Month-old memories of HSLT

HSLT rocked!
First of all, I was so impressed with the character of the 19 teens that went to HSLT this year. What a great group! For the guys, each guy had a turn as the 'Man in the Middle' - and each one was very open and honest about how God was working in his life and willing to share his struggles. This is the first step to making progress in an area.

During evangelism time, I got paired with another adult leader, John (mainly because none of the teens wanted to go with us). The first guy we talked to was walking down the beach with his wife. He had his ankle wrapped, so I asked him about it and we got to talking. He was Baptist but hadn't been to church for a while. We encouraged him to get back to church.

We then went out onto the pier. It cost a dollar to go on the pier, and $7 if you were fishing. The first guy we talked to was fishing - his family was out on the pier with him. He claimed he was saved, but hadn't been to church since he had been in Iraq. John was familiar with the area he was from (Johnson City, TN) - and may have actually had some relatives that went to his church! We encouraged him to get back to it.

While we were talking to him, an older guy walked by and I felt the prompting to talk to him. So I went up to him and asked him how he was doing..."fine, first vacation in 3 years!" "You're not retired?" "No, are you retired?" he asked me. Turns out he was almost 87 years old - and had been working real estate for the past 57 years. He told me how he had helped out various charities by doing auctions for free. He told me about his implanted defibrillator and how his wife was probably watching us from her hotel room. I asked him if his defib were to stop working and he were to die today if he knew 100% sure that he was going to heaven. He said, I don't think you can know for sure. So I asked, if I could take just a few minutes to show you what the Bible says about knowing for sure 100%, would you want to take that time to do that? Sure! So we went through a 'Do you know for certain' tract - and when I got to the point about asking Christ into his life, I asked him if that was something he wanted to do, and he said, SURE! He said, why don't you pray first and I'll repeat after you... so I prayed with him and I am confident that he knows for sure that he'll be in heaven - not based on anything he had done, but on the promises of God.

(Melissa says, at this point, she'd have just gone home!)

The next guy we went up to was just staring out at the ocean - John introduced us and I said, let me just cut to the chase - if you were to die today, would you be 100% certain you'd go to heaven? He said, yes. I said, how do you know? "I've never done anything wrong!" Nothing? Ever? Nope! You've never lied? Nope. (Except for right now!). Once I finally convinced him that we are all sinners and in the same boat...I asked if he would like to know what the Bible says about how you can know for certain. So we went through the tract and I got to the part about praying - and he said that he would prefer not to pray out loud. So I asked if he would like me to pray and would pray along with me. So I prayed for him - and told him that if he was sincere in his prayer that he could know for sure that God would answer that prayer. Praise God!

Two other significant events:
During our service project we went to Elevated Ministries to help them set up a kiosk and a desk - so while we were there I asked if they needed any computer work done. They said that their wireless router had not been set up yet. So I went to work on it, but did not get it done in the time that we had. I felt bad, and told them I'd try to come back next time. But as it turned out, we did not go back there - so the next day when we were getting our service project assignments, I asked one of the guys who was going to Elevated if any of his guys were computer guys - and he said that he was a certified network specialist. Yay! So he was able to get them set up and we were all happy.

The second significant event:
Wednesday night I was a little overwhelmed about how we would be able to implement all the things we had been learning. I was reminded of Romans 8:11 - where it says that the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead - that power - dwells in us. So that night I shared with the teens that verse and how we can't do it on our own but need the Holy Spirit to do the work in our lives. The next day, Kimball was leading worship - and I heard this line - "There's a power in His breath living inside us. The power that raised, raised, raised Christ from the dead." - and the rest of the song tells about how He has overcome. I about lost it when I heard this song - and asked Kimball later - Where has this song been? Why have we not done it before now? He replied, "About the time you were sharing that verse with your group last night... I was writing this song." And he was kind enough to sing it again Friday night at the closing worship. Thanks, Kimball!

If you would like to hear more of the testimonies from the teens who went to LT - click on the link on the title of this post (gracesummit.org/20070812.asp)

I may not post that often, but when I do...Look out!
Yack

What happens in Vegas...

...isn't all bad :).

Shortly after we got to Vegas, we were approached by someone who asked if we had "gotten our comps" yet (for my kids' sake - comps are complimentary things that the hotels give out to keep their guests there gambling ;) ). We said no. The deal was, if we sat through a timeshare presentation by Tahiti Village, we could get two show tickets (Barbra and Frank - (for my kids' sake, Streisand and Sinatra 'impersonators')), two buffet dinners, and $80 worth of '40 for 20' slot play. The slot play is this - you have a chance (ha!) to win $40, $100, or $1000 if you hit a 'jackpot'. Along the way, you win more 'credits' that keep you playing longer. But once all your credits are gone, you still get to pick from a nice selection of gifts. Anyway, enough about that for now. This morning at 9, we went to Tahiti Village, and learned that for a mere $47,000 and some odd cents (in 96 easy MONTHLY payments of $787), you could buy the right to use a timeshare for 2 weeks per year. We enjoyed the presentation, and there wasn't too much pressure to buy. After the freebies, the best part was the bus ride back: The driver took us all over Vegas (returning people to their various hotels), and giving us a mini tour along the way..."and across Dean Martin Boulevard from NY,NY is a diner called the Wild Wild West, where you can get a breakfast combo for 1.99..." -- you get the idea.

