Make sure to mark your calendars for Mogul Mania 2009! This year’s trip will be taking place on January 24 and 25th! We’ll be heading to Splash Lagoon (an indoor waterpark) on Saturday and then over to Peek n’ Peak for snowboarding, skiing, and tubing on Sunday… Want more information? Online signup is coming this week.
Just because I’m curious, which one do you think is better: skiing, snowboarding, or tubing? Post a reply!
Despite the snowfall, we’ll still be having Club tonight if you feel comfortable driving out there!
After a little bit of a break, the Country of the Week is back, and this time it is a country 
close to home, Mexico. For those of you who were at Club last Tuesday, you’ll know that I had the chance to visit Mexico a few weeks ago, and in addition to giving me the opportunity to taste (and bring back!) some nasty fried grasshoppers, the trip stirred my mind and heart to renew our focus on missions. And so, with that in mind, the Country of the Week is back!
While our team was in Mexico, we were hosted by Mike and Joan Ross, who are missionaries from Parkside. Mike is a pilot who 
works for Missionary Aviation Fellowship, which is an organization that flies airplanes to remote areas (remember that landing video?) to help share the good news about Jesus. They do a lot of different things with their airplanes, like fly injured people to hospitals, fly in supplies to places that have been hit by hurricanes or other natural disasters, or even fly missionary teams like ours to do dental work. The goal in all of their work, though, is to take the message of Jesus to people who need to hear it. It is really cool work, and I think that if I had a second life to live, I’d go do what Mike does!
Here are some ways we can be praying for Mike and Joan and Mexico!
About Mexico: Did you know?
How can we pray?
Any thoughts for the next Country of the Week?
Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like it would have been better for the
world if you had just stayed in bed? I had one of those yesterday. I was tired and salty, and said things I probably shouldn’t have said, and thought things that I probably shouldn’t have thought, and at the end of the day, was pretty discouraged at how I hadn’t followed Jesus very well. This morning, I was wrestling through a lot of what had happened yesterday, and was reminded of the lyrics of a song that we sometimes sing at Club JV and U-turn called “Indescribable” by Chris Tomlin. The verse that really hit me was: “You see the depths of my heart…and you love me the same….you are amazing God!”
Think about that line for a second. Imagine someone had a video camera that was focused on you 24/7, and imagine that this camera was able to see into your head and your heart, and record all of your thoughts and motives as well as all of your actions. Every single one. Even the things you did or thought when no one else was around. Would you want anyone to see the tape? I sure wouldn’t…I’d probably do whatever I could to destroy it!
What’s interesting is that the Bible tells us that God can see into our lives the same way that imaginary video camera can…He knows everything we do, even the things we do when we think no one else is looking. He knows all of our thoughts, even those we would never want anyone else to know. And here’s the shocking thing…for those of us who have trusted in Jesus for salvation, He loves us the same. “You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same.”
Really? How can God look at all the nastiness that is within you and me and still love us? Because of Jesus. God the Father punished Jesus on the cross for all of our nastiness, for every bitter thought we have ever had, for every unkind message we have ever sent someone, for every wrong thing we have ever done. Jesus took the punishment we deserved so that we could experience the joys of a right relationship with God…
Crazy, isn’t it? “You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same…You are amazing God!”
Fall Frenzy is coming this weekend, September 27 and 28. We’ve closed the online registration, but there are still some spots available if you’d like to go! If you want to sign up, call Nichole at the church office (440.708.2117) and we’ll reserve a spot for you!
The Cedar Point trip for tomorrow (9/13) is canceled. The weather forecast for Sandusky calls for rain all day, which means that a lot of the rides will probably be closed, and the few that are open wouldn’t be that fun, as you’d just get pelted by rain drops. Sorry for the disappointment this will cause. The trip will not be rescheduled this year so you can look forward to Sept 2010 2009 (thanks Marty!).
