Exciting News….

I just want to let everyone know of some very exciting news in my life. I am going to be in the recording studio in the next few weeks. I will be recording some worship that I have written. This is very exciting for me because it will be indicative that I finally crossed one of my life goals off the list.

I said when I was a freshman in college that I wanted to record my own album and this is now happening. I can’t give you specifics yet, mostly cause I don’t have them. But I am hoping to produce at least a 3 song EP. But the real goal is a full album with at least 9 songs.

Keep praying for me as I enter this process, I want it to be led by the Lord. If it just becomes me sitting with a guitar singing into a a mic and recording sounds, I want no part of it. I want to write songs that will minister to people’s hearts and cause them to fix their eyes upon Messiah. If only for those brief moments  they listen to the album.

This will also be a two fold thing. This EP or album whichever it is will be used to help fund my missions work. With Nepal/India this summer, Israel, China, & Germany all on the horizon as well it will be a good way to raise support.

More than anything remember that God is good and He will  always see his plans a purposes come to pass. I just wanted to tell you in advance that this will be happening so that you can lift me up in prayer as I journey down this road.

Homeless in America or Starting the Year off Right.

Welcome to 2012. It is supposed to be the year of blessing, or at least that is what I have heard from a bunch of people. Its the year of the Government of God… the list continues. But let me tell you how 2012 is for me.

To do this I need to take you back into the end of the previous year. 2011. All throughout December I was studying Daniel 3, Faith, The Fire, and the Presence of God. God was warning me that I am sending my fire to purge things and realign so that My Presence can manifest. So I guess that counts as a blessing, even if it hurts and buns to get you there.

Now we come to 2012. I begin this year homeless. Yes you heard me right. Homeless. For a few days now I am riding the couches of some friends while I am searching to find the new home the Lord has for me. You might wonder how this is possible?

Well as many of you know I am living a hidden and simple life. I rented a room in an older lady’s basement. I gave my life to studying the Word  and ministering at the church and in world missions. It was a brilliant 2011 even if it was a difficult year. But the home I rented sold recently and I had to move. I was invited to continue to live with the same lady, but she was leaving town and thus I wouldn’t be able to continue in the ministry God has placed me. Yet God continues to say, “Don’t Quit The Ministry” I hear the word and I will obey. But this means that right now I do not have a room of my own. Luckily people from the Church have allowed me to stay with them and given me a warm place to sleep.

You might think I am stressed because I do not have a home, but I have such peace its hard to describe. This recent ‘move’ which is still in process has forced me to cut my possessions once again. Its a wild thing because I am learning how materialistic I really am. It was ok to have stuff as long as I had less stuff than others. The problem with this is that its comparison. I am comparing myself with others and not asking God how should I live.

Now I  own very little. A bed, dresser, older television and DVD player. My Guitar, a few boxes with clothes, books, and some stuff for computer work which I do on the side to earn a little extra cash. and it is bringing me joy to have less. Who would have thought. I spent my life pursuing this idea that I need more stuff, the latest equipment, and the best electronics, but I don’t. I need a certain amount to do the work in the ministry, but its a lot less than others. I don’t have an iphone or ipad. I don’t have a fancy car (or any car for that matter) I don’t own couches and furniture that fills a house for four.

That being said, I really need all the prayers I can get. The life I am now leading is not the easiest, and to be honest its a bit strange. But in the midst of this I am doing more than I ever have before. I recently took up preaching as a regular thing. I am not fully ordained yet, but I have been asked to teach at my church and other churches, Most recently in Jesup, GA. Its exciting. Next month I am going into the recording studio to lay down some worship tracks I have written. A friend of mine is donating the time in his studio to bless me and help me get this project off the ground. I am planning on going to Mexico, Nepal, Israel, and possibly more this year. I am leading worship at my church. But all of this needs support. I need all the prayers I can get. I need some extra finances to help pay for the production of the physical CD and getting it distributed to stores and churches. I need the favor of God to continue to open doors for me. Please continue to pray for me as I progress down this journey. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or answers, feel free to email me matreames@gmail.com or just leave a comment here.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 55 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Hanukkah Sameach!

