Donna and I just returned from a 3 day cruise to Mexico. We cruised from Long Beach with 2,300 other people, all of whom had a completely different motivation for the cruise. We went with a group of Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary Alumni. The real reason I went was because professor David Needham would be the speaker. He was my favorite professor while at Multnomah. He's more than a good speaker. He speaks from the depths of his heart. The Spirit of God always ministers to me when this man speaks. Our dinner tables were assigned to us. Guess who Donna and I were with for every dinner? The Needhams!!! Listening to his teaching was worth it, but having the chance to talk with him was beyond my expectation.
What a contrast there was between these two groups on the Carnival Paradise ship. While we were drinking the spiritual water of life, listening to professor Needham in this very ornate lounge, there were many more people in the adjacent casino and bar drinking something else, yelling, screaming, laughing...etc., you get the picture.
David Needham talked about worshiping a joyful God, the glory of God, God's joy in us and our joy in God and each other. The world certainly has a different kind of happiness. My heart went out to those people. Especially the ones who woke us up at 3:30 in the morning, drunk, yelling, and saying things I can't write...etc.
After I woke up by the commotion outside the door, I looked out the window. This is
what I saw. It blew me away. I had to grab my camera. (Click on photos for a larger view).The ship was three football fields long. This was our first cruise. I was amazed by many things these last three days. The size of that ship...the money spent on that ship...the food on that ship....the 57 different nationalities of workers on the ship. But to be honest with you, if not for the fellowship of the believers, and the great teaching, the Carnival Fun Ship would not be our kind of fun.
Here's a couple of shots of the ship. They told us this ship is ranked as the second most popular among all the Carnival cruise liners. I now know why.
I have to admit, the food was good...and plentiful. It's now diet time.
4 comments:
Wow! Amazing you got assigned to sit with the Needhams! That must have been great fun.
It was...We are like two kindred spirits talking about the Word of God. I only wish it would have been a 7 day cruise.
So glad you and Donna got to get away together and hang with some great people, too! No coincidence that you were able to sit with the Needhams--another of God's gifts to you!
Thanks Melinda. Yes, there's no such thing as coincidence in God's Kingdom. It was a real blessing.
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