following the heart of Jesus too the Holy Land::thoughts from Israel::a Christian pilgrimmage

|great expectations lead too great encounters||travel day 1|||Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Israel||||

My heart is full as I write at 6:14 pm 12/28/06 Thurs my time|south Florida time|1:14am Tel Aviv, Israel time 12/29/06 Fri. So full that I all I can do is retire to be faithful to begin another amazing day tomorrow. I have been reading & thinking of many things. I have been making notes of potential blogs. The Lord has already filled my mind w/ideas for ministry back home. My relationship w/my brothers have deepened tremendously in only several hours of traveling & being in the hotel together.

As I have read of where we will go tomorrow & what we will be experiencing, I, like my father can begin to only think of those that I wish were here w/us to experience the move of Jesus upon his people as we walk where he walked & experience the history that propels us today to advance the kingdom of heaven upon this earth. We already spoke tonight of taking another trip w/others soon. This is before this trip has really even begun. I can’t even think of how we will all feel by the end of the time. I can’t imagine the names that will fill all my families heart of those that will comprise other trips we will Lord willing take in the very near future! This is only the beginning!

We sat by the Mediterranean sea tonight after diner, just Mom, Dad, Joshua, Justin & I, it is a cold night for this time of year, we had coffee at this dimly lit, quaint dessert café as we looked upon the water & laughed & told stories of our great expectations of this trip. We left & walked back up to the hotel which is situated starring the sea, the city & these rugged cliffs right in the face from the view of our balcony & sang & prayed at the top of the hotel before we came back to our rooms. This was a special Reeder moment as Justin my youngest brother led us in a prayer after my Dad asked him too. Joshua & I began a conversation in the room this evening that spurred both our hearts into greater expectation of what the Lord has planned for us on this trip & in life. Josh is truly seeking the Lord & it is such a joy to hear of the journey that is quickly becoming the adventure of a lifetime as he shares more w/me.

Diner was served & was amazing as we entered the Carlton hotel in Tel Aviv. I must say Dr. Gary Frazier & dmi(discovery ministries inc.) do it big as is one of my many life mottos! Dr. Frazier is among the top experts in end times knowledge & in shaping a Holy Land trip of a lifetime. A heralded author & renowned speaker he is a genuine man who is always moved by the spirit of God as he leads so many on the trip of their lifetime. As we sat & chatted over diner tonight we found out that there will be a German documentary film crew that will be following our group tomorrow as we travel & study on the subjects of location & of biblical/current relevance. Gary was telling me at diner that this will be his fourth attempt to allow an international film crew to follow him. Two others still have yet to produce there films & the third was a complete bash on him & all Christ followers & end times believers. From this English actor who hosted the documentary he said all Christians are to be blamed for the aids epidemic, the war & many other world problems. Gary said as long as these guys are hearing the gospel presented on these trips he’s all about letting them tag along even if there going to take a stab at him. This just goes to show the heart of this man who firmly believes in the life changing power of the gospel coupled w/this trip & seeing where it all played out on location.

I have already met several new people from all over Texas & Florida who have joined our rankings of the Reeder family hosted trip. We have a total of 45 & several young adults & teenagers. This is the makings of a tremendous trip. When I was here in the Holy Land at the age of 11, 15years ago, there were several young people along for the trip & it made it all the more memorable for me, but if it weren’t for my good friend Clyde King that I met in ’91 as I made my first tour of the Holy Land, the trip couldn’t have been as great. He taught me things that I will never forget like what m&m’s really stand for. Since Clyde was a manager for the New York Yankees, a player before that & a close friend of George Steinbrenner(the owner of the Yankees) whom he still consults w/on a regular basis, the meaning of m&m’s was a baseball thing, it meant Mantle & Meris for 2 of the greatest players of the game from his era, Mickey Mantle & Roger Meris. The ’91 trip continued to prove to be more special as it developed, not just in the friends I made on the trip or even the life changing events that we were experiencing but in records that were being broken & in local friends I was making as an 11 year old boy. It snowed in Jerusalem that year the most it had snowed in 36years. It was almost a miracle you would say. As this miracle of white, gracefully floated down from the heavens to bless us, I was reminded of the miracle that had just happened in my own life. The eve of thanksgiving that same year, I was hit by a truck at 42mph & rushed to the hospital. The Dr. told my family that if I were riding a smaller bike, the bike I always ride, then the truck would have run me over & killed me. Instead I just bounced off & still had 2 swollen lumps on my head to remind me that the Lord still had plans for me, Jer. 29:11. That trip was amazing!

I now return 15 years later as a student & college pastor w/my entire family expecting the Lord to do even greater things this time. After being in vocational ministry for 7 years now & preaching the word of God consistently week in & week out & being called into the ministry a year & a half after the ’91 Israel trip there is still much more He wants to do in my heart & life. I can hardly wait to journal & report of the glory of the Lord shinning round about us as we stand amazed in the presence of the King this Christmas time & new year.

Justin wants me too wake up at 5:30am w/him too work out. Ill be surprised if he gets up, I can tell you I probably wontJ I gotta go but day 1 of touring is Caesarea|Mount Carmel|Brook Kishon|Valley of Jezreel|Megiddo|Nazareth & Cana. With a few other stops on the way day 1 will be packed. I must rest to be able to fully maximize all that I will be taking in. We change hotels tomorrow so I hope I will be able to post another blog based on internet capabilities. But, until then…

||Becoming|Jameson Glenn||7:41pm est/2:41am Tel Aviv, Israel||

p.s. “In vino veritas!� Ill be at the location of the first miracle, the wedding feast in Cana John 2:1-11, tomorrow. Maybe the Lord will reveal some things about this interesting quote. One of my seminary professors shared this quote w/me. It means truth in wine.