While we were waiting to catch the initial Tahiti Village bus, a woman asked if we were going to be in Vegas for another day (which is usually a pitch for one of the timeshares) - she continued, "Because I have two 24-hour bus passes that expire at 5:00 today and we are leaving for the airport right now!" So after the timeshare presentation, we took the 'Deuce' (F.M.K.S, a double decker bus that runs up and down 'the strip') to the furthest point south that we wanted to go and walked back up the strip looking at hotels and shops and stuff all day. Then we came back for our buffet dinner (incidentally, we walked the whole way back - probably over 6 miles just along the strip alone - not counting all the walking we did in the hotels!), played our free slots, picked out our free gifts (Leather duffel bags on wheels), and called it a night. Not a bad day!

Zion Day 3

We had another awesome day. We hiked over 7 miles - 3.5 on the Pa'Rus Trail, then the Middle, Upper, and Lower Emerald Pool trails, then the River Walk trail (which we did Thursday). Look for today's photos under the _ZionDay3 folder at http://photos.yahoo.com/jmyackley (just click the title of this post).

Yahoo photos should work now!

So far we have __ZionDay1 and _BryceBack2Zion

Brrrrr-icey Bryce

We traveled up to Bryce Canyon today. We knew there was a chance of snow due to some rain moving up from Arizona (now there is a phrase you don't hear too often - "But it's a dry rain"???). Well it brought a wet snow - but thankfully, we were able to get some pictures before it moved in. When we went to the second viewpoint, it was so foggy (cloudy?) that we couldn't see a thing. By the time we got to the third viewpoint, the snow was moving in. Nonetheless, we had a fine lunch on the way back to Zion. (We split split pea soup and an open face turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes). I am sooo thankful that I listened to my wife (now there is a phrase you don't hear too often! - to be clear, I am always thankful when I listen to my wife - husbands (those other guys) just don't listen to their wives often enough!) - when she noticed that Bryce is typically 20 degrees cooler than Zion - so we ended up staying at Zion instead - and we love our room at the Pioneer Lodge and the weather here is sooo much better!

Again, click on the title (should link to http://photos.yahoo.com/jmyackley - then navigate to folder _BryceThenBack2Zion

Enjoy!

Zion Rocks!

Unbelievable. Click on the title (Zion Rocks) to go to my photo album - go to the ZionDay1 folder.

A Room With a View

This was our view from the Boulder Station Hotel and Casino - Room 1210. We were on a Non-smoking floor - but I think that was considered to be a suggestion rather than a commandment...- we even saw someone smoking in their room WHILE THE CLEANING PEOPLE WERE THERE! I wish it were like the Amish Door - they have a rule - if there is evidence of smoking, you will be charged a $50 cleaning charge. Our linens smelled like smoke - eventually Melissa had to get up and get her Grapefruit Spray to spray her pillow so she could get to sleep!

Twas the night before the night before Christmas...

Life is good. I am blessed beyond belief.

There. Who says I don't post on my blog?

Why I believe what I believe

When I was about 13, a friend of mine said, "I believe Jesus was a good man, and a good moral teacher, but I don't believe he was God the Son." This got me thinking, because I had always taken it for granted. Over the next year, I considered this and prayed that God would give me understanding. In the back of a neighbor's Bible was a list of prophecies written hundreds of years before Jesus was born that were fulfilled in Him. Many of these prophecies Jesus had no control over - and at first glance, even appeared to be contradictory. For instance, Micah 5 says that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and yet another passage says that He would be called "out of Egypt" - which seems contradictory until you see how it played out. Even at His crucifixion - a prophecy (Psalm 22) proclaims "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." - Well, which was it? It doesn't make any sense until you get to the crucifixion scene and see where they divided his garments among themselves, but his robe was one piece, and instead of tearing it, chose to cast lots for it. Many more examples can be found at PropheciesFulfilled. Isaiah 53 is another group of prophecies whose fulfillment amazes me. As I read these prophecies and their fulfillment, I realized that the probability of them being fulfilled in one person was too great, too inconceivable to not be true.

Then there is the "SIN" issue - and here is where Christ provides the ONLY answer. When we sin, we are separated from God. From the beginning (and I don't claim to understand this) - the penalty for sin is the shedding of blood - as is the REMEDY for sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, God clothed them in animal skins - an animal had to die as a result of their sin. When Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices, Abel's offering (a sacrificed ram) was acceptable to God and Cain's offering (the fruit of the land) wasn't. I know, I know, it hardly seems fair, but that is how it is. In the same way, we cannot atone (make good) for our sins on our own. In the Old Testament, a lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the people. At Passover (still in the Old Testament) a lamb was sacrificed and its blood was sprinkled over the doorway and the angel of death 'Passed Over' that house - bringing salvation to those who trusted God enough to follow His instructions to put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. So it is when Christ came, He was the 'Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world' - He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrifice and the Old Testament Passover. He lived a SINLESS life, and proved that his sacrifice was acceptable to God by defeating death and being raised from the dead. But we must trust God enough to do as He says, and to 'apply' Christ's sacrifice to the frame of our hearts. We must 'receive Him' - John 1:12 - to those who received Him He gives the right to become children of God. When we believe: Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance...
Now, having said all that, another thing that convinces me is the peace He has given me in my heart of hearts. I know I can trust Him with my life and I desire to do all that He asks me to do. Yes, I still sin, but 1 John 2 says that Jesus is my advocate - he pleads my case before the throne of God and says, "I've paid for this one."

Sorry this is so long - it is not a trivial thing to say why one believes what one believes!