D e f i n i n g M o m e n t s

"Scoping out the shade!"

2010-04-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Psalm 121:5

The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

Sometimes the simplest of verses in the bible can bring you tremendous encouragement. When my older brother and I were young boys, during the summers, we would visit our dad in Las Vegas, Nevada. Needless to say it gets extremely hot there. The last time I visited, in 1996, the temperature was 111 degrees at 11:00 at night. On those summer days, you could have literally ‘fried an egg’ on the pavement…that’s how hot it would get.

As I think back on those times, I have such fond memories of literally running around town with nothing but our swimming trunks on, no shirt, no shoes (not even flip flops). The pavement was so hot that you would have to scope out little bits of shade from point to point, to make sure you didn’t burn the bottom of your feet. I vividly remember running so fast, with the heat growing in intensity until finally with what seemed like, not a moment to spare, we would find that little bit of shade and with it instant relief.

Isaiah 25:4 says, You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. The Lord is our keeper…the shade at our right hand. When things are getting too hot around us, when we feel like we can’t take it anymore, when we feel like we are not going to make it, He provides that perfect amount of shade that brings instant relief.

Day 10 & 11 - Soup Kitchen

2010-03-12T07:32:00.000-08:00

As we wound down our final two days in Israel, our focus would be on the soup kitchen. Our day began by visiting what they call the café. CC Tel Aviv does this every Wednesday from 10 to 12. People from off of the streets come in and sit at tables while the staff and volunteers (mostly volunteers) serve them pita bread and humus sandwiches, hard boiled eggs and coffee or tea. I think that the part that blessed me most was that the people were able to come in and sit and be served. No long lines of waiting for their handout. It seemed that this would be the heart of Jesus. I would find out that the soup kitchen was run the very same way.

Whitney and I and Patrick (a missionary who has been working with Pastor Steve from the start of the church) visited with a man who was from Morocco. His name was Elimelech Solomon. He made sure that I understood how to pronounce it with an emphasis and the ‘…lech’ and the Hebrew sound of the ‘ech’, if that makes sense. At first I thought his first name was Elimelech but would find out later that that was his last name. He was quite an interesting fellow who had traveled a fair amount to the United States and spoke very good English.

At 1:00 PM we were off to the market. This was one of the most enjoyable things I have done in all of my visits to Israel. We would take these empty shopping carts and head to the ‘shook’, Hebrew for market, by foot (though I do not know if this is how you spell it).

We would soon arrive at the market. As you can see it was quite colorful and very animated with all of the people shopping and browsing about. You name it, it was there. Hundreds of people and hundreds of items.

It reminded me a lot of Pikes Place market, except with much more variety and animation. Not to mention the Hebrew language. I loved looking at all of the spices and olives and mounds of gummy candies. I tried to get some spices for Jenny, but failed in that I could not find any of the vendors who spoke English well enough to understand what I was asking for. Needless to say, it was quite an adventure. I look forward to going back.

Some 800-900 shekels later, we were headed back to the church with baskets overflowing with food and supplies for the soup kitchen the next day.

Later that evening I would attend the Men’s Bible Study. Several guys from the church came and Brian led us through a study through parts of John 4 and the Samaritan woman at the well. One of the most interesting things about bible studies in Israel, is the constant reference to the struggle between the law and how it restricts and Jesus and how He liberates. It just seems to mean a whole lot more when you are in the land where you see the restrictive nature of legalism all around you.

Generally by around 8:30 to 9:30 in the evenings, I am fading fast…due to the early morning wake-ups from the jet lag affects. This night would be no exception and during the sharing as I was doing my best to stay awake, I fell asleep. Not just had trouble staying awake, mind you, but full on ‘out’. Randy, a brother from Texas, who was sharing at the time, discreetly (not) called attention to the fact that I was full on asleep and told me I needed to get some rest. He went on to point out how that jet lag can kill you. Everyone was very gracious.

We had to pack up before turning in, knowing that we had to be at the church at 8:30 AM. The soup kitchen would take the rest of the day, giving us just a few hours before heading to the airport.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many pounds of potatoes we peeled. People were peeling and chopping potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions and cauliflower throughout the church building.

Sue was right behind the potato peelers chopping onions which were so strong it was about to take all of us out. There is a lady in the church who did the cooking. Her name is Regina. I spoke to her afterward and found out that she worked at a secretary at the German embassy. She speaks Romanian, German, English, French and Hebrew. You would be shocked at the number of languages spoken throughout Israel. To be honest it can make you feel very small.

The menu for the day was vegetable soup, cabbage salad, potatoes and chicken legs in a red and yellow pepper juice. Once the food was prepared, the tables were set up and each of us were given a table to serve when the people started coming in. We prayed and then at 2:00 PM, the doors were opened.

For the next two hours, we served: first the water, the soup and then the main dish. I had mainly older ladies at my table. Several old Hebrew women and I believe a couple of Russian women. For the most part everyone was very grateful although there were a few who were complainers. I had to remind myself that these are people who are homeless and living in the streets.

