are not the spirits of the dead, instead they are demons appearing in the form of the deceased. The violent murders associated with these hauntings coupled with the Voodoo practices makes New Orleans a potential hotbed for demonic activity, and it has me scared to death. Thankfully I am protected by the Holy Spirit who dwells within me, so the demons cannot harm me.

Well, I am off to dinner and one last night on Bourbon Street. Tomorrow morning I drive back to Funkytown! This has been the experience of a lifetime, but I am ready to get back home.
-Patrick