Today we are continuing to celebrate Hanukkah. This year, Hanukkah last from December 20 until December 28th. Many people recognize this as the “Festival of Lights” But it is so much more than that. Hanukkah is less about light and oil than it is about dedication and faith.

You see, about 165 BC the Syrian King who ruled over Israel, King Antiochus IV appointed a Hellenistic High Priest over Israel. He prohibited the study of Torah, and he commanded the sacrifice of swine upon the holy altar. This was about as much desecration as the temple had ever seen.

This caused the Hasmoneans, led by Jewish High Preist Mattityahu and his Son Judah Macabee (Which means Hammer. I.e the Hebrew Hammer) to rebel. They sucessfully reclaimed Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord. Hanukkah is the celebration of the rededication of the temple after it was reclaimed by the Jewish people.

The story of the Oil that we often share has several different tellings, but the basic premise is that when they rededicated the temple, they only had enough oil to last in the Temple Menorah for one day. It takes eight days to prepare oil for the temple menorah. The miracle occured when the oil lasted for all eight days until the fresh oil could be prepared.

The Hanukkah Menorah is special and is different from the traditional temple menorah. The Temple menorah has Seven candles, while the Hanukkah menorah has Nine. Eight candles for the  eight days, and One for the Lord. According to Hanukkah, it is a time of celebration, there is to be no fasting or mourning, because we are to rejoice of the freedom and liberation of the Temple and the Jewish People.

It is customary to light the center candle and then each night you light one candle from the right to the left, each day you have the corresponding number of candles lit. It is also proper that the Hanukkah Menorah be displayed where it can be seen from outside, and the candles should face so that those outside see them from right to left.

Now the question for us as Christians is  how to celebrate Hanukkah. What is the point for people who may not have any actual Jewish Blood. I would remind you that you are grafted into the family of God, and thus the Jewish people are now your brothers and sisters. While it is not required to celebrate, it is always good to rejoice with your brothers when they rejoice, and the mourn with them when they mourn.

The story of the Oil lasting  is great, and many Jewish families eat oily foods to celebrate the miracle of the oil, however the purpose of Hanukkah is to celebrate the faith of the Hasmoneans who would not bow to any God but YHWH. Much like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, the Hasmoneans were willing to die if that was the only way to avoid serving another God.

During this season of Hanukkah we should rejoice in our freedom to be servants of Messiah Yeshua. To live and breathe as the family of YHWH. We should take this time to rededicate ourselves to the Lord, much as the Hasmonean Jews rededicated the Temple. Remember that you are the temple of the Lord. This is a season of Rejoicing and celebrating and being merry because we are free.

There are those around the world who aren’t so blessed as we are, and cannot celebrate the Lord freely and must hide their faith or lose their life. Since we are free to worship in the open we ought to worship twice as joyfully on their behalf. If you have any more questions, feel free to email me.

matreames@gmail.com

H8451: The Lost Legacy

I know that many of you were expecting a continuation of my series on Israel, and trust me there is more coming, but for today I got inspired by a word, and I felt the need to share it with you. This is not meant to be a definitive statement, but rather an opening for discussion. Please read this and share your thoughts with me.

Most of you are familiar with the word H8451. It is the Hebrew word “Torah.” Do you know what the Torah is? The Torah is a collection of the Five books of Moses; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy.

The word Torah in Hebrew actually means The Teaching or Instruction. This is funny, because it has become common practice in the English language Bibles for the H8451 to be translated “Law.” Why is this? How did “Teaching” become “law?” How did learning become about rules?

