Hangin' In began the same as the last one that night.
Me and the guys had the whole first hour to ourselves, during which we played Super Smash Brothers on the Wii. In addition, the snack bar was now selling hoodies, colored a simple black with the logo, a green cartoon explosion and play button symbol, on the front. Ultimately, we all ended up buying one.
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As the second hour began, we headed upstairs to the loft and followed with the usual game and skit.
For the game, Kenneth called six people to the stage, then presented them with a plate of whipped cream. Basically, when music would play, they had to simply pass it around, but when the music would stop, whoever was holding it would have to pie the person standing next to them, which continued until there was only one remaining.
For the skit, an entire group of leaders performed a reenactment of the Battle of Jericho. Although the concept itself sounded boring at first, within minutes, it became unexpectedly entertaining, having a lot of comedy mixed in, and putting the perfect twist on a story such as that.
"People of Israel," announced Hunter, dressed as Joshua "Listen to me."
Among the other leaders were Lance, Will, Tom, and Tony, dressed as these Israelites.
"God has put the city of Jericho into our hands." he told them "He is relying on us to destroy it."
"How?" asked Will "The walls of Jericho are too high to climb."
"We don't need to climb them." he answered, "I have a better idea."
"What is it?" asked Tony.
"First," he began "We must march around the walls for six days. Then, on the seventh, the priests will blow their trumpets for us, and they will come falling. After that, we attack."
The Israelites looked at one another, confused.
"Are you serious?" asked Tom "Or are you joking?"
"This is nothing to joke about here." Hunter replied.
"So, you're saying that in order to bring the walls down, we have to circle around them and summon these random priests who will just happen to be there and play music?"
"Not just any music. The sound of the shofar."
"How do you know this will happen."
"I don't."
By this point, the entire room was confused just as well.
"But I have something better than knowledge." he added.
"What's that?" asked Tony.
"Faith." he answered, "I have faith, and I promise as long as we never lose this faith, we can handle anything that comes our way."
"Really? You honestly think that'll work?"
"Yes, my friend, I do."
Out of nowhere, he pulled out a box of plastic weapons from behind the stage.
"But just in case it doesn't, I have these."
With that said, the whole act went from serious to comedic.
"Now you're speaking my language." Tony replied, "To Jericho we go!"
"To Jericho we go!" the rest of them cheered.
From there, they triumphantly marched off, each holding a weapon in their hand, and exited the room as we gave an applause.
Seconds later, Kenneth returned.
"Alright." he said "I hope you enjoyed that. All kidding aside though, I have a question to ask."
Like I said before, this was usually considered the boring part. But this time, I was actually looking forward to it.
"Have you ever wondered why we pray in silence at church?"
My attention was instantly caught. Honestly, I never did think about that. With church services having such a peaceful atmosphere, I simply assumed we did it to keep quiet. Not to mention, how weird would it be if everybody was praying out loud?
"Let me ask something else." he added "Do you think God can hear your thoughts?"
My stomach dropped, the same way it would when I remembered a homework assignment I didn't do.
"I'll keep it simple. You better believe he can."
I was now in pure shock. For my whole life, I had the idea that my mind was the one place I could say whatever I wanted. But to have the realization that God has been there the whole time, and heard every last word was beyond startling, and almost scary in a way.
"He knew you even before you knew yourselves." Kenneth continued "Any intention you have, whether its anger, lust, vengeance, or greed, he's aware of them, no matter where you are. That my friends, is what you call God's glory."
God was more than our father, he was forever our shadow.
