SATURDAY, August 16th, 2008

Thanks for coming last night teenagers! I enjoyed our time together whether you liked the movie or not... some of us are easy to please, others... well you get the picture :) I am thankful that each of you came on such short notice!

I am really thankful that we finished the book of Jonah yesterday! I think that was one of my favorite book studies so far.

Well after much thought and debate I have decided on what we will be studying for the next book. If this is not the book that you voted on, I appologize, but after much consideration I figured that we might as well start here. It is all instpired, so whether you voted for Genesis, Job, Proverbs, or Numbers... We need to read it all! So I figured out which book would help us understand how everthing else that we read in the future fits together and I made a decision. One thing that I need to tell you, I realized that if we only do 10 verses a day then we will be reading this book for like four months... So We are going to up the reading a little bit. We will generally read one chapter a day now, which would equal an average of about 30 verses a day. I know that is a little more than normal, just know that I do not expect a synopsis of every verse. Just an application to your life, or a lesson that you personally can work on through the passage that we read.


So... Drumroll Please...............................................


Genesis 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”
21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.
31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

What a great reminder of our creator... It is easy to go day after day and forget, or not remember, our creator. When was the last time you looked at a blade of grass or a butterfly and remembered... WOW! God created that from nothing!! It is not like He had a book up in Heaven that said... If you want to make a butterfly this is what you do. Our creator just thought it into existence and then boom, He created it. He created waterfalls, Giant Trees, Beaches, Sunsets, Full Moons, Stary Nights, Sunflowers, Rainbows, Chocolate Chip Cookies... ok, well He created the stuff that makes them!! :) But seriously we have an incredible God, a master creator, and the most wonderful part about the study of this creator is what He would consider His Masterpiece... You and Me!

We see on the sixth day that God made Man in His own image. I love how it says "Our" Image. God made us in "their" image: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit... Have you ever heard someone sayd man has a "Body, Soul, and Spirit"...? Well that is how we are created in the lokeness of God. We have our Body, just like Christ, we have our spirit, just like the Holy spirit, and we have our mind, the control center of our life, just like God the Father.

Pretty Amazing Huh! There is even a lot of cool things to learn in the book of Genesis and I am excited about doing a daily study through this book with you! Stay faithful!!

By the way: You sould memorize this:

Day One: Day and Night
Day Two: The Firmament: Space
Day Three: The Land, Grass, Herbs, and Trees
Day Four: Sun, Moon, Stars
Day Five: The Birds and Fishes
Day Six: Land Animals and Man

7169

FRIDAY, August 15th, 2008

Hey Everyone! I am so excited that so many of you are involved in the devotional blog this time! Great Job! Stay Faithful until the End!

Tonight we are going to have a Party!! We will be watching "Jonah: The Veggietales Story" and then we will be playing some Sardines and having a "Good Ol' Time"!!! :)

Be There at 6:00PM and Bring $2.00 for Pizza!! Feel free to bring a friend if you wish! It will be GREAT!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Lucy: Ha!!!! You are so funny!! "Thay put sacks on their head!!!" You make me smile!!
Jake: I hope you can come tonight!!! gtg. see ya. :)
Kacey: I have to say the same thing: If God wasn't a God of second chances, then I do not know where I would be today!!
Brooke: I am proud of you for doing that!!! Use your influence on those Freshmen for God's Glory!
Amy and Tricia: Hurry and get here when you can!! We will eat first, so you probably will get here in the middle of the movie!! :)
Bethany: I hope that Emily comes tonight! :)
Tyler: Sorry Man! I wish that we could have cheeseburgers too, but everyone else wanted pizza!
Jessica M: I fo sho am glad dat u r comin :)
Jon: Ha! Why not get fatter?? You are crazy!
Jeff: If you really want too, then yes, you can bring noodles, but the pizza will taste MUCH better!
Ryan: Glad you are on here man!!!
David: Yes, you got it right!! Good Job! Are you coming tonight?
Mallory: ...cheeseburgers are good to...