When you go to school, you learn, you are taught, and you are instructed. Not simply to teach you a set of rules, but to teach you how to live. Teaching is designed to show you how to be. You go to college to learn a trade or a skill or some occupation. This doesn’t mean you are learning laws, because laws are rules and regulations that are consequential. Instead, you are learning how to produce, how to become an active member of society who can contribute to over all life. Yes in school you will learn certain rules, regulations, and laws. However these are not the focus of our schools. Teaching in School is designed to make you a productive person who adds to society, whether you become a doctor, a businessman, a musician, or an artist. The goal is to teach you to contribute to society, to live long and prosper if you will.

So, how did “teaching” become “Law?” How did H8451 go from something that enables you to become a better more productive person who is more useful to Humanity and God, to being a set of rules that are so focused on getting it right so you don’t die that you fail to be a productive member of society.

I believe that it goes back to the days of King James. He commissioned the most widely known version of the Bible in the English Speaking world. In 2011 we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the publication of that translation.

In the 1611 KJV which has been used in the church for 400 years, the word was translated “Law” but why? Why did they choose that specific word in their translation?

Lets take a look at the culture surrounding the end of the 1500’s and the start of the 1600’s. Life was very different at that time than in any other time in history. The church was different at that time than it is now. Christianity as a whole was different.

In these days, the Catholic Church was the primary church around the world, but had become a corrupt system in need of change. You will probably remember Martin Luther and his Thesis paper that he nailed to the church door. [I want to mention at this point that I am not bashing the Catholic Church of today, I am simply taking an honest look at how things were back then and how it differs from today.]

The Catholic Church had become a rule based, behaviour based system. When you go to confess your sins before the priest, you were given penance. Perhaps you might have to say 50 Rosaries, or 10 Hail Maries, or 100 Our Fathers. If you wanted to ensure your family member’s entrance into heaven you had better give a good offering, because you needed to buy their spot. Now we know these aren’t true. There is only one thing that can wipe away your sins and ensure you a place in heaven. Romans 10:9 ESV; “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

But putting aside the mistakes of the past, it paints a picture of the religious culture of the day. It was a hard driven law system. Where God was a fear-mongering King who ruled with a tight fist ready to smite you and doom you to hell at a moments notice. When King James left the Catholic Church to start the Church of England or Anglican Church as it is more commonly known, it wasn’t because he had a deeper revelation of the Word of God, but it was because he wanted to be able to divorce and remarry, which the Catholic Church did not allow. It was in this culture that the King James Bible, the first widely used English translation was forged.

If we look at it from this perspective, it makes much more sense that the word Law would be used in place of teaching or instruction. Now, 400 years later, the KJV has become the standard by which Bibles are held. If this is a good thing is not for me to say, but when we translate new versions, our biases on which words to use go back to what we were taught as a child. If you were always taught that Torah means “Law.” It seems logical that you would end up using that word.

However, I believe that it is time for a paradigm shift; its time to change how we view the word of God; how we view God in general. You might not realize it, but that view of God I mentioned earlier, “Where God was a fear-mongering King who ruled with a tight fist ready to smite you and doom you to hell at a moments notice.” Is still a common view of God today. People often see God like this, or they see him as a judge who is going to weigh your good against your bad, and if the good weighs out to more then you get into the gates of heaven.

It is time to change our thinking. It’s time to re-imagine the word H8451. Let’s shift from a “law” based God of punishment, to a “Instructional” God of Love. The purpose of the Torah has always been God trying to teach us how to live, and how to live well! Imagine if you because to look at the Torah of God as instruction to make your life better, instructions to strengthen your relationship with God. What would that look like? It is time for a shift in our mindset and a change in our living.

What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts, because this is not ‘Gospel’ of ‘Scripture.’ Its merely my musings concerning the way we view God and his word.

Israel, Technology, and going green.

As an American, I get to hear all the time about being green. I hear about alternative energies, organic farming, sewage treatment, desalination, and a whole host of different environmental initiatives. However in such a big country like America, we often do not see it in action. Sure we do it all, but not in every city and every place. With such a huge amount of land things are vastly more spread out.

