Senior High Gathering and Sea Gulls

Over the Christmas break the Southwest Texas Synod held their annul Senior High Gathering in Corpus Christi, Texas. We took five students all crammed into an Aspen and had a fun time. The theme was "Divine Design" and each day focused on taking care of a different part of God's design. Day one was taking care of our bodies. Day two was taking care of the world and day three was taking care of each other.

One of the best parts of the entire weekend, and I think it was the students as well, was the worship leader Aaron Strumpel. He has traveled the world leading worship and playing his songs. He is part of a group called Enter the Worship Circle and their goal, other than worshiping God through music, is bringing in the arts back into the church.

Aaron led a break out group where he taught on how he wrote songs, where he got his inspiration, and then led us in an activity. He had us close our eyes while he played a song that one of his friends had recorded. The song only had two lines of lyrics that where sung, chanted or said in many different ways. The music also did different things. After the song was over he had us talk about what we experienced, what we felt God was communicating to us. It was really cool getting to hear what the students experienced.

I bought Aaron's newest album and haven't been able to put it down. His music has spoken to me in a very profound way, a way that I haven't experienced from a Christian artist in a long time.

You can check out Aaron at www.aaronstrumpel.com...and I recommend you do!

Now, for a funny story. There are three different types of high school students; the first is the one who learns from being told what to do and what not to do, the second is the one who learns from observing other people's failures and successes and the third is the person who has to experience it first hand.

Corpus is the home of the first Whataburger and when we arrived in Corpus we went to the two story Whataburger that is located on the water for dinner. We ate outside and all around the eating area are signs that read "Please do not feed the birds." There were Sea Gulls all around us, but we weren't being bothered. However, the one student of the group who has to learn by experience decided to toss a french fry up in the air about 3 feet. Man, that was a mistake. Those birds were on us in a split second. The girls got upset and went inside while the guys laughed so hard we almost puked. It was pretty funny to say the least. Needless to say, next time we are in Corpus I will make sure everybody obeys the signs!

Some ideas for Christmas

Christmas can and is always a hectic time of year. Everybody is going to the store, fighting the crowds and hoping to find that perfect gift. Some people wait until the last minute and shop for hours and come home with a gift they are not to proud of. Sometimes, Christ gets pushed a little too much to the side during the hustle and bustle of the season. With that said, I have put together a list of some ideas to help us all get centered around Christ.

• Grab your Bible, go to a quiet place with no interuptions, and read Luke chapters 1 and 2. Take a note of all the different people mentioned (Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, the angel Gabriel, the Shepherds, Simeon and Anna) and really think about what might have been going through their minds as the birth of Jesus happened
• take some time to send a personal Christmas card to someone. Get creative and make the card and then write a special note to that person wishing them a Merry Christmas
• make a playlist of your favorite Christmas songs. While making that list ask yourself "why is this one of my favorite Christmas songs?" and then answer the question.
  
• go rent It's a Wonderful Life
• in whatever way possible, spends some time with Jesus, thanking him for coming to Earth for our salvation
  

Mission Monday- Israel

Keeping with our Christmas theme of praying for the countries where Jesus lived, our focus this week is on Israel.

If you watch the news on any day of the week it is a great possibility that you will hear something about Israel. Whether it be a bomb going off, a president visiting with Israeli leaders, or the "normal" conflict that continues there on a day to day basis, Israel is always in the news. Eighty percent of the population in Israel follow Judaism. Fourteen percent follow Islam and a mere 2% are Christian. The number of Messianic Jews (Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah and fulfillment of the Old Testament) has increased greatly since 1967. There where approximately 250 Messianic Jews in 1967. In 2000 there was an estimated 7,000 Messianic Jews.

Let's Pray:

• that more Jews would see Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah and place their trust in him.
• Outside of Israel the Messianic Jew Churches have grown. Pray that they may continue to be a strong witness for Jesus to the other Jews living in their midst.
• There is much tension between the Israelis in Israel in the Arabs in Israel. Pray for a peace resolution on both sides and that both would find true peace in Christ.
• With so many branches of Christianity seeing Israel as an important part to their faith (which is certainly is), this leads to some tension among the Christian churches, especially in Jerusalem. Pray that those different branches of Christianity may be able to come together under the cross of Christ and respect each others beliefs.
• there will not be true peace in Israel until Christ returns. However, pray that the Christians in Israel may live in such a way that the kingdom of Heaven is experience on Earth and that the presence of Christ is felt.
  

Mission Monday- Palestine

Since it is December and all the talk is about Christmas I think it would be good for us to look at the place of the world where Jesus lived and pray for that area. We will start will Palestine this week and next week we will look at Israel.

There is much tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Simply put, the two countries hate each other. This stems from a long history dating back to Biblical times.

The major religion in Palestine is Islam with almost 87% of the population adhering to Muslim beliefs. The next is Judaism (Jews) with almost 10%. The Christian percentage is almost 2%. As one can see, the very area where Jesus walked and taught has not responded to his message.

Pray:

• that the gospel or good news of Jesus to be received and accepted by the Palestinians.
• for peace between Israel and Palestine, so that the bombing and killing will end
• for a land settlement that both Israel and Palestine will agree to (they both claim Jerusalem as their capital so there is much fighting over this)
• that the 2 million Palestinian refugees will be able to return home
• for the Christians who live in Palestine. Pray that they may be able to stand firm in the face of persecution and that their lives my be a witness to all that would cause people to come to know Jesus.
  

Mission Monday on Tuesday-Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Watching on the news the current activity that has happened over in Mumbai I think it would be good to spend some time in prayer for the people over there as well as praying for the gospel to go forth into that nation.

Here are some numbers so that you can get acquainted with the Maharashtra state in India. 95,000,000 live in this state (that is a lot) in only 308,000 square feet. Mumbai is the capital of the state (like Austin is the capitol of the state of Texas) The main religion is Hindu with 80% of the people belonging to the Hindu faith. 10% of the people are Muslim and 6% of the people are Buddhist. The Christian population is only 1%.

Pray for:

• the city of Mumbai. There has been recent terrorist activity there leaving many dead and wounded. Pray that healing that comes from Christ would take place
• Mumbai is also the home of the continent of Asia's largest slum, 100,00 street children, as well as an alarming number of child prostitution and AIDS suffers. Pray that the Christians in Mumbai may be able to reach out to those children and save them for the horrendous things they may face.
• The church in Maharashtra needs a lot of help. Seeing that only 1% are Christians that means the church is small. Pray that those 1% of Christians may be able to be salt and light and bring the hope of Jesus to the people around them.
• Pray for the government of India and its leaders as they rule their country.
  

Disciples...Now

This coming weekend we are doing our first ever Disciple Now. A disciple now fulfills a couple of our purposes as a youth ministry but the main purpose is a focus on becoming a better disciple of Jesus. Throughout the weekend there will be game times, Bible study time, and a whole lot of fun.

Why focus on becoming a disciple of Jesus? What is the big deal?

Back in Bible times, the most ultimate job was that of a rabbi or teacher of the Old Testament (the New Testament wasn't written yet). All the schooling was based around the teachings of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the prophets and the rest of the Old Testament. When boys started to turn 15 years old, Rabbis would come to their schools and start asking them questions concerning the Old Testament. The rabbis were doing this because they were looking for disciples. The only way to become a rabbi, which was the ultimate job, was to become a disciple of rabbi first. As the rabbis asked questions of the young boys they would give one of two responses. One response would be "You are a well educated young man, but you are not what I am looking for as my disciple." With that said, the schooling would be finished for the boy and he would return to his father's house and continue the family business. The other response would be, "Follow me." The rabbi would say no more then that. Those two words meant that the young man had what it took to be a disciple and he would now devote his time to the teachings of his rabbi.

When Jesus, who was a rabbi, called his first disciples they were fishing. That meant that they "did not have what it took" to be a disciple, or so they thought. When Jesus called out to Peter and Andrew, "Follow me!" they immediately dropped their nets to follow rabbi Jesus. Jesus' words of "follow me" restored hope to these two young men who had been told they were not good enough. Jesus words let them know that they had what it takes to be a disciple.

Likewise, Jesus calls out to all of us, "Follow me!" It is an invitation to follow the true King of the world. It is an invitation that goes out to the most wealthy, popular person as well the poorest and loneliest person. Jesus calls us to be his disciples.

Since Jesus calls us to be his disciples...NOW, we are going to focus on that this weekend as we go through the first ever DISCIPLE NOW weekend at PV. My prayer is that you would be able to connect more with Jesus and become a better follower of him!

I hope to see you there.

Mission Monday- El Salvador

Seeing that we sent a group of students from our church to El Salvador I figured we would focus this week on the prayer needs of El Salvador. El Salvador is Spanish for "the Savior".

Pray for:

• there has been a growth of Evangelical Christians, but now they need prayer for effective discipling that motivates the believers into service, witness and missions for others.
• increased unity among the different churches, renewed vision of the church, and effective outreach that this nation might belong to Jesus.
• leadership in the churches. Pray for the Bible school and seminaries that they may have funds to provide the best education and equipping means possible for its students.
• Pastor Figueroa and his wife Elba as they lead the Spanish mission here at Palm Valley.