YOU GUYS ARE LATE LEACHES, NIGHT OWELS, MOONLIGHT MOKEYS, DO YOUR DEVOTIONS EARLIER AND GO TO BED!!!!! :)

Jonah 4:

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
2 So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!"
10 But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.
11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

Wow! Wow! Wow! Can you believe this! One would expect the last chapter to talk about how the people of Nineveh repented, and Jonah was so happy and He went back home and worshipped God unto the end of His days... However, that is not the case.

Jonah is guilty of something that we are often guilty of QUITE OFTEN!

Jonah walked through the city telling them that God was going to destroy them, and they repented, so God decided not to destroy them because of their change of heart, but Jonah did not like that...

Jonah was excited about seeing the judgment of God poured out all over that city... so when God said that He would spare Nineveh, Jonah was not happy, in fact verse one tells us that Jonah became ANGRY.

Jonah tells God in verses 1 and 2: God I did what you said, I went and told them, and I knew that you would never hold up your side of the deal... I knew that you would never destroy Nineveh... so just kill me!!!!!

I don't know about you, but If I were God, I would not have hesitated... If He said to kill Him, I would have just done it... But God is gracious and merciful... Wait!!! Isn't that the reason why Jonah wants to die in the first place!! UNBELIEVABLE!!

Jonah begins to whine and whine and whine and He is so overly dramatic!!!!

Literally, Jonah goes on top of a mountain to watch the city and wait for God to destroy it while He pouts.

God decides to teach him a lesson instead... Jonah is sitting there in the sun, so God grows a plant that provides shade for Jonah, but the next day, God sends a worm to destroy the shade... Jonah whines about that too... Then God says why do you have more mercy on that plant than on the 120,000 people in the city of Nineveh??

That is a wonderful point! So many times, I want to see God's judgment on other people, but I want Him to forgive me for my sin. Some times I even question whether or not God is fair whenever He forgives someone who is very mean to me, but I forget the fact that He has forgiven me of the same thing!! This is a wonderful picture of how bitterness will destroy your life.

Jonah, a man who had been forgiven greatly, had already forgotten about God's mercy on his life, and He simply wanted the entertainment of seeing the Nation of Nineveh destroyed!

We must not be happy whenever God pours his judgement on people... we must wish for mercy, so that they may repent!!!

See you tonight!

THURSDAY, August 14th, 2008

Alright everyone! Remember to stay faithful as we prepare for our next reward trip. To qualify you must do 85% of your devotions between now and September 13th. Those who qualify will be going to the Magic Kingdom with us, on September 20th. We are going to have a wonderful time! Don't forget... God rewards the faithful and SO DO WE!! :)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!!!
Many of you mentioned Friday Night (tomorrow night) to get together and hang out at the church and watch the veggie tales movie. I talked to Katie and she is good with that. So PLEASE RSVP on your comment to let me know if you will come tomorrow or not. We can meet at the church at 6:00PM

ALSO: Let me know what eating option you choose:
A: Eat before you come
B: Everyone bring $2.00 for Pizza
C. Everyone bring $3.00 for Cheeseburgers
D: Other...

I will post the decision tomorow morning! Please check before you come so that you will know to bring money if you need to!


A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Rachel: You put that so eloquently... you don't want to come out as barf! :)
Michael: That is right, it doesn't have to be a false God to be an "idol" really anything that we put in front of God in our life becomes something we worship... that makes it an idol.
Kervin: Thanks for coming to church last night! I am sorry for interrupting your nap! :)
Gaby: Glad you are back on here girl! Finish that summer homework :)
Marvin: Thanks for coming to church yesterday! (like you had a choice!! :) No but really... thanks!
Lucy: Good to see you in church last night!
Tyler: you are funny man! We must obey God so that we are'nt walking down the street and suddely swallowed by a fish or something! Ha! lol
Bethany B: I am glad you are on here! Tell you bro. to stay faithful! :)
Mallory: We certainly did miss you! You missed a great time... we had our own "Baby Olympic Games" it was pretty fun! Keep up the good work on the devos!!
Kacey: I will talk to Katie and post the movie time up today!!
Jessica M: Those are very wise words. I am glad you know all of that. Now don't forget to remember it whenever Satan is trying to get you to believe some lies about the circumstances: Life is not over. God is Good!! Katie and I love you very much! (And you are blessed with a great family)

Jonah 3:1-10

1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

This story seems to get better and better. First of all, we see that God is a God of second Chances!!!!!!!!! Jonah totally turned his back on God and went the opposite direction, but the first verse here says: "The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time" No matter what you have done, or where you have gone... God will forgive you if you turn and repepnt today!

Not only does God forgive Jonah, but God forgives the entire city of Nineveh. This was a wicked, ungodly, violent city that hated God, but whenever Jonah came into town: Verse 5 tells us that they "believed God". How great is that.

Jonah walked into the city and believed God. How much easier would it have been to obey God in the first place?? Well one book that I read explained that Jonah probably looked very scary because he had been eaten for three days by the stomach acid inside of this whale. The book explains that his skin was prbably bleached, all of his hair was singed off, and he could have even had sores...

I don't know about you, but if some dude came walking up to me looking like that and telling me that God was about to destroy me (too) then I would definitely listen.

I think God can use our past failures for his glory as we see Him do in this passage through Jonah! It is so wonderful how the people of Nineveh instantly got right with God. They instantly proclaimed a fast, and told everyone to change their clothes into sackcloth and ashes... This was a sign of repentance.

The last thought is this: The people of Nineveh did not even know if God would have mercy on them... Jonah never said if you get right He will forgive you... Jonah simply told them that God is going to destroy them... They decided that they would find out if this God is a mercyful God and HE TRULY IS!!!! He showed mercy on Jonah, on Nineveh, and He will show mercy on you, if you turn to him in repentance!! God is Good! Love For Him!!!!!

WEDNESDAY, August 13th, 2008

Hello Everyone! See You In Church TONIGHT!!!!!!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Jake: Don't forget to tell us how the passage applies to you! :)
Kacey: I am glad you are on here! I am praying for your Dad! Call me and tell me how he is doing... or just tell me at church tonight!
Jeff: Thanks for being faithful in your devotions! I will bring your charger tonight!
Michael: I Love That Movie! In Fact! We should all get together and watch it at church whenever we finish Jonah!! That would be fun!
Lucy: YOUR BACK!!!!! YEAH! We missed you Sunday!
Bethany: Are you coming to church tonight? What is up with the "one sentance" :) J/K!!
Rachel: yes, you beat me! It was a late night with Will!!!!
Amanda: Those are wise words... the Bible teaches us that whenever we hang out with the wicked, then we become wicked. Most of the time, we must choose to find new friends, instead of letting the bad ones pull us down. :) See you tonight!
Mallory: I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOU AND YOUR INVOLVEMENT!!! Great job on the devos! See you tonight?
Ryan: That is interesting that many people could not swim back then... I believe it!
Jon: Do you like sea food? My wife HATES it! I like it!

Lets Continue With this great story of Jonah

Jonah 2:1-10

1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.
2 And he said: “ I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. “ Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.
7 “ When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.
8 “ Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”
10 So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

This passage is wonderful! We know from yesterdays passage that Jonah was cast out of the boat and swallowed by a whale. We also know that Jonah was in this whale for three days. At some point during that time Jonah woke up from being unconcience and He prayed the prayer written in this chapter.

To help you understand his prayer, I bolded some of the most profound statements, and I colored one phrase orange. Lets go through this prayer and understand what Jonah was talking about.

Verse 1 teels us, THEN Jonah prayed to God from the fishes belly. What is God going to have to do in your life and my life before we will turn to Him? Would we have to write... "and Pastor Lee went through the horrible consequences, and THEN he Prayed. Maybe we should just turn to God before He turns on His righeous judgments!