When we came across people who could speak English, we would sit down and visit with them. I had a very nice visit with a man named Doren, who was from Hungary. He was an Israeli army veteran who was wounded in the war of 1967 and is currently on disability. I tried to ask him a couple of questions about it…but it became obvious that it was difficult for him to talk about. He was a very pleasant man.

Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures in the dining area of the soup kitchen to protect the people’s privacy. We were told that some of them get nervous that we might turn them over to the authorities. There is also some traditional fears that a picture somehow takes a part of their souls. I wish you could have been there. As the Lord gives us our own building, a soup kitchen would be a must.

Towards the end of the meal, the women were able to go to the clothing bank downstairs. There were a bunch of them and as they were returning to their tables, they were proudly holding their new items up and sharing their joy with one another.

This is just a part of the group we served with. From left to right is Regina (the cook), Brian (who serves with Pastor Steve Apple), Zack (another American missionary indefinitely serving in Tel Aviv) and the rest of us. Linda, who is in between Donna and myself, is from CC Costa Mesa and was on our bus to Petra. She ended up staying a few extra days and was staying at the same hotel as we were. She was a real blessing and allowed us to store our luggage in her room while in Galilee.

EPILOGUE…

Well that is it! Our adventure ends in the same manner it began, on a very long flight. As we are preparing to land in New York, we are looking forward to an American breakfast. We have a 10 hour layover in New York so Donna’s husband is going to be picking us up at the airport and we are going to have breakfast before our final leg of the trip. I am going to try and get this final post sent before we board the plane to head back to Seattle.

As great of a time as it was, it will be good to be back home with our families on good old American soil. Thank you all so very much for your prayers. We had a great trip, very productive and already looking forward to our next trip in March of 2011. I do hope that many of you can join us.

Shalom…Shalom!

Day 9 – Proverbs 16:9

2010-03-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 16:9 is a verse the Lord gave me when we started the church 9 years ago, A man’s heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. Today would be a day when we would begin to plan the way and watch the Lord begin to direct our steps.

In this last leg of our trip, we would begin with breakfast in the Hotel Gilgal dining room. This hotel has been a real blessing. It is owned by a Christian Jewish man and his wife. Both Donna and Sue have met them and I am hoping to as well, before we leave.

Their accommodations are very nice, but what has been even better is the lobby where I am able to use the working internet at a very reasonable price, 20 shekels (approx $6.00) for 24 hours. They wanted $20.00 for 24 hours at Nof Ginnosar.

We had a great discussion over breakfast as to the goals and strategy for bringing Healing Hearts ministry to Israel. The Lord has been, step by step, opening various doors with unique opportunities. It will be fun to watch them continue to unfold.

Our lunch with Pastor Steve Apple was very insightful. We learned a lot about the challenges of witnessing to the Jewish people. I am looking forward to sharing at Veritas on Saturday about some of the things he shared. He and his wife have been here for 6 years and have to leave the country every 90 days to renew their visa. He shared with us that less than ½ of 1% of the population are Christians. This is a much smaller percentage than many of the other countries.

Pastor Steve gave us some great ideas for the missions portion of our trip in 2011. We talked a lot about the trafficking of women in Tel Aviv which though is illegal is not considered by the authorities to be a big enough problem to address it with all of the other things that are happening in this country. He gave us good input on how we can establish a Healing Hearts presence here. It was after this meeting that Sue felt the trip was well worthwhile.

Whitney, Sue and Donna headed to the church for Women’s bible study. There were approximately 9 women in attendance. Gigi was filling in for Pat Apple who was still recovering from a near case of pneumonia. Gigi was leading the worship and Sue and Donna had an opportunity to share about Healing Heart’s ministry. Donna was able to share part of her testimony and they felt that the women were really touched.

Our day ended with dinner at a unique restaurant which served various meats on skewers. There was goose livers, lamb, kabob (pressed meat)…I was very bold and had chicken. Without a word being said, Sharif and I were having a pickle and olive eating contest, I think I might have won. One of the highlights was when I looked over at the owner cooking the skewers who needed to whip out a cigarette and light up…while he was cooking the meat.

EPILOGUE…

Tomorrow we will shop for the food for the soup kitchen. It sounds like this is where the adventure begins. We will be heading into a market area and purchasing all of the food and then transporting it back to the church…on foot. Our team of four is getting along so well it is surprising to us all. We are each trying to figure out to get a good fight started, doesn’t seem right that we should be around each other this long and not have had an argument. Even Whitney and I haven’t fought, yet…but there a still a couple of days left.

Day 7 & 8 – Trip to Galilee

2010-03-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

The next two days will be spent in Galilee. Our morning began with a car rental and my first experience driving in Israel. I warned the ladies about my reputation as a distracted driver and I knew it wouldn’t help that I was trying to do some sightseeing at the same time. I know they were praying.

Our first stop was Joppa which is just a few kilometers from the hotel. Joppa is where Jonah caught the boat to Tarshish when fleeing from the Lord. It is also the town where Peter saw the vision of the sheet and all kinds of animals…which the Lord declared to be clean. This took place at Simon the Tanner’s house also located in Joppa.

