I was standing in a place near the equator catching fruit for supper. My friend Nate was picking and then throwing avocados down to me. That night we enjoyed fresh avocados with lemon juice squeezed on top, and then sprinkled with sugar. They were delicious! When my wife and I returned home from our time in Uganda, we bought some avocados at our local grocery store. We ate them the same way we did in Uganda. They were not the same. In fact, they weren’t all that good. Obviously, these were not as fresh as the avocados in Uganda. We tried to substitute, but it didn’t work.
 
   What would happen at next summer’s FLY Convention in Estes Park, Colorado, if we offered you something else, rather than Jesus Himself? What if the FLY Committee depended on themselves to put together the convention? Instead of going to the source, Jesus, what if we went to a ‘supermarket’ to find what we need? Perhaps it would all work out and the week would go well. However, would that produce life-lasting fruit? Would that help you to see your need to be grounded or ‘firmly planted’ in Jesus?
 

   We want to offer Jesus at the FLY Convention. We want Him to be your guide and leader through it all. We cannot substitute Him. We cannot compromise His message. Man has tried and has done a decent job making it look good. However, just like I knew the avocados here weren’t fresh, so we know when God isn’t in com

plete control. The verse in Psalm 1 tells us that if we delight in the law of the Lord both day and night, we will be like a tree firmly planted. We all know that if the avocado tree in Uganda didn’t have roots, Nate wouldn’t have been able to climb the tree, and we wouldn’t have had avocados that night. The need to be ‘firmly planted’ in Jesus is even more important if we are to bear fruit for His Kingdom.
 

   I am excited to witness first hand what God will do at the 2009 FLY Convention. I can tell you the FLY Committee’s prayer has been for God to move in whatever way He desires. God has provided some great speakers

. He has paved the way for a Christian band to come and minister to us through music. He has given us others to assist and help in the planning process. We want to see you be ‘firmly planted’ in Jesus and produce life-lasting fruit. Pray with us. Pray that God will continue His work at the FLY Convention. I hope to see you in Estes Park July 6th -10th, 2009.