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The righteous flourish like the palm tree
        and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
    They are planted in the house of the LORD;
        they flourish in the courts of our God.
    They still bear fruit in old age;
        they are ever full of sap and green,
    to declare that the LORD is upright;
        he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
(Psalm 92:12-15 ESV)

Have you noticed over the years the media drives the desire of people to be youthful; this facial creme, this exercise plan, this supplement, etc.?

The Lord desires that we serve Him for as long as we live.  Even in our old age, believers have the privilege of obeying God and ministering to other people — sometimes in ways a younger person us unable to.

As always, God’s Word can supply us with insight into the attitudes and actions that keep Christians productive and young at heart.

In verse 12, note the righteous (godly) are compared to the palm tree and the cedar tree.  Other points to meditate on:

• “flourish in the courts of our God” (v. 12) – the godly will enjoy a close relationship with the Father.
• “bears fruit in old age” (v. 14) – growing Christians serve the Lord all their days.
• “They will stay fresh and green” (v. 14) – believers should be actively and creatively serving the Lord.

So how do we stay youthful and fruitful all our days?  Here are some suggestions:

Keep Learning – acquire new skills or knowledge that stimulates our minds.

Keep Loving – having caring relationships with spouse, family or friends are more likely to stay young at heart.  (If your spouse is deceased, deepen or broaden relationships with other family members.)

Keep Laughing – (Proverbs 15:13:  “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.”) A healthy sense of humor gives our life a sense of vitality.

Keep Leaving – (1 Peter 5:7:  “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”) It is important to keep leaving our burdens (pains of the past, sins, emotional baggage) with the Lord.

The Lord desires for us to be fun-loving, life-giving people that others enjoy knowing.  We can choose to grow old early or remain youthful all our days.  Listen to the God’s voice and obey Him in every situation.

We’re excited about some changes and expansions coming to this blog beginning in August.  The first thing you will notice is the new look!  You will also be going to a new address!  That address will be announced this weekend.

(Saturday, June 12, 2010) -  Much hard work has been ongoing this week by our mission team members.  The work has been virtually every day and for many hours.  We head out Sunday with our destination being the quiet side of the Smokies = Townsend, TN.

This year’s mission team consists of eight youth and seven adults. We will be working the entire week at the KOA campgrounds in conjunction with Charm Ministries.

A typical day during this week will involve “Day Camps” for the children which involve games, skits, crafts and music!  Each night we have a family night.

We intend to have regular updates so please check back!

It’s 1 pm and at the time of my writing this we are enroute home with a stop over for lunch and a mall visit.  Friday was a great day with the mixed emotions of saying goodbye to old and new friends.  The morning day camp skit was Daniel in the Lions’ Den.  This featured Mitchell Somers as Daniel.  Troye Scarbrough played the King Darius who got himself into a “royal boo-boo.”  The camp children had lions masks they made during crafts and each time the narrator (Tyler Scott) said “lions’ den” the children put their masks up to their face and roared! 

Friday night was Family Feud game night.  Tyler played the game show host, Beth made the questions while Morgan was in charge of revealing the survey answers.  Bro. Eddie kept score.  It pitted the two teams:  the Eldad Family vs. the “Camper Family” (consisting of 5 campers).  The Camper Family ended up winning the game!   We offered popcorn and water and homemade necklaces for each camper who came to watch.  In total, 60 campers were on site to watch. Some watched from the road and others watched from their camp sites.

More photos/video are available here.

A reminder:  we will have testimonies and images from the trip on the last Sunday night of this month at 6 pm.

Taking something for granted.  Here’s an example:  everybody on our team remembers learning about David and Goliath as a child.  Today (Thursday) we had the opportunity to share that story with several children and an adult who had not heard of that story from God’s Word!   

We had the chance to do so using a shadow box, give story books to the children about the dual and provide the children a chance to have their picture with a scale-sized cardboard Goliath.  They made picture frames in their craft time and we provided their picture to be placed in the picture frame.   Our team agreed that this was the strongest day of the week in the day camp for sharing the message of God’s word. 