In Israel this is quite different. The nation is about the size of the state of New Jersey. Within that small tract of land, there are several different types of landscape. You have mountains, and valleys, rivers and seas,  deserts and woodlands, farms and cities. This makes for many unique different solutions for the environmental ‘crisis’ that we Americans speak so much about. In America I put quotes around the word ‘crisis’ because things are not in dire straits for us. However in Israel these issues are real and they are life and death.

Water shortages in a desert are serious. A lack of oil in a small land without many friends matters. So this has led to Israel becoming a world leader in environmentalism. Here are some interesting highlights for you.

1. Desalination
2. Waste Water Treatment
3. Electric Cars
4. Solar Energy
5. Wind Power

I want to focus on the top three on the list because those are things I spent the most time learning about. Lets begin with Desalination. Israel is in the process of building Five desalination plants. So far they have built Three of the five with the goal of having all Five supply 750 million gallons of water each year. That equates to roughly One Third of Israel’s annual water needs. The desalination plant in Ashkelon is the largest in the world. Israel is considered a  world leader in desalination and many nations with a coastline shouold take them as an example.

Now let us discuss waste water treatment. Most people are grossed even by the thought of it, but it is a great source of water. Israel takes the waste water from its cities and then purifies it. When it has been sufficiently purified, that water is then sent to farmers. Not farms where food is produced, but places where they need water for non food plants. To the National parks to water their trees, flowers, and lawns. To textile and cotton farms, and others who are desperate for water to keep the land alive. To many Americans, even many who claim to be environmentalists this is a gross thought, but in reality it is a brilliant way to keep the economy, and the land thriving even in the midst of drought.

The third thing on the list I feel the need to mention is Electric cars. See, I m a car guy, and having seen the electric cars here in America, the very thought of an electric car is repugnant, because the term evokes images of hideous looking beasts who terrible performance that are highly impractical  to anyone going on a road trip. However, once again, Israel helps to shift my mindset. This is where Better Place comes in. When I saw the schedule, it said one of our Itinerary items was to Go to Better Place. When someone tells me we are going to a better place, my first thought is not cars, but death. However I am gladly mistaken this time.

Better Place manufactures practical, powerful electric cars. They were given a grant from the Renault Automotive Corporation in France who gave them a fleet of car bodies to try their experimental engine in. It is a fully electric battery powered engine that is set in a sleek looking 4 door sedan and has all the extra amenities of a modern sedan. So, simply by seeing the car, one of my issues with electric cars was nullified. This was not an ugly eyesore. I didn’t have to give up aesthetics just to satiate my desire to help the environment.

But, the looks of the car aren’t nearly as important to me as its power and performance. How do these stack up against traditional vehicles  of the same style? Luckily for all of you who are now in suspense waiting for the answer, they let me test drive it. The Better Place / Renault Fluence Z.E has a top speed of approximately 115 mph. and on a full battery can currently go about 115 miles. As the battery technology increases, that number will go up. Now in a place like America, where the land is vast and spread out this might not seem practical, but in a country like Israel which is roughly the size of New Jersey, this means you can travel almost north to south with no issue. It handles amazing and accelerates quickly. The test track had two lengthy straightaways a few curves, and a roundabout. I took most of the track pedal to the metal, because I wanted ot put the car to the test, and it drifted the roundabout like something from The Fast & The Furious. I was legitimately impressed, because I tested it by driving much harder than I would on a normal trip. So it passed that test, but what about practicality?

How do you charge it? Well, when you buy the car, you sign up for a power plan. Bascialy its a monthly fee you pay for the electricity that charges your car. So instead of shelling out a few sheckles each time you need gas, you pay up front each month. As part of this, you get two charging stations. One for home, and one to put where you need it, perhaps at the office, or some other place you spend a lot of time at? Then around the cities in Israel, Better Place is installing charging stations so that you will be able to park and charge whle you are downtown shopping or going to the movies, or anything else you are doing.