We proceeded to drive along the coast to Caesarea. Truly an incredible sight. The city of Caesarea was built by Herod the Great and his summer home. Here is a picture of the theater where Paul spoke before King Agrippa and a packed house. Paul stayed in Caesarea for approximately two years prior to heading to Rome to appeal to Caesar.

This picture is proof that: #1, I was really driving in Israel, #2, I did have my eyes on the road, #3, Jesus is Lord!

One of my most favorite places in Galilee is Mt Arbel. It is a mountain near the Sea of Galilee. We don’t know for sure, but I like to think that when the Scriptures speak of Jesus withdrawing to a mountain to pray…this is the spot. I love doing bible studies up here. Chck out this ‘rock hydrax’…one of the many animals spoken of in the bible. He is a cute little bugger…who would probably rip your face off if you got too close.

Can’t come to Mt Arbel without a picture of Jenny’s and my favorite tree. The tree on the masthead of my blog is this same tree, taken at sundown. Last year we didn’t make it here which was a real bummer. From the top of Mt Arbel, is the most spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee you will ever see.

There is only one way to describe this picture…”Suffering for Jesus!” This is where we stayed. It is one of the many kibbutz’ in Israel. These kibbutz’ were established when the Jews returned to Israel in 1948 after it became a state. They represent different families and are run by those living in the kibbutz’. This particular kibbutz is called Nof Ginnosar. It is the place where we stayed on our first trip to Israel. The food is amazing and our plans are to stay here next year when we return.

Another one of my favorite spots in Galilee is the Mount of Beatitudes. You cannot help but envision the multitudes of people sitting on these rolling hills…listening to Jesus teaching. I cannot imagine anything being more wonderful. I taught a bible study here last year, except it was raining so hard I had to teach it on the bus, close to this spot. Visiting here was a great way to end our first day in Galilee.

After a good night’s sleep, we headed out for a full day of sightseeing before needing to be back in Tel Aviv for a 7:00 meeting.

The day began with a viewing of ‘The Ancient Galilean Boat’. I believe that this amazing exhibit is run by the family who also runs Nof Ginnosar. At the very least, it is on the same property, right next to the hotel. Here is a picture of our guide in front of the boat. It really is an incredible discovery. Some fisherman found it buried beneath the mud and is dated to the time and type of boat that fishermen in Jesus’ day would have used. It is conceivable that Jesus, Peter or any one of the disciples rode in this boat.

On our way to kibbutz En Gev, for a fish lunch, we stopped at the spot on Jordan river where we do our baptisms. Fortunately there were very few people. The serenity of this particular part of the Jordan is wonderful. I love just looking at the water and thinking about Jesus being baptized in this river. As we were gazing at the river, we noticed some humongous catfish swimming below where we were standing. I am already looking forward to the baptism next year and the thought of one of these beauties slithering alongside my legs.

Our bus driver Avi Maletzky grew up in En Gev. He is a Christian Jew whose parents met at Auschwitz. He has become a dear friend. This is the bomb shelter where Avi lived as a child. He lived there for 17 years, only coming out for 20 minutes a day to play. He is one of the most joyful people I have ever known. Such a great attitude in the midst of trial and tribulation. Hope you can all meet him one day. He has been our bus driver every trip and is scheduled to be our bus driver next year.

Our last stop before heading back to Tel Aviv, was Bet Shean. Bet Shean is the city where Saul and Jonathan’s bodies were hung after they died on Mt. Gilboa. This particular discovery at Bet Shean is the city of Scythopolis, a Roman city that was built around 70-60 BC. It is a pretty amazing experience to be walking down an authentic Roman road. The size of the dig is enormous and keeps growing every time we come.

Tel Aviv is only about an hour and a half from Bet Shean, but we found out what Tel Aviv rush hour is all about which made it a bit longer. By the time we got to the hotel, we were beat. We got there just in time for dinner and meeting with our new friends, Sharif and Gigi, for coffee. Sharif works within walking distance of the hotel and came by the hotel to lead us to their home.

We had a delightful visit, though must say I had a tough time keeping awake after such a long day. Their daughters, Nardine and Nada are really cute. They were all excited to be able to walk us back to the hotel with mom and dad. We will be joining them for dinner at a local restaurant tomorrow night to celebrate their recent news that Gigi is expecting.

EPILOGUE…

Tomorrow the final phase of our trip begins. We will have lunch with Pastor Steve Apple of CC Tel Aviv and then the women will attend the women’s bible study. Gigi invited Sue and Donna to share with the women about the Healing Hearts Ministry. Needless to say they are very excited. The Lord is really bringing things together and we are expecting some fertile soil to be plowed and effective seeds to be sown.

Until next time…

Day 5 & 6 – “God is faithful”

2010-03-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

I think that blogging while in Israel is one of the most challenging things to do. Your days are full of touring various sites and meeting different people, and by the end of the day you are exhausted. Usually to bed shortly after dinner so you can be rested up for the day ahead of you.

