| Edit: Pics of Mexico.
Kids at the kids program we did the one afternoon in the village.
The base in Mexico, picture is looking out toward the soccer feild. The ocean is in the distance.
A couple of the team getting ready for the ride to the village. It was an hour and some to get there. The luggage above us fell down one at a time onto our laps. Fun stuff.
And last but most definitely not least! Me on the day that I was sick. I was laying on a bench at the table and you can see the one leg of the table at my head and the underside of the top of the table above me, I am looking at my youth leaders Sheena, and Les (soon to be wed!).
So there are the promised pics, I am too lazy to put any more.
Jude 1 (NLT)
Greetings from Jude
1This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.
I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.
2May you receive more and more of God's mercy, peace, and love.
The Danger of False Teachers
3Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News.[a] God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. 4I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5I must remind you--and you know it well--that even though the Lord[b] rescued the whole nation of Israel from Egypt, he later destroyed every one of those who did not remain faithful. 6And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment. 7And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil.
8Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones.[c] 9But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses' body.) 10But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction. 11How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they will do anything for money. And like Korah, they will perish because of their rebellion.
12When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.[d] They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvest time. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. 13They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.
14Now Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said,
"Look, the Lord is coming
with thousands of his holy ones.
15
He will bring the people of the world
to judgment.
He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things
they have done in rebellion
and of all the insults that godless sinners
have spoken against him."[e]
16These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return.
A Call to Remain Faithful
17But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, 18that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. 19Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.
20But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.[f] 21Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. 22Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins.[g]
A Prayer of Praise
24And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy. 25All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him, in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen.
Revelation 2:19-25 (NLT)
19"I know all the things you do--your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. 20But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman--that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet--to lead my servants astray. She is encouraging them to worship idols, eat food offered to idols, and commit sexual sin. 21I gave her time to repent, but she would not turn away from her immorality. 22Therefore, I will throw her upon a sickbed, and she will suffer greatly with all who commit adultery with her, unless they turn away from all their evil deeds. 23I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. 24But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (`deeper truths,' as they call them--depths of Satan, really). I will ask nothing more of you 25except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.
That is just some stuff I have been reading and thinking a lot about, that last line is awesome. "I will ask nothing more of you, except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come." We say we don't have anything to work with to reach out to others? Well that’s good! The less talents we have the less we have to hold onto (AKA put into use)! But when we start using the little we think we have, we "find" more. So yea basically it is a never ending circle of struggling to hold onto a rope tied to the ceiling of a bottomless pit. And since we keep "finding" things that God has given us to use, we have to reach up and grab it (so that we can hold it as-well). Thus hand over hand we climb, grabbing things once unknown to us and holding them tightly. Even though we slip and burn our hands sliding down the rope we do not lose these things we have found because they are stuck underneath our hands. But we than have a ton of gifts on a small bunch of rope... Visualize yourself climbing up a fire pole (the ones firemen slide down on), as you climb you are grabbing springs and putting them under your hands (the springs are around the pole, all the way up). Now you have a ton of coils underneath you and you slip, the coils start bending under your weight, you fall far and the pressure of the coils to get back to where they belong along the pole is immense. You must climb to ease the tension. But it is not quite as difficult because you are in known territory, old territory, you are not being shocked and amazed bye new gifts, abilities, mercies, joy's, and so on... The springs lift you up. Realize that you are basically weightless and climbing hand over hand is not fast enough, grab the top spring instead of the pole and it springs you up ("soar upon the wings of"/springs/). You are now pumped up and energized, you climb faster, but you again are in foreign territory... you grow weary once more. But this time you do not slip. You "find" rest in his "springs".
Edit today, this scripture is good for me to remember right now.
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Notice our cool shades! We bought them at Jubilee the day before leaving.
