Sunset in Tel Aviv

A short video clip from day one of our ten day trip. A beautiful sunset on the coast of Tel Aviv. The weather was spectacular the whole ten days we were there.

Israel Tour - Day 1

Having arrived in Tel-Aviv, Israel early in the day and with nothing scheduled for the rest of the day we decided to explore on our own. First things first we sought out a coffee shop to whet our palette with some native cup-o-joe.

From here we headed out to the Mediterranean beach just a couple blocks away from our hotel.

Roots

In Genesis 4 we read the story of Cain and Abel. While the story is very short I believe it took much longer for Cain to work out his plan against Abel. Most people don't go from one rejection and make the leap to murder. I think it took a while. I think Cain had allowed his rejection to fester. I think he nursed the hurt he felt and began to focus his hatred towards what he perceived to be the root cause of his self-loathing, his brother Abel. 

Light and darkness cannot live together. They cannot co-exist for long without something exploding, without a confrontation. Abel had done what was right. He lived right and this made Cain's life look all wrong. 

Those who go on a rampage don't usually wake up one morning and decide to murder people. It is usually a lifetime of rejection that has built up inside of them. They have allowed bitterness to take root in their lives and they find someone to blame for their rejection and short comings. They buy guns and knives, they write journals or keep logs of all the wrongs committed against them, they carefully rehearse the scenarios in their heads. Their whole life has now become focused on revenge, on a hurt that happened in the past. They have lost all connection to reality. They plot and wait for the right moment to carry out their evil plans.

With Cain it led to murder. We may not take it so far but far too many of us carry some sort of hurt that we have not dealt with. We've allowed it to take root in our lives. Even the thought of that person or that event brings us pain.

We are told in the scriptures to not allow the root of bitterness to take a hold of us. 

Let us instead come boldly before the throne room of grace and find help for overcoming those past hurts. It's time to let them go before they bear fruit.

Back to Paradise

From Sunday's Message in Genesis 3:20-24.

Here we see one of the consequences of Adam & Eve's failure to obey. Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden for their own good. 

Often times we may not immediately realize the dire consequences of our sins. This false sense of security may lead us to think that we got away with it and that we can sin again since there were no immediate consequences but be sure your sin will find you out.

In Hebrews it tells us, "It is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment."

We will all have to give an account for our actions. If we suffer no punishment in this life we can be sure we will in the next. Part of the deception of sin is that we can get away with it but in reality we won't. 

Adam and Eve lost their home, their comfortable lifestyle but most importantly they lost their close relationship with the Lord. It was this relationship that Jesus Christ came to restore.

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through might be saved." John 3:18.

The best laid plans of mice and men.....

Well it happened. After careful planning and scheduling something went wrong, terribly wrong. The new carpet was supposed to be installed on Tuesday. I received a call first thing in the morning on Tuesday and it turns out the it was the wrong carpet. 

So it will be another two weeks before the new carpet gets installed. I was so disappointed and frustrated. 

It seems that no matter how hard we plan and prepare something is bound to go wrong. Murphy's Law says, "if anything can go wrong it will." Thanks a lot Murphy!

Oh well, when life gives you lemons you just make lemonade. So please be patient as we remodel our Sanctuary. 

How about you? Life not turning out like you planned? Got thrown a curve-ball? Don't know what to do? Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest."

Stop and take stock of what is truly important. Take a moment to rest in Christ. Take your burdens to the cross and lay them down.