But the real key to the power issue is Battery Changing Stations. These are just like gas stations and will be found around the country. You pull up, swipe your better place subscription card and then it switches your drained battery for a fresh one. This process takes about five minutes which is about the same time you would spend at the gas station filling your tank.

All in all, better place was able to really make me rethink my stance on electirc cars, and it gives me hope that this technology will one day be practical in a place like America. Well, that seems like a long enough update. Check back tomorrow for an article on Organic Farming in Israel.

My Review of Jesus Culture is TWC Featured Article!

Today The Worship Community featured my review of Jesus Culture’s new Double Live Album : Awakening on the front page of their site. This is exciting news for me and I just wanted to share. To read the full article, click here.

For those who aren’t that interested in the full write up here is a brief summary. With 16 tracks and almost 2 hours of Live Jesus Culture worship. This album is a winner. It features Chris Quilala & Kim Walker-Smith heavily, but also includes Jake Hamilton, Kristine DiMarco, as well as Bryan & Katie Torwalt. All three are newcomers to the Jesus Culture recordings, but have their own albums on the Jesus Culture / Bethel / Kingsway label. The highlight of the whole album in my eyes was Kristine DiMarco’s masterful rendition of Will Regan & United Pursuit’s Break Every Chain. There is not a single song on the album that feels out of place. It is a good mix of new songs and old songs. So you may recognize a few and will want to learn a few more.

With that in mind, I want to leave you with this video of Kristine DiMarco. This is not the recorded version from the Album but her warming up for the live recording by practicing this song. Even in the practice you can really feel the power and presence of God all over this song.

The Israel you never knew….

When you think of Israel, what pictures do you have in your mind? Barbed wire? Bombs? Loads of hate? Soldiers on every corner? Fear and despair? Most of the people I have talked to have the image of a war torn land with soldiers everywhere and terrorists in every alley. A land where you can’t walk down the street without fear. People hear in the news about the ‘war’ between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and it conjures images of an apartheid state wherein the Palestinians are refugees and live in almost third world conditions.

I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Israel is a beautifully diverse country with vastly different landscapes as you travel mere miles. The land has everything from mountains and valleys; to deserts and oases. The land is beautiful and has many unique intricate features that add to its beauty.

Israel’s cities are delightful, the beautiful mix of classic middle-eastern architecture and modern design make some amazing cities. The streets are safe, no worse than walking in Philadelphia or Kansas City. The economy is booming and trade is increasing.

But what about those Palestinians? Don’t they live in refugee camps behind evil walls? Not exactly. You see there is a fence surrounding the west bank areas of Judea and Samaria, and border checkpoints that separate Jewish Israel from the Palestinian areas, but that fence is nothing compared to the behemoth wall that separates America from Mexico. So, you probably realize that the fence is there because there is tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis. This is true, but let me come back to that conflict in a few minutes.  Before I crack that well I have a few thoughts that need to be shared.

When you think of Israel, you probably think of a culture war between two groups; Israelis and Palestinians. The failure in this widely accepted thinking is that it neglects the fact that there are more cultures in Israel than just those two, and all of them are distinct and unique.

There are actually Five major cultures in Israel. Let’s make a list first and then we can discuss each of them.

1. Israeli/Jewish
2. Palestinian/Muslim
3. Non-Palestinian Arabs/Muslims
4. Druze
5. Bedouin

You know about the main two, but have you ever heard much if anything about the bottom three? If you have, you are in the minority, but I want to change that, so let me tell you about them.

First lets look at the non-Palestinian Arabs. These are Arabs, many of whom consider themselves good Muslims. The interesting thing about them is that  most of them life in reasonable peace with the Jews. They share the land and they just live their lives. Its probably a stretch to say they are friends, but in truth some are. What may astonish you even more is that many of these Arabs dislike the Palestinians. There are many reasons why they dislike the Palestinians. Some dislike them because they find them to be trouble makers. Others dislike them because they are coming in and trying to take over their land.

One of the men I met was an Arab Sheik. He looked exactly how you would picture a sheik. His family has held land in his region for many years, going back to the days of King Husseni and the 1800′s. We didn’t discuss a lot of political issues, but in my brief encounter with him, it was fascinating to realize that there are other Arab groups beyond just the Palestinians, and each Arab people group is different.  For many years I thought it was just the Palestinians in Israel. But enough about the Arabs, lets move down the list.

The next culture I would like to discuss are the Druze. They live in the region surrounding Mt. Carmel and have lived there for Hundreds and possibly thousands of years. The Druze are decedents of Jethro. Jethro was Moses’ father-in-law. For more about the culture of the Druze, and their beliefs please feel free to email me or simply google them. The Druze are very friendly toward the Israeli government and many even serve in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). Israelis are required to serve three years in the IDF, but the druze are exempt and are allowed to volunteer and enlist if they wish to. I met one such Druze.  He was a security guard at one of my hotels. He served in the military and now worked as a guard while going to university. The other interesting Druze I had the honor of meeting was Minister Ayoub Kara. Minister Kara is a druze man who serves in the Knesset which is the Israeli Parliment. He is the Deputy Minister over the regions of the Negev and Galilee. He invited us into his home and dined with us. While we ate, he shared some of the history of his people, and then shared his heart for the future as well as his delight to see what we were doing through the Israel Goodwill Ambassador Academy.

The final people group of note in Israel is actually the fastest growing. The Bedouins are traditionally a nomadic people who live in the desert in the south of Israel. However the Nomadic culture leads to a host of difficulties that I am sure you can imagine. To combat these difficulties, the Israeli government built four cities for the Bedouins. Many people see the Israeli government as this evil Apartheid like state, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Israeli government has built cities in Bedouin areas and in Palestinian areas to give homes to those in need. In the Bedouin regions these homes and cities were well received and a thriving economy began to build in the south. The Bedouins are now outgrowing their cities, and the Israeli government is now trying to decide how to best facilitate this growth. The Bedouins also are know to volunteer in the IDF. They are actually highly sought after because their history as nomadic people makes them well suited to being trackers and special forces.

The final thought I want to share today is about the Knesset itself. You would think that since Israel is a Jewish state that all its Knesset leaders are Jewish, but that just isn’t the case. Israel is a thriving democracy and there are Israelis, Druze, and even Muslims in the government. In fact there are eleven Muslims in the Israeli Knesset most of whom want to see Israel wiped off the map. Can you imagine that in America? The Senator from Kansas, or Florida, or Michigan voting in the Senate to get rid of America as a nation? Well that is exactly what is happening in Israel. Now the number of anti-Israel members of the Knesset is low and thus it doesn’t often affect the voting process, but still the fact that they are allowed in the government at all is a shocker in and of itself.

Keep watching in the next few days for more information about Israel and what I learned while I was there. As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed, but overtly anti-semetic comments will not be allowed. You do not have to agree with me, but keep it civil.

Sitting and waiting, and contemplating…

So I am sitting in the Lobby of our hotel waiting for my ride to the airport. While I am waiting, all I have to surround me is my mind. There has been so much that I am almost on overload from the last two weeks. I cannot begin to explain or describe everything in one blog, so I think I will do it in four. In the coming days look for a blog about Israel’s Government, History, Science/Technology, and finally the Land itself.

But today, I want to talk about something that has weighed on me a fair bit since I did it; Yad Va’Shem. For those of you who do not know, Yad Va’Shem is the Holocaust Memorial here in Jerusalem, and it is an intense experience. I have been to several Holocaust museums, and I have heard many testimonies of survivors, but nothing compared to this museum. Fact and figures everywhere, actual historical relics from the camps and the people, story after story telling the tale of the Holocaust. As you walk through you cannot help but be overcome. It is just so much pain to take in, but that is only the beginning.