The Lord always exceeds expectations.  We were expecting a great time for Family Night (Thursday night) which was Opry Night.  It featured Little Jimmy Dickens, Alan Jackson, the Judds, Kelly Pickler, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lavato, Aly and A.J. and the grand finale will be Elvis performing American Trilogy. Tyler gave the devotion on how God’s Word is a map and guide for our life.  So far this week, eleven people has taken their own copy of God’s Word provided by Eldad. 

We will have the full video on Mission’s Night which will be the last Sunday night of this month.  Click here for photos from all this week.

Luke Adkins, playing Jesus, walked on water Wednesday morning for the children at the day camp program.  It was a great skit and everybody did well.  Peter was played by Mitchell Somers.  The children were provided with water guns and when the storm raged before they spotted Jesus approaching, the water guns were used to simulate the crashing waves upon the boat.  It appeared more waves “crashed” on Bro. Eddie!!  For crafts, children made a story book about Jesus walking on water. 

Our church members donated many, many storybooks related to the skits we’ve been presenting this week.  This has been an excellent touch and welcomed by the children.

Wednesday night was “Western Night.”   Our family night program began with live music featuring Adam Martin, Troye Scarbrough, Kristen Rodamaker, Luke Adkins, Ricky Sammons and Tyler Scott.  As the program began at 8:00, we had gotten word that we were under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8:30.  Bro. Eddie was grilling hot dogs while Beth Scarbrough was wrapping them.  At least 60 people were estimated to have gathered.  We made the announcement about the weather warning and encouraged folks to get under the pavilion.  They did.  However at about 8:15 one close lightning strike and clap of thunder caused most of the campers to get back to their camp site.

Following the peanut fight with the rain pouring down outside the pavilion, Bro. Eddie took the occasion to work into his devotional message how storms in our life leave us with the feeling of weakness.  Much as the current storm we were experiencing can cause us have the feeling of weakness.  But as Paul told the Corinthians in the Second Epistle chapter 4, when we are weak, Christ is strong and we need to depend on Him. 

The theme for Thursday’s day camp is “David and Goliath”.  Thursday night’s family is “A Night at the Opry.”  Guest stars will include Little Jimmy Dickens, Alan Jackson, the Judds, Kelly Pickler, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lavato, Aly and A.J. and the grand finale will be Elvis performing American Trilogy. 

Check out photos here!

Limbo was a big hit with the kids at luau night last night, second only to the snow cones.  Besides the limbo see saw some talent with a hula-hoop.  Tyler had the opportunity to share God’s word with about 40 in all.  Check out the pictures from Tuesday here.

The day dawned with some foggy sunshine.  It has been nice in the morning time.  Team members have been going outdoors for their morning devotions.  That’s a blessing to see! 

Today is Noah and the Ark, starring Mitchell Somers.  That’s the skit.  We played a little whiffle ball, frisbees and a little football. 

Crafts capitalized on “God Keeps His Promises.”  The kids made a rainbow magnet with “God Keeps His Promises.” 

For a recap of Monday, Luke Adkins, as a member of the group “Wild Cherry” from 1975, gives details here.

Keep checking back on photos.  We post new ones each day from each day of the trip.  Thanks to David Adkins and his web site for providing us a go-to location for photos.  Check here to go to his site!

Please make comments so we know you’re viewing.  Send us words of encouragement and we’ll pass it along.

Tonight it is Luau Night as our Family Night program.  We will have plenty of luau music.  Games will feature the Limbo and Hula Hoop Contest.  We’ll pull out some surfboards, too.  Tyler will lead the devotional time.  Refrements tonight will feature a cool treat:  snow cones.

More later!

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. – Matthew 5:13

It was a great start to a week of sharing the Gospel of grace to young and old alike.  As children arrived we threw frisbees and practiced with hula-hoops.  Today’s theme was Jonah and the whale. The kids got a Jonah storybook. Following the music time with youth and the children, the youth presented the skit on Jonah and the whale, starring Luke Adkins as Jonah!  Games this morning featured water.  We tossed water balloons and had a water balloon relay.  Everybody had a ball–oon!

Following games it was craft time!  Flower pot whales!

Check out more photos here!