As some of you know, I have been fighting the whole internet issue and think that I finally have some sort of routine. I apologize for the erratic schedule in postings but should be in a bit of a rhythm from this point forward. This morning I woke up at 3:15 AM…tossed and turned a bit and figured, oh well, may as well get up, spend some time with the Lord and get to blogging. As long as the Lord keeps waking me up in this manner…I should be able to be a little more consistent.

Today, I post a couple of days consisting of waking up in Eilat, after a day in Petra, heading to Tel Aviv and then the day following in Tel Aviv, prior to us leaving for Galilee.

Our hotel in Eilat overlooked the Red Sea. It was a spectacular view. A major resort town in Israel. Tourism is one of their primary sources of revenue.

It was a beautiful day, the weather has been amazing. I am already anticipating great weather next year when we bring the church. We are going to be traveling even later, at the end of March. The rest of the group will spend the day in Eilat, we will leave for Tel Aviv. When we bring the church next year we will stay an extra full day in Eilat…already looking forward to it.

The water was amazing…very clear and pretty warm considering the time of year. We were really wishing we could have stayed and swam. Part of the group was heading out on a boat for a day of swimming snorkeling, etc.

Don’t worry of you forgot your swimsuit…you can just go swimming in your underwear. Lots of interesting swimsuits that people ought not to be wearing. I need not say anymore about that.

We took a small commuter flight from Eilat to Tel Aviv. Security was more intense than usual, or at least what we had thus far experienced. They separated the four of us to talk to us about why we were in Israel, who we were visiting, why we weren’t still with the rest of the group among other things. They seemed to be particularly interested in why Whitney and I didn’t have the same last name, if we were family. As much as I dislike that part of traveling here, I am thankful that they take it as seriously as they do. Clearly, they are considerably more interested and efficient than the TSA representatives in the US. Though it is somewhat burdensome, it is what makes coming to Israel safer than most countries. Threats of violence are just a way of life for them. If it happens, they are going to be ready for it. I love that about these people!

It was quite an experience reading through the book of numbers while flying over the dead sea and the desert area where the things spoken of in the book of Numbers took place. This truly is one of the most spectacular things about traveling through Israel. You will never…never read the bible the same way again. This is my fourth trip here…and the more I come, the more and more pieces of the puzzle fall into place. When traveling into Petra, in Jordan, we saw Mt Hor, where I had just previously read where Aaron was buried. This morning I read it again…that spot in Jordan will forever be etched in my mind and heart.

We flew into a smaller airport than Ben Gurion. As you can see by the baggage claim, not a whole lot happening. It was much closer to Tel Aviv as well.

This is the view outside our hotel in Tel Aviv. The hotel itself is quite nice and modern, just settled smack dab in the middle of some rough areas. As we walk around the city, there are provocative business card photos of prostitutes spread all over the ground. Sue figured, if you can’t beat’em join. Now, there are a bunch of Healing Hearts ministry cards right next to them.

This is the street our hotel is on. Just a little anxious about driving them tomorrow. As you can see there is not a lot of room.

Just a morning walk to church. We decided it best to try and locate the church early, which took awhile, just to make sure we weren’t late. We walked by some pretty rough parts and sketchy looking people. Alcohol is being consumed at various sidewalk…what seemed to be convenience liquor stores. One bar and club on the corner was going strong, music blaring and people coming in and out. CC Tel Aviv ministers to a lot of these people

Their ministry consists of not only a church service, but soup kitchen, clothing bank and free medical clinic. One of the primary focuses of our trip is to add a missions portion to the trip when we come next year. When we return from Galilee on Monday, we will begin to minister along side of CC Tel Aviv. We have no idea what that is going to look like at this time, but trusting that the Lord will direct accordingly.

After finding the church, we head down to the beach to chill out before service. I love the Mediterranean Sea. First of all because it is just cool looking, the sand the waves…but secondly is because you have this awareness that you are on the shores of a Sea that many people of the bible walked…to include Jonah, who caught a boat in Joppa to get away from the Lord. Joppa is within eyesight of where we are sitting. As we are sitting, enjoying the setting…listening to the waves and soaking in the sun, we are reminded by the lifeguard that the seats we are in cost 6 shekels to use.

As we were waiting for service to begin, the worship team was practicing. Some of the songs they do in Hebrew and some in English. The woman in the center’s name is Gigi. Her husband’s name is Sharif and he is on job assignment for four years from Cairo, Egypt. They have two beautiful young daughters and shortly after we meet him, he invites us to their home for coffee. The little girls love Whitney and things she looks like Hannah Montana. Later I find out that Sharif is one of Pastor Steve Apple’s elders. We are looking forward to having coffee with them on Monday evening. They live within walking distance of our hotel.

There was a good group of people at the church service. Pastor Steve taught out of Hebrews 12. It was a good teaching and I was blessed with the attentiveness of the people. It was sweet to hear him teach, in such a setting, the danger of the law and the glorious truth about grace.