After you have been through all of this and experienced all of the pain and suffering, triumph and tragedy, the museum ends with the Hall of Names. This is a room and Going up to the ceiling is a cone with images and names and stories of the people who had their lives taken. As you spin around you see story after story of real people who experienced more than anything you could begin to imagine. The walls of the room are lined with books. In each of these books are testimony sheets that detail someone who lost their life in the holocaust. To date they have recorded the story of over Four Million holocaust victims, and they continue every day trying to identify every single one and hae they story held in the hall of names, forever remembered for their life and their pain.

I don’t want to keep going with this because even reflecting back I am reminded of the flood of emotion that hits you as you walk through these halls. The reason we did this is because it is Israeli Law. Everyone who wishes to be an ambassador must go through Yad Va’Shem and  once through it, you enter the Hall of Remembrance, a very sobering stone room with the names of many of the camps engraved into its floor. In the center is a lamp-stand that is a symbol of the pain, and a sign to remind us of their lives, next to the lamp-stand is a small stone platform, and underneath are the ashes of many who lost the lives in the holocaust. To become an ambassador in Israel, you must come here to this room, and you must lay a wreath on the platform as a tribute to the victims, and a reminder to yourself of what great tragedy helped pave the way for the Jewish State of Israel.

There aren’t words to describe all of the emotion that flows when you experience this first hand. It was so much that you couldn’t even cry, because crying didn’t seem to be enough to express what you feel as you experience their stories. Anyone who wants to be an Ambassador for Israel will partake of this ceremony and will feel this level of emotion for themselves.  But for now, I wanted you to understand, even if I can’t only explain it in part, what it means to be an Israeli Goodwill Ambassador and the significance of this class.

In the coming days I will have at least four more posts written on this  School, and all that I experienced, but I felt this is the thing that I wanted to express the most.

Hurry up and Wait… (the story of my life)

So most of you know I am leaving for Israel and will be gone this month. I apologize for not actually posting more but the past few weeks have been done in the hurry up offense. Getting things paid for, cleaned, and ready to go all across the world in a whirlwind of missions excitement.

So The plan was to drive to Philly (Can’t wait to go home) then fly to Israel. But this is changed. We are flying out to Philly on Saturday and spending the night at my Aunt’s home before leaving for Israel Sunday night. Our flight goes from Philly to London to Israel, and I am thinking that on our long layover I might get a chance to visit with my uncles who live mere minutes from the airport.

The funny thing is that a new assignment has come across my desk today, well not literally as I have no desk and I was texted the message, but you get the drift.

It looks like my pastor is being put on night shift and will not be available in tomorrow to preach the night service. This means the duty of sharing from the word of God falls to me, and I now have a day to prepare. Perhaps a more intelligent person would simply dig into the log of sermons he has already written, or preached, but I am not that smart.

I genuinely believe God has something special to say to the people at my church that is different than a sermon I have preached in the past. So I am waiting on the Lord to speak to me. I am waiting for him to reveal his word and help me decide how best to share it. Mind you I might find out that Pastor Chris isn’t working tomorrow night and this might all become a moot point, but for the time being I have this sitting in front of me. Packing and preaching is my schedule for the next 24 hours.

So tomorrow night I need to have songs ready to lead worship, and the crazy thing is that I fully intended on introducing some new songs, but since I will be gone all month I decided against it. We will see if my ever changing mind switches again. Then I have to have a word ready, something that is solid and encouraging. (Last week I preached, and It wasn’t as encouraging as I wanted it to be it was more challenging)

Then I have to have bags ready to go on saturday. Fun Fun Fun! This will be a wild month and keep your eyes peeled for updated from the road and maybe a video blog from Jerusalem, because I think you want to see that glorious city.