November 14, 2008 Moses where are you?

Sunday is just a few days away. I wonder what Moses and the Israelites have been doing since the last time we visited. We remember that the last time we saw them, God parted the Red Sea and allowed them safe passage. Their enemioes were destroyed. Maybe we will see Snapper Mugg again. I am not sure but I hope that he has learned to follow rules. I have to go and service the airplane. It is time to change the oil and change the windshield wipers. Hopefully, I can find a sale on tires. We need to replace a few of them shortly. See you at Check-in on Sunday

November 10,2008 Prayer

For the past several classes we have been talking about the importance of prayer. Prayer doesn't have to be this long complicated arrangement of words. God wants us to be real. We need to show him respect and honor. We have nothing to hide from him. Our conversation should be very easy. He knows everything about us. Our hopes, our dreams, and our concerns are clear to him. Over the past several weeks, in class we made a commitment to pray throughout the day not just for ourselves but for the world. We can talk to God anywhere and anytime. God hears our prayers and answers them in his time and in his will. The more we pray the easier it is to hear God . Prayer involves alot of listening and waiting. Our strength comes from the father and we access that power through prayer. Are you ready to be energized?

Sunday November 9,2008 Trip to Israel

Today we departed Palmetto International airport and flew to Jerusalem. During the flight, we reviewed our adventures from last week. We remembered that the favorite food of the Israeli peolple is the Filafel. They enjoy the same things that we enjoy over here in the United States. The children go to school just like us. We also talked about Moses and his visits with the Pharoah. Finally after 10 plagues, Pharoah finally told the Israelites to go. God hardened his heart again and the Egyptians chased the Israelites all the way to the Red Sea. God showed his greatness by parting the Red sea and allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land. Then, he crushed the Egyptians by having the water return to its normal position.

We landed in Jerusalem and proceeded to meet up with our tour guide . We stopped at a local craft corner and created art for our loved ones. Our next stop was Masada. Masada was an Israelite stronghold. Some Israelis escaped from the enemies and sought refuge on this mountain. There was only one way up. The enemy could be easily defeated. The enemies although built another ramp on the other side. Over time the fortress was overrun. A great battle was fought and although The israelites lost they were heroes. At Masada, we ran across Snapper Mugg, an Irish jounrnalist, getting into more trouble. He and his cameraman , Scooter were planning on breaking into the fortress at night and locate the rare spotted leopard. They didn't care about how many rules that they were breaking. Our group immediately told him that he was wrong and that rules were meant to be obeyed. He was acting very weird and then he left. I pray that he starts listening to God before he does something stupid.
After Masada, we stopped at a local cafe for some snacks. The group talked about John 14:15 If I love the Lord, I will do what he commands. We all reflected on times when we haven't always obeyed. We talked about the consequences when we don't obey. Before going back home, we formed buddy groups and said our prayer requests. The buddy groups will pray for each other during the week.
I will obey because I love the Lord is our focus statement. If we say this ewverytime we are told to do something, we will never have a problem. We will do what is asked because we love the Lord.

November 7, 2008 Changing inside and out

The premiere flight for PAG airlines took us to Equador . A country which is rich in culture and beauty. Equador has some varied weather conditions. You have the mountainous Andes that have snow capped summits. You have tropical rainforests that are teeming with wildlife. Sandy beach areas that have beautiful palm trees. Lastily, there is the Galapagos Islands. Here, rocky barren landscape is home to some birds, turtles, and iguanas. Equador is home to one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, Cotopaxi. We learned about the early misionaries that spread Chritianity throughout the Indian tribes.
Each week , the children would check in and get their passports stamped. They then proceeded to the seating area and awaited their departing flight. When they were called to board, they entered the plane and prepared for takeoff. Their journey from Palmetto International Airport took them south towards the equator. The 747 aircraft is Angel powered and the 1,936.3 miles only takes minutes . We arrived in Quenca, Equador and began our weekly adventure. We met an American Professor that was in search of the rare pink butterfly. Each week we began to see the Professor's heart change. Instead of thinking about himself, he put others first. He wanted to do what was right. Professor Bugginfly was changed from the inside out. His innner beauty shined and changed his outer appearance.
We related this story to the story of Paul. The book of Acts was our study guide. We saw how Paul had changed from a man that persecuted Christians to spending the rest of his life preaching God's word. Paul suffered tremendous persecution for his faith. He was beaten, shipwrecked many times, put in prison on many occasions, and gave his life for the Lord. He changed from the inside out. We learned an life verse from 2 Corinthians 5:17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone ,and the new have come!
We took the message and saw how we could change our lives with God's help. Change doesn't happen overnight but takes God's daily help and our obedience. The children learned that the old ways of doing things needed to be changed. we needed to take the negatives of our lives and allow God to change them. Disobedience to authority, lying, gossiping, unfairplay were some of the changes that we discussed.
Iam very proud of the effort that the children are making and I see God working through them .
They understand that God has a special purpose for each of them and they need to listen to hear his call.
We have embarked on a new journey. Our flight leaves Sunday mornings at 10:30 sharp. We are off to Israel where we will discover a culture that is filled with God's promise. Join the fun as we meet Moses. We see how obedience and disobience shapes our lives. We will also meet an oldfriend of mine Snapper Mugg ands see how is disobeidence creates problems for him. Remember bring your passport and get ready to have fun learning about our Great Heavenly father

Thursday November 6, 2008

What a beautiful day the Lord has made. The sun is shining and the sky is a beautiful shade of blue. As I sit here, I can't stop thinking about God's love. Right now i am in my own little world. The breeze is gently blowing through the palm frawns. The shadows are beginning to creep up on the lawn areas. The ducks are swimming without a care in the world. Why can't everyday be as peaceful as this. Well, the answer is that it is. Sometimes I take the events of the day and make them bigger than they are. The problems make the day cloudy and dreary but, we need to remember that God is in control. The sun is always shining. We just need to look past what is in front of us.
Today, I began preparing my lesson for Children's Church on Sunday. As I was reading Exodus, I couldn't help but wondering why the people were so disobedient to God. God had heard their cry and took them out of slavery. Instead of being thankful, they continued to grumble. As we recall from our bible studies, the Israelites wandered 40 years in the desert and never made it to the land of milk and honey because of their disobedience. Their journey should have only taken days and instead 40 years. God told me not to be judgemental because how many years have I been wandering and not listening.
Take each day and be thankful for what we have and for the things we don't. Pray and give thanks to our Heavenly father and to his son Jesus Christ. Pray for our family, friends, church, pastor, leaders, neighbors, those that pick on us, other religions, and everyone throughout the World. may God Richly Bless your life as he has done mine