They had a hot lunch prepared for everyone who was there. I don’t know if it was for that particular service or if it is every Sunday. I meet a young man named Marcus, he from Germany and is on ‘holiday’. I found out he is staying at the same hotel we are and we end up having dinner with him later that night. He was heading to Jerusalem…on his own and then meeting up with a tour group from Germany later in the week.

EPILOGUE…

Things are going well at this point in our trip. Sue and Donna are discouraged…not sure what is going to come of their trip and what role Healing Hearts might play in Israel. They are trying to be patient but can’t help but feel like they could have done more preplanning. We find out, once again, that “God is faithful!”. I am up late in the lobby ‘blogging’, not even realizing that Donna is sitting outside the hotel.

Around midnight, she comes in with Linda, someone who happened to be on our tour bus to Petra. She is going to be spending some extra time with Steve and Pat Apple and the ministry there. Donna also meeting the owner of the hotel who is a Christian and it seems that the Lord is beginning to open the doors. We are getting excited about what will happen the rest of our trip. Tomorrow we will head to Galilee…but are already anticipating what the Lord will have for us upon our return.

Well…thanks for reading thus far…sorry it was a little longer than usual. Pleas post any comments so that I can get an idea of what other types of things you might like to see and hear.

Shalom!

Day 4 - "Wow!"

2010-03-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

There is no better way to describe Petra. Truly the site lives up to its name and title of being one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The day began with a short journey from Eilat, Israel into Jordan. Jordan is an Arab nation, 90% Muslim. Though not the best of friends, they are peaceful with Israel. I enjoyed the whole experience of traveling into an Arab country much more that I thought. I was fascinated by the towns and the culture, though I must say the border crossing was a bit intense.

The whole day began at 7:30 on the bus and ended 13 hours later, 10 of which were spent crossing the border (just kidding). However, the border crossing did take a very long time…the lines were very long.

Interesting sites along the way. You don’t see a lot of ducks standing on cars in Puyallup. Could be some sort of new type of hood ornaments or something. The terrain is unlike any other but reminded me a lot of Nevada and parts of Arizona. You could definitely tell that you weren’t in Israel anymore.

Literally, everywhere you turn there are pictures of the King. Here is a picture of King Hussein (on the left) who was a very popular king throughout the world. He worked tirelessly and continuously throughout his life to advance the cause of peace between Jordan and Israel which he successfully achieved in 1994. He died of cancer in 1999, his son Abdullah (on the right) succeeded his father as current king of Jordan. According to our guide he and the queen are very well liked and following in the footsteps of his father.

The walk into Petra is spectacular. The colors are amazing and you see various carvings in the rocks, many of which are tombs.

Like many of the sites in Israel, you are so overwhelmed at what you are seeing that you can’t begin to describe it. Many of you have seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They filmed one particular scene at what it known at the Treasury in Petra. As we traveled two and a half miles down the narrow canyon lined path my heart began to anticipate what we were about to see…though could not fully grasp what lay ahead.

What you are seeing in this picture of the treasury, is only two of the three stories. There is a third story buried beneath some 40 feet of sand. The entire face was carved out of the sandstone by artisans who would hang from ropes as they carved. They estimate that it took between 30-40 years to carve. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb for an important Nabataean king.

All along the way there are little children selling rocks and postcards and jewelry. You have to be very careful to not engage them too much, otherwise…as many found out, you will have a tough time shaking them. They are very persistent. These are Bedouins and there are camels and donkeys everywhere offering rides.

Thinking that this is it…you continue down the road to see numerous other tombs. Everywhere you turn there are more and at one point you see the face of a massive rock wall covered with tombs in the rock. I didn’t even realize this was there until I happen to look back and couldn’t grasp what I was seeing. The size of these carvings are enormous. It is believed that at one time as many as 20,000 people lived in Petra.

After walking approximately four miles, we stopped at a restaurant located in a beautiful setting. After eating a late lunch we started the trek back. There is only one way in and the same way out of Petra. It was easy to refuse the camel and carriage rides heading into Petra, but more and more people were taking advantage of them coming out of Petra. One of those was Sue. I took this as she was whisking by. She wasn’t sure what was worse at the end, walking or being bounced around on the bumpy rocks coming out.

Needless to say, there were a lot of people sleeping on the way back to Eilat…I was one of them. One of the many blessings of the trip to Eilat was sitting next to Candy Barton. She was a delightful elderly lady. I could help but think of my mother (who is 83) as Candy sat next to me, wondering how my mom would do on this trip. I know that she would love to have been able to come in her lifetime. I found out that Candy was 92 years old, 93 in June. She was quite the trooper!

Well, tomorrow we are headed back to Tel Aviv. Sorry for the delay in getting these posts out. Continuing to have internet problems, but will eventually get them all posted. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Shalom!

Day 3 - Communion service at the garden tomb...

2010-03-05T22:50:00.000-08:00

Our day started with breakfast with Ronnie Cohen. Ronnie was our tour guide on our trip last year and will be our guide for next year’s trip as well. We also made arrangements last summer for him to come to the church and share with us about Israel. He has become a good friend and looking forward to having him lead our trip in 2011.

