Gregs announcement

This past weekend I received an email from Mexico and thought it should be posted on the blog. Greg has found favor in Mexico and it sounds like he will import LOVE! I thought it was bad enough importing furniture and about everything else under the sun from foreign lands, but Greg brings a new thought to this International crisis we are facing! Thanks for sharing the picture Greg! May God give you constant direction as you continue to seek his will for your life! I'm sure the whole group wishes you the best!

Day 5 Arad

As I recall this day was a bit cloudy and cool compared to the desert of the last few days. We hiked up the hill to this city and were rewarded with a lesson on the promise God gave Abraham. The lesson was on making a covenant. The desert picture here is where Abraham and Sarah lived. This was a very powerful lesson!!

day 4 En-Gedi

I suppose a few pictures here will remind us of possibly the lesson we all remember the most. Here we are enjoying water for the first time after time spend in the hot desert. Give me your thoughts on En-gedi!

Sorry I missed a week!

It was great to see Greg Martin this weekend! Greg, Melissa and her sister Kim came to church yesterday. Great fellowship afterward! Wow Greg, a new girlfriend and I hear you were on the phone with her after you left here all the way back to Indiana and she lives in Mexico!!!! Nice phone bill!!

We were talking on the way back from church about the 4 cups RVL talked about in the Garden of Gethsemane. Can't find any notes and no sound clips from anyone. Anybody have any recollection???

day 3 lesson 10

After lunch on this day we went to another place for more teaching and came across this animal under a tree. Anybody remember anything about this beast? The next lesson i only had a few pictures. As i recall, RVL used Jonas' stick and gave a lesson by some rock formation and then we continued across the desert and sat by this beautiful mushroom rock. These lessons concluded the Sinai desert experience as we drove back up to the welcome sight of a feast by the Dead Sea. Still love to think of the dry pita exclusive of pickles and cheese, unless you were first in line) in the wilderness vs the feeding trough of buffet at the hotels and the gracious people patiently waiting (IN LINE) so others can by-pass you. Amazed to think which of these were the Americans! Laughs!

Day 3 Lesson 9 Tabernacle

After the Sinai story we walked across the desert to the Tabernacle. Remember the wedding was at Sinai. Now the Tabernacle. Menorah? What about moving this 1500# ark? There is so much to learn from this Tabernacle. We could probably have a lesson a week on this for a year and not get done. Give us your thoughts. The important aspect for me is that this structure is not good enough for God, that's why he redeemed me so he can live in me with power! Bless God!

Day 3 Lesson 8 Wilderness

So its day three and we head south through the desert. We grab about 4 bottles of water and hike the deserts by the Sinai mountains. We climbed this hill for a wonderful lesson on the children of Israel as they left Egypt. We are in Timnah. This intense teaching was a highlight for me. Share your thoughts with us!

Day 2 Lesson 7 Wadi

After our wonderful shepherd story we visited our first Wadi. What lessons did we learn as we went down into the wadi? Whats the story about the tree in the picture. I remember we had a few stories in the wadi and also, RVL missed the highway out so we had to struggle in the cool desert with temperatures only around 115.

For the missing sheep

More pictures of the great weekend we had. We sure did miss the missing sheep. October of 2009 looks like the next big reunion when RVL is planning to preach to us for several days! It would be an awesome experience to have the full community in Ohio!

More reunion pictures

What an encouraging weekend to fellowship with the community. Thanks again to so many of you who shared financially with us. I've been overwhelmed by your generosity. You showed me a serious lesson in giving!! I was so busy with everything that by the time i was ready to relax and enjoy, it was over. I was blessed to see the fire in your hearts to know Jesus intimately. My cry is that we all develop such a passion for truth (TEXT) that we lay down ever idea and every opinion of self in exchange for a deeper revelation of the Jesus the Messiah. I was sharing Jesus several times today with people before I left for Erie Pa. As i drove up here i was so convicted of how many times i used the word I think. It makes no difference what I think, it's only what God says! I will take up this cross and follow him! Love you all!

Reunion Pic

What an encouraging 2 days we had here. We had several lessons and even did a hike. We were so busy with everything we hardly got any pictures. SORRY! Joe did the Herod story on Saturday morning followed by Amish made Pita bread sandwiches and unlike Israel, we had plenty of cheese and pickles!! Verna wrote a song for Marlene which we sang as a group. Andrea was presented with a gift for her hard work in writing the notes. Rosetta put Andrea's notes in a book and gave them to us. (Very nice with the group picture on the cover!) Raymond shared the Text with us in the evening. We had 13 missing if I counted correctly. We also saw the video in Hi-definition and it brought back lessons and memories. God blessed us so richly! Somebody from the community send us a check of $ 500 ahead of time to cover all expenses for the weekend. We were truly humbled how God provided for his sheep! We missed the 13 hiding sheep, but know in our hearts we shall see them again sometime. Bless God for all of you! Go and make disciples!!!

Day 2 Lesson 6 Sheep & Shepherds

We finally exit day one, get some rest and back on the bus for a trip south. As we head south on the bus God rearranged our plans with a wonderful flock of sheep surrounded by goats on a hillside. We stopped the bus and got up in the (green pastures)for a first hand look at sheep with their shepherd.

Every picture has an application and a very useful message for us today. Perhaps the lesson we didn't discuss much was a lesson that was perhaps much more then Psalms 23. In Matt 25:32, Jesus talks about the great day of separation when he will separate the nation (people in Greek) like a shepherd would separate the sheep from the goats. Remember how these animals walked together over those hills? The goats have a mind of their own and are often walking on the outside of the flock of sheep. The sheep would be guided by voice but the goats by force. Why would a shepherd want to separate these? What was Jesus teaching about this scene? A very heart stirring message for us who at times want to walk on the fringes of the flock and not be in community with one another because we have an opinion that to us is better or higher then others who we are called to walk with. Lord teach us from this all important lesson!

Day 1 Lesson 5 David & Goliath

Day 1 was full of adventure as we walked and climbed what we thought at the time was pretty hot and challenging. Looking back it was a very easy hike with great text content. We gathered under this nice tree and what was our surprise discovery? A nice ἀκρίς tree. Picture 3 was the steep climb up the mountain/hill where the giants were. Picture 4 was looking down toward the place where David fought Goliath. The last picture was a first day collapse! Sorry Joe, I had to add this since you were such a wonderful leader from the back end of the line. Love u brother! What can we learn about the story of david?

Day 1 Lesson 4 Samson & Pig bones

We left Tel Gezer with the bus and headed for the place where Samson dwelt called Eshtaol. We climbed this mountain and could see down the valley of Timnath where Delilah came from. What can we learn from Samson? Where did Samson go wrong? The valley here in the picture is what was given to the tribe of Dan. What happened to Dan? Why did he move? Was his move prosperous? What can we learn from the tribe of Dan and apply to our life today?

We walked up the hill overlooking the Sorek valley and had another lesson on pig-bones. Remember the Bedouin camp right below the tel? Then we experienced that large cave where JR the hat man led us in a song. Anybody remember the song we sung?