Anyone from the Philadelphia Area?

Hello is anyone from the Philadelphia Area who is a real Christian that would like to meet with me? I am going to be going there via Amtrak from Harrisburg & staying for 3 days-- leaving tomorrow morning. I'm going to be staying at a local youth hostel (near Independence Hall) and have just planned to visit some of the museums and what-have-you (there are a lot!) but it would be nice to be able to meet up with a Christian and have some fellowship!

So if you're from Philadelphia area and are a Christian (dying to yourself, obeying God, etc.) and would like to meet with me than reply here and contact me via PM or email (jordanamo[at-sign]gmail[dot]com) with your cell/phone number or whatever and the time that your free so that i can contact you when I'm in Philly.

Jordan

This seems like a interesting church to check out: http://www.tenth.org

Spellbound crowds
In 1739, Whitefield set out for a preaching tour of the American colonies. Whitefield selected [b]Philadelphia[/b]—the most cosmopolitan city in the New World—as his first American stop. But even the largest churches could not hold the 8,000 who came to see him, so he took them outdoors. Every stop along Whitefield's trip was marked by record audiences, often exceeding the population of the towns in which he preached. Whitefield was often surprised at how crowds "so scattered abroad, can be gathered at so short a warning."

As Whitefield arrived in America, a number of regional revivals were under way. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania William Tennant and his four sons preached the new birth to Presbyterians. Tennant was fed up with the resistance of Yale and Harvard Administrators to the new evangelical fervor, and he founded his own school to train preachers. Derisively his school was called, "log college," but it would lead to the formation of Princeton University. In New Jersey Theodore Frelinghuysen spread revival throughout the Dutch Reformed Church. In Virginian there was the minister and hymn writer Sam Davies. In the backwoods of Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Jersey, the missionary David Brainerd spread the word to native Americans on horseback. They all served wonderfully within geographic or denominational boundaries, but it was Whitefield that God would use to tie them all together. When revival in Jonathan Edwards congregation died down he invited George Whitefield to speak, and he himself was moved to tears. Edward's wife Sarah wrote, "It is wonderful to see how he casts a spell over the audience by proclaiming the simplest truths of the Bible..." [b]In Philadelphia William Tennant welcomed him warmly. Whitefield preached from the courthouse steps to streets that were packed with 78,000 people[/b]. In Philadelphia Whitefield became friends with an famous agnostic named Benjamin Franklin. Franklin loved to hear him speak, he wrote about him with glowing praise, and became his American publisher. Franklin was amazed at the carrying power of his voice, and calculating how far it traveled, estimated that in an open space, as many as 30,000 people could hear his voice. He was thus convinced of the legendary crowds who had gathered in England could indeed hear him.

It would be interesting to find if there is a plaque of whitefield from where he preached? at the courtsteps perhaps? If you hunt this down brother grab a photo!

I'm typing this from the Philadelphia library-- it's huge! It gives you one of those ad nauseam feelings just due to how big it is. It's really hot here. I was super-surprised as I got off the train when I felt the weather, I had a lot of winter clothing on.

I went to the Franklin Institute, it was sort of disappointing. I heard better things about it. I suppose it's more kid-oriented, or maybe I was just suffering from heat-exhaustion (probably the latter). They had a special thing on Darwin but it costed $6 more and was an hour so I decided not to (but if I have time later I might go back).

This city is huge. But it seems like almost impossible (for me) to find someplace to eat. I guess I need to go further into the city for that.

Here at the Philadelphia Library tomorrow Richard Dawkins is going to be here speaking about his new book "The God Delusion".. I might come and check it out. Maybe I'll fire a "good person" test at him in the question-and-answer session, eh? ;-)

Well right now I am going to go and try and find some food! I'll probably make my way into more of the city as I will end up having to go there later today for the youth hostel. It's ashame that it has to be so hot today though. I prefer the cold, hehe.

Jordan

Wow. I just recently got back from hearing Richard Dawkins. I got a front-row seat (well, 4th row-- rest were reserved-- I was also 90 minutes early and didn't mind waiting. The auditorium was packed. I mean PACKED. He was eloquent, frank, and charismatic. I understand why so many people are drawn to him. He is a "professor" celebrity along the lines of Chomsky and how Sagan was (though not to the degree of Sagan). He basically made fun of Yahweh (or religion/faith in general). They were funny jokes I must be honest, I mean, funny in that "ha ha" way. I didn't take most of them serious, but I mean, it was hard not to laugh. ("The Bible is clearly full of genocide, infanticide...", all those cides) I did feel uncomfortable though surrounded by mostly Atheists. But I met some very nice people. I kept my true beliefs to me and didn't voice them to anyone. Although I did want to ask a question and had my hand-raised, it was too late. (I wanted to ask what his Evolutionary view was on why we humans have this innate ability in us it seems [viewed from all cultures practically] to be drawn to "God" [representing Nirvana, Allah, Yahweh, or whatever supernatural belief] that that he purports to be a clear "Delusion." He spoke on the contradictions in the OT and I must say they were sorta compelling (in that "hmm" let me read into that way). He spoke about the slaying Joshua did and some other 'biblical atrocities' that he finds ridiculous.

It really challenged my beliefs I must say (again, in the "look in the Bible more" way). I got his book and signature, and am planning to read his book (with my Bible in the other hand! hah).

Bottom line, this guy is a secular, compelling, genius. I found the talk, while somewhat uncomfortable at times (I found it obviously hard to swallow the things he said about the Bible that obviously were linked to a lack of understanding of Yahweh-- he doesn't know God, so he can't be blamed, in actuality), to be productive in the only sense that I got to see the Atheistic, Evolutionary view (frank and outspoken) by one of its most strong supporters, Richard Dawkins-- upfront. There was a Christian in there that voiced his dissent (in a civilized way), I should add, though. Most people laughed at him.

Jordan