By far, the best part of the day, was a communion service led by Pastor Chuck Smith at the garden tomb. The garden tomb is located in the heart of an Arab neighborhood. I am fascinated by the Arab culture every visit to Israel. It is especially interesting when you consider that the people of the Arab nation are descendants of Ishmael.

Generally, there are numerous groups taking communion at various locations throughout the garden, but Pastor Chuck’s group was so large (ten tour buses) that they reserved the entire garden for Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. The picture on the above shows just a portion of the group filing into the garden tomb area. I was blown away to hear that this was Pastor Chuck’s 40th tour. As for me, four down…and thirty six to go.

Pastor Chuck gave a tremendous message speaking of what the stone covering the tomb represented: a dead concept of God, a dead desire to redeem man, a dead religion and a dead hope. He then spoke of what came about when the stone was rolled away…through Christ: a living concept of God, God’s desire to redeem man revealed, a new and living religion and a new hope was born. It was truly one of the best communion messages I have ever heard. It is a powerful thing to hear such a message, literally within a stone’s throw from the actual tomb.

Originally I thought we were heading straight to Eilat at the Southern tip of Israel, but we got an unexpected surprise with some extra time touring Jerusalem. We went to the Temple Institute, a group of very strict Jews who are convinced that they will the ones who will build the third temple. They are in the process of building, to scale and specifications, all of the elements of the Temple. Today we looked an authentic table of showbread made out of acacia wood and overlaid with gold among some other items.

Jenny and I visited the Temple Institute on our first trip to Israel, a pastor familiarization trip, in 2006. We visited a number of sights with the idea of being able to select the sights we wanted to visit when we led our own tour to the Holy Land. I opted to leave the Temple Institute out and the visit today confirmed my decision. They give an ‘unbiblical’ presentation on why and how the third temple will be built. It was sad when one tour participant asked the very young guide of the tour, “What do you say about Jesus?, to which she said he was a Jew who studied to be a Rabbi but never finished. There was nothing more she wanted to say.

Before boarding the bus to Eilat, we visited a tour site known as The Burnt House. Everywhere you turn in Israel, they are excavating another site. This particular dig, unveiled a house with some conclusive evidence that it had gone through a severe fire. Among the remnants found were some kitchen items, a spear and a woman’s severed arm. They believe that it was one of the homes destroyed when the Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was burned in 70 AD.

By 2:30 that afternoon, we were back on the bus and off to Eilat. After a very long trip, we arrived at around 9:00 PM just in time for a very late dinner. The hotel is very nice and we are all looking forward to our journey into Jordan and visiting Petra. This will be my first trip into an Arab country and really looking forward to it.

Shalom!

Day 2 - "Jet lag is real!"

2010-03-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

After a very long day of traveling, we arrived in Tel Aviv at around 12:00 PM. Walking off the plane is always fun as you quickly realize that you ‘are not in Kansas anymore’. I love walking into the Ben Gurion airport, very modern with its unique décor.

This is the first trip to Israel which I take where we are not met with a tour guide and tour bus. Just the four of us heading to the Taxi line. Thank God most of these people speak English. We all piled into what wasn’t much bigger than a Geo Metro (maybe slightly bigger…but not much). Couldn’t believe that we all fit with our luggage and all, then off to Hotel Gilgal. I always try to strike up conversation with the people…though never met with much warmth. I have come to understand that it is partly because they either don’t speak English very well or partly because they just aren’t that friendly.

What a delight to find that our shuttle driver to Jerusalem was a wonderful Jewish Christian man named Ofer (Hebrew for ‘fawn’), who had come to faith about 10 years ago. It was awesome just listening to him share his faith, his love for the Lord and his frustration with all of his years of Hebrew schooling where the Rabbis conveniently left out the parts in the Old Testament which spoke of Jesus. One of the great things about visiting Jerusalem…is the opportunity to meet new people. As we got were dropped off at the hotel, he gave us his card and said if we needed anything at all, just give him a call and he would be glad to help us out. We knew that it was true. I love how the body of Christ is everywhere. Jesus said that faith in him makes us true family…we certainly found this to be true as we met this new brother in Christ.

After a sweet trip through the heart of Tel Aviv, on a beautiful sunny day, we arrived at the hotel, checked our bags and began the 1 ½ hour wait for our shuttle. The Hotel Gilgal is where we will be staying during our time with CC Tel Aviv. As you can see, it is a nice hotel (at least the lobby…we haven’t seen the rooms yet), and it was nice hearing Christian music playing in the lobby. We believe that it is some sort of a retreat center of sorts. Looking forward to the time in Tel Aviv, walks along the Mediterranean Sea and the ministry opportunities the Lord has for us.

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem, one I have not stayed at before…very nice accommodations. Wanting to take advantage of our daylight, we quickly hopped a taxi to the Old City of Jerusalem and a very quick tour. Donna, one of Healing Hearts representatives from New Jersey, had never been to Israel before…it was a very emotional and moving experience for her. Sue opted to stay at the hotel and get ready for tomorrow as she had previously toured Jerusalem.

