Easter Blessings

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Return from "Temple Mount" Archaeological project in Israel

Hi, Everyone!

Well, the Holidays are over (we made it through them-ha), the children are back in college and public school, and we're engaged fully in the agenda for the new year---2009! How did it get here so quickly? It seems only yesterday that we were celebrating the new millennium. Anyway ... it's been so long since I made a post that it seems like I've been on a Sabbatical -ha! I'll try not to neglect this post again for so long again. Actually, I just returned from Israel, going there on an archaeological expedition the day after Christmas. In the next few posts (or on my website) I will post some pictures and videos of this trip I made with archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling (an elder in our church), which involved sifting through the archaeological debris from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. During the couple weeks we also got to visit Caesarea, Capernaeum and the Sea of Galilee, Megiddo, Masada, Jericho, Q'umram and other Biblical sites. I have video of it all (ha), narrated by Scott, who, as an historian, biblical archaeologist, and tour guide there many times before around Israel, gave a detailed historical and Biblical narrative to it all which made these places "come alive." You will find these videos very informative. I met with an old Bible school buddy who pastors there on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, and stayed with another friend, who was a past President Ariel Sharon's body guard, before he converted to Christianity and became a pastor. Look for more to be added about this eventful trip in the next week or two (as I have time to edit the video). Thanks for checking in! (Tennis fans: Notice my widget of the Australian Open in the right column.)

GRATEFULNESS

The Bible is very clear through multitudinous Scriptures to the fact that God requires GRATEFULNESS. We are to give thanks in all things---good and bad---if we believe that God is sovereign and working through them all (Rom. 8:28). The failure to do that is one of the characteristics of those who have fallen from the working of the grace of God in their lives, and is noted in Romans 1: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God NOR GAVE THANKS to Him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Rom. 1:21)

Mark Twain said, "You can take in a stray dog, feed him and cause him to prosper, and he will not bite you. This is the fundamental difference between men and dogs."

April Fools Day - "No Foolin' Around"

I was going to post some quotes on the power (and value) of words. But before that ... since this is "April Fools Day," I thought I would give a few quotes about FOOLS from the wisest man that ever lived ... plus a few other Scriptures. This should cause all "gainsayers" to re-evaluate the essence of their spoken (and written) words, which have the "power of life and death." You can view them at www.lifeway.org/special/mouth_of_fools.htm AND http://www.lifeway.org/special/slander.htm.

Supplemental Scritures: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4) AND "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Tit. 1:9)