Then from verses 2-9 we see a wonderful prayer of Repentance:

First Jonah says: When I cried, God listened. What a wonderful truth to know that whenever we cry out to God He will listen to us too!
Jonah acknowledges that he is in this horrible situation because of the consequences of his sin.
In verse 4 we see that Jonah acknowledges that he has been cast out of the sight of God because of his sin. Our God is holy and can not take part in sin, when we are full of sin, we no longer have true fellowship with Him.

Verse 8 is INCREDIBLE!!! Think about this... Jonah is saying that those who worship idols are basically throwing away the mercy that God wants to give them... We do not worship statues, but we worship many other things in our life.. when we put things before God in our lives they become idols...

Do you put things before your devotions? Do you put things before church? If you do, then you are throwing away the mercy that God wants to pour on you. That is such a powerful verse!!!

In verse 9 Jonah says: Salvation is of the Lord!!!!!!
We know that to be true, for He has given us Salvation!!!

And God gave Jonah salvation as well, God told that Whale to "throw up" Jonah!! Wow! That is what God thinnks of Sin... It makes Him want to throw up!! :) Just like all the teens on the way to camp! :)

There are so many lessons on here! Make sure that you come one tomorrow! I am going to show you some really cool stuff about Jonah!! :)

Love you all! See you in church tonight!!

Pastor Lee

TUESDAY, August 12th, 2008

Hey Everyone! Have you been watching the Olympics? Tonight will be really cool! Michael Phelps will probably break the record for the most gold medals ever won by any Olympian!! That is pretty cool! Make sure you watch that tonight!! (After you do your devotions)

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Michael: You are exactly right! Satan is more than happy to help us run away from God!
Hey Rachel: I am sure you meant to type Jonah, so I wont give you a hard time for typing Jonas :)
Bethany: I am glad you are faithful on here! Running from God is NOT the answer! Those are some Wise Words!
Kacey: You are right as well... things don't happen by chance, everything is sovereignly controlled by God.
Tricia: Thank you! Thanks for being so thorough in your description of the passage! You showed me some things that I did not think of! Good Work!
Amanda: I am glad that you are on here! Be Faithful! Every Christian, Especially New Christians, must spend time with God every day!
Mallory: Thanks for the video... BUT WHERE ARE YOUR DEVOS??
Ryan: Yes! We will probably change our mind whenever the consequences of our sin come our way, so we might as well do what is right in the first place!
Jonathan Massey: Great Job! What happened to "before 11:00am" ?? :) Call me today! We need to hang out sometime this week!
Josh LaPerriere, Leff LePerriere, Cary Grimmett, Tyler King, Jessica Massey, Phillip Carpenter, Jill Lockhart, Josh Sandefur, Alex Beals, David Deller, Lucy, Jessica B., Gabi, ?????? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?????? DO YOUR DEVOTIONS!!!! . com

Jonah 1:11-17

11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.
14 Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said, “We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You.”
15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

What a great story. I think this story shows us better than any other story how the consequences of our sin will influence so many lives around us. Have you ever heard the famous saying: "No man lives unto himself and no man dies unto himself"? That means that everything we do will effect the lives of other people around us. Here is an example...

If I were to fall into deep sin and it resulted in me not being the youth pastor of Suncoast Youth Group anymore, then My sin would effect the lives of many of you. One bad decision on my part has the potential to destroy many other lives spiritually.

In the same way, Jonah sinned against God and whenever the sea began to rage, Jonah put all of those mariners lives at risk.

If you live in sin, you could be putting the spiritual lives of those around you at risk... I know of some people right now in our youth group that are influencing each other, and the decisions that you are each making could be potentially destroying the spiritual life of many around you.

Live for God! For His Glory, but also don't forget that you should live for God to be an example for those around you! A Man sharpeneth the countenance of His friend, and it could just as well be said that a man dulleth the countenance of His friend, Don't let your poor decisions hurt the lives of the people around you!!!!!