Visiting the Western wall (also referred to as the ‘wailing wall’ though the Jewish people do not like it referred to as such) is always a somber event. You realize how desperately these people need Jesus and how futile their attempts to know God in the manner they attempt. The sobering truth is that they are seeking the very God who pointed them to His Son and yet they are blind to it…how tragic. As you can see, by the photo on the right, one young man proudly helps his son to prepare himself for prayer, with the ‘phylacteries’ and all. Whitney made the comment as we watched an orthodox Jewish man on the plane, with prayer shawl on his head and phylacteries attached to his head and arm, “You have got to admire their devotion”, to which there is much truth. Sadly it is so misplaced.

The gold dome of the mosque on the temple mount has become the identifying landmark of Jerusalem. Though this is true, it is also the symbol of the tension that has existed between the Palestinians and Jewish people for thousands of years. As you drive through Jerusalem you can see the stark contrast between these two nations. The picture on the left shows me standing near the Zion Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. All of those holes around me are bullet holes from the ‘six day war’ in which the Israeli army reclaimed Jerusalem.

One of the great values of touring Israel, is understanding how real this tension is and the role that Israel will play in the last days before the return of the Lord. Ofer, our shuttle driver, reminded us of this tension as he shared how the Jews are not allowed in several areas in Jerusalem: Jericho, Bethlehem and Gaza, just to name a few. I find it interesting that the Palestinians insist that they should have access to all of Israel, and yet it doesn’t work the other way around.

After a good dinner and an futile attempt to get my wireless card to work, I headed to bed…only to wake up about 5-6 hours later at 3:15 AM. I guess jet lag is a real thing.

Today we will join up with Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and visit Golgotha and the Garden Tomb, where we Pastor Chuck Smith will lead us in a communion service. What an unexpected blessing, not originally planned, this was. To be a part of what may be Pastor Chuck’s last trip to Israel (though I believe he said that about his last trip here) at the ripe young age of 83, is a tremendous privilege. The Lord has really been putting 1 Timothy 4:11 on my heart, Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. I pray to God, that I will be found as faithful at 83 (should the Lord tarry and leave me here this long) as this godly man has been.

Well that is it for now...

Shalom!

Internet Problems in Israel

2010-03-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone...so very sorry for the delay in getting the next days blog out. I am really having some serious problems with the internet here. Can't seem to get my nifty wireless card to work and was up until 12:45 AM last night trying to get the hotel internet to work. Please be patient and hopefully tomorrow I will be up to speed. I am determined to get things going once we get back to Tel Aviv.

Day 1 - "It begins!"

2010-03-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken just moments after Whitney and I started the first leg of our journey, 5:05 AM at SeaTac airport. As we walked into the airport, I turned to her and said, “Here we go…’Ron and Whitney’s Excellent Adventure’.” After getting checked in, we met Sue Liljenberg at the gate. Sue is the International Director of Healing Hearts Ministries (HH). HH began as a ministry to ‘post abortive’ women and over the years has evolved into a fruitful ministry which ministers the healing touch of Jesus to hurting women in general.

As Whitney and I talked with Sue at the gate, it became very clear that the Lord has some exciting things in store for this trip. I began to immediately wonder what that would look like. It will be awesome to watch it all unfold.

Our primary purpose for the this trip was sparked by Sue’s desire to see if the Lord would have a HH ministry start in Tel Aviv, Israel. Over the years, my wife Jenny has developed a relationship with Pat Apple. Pat is the wife of Pastor Steve Apple, Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv. In talking with Sue, several months ago, we tentatively planned a trip to see what the Lord would do. And so, here we are!

This will be my fourth trip to Israel, the first being a pastor familiarization trip in 2006. I knew from the completion of that trip, that, as the Lord willed, I would lead a tour to the Holy Land every other year. The trip coming in 2011 will be our third trip as a church. I am already looking forward to it!

A secondary and equally important purpose for this trip, is to scout out some additional options for our 2011 trip to Israel. There are some people, who have participated in previous tours, who would like to do some different things in addition to the regular tour (Galilee, Dead Sea and Jerusalem). Consequently, the first part of this current trip will be to tour Petra, in Jordan (it will be my first visit to Petra), the bulk of the rest of the trip will be to come along side CC Tel Aviv and be a part of their ministry (we will take a side trip to Galilee and Jerusalem).

Our goal, at the end of the journey, will be to provide a 2011 Israel tour package that will have three options. Option #1, will be to leave a few days early and do some missions work with CC Tel Aviv. Over the years we have made friends with the people in Israel, some of them being: Pastor Steve and Pat Apple, Ronnie Cohen and David Kidron (our tour guides), Avi Maletsky (our bus driver), and others. As a result, Israel has become a part of us (this past year we brought Ronnie to the church to share with the church body). I feel strongly, that if our only purpose of coming to Israel is to the see the sites (though I believe it is important) then we are missing an important part of God’s greater plan for this nation.

Option #2, will be the regular tour of Israel, where we will spend three days touring Galilee, one day at the Dead Sea and four days touring Jerusalem. We will end the tour with Option #3, two days in Eilat, Israel and a trip into Jordan to see Petra. People participating in the 2011 tour will have the choice of any combination of the various options: Option #1 & 2, Option #2 only, Options #2 & 3, or Options #1, 2 & 3. An Israel Smorgasbord if you will!

Hope I didn’t bore you with more details that you wanted. If I did…leave a comment on my blog and I will decide if I need to delete it or not (just kidding).

Until next time!

The ultimate of ‘defining moments’…

2010-02-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

There is one ‘defining moment’ that is common to all of mankind, and that is what they will do when they come face to face with Jesus Christ. It is generally understood and accepted that there is a God and that there is an innate (born with) desire to know God. Roy Davis, author of Satisfying Our Innate Desire to Know God, writes, “A compelling urge from the deepest level of our being makes us yearn to have our awareness restored to its original, pure state and we cannot be completely satisfied until this is accomplished.”

It was God who intended that it be this way. Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived said, “He (God) has put eternity in their hearts”. God has not only put such a desire in every person’s heart, but also placed them in pre-appointed times and places in order that they would seek God and in their seeking find Him .

God, on several occasions was heard to have said, regarding Jesus Christ, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him! It was Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (to God) except through Me.” Simple logic tells us, that since every person seeks the truth about how to know God from birth, such a search will ultimately lead them to Jesus Christ.

Every person will come face to face with who Jesus is and what He said at some time in their life on this earth. It will be the ultimate of ‘defining moments’. The only question that remains when people meet Him is the timeless question Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” And just like every question that is ever asked, there is a right answer…and a wrong answer. The wrong answer leads to disaster and ultimately tremendous dissatisfaction. However, the right answer leads to ‘complete satisfaction’…guaranteed!

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions!”

2010-02-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

I will never forget the day that my father said this to me. He had called me, long distance, after an extended period of me not calling him. When I realized who it was, I quickly said, “Dad…I was going to call you!”, to which he promptly replied with, “Son, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!” I don’t remember a whole lot about the rest of the conversation.

One of my favorite people of all time said, “The good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…O wretched man that I am!” This is precisely how I have felt much of my life. My mind and my heart race with the things I want to accomplish…and yet I find that it rarely gets past my mind and my heart. Posting to my ‘Defining Moments’ blog is just one of those many things I want to do, I feel I should do, but simply fail to do it. O wretched man that I am!

In my first post on July 25, 2008 (almost two years ago) I wrote a simple definition of a ‘defining moment’, “By simple definition, a defining moment would be ‘moments in our lives that define who we are’.” My failure in posting to my blog is another one of those defining moments which say, ‘you are being defined by what you fail to do’. Ouch! Those are words which cut to my heart and yet at the same time, as I face them head on, cause me to search for a remedy.

My last post was almost one year ago to the day (March 8, 2009). So, what you are reading is my ‘annual’ post, three weeks early…just kidding. I concluded my first noble post, What is a ‘defining moment?, with these words. “And so I will write, and if people read...cool...but if not, I will at least have enjoyed the process of putting my thoughts about the defining moments in my life and the world around us into words.” Oh what noble and lofty words these were, perfectly setting the stage for yet another job unfinished and another ‘defining moment’ in my life. Call me crazy, but it is a little hard to get people to read something when you never write anything!

It was one of my heroes, the apostle Paul, who declared himself such a wretched man. However, at the same time, he declared who it was who could rescue him from his wretchedness. “O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” I thank God that posting or not posting to my blog, cleaning or not cleaning my garage, or any number of things don’t change my standing with Christ. But, they do define me, they speak of who I am which isn’t always who I want to be.

“And so I will write…once again…and this time…if I don’t, I will pull my blog off the internet and put both myself and my two followers out of our misery!”

Final Day – Lion’s Gate, Arab & Jewish Quarter, St. Anne’s Church, Pool of Bethesda, Antonia Fortress, Burnt House, Golgotha and the Garden Tomb

2009-03-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Our final day of touring started on the East side of Jerusalem at what is called the Lion’s Gate. It is one gate to the North of the Eastern Gate (the gate which has been sealed up by the Muslims). On this day were standing just opposite of where our tour had begun just three days earlier when we were standing on the Mount of Olives. Now we were at the wall, looking back onto the Mount of Olives.

There are a number of things that were significant about this gate. In more recent times, it was the gate that the Israeli paratroopers came through, off of the Mount of Olives when Israel reclaimed Jerusalem in 1967. In ancient times, it would have been the gate where they took Stephen (the first Christian martyr) through when taking him outside of the city to stone him, Acts 7:58. One of the toughest things about understanding biblical Jerusalem with the old city of Jerusalem today is keeping track of all of the gates. Jerusalem and been destroyed and rebuilt 17 times, so the original city is many feet below the city that now exists. All of the gates in the city today, are not the same as the ones in Scripture.

Upon entering through the Lion’s Gate, we found ourselves in the heