I am in Destin, Florida which is a beautiful resort island on the Gulf of Mexico. I am staying in a gorgeous four bedroom condo on the 9^th floor with a view of the waterway and the city on one side, and a view of the ocean on the other. I am roommate to my Mom, who is visiting from Wisconsin and together we are staying with my brother’s family. I am surrounded by those I love. We are here because it is the Feast of Tabernacles.

It is always a bit complicated to explain to others about Christians who keep the holidays given in the Bible. In the past I have spent many years keeping Passover, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the weekly sabbath (which, by the way, means seventh day). I respect, which is the best word I can think of right now, these practices even though I do not celebrate them currently in the same way. I think there are rich things to learn by observing them. And perhaps the most influential thing to me is found in the Bible in the book of Zechariah, chapter 14, verse 16, where it says, prophetically, that every survivor of whatever is ahead will go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, year after year.

If it’s going to be important then, why should it not be important now? I believe Biblical prophecies have an amazing track record of coming to pass, so I want to stay in touch with these days that clearly originated with God and seem to be significant.

Today we went to church and the message was about grace. People who keep anything associated with the Old Testament are always being accused of trying to earn God’s favor by the things they do or don’t do. There are probably some who are doing this. But many people I know from my years in “the cult”, so called, are simply wanting to become more like the Jesus that they know and love. I’m all for that. I also know many people in the Christian circles that I’m part of today that feel the same way even though it does not lead them to keep days like the Feast of Tabernacles. We are all in different places, having differing perspectives. That is God’s problem and he knows what idiots we all are when it comes to faith and spiritual things. I’m thinking he will find a way to get us all together when he wants to.

But for those who are curious and want to know how “average Joe’s” like our family come to stay in a million dollar condo – it is because God set up a system called “saving your money”. People who follow these holidays save up roughly a tenth of their yearly income to be spent in one week. It is also biblically based and represents a future time of abundance of everything good that is also prophesied to come. You might think that this is hard, maybe impossible in the present economy, but people do it. Actually it is not nearly as ridiculous as spending the whole month of December shopping and being in debt for months after paying for what you made Christmas to be about.

As I said, I am here spending some precious time with my mom, and my brother’s family. We are all away from home and our every day responsibilities. We are talking, having meals together, thinking about our faith lives, and being grateful to God who provides these opportunities. I’m just saying that it’s beautiful here and I’m having a really great time.

For travel enthusiasts, this is a really great destination if you love the beach and ocean!  Here are some scenes…