I think it is wonderful how we see the sea instantly calm whenever Jonah is thrown into the sea! I remember watching the Jonah Veggie Tales movie and I thought the funniest part was whenever they threw Jonah into the water, because the waves instantly were so calm there wasnt even a ripple. And you see Jonah sitting there in the water with a flotation device, just a few yards from the boat, with NO WAVES AT ALL...

That is such a great picture of the power of God... God was not willing to harm the men on the boat, but Had Jonah not done what was right, by jumping out of the boat, I believe that the lives of those men could have been lost... instead Jonah jumped out of the boat, and the men "feared God" and offered a sacrifice to those men.

God makes all things work together for Good! I believe that pne day we may see those men in Heaven!

I must live for God so that I do not draw other people away from God!

MONDAY, August 11th, 2008

Suncoast Youth Group, are you ready to begin this new journey of living for the Lord here in Port Charlotte. Many of you have made incredible spiritual decisions over the last week, and I am so excited to see what God will do through our youth group as we continue to be faithful in His Word daily. If you received Christ at camp then I encourage you to make this time in God's Word a priority every single day; for that matter, if you were saved long ago: I encourage you to do the same! I am so thankful for each of you and I am blessed to be your youth pastor.

Remember the message yesterday: I Kings 20:1-30: The same God that did incredible things at camp this past week is the same God that we serve here in Port Charlotte, at Suncoast Baptist Church! Stay faithful! He will reward you!

Jonah 1:1-10

1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

This is such a great story in many ways. I think because we grow up hearing this story we often discount it to simply a "children's story", but the truth is, there is nothing childish about this story. As we read from verse one, we see that God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people to get right with God. However Jonah has his own plans. Whether it be rebellion, fear, or a lack of faith, Jonah does not obey God; In fact, Jonah goes in the opposite direction from Gods will.

I think it is Ironic that Jonah was scared to obey God, but he felt ok in a fierce storm out of the presence of God. I think we are like that many times: God will tell us to witness to someone, or to go down to the alter and pray, or God will tell us that we need to stand up for truth, and instead of obeying Him, we cower down and ignore the Holy Spirit.

Well, God has great ways of getting our attention as He did in the life of Jonah...

God sent this fierce storm that was likely o "break the ship" (vs. 4) So what did the men on the ship do? They turned to their god's. However their god's had no authority over the waves of the sea. When they found Jonah would you believe that He was sleeping through this mess?? (vs. 5)

The men on the boat wake up Jonah and then they all decide to cast lots... that is an old way of choosing straws? Do you know what that is? Basically it is a form of chance that men used to find out who's fault this was... The best way you can understand it is like this: These men played scissors, paper, rock to find out who was running from God.

When Jonah loses, they ask him, who are you and what are you doing here? Jonah tells them: I am a messenger from God, but I am running from God right now...

The men on the ship get very scared, because they see the power of God and they realize that they do not want to be on the opposing team of God.

I think that there are several lessons in this passage, but the few that jump out at me the most are the fact that when God tells me to do something: I must DO IT!!!! I should just obey the first time that God tells me to! Second, I think think it is wonderful that we have such an incredible God that He can even be glorified through our mistakes. Jonah chose to disobey, but God still received the glory whevenever Jonah told the men that He was running from God. They feared God.

We must obey God and be a testimony of His greatness Daily!!!!!!!!!

SUNDAY, August 10th, 2008 Welcome Home from the Wilds!

Welcome Home! Take a few minutes sometime today to post your favorite thinks about camp... Tell us what you enjoyed, what your favorite meal was, what was the best part of the drive there and back, what did you learn, and what did God challenge you about spiritually?

This is an opportunity for you to share a testimony in a much easier fashion! Thanks for going to the wilds! I am already ready to plan next years trip to the wilds!

Love you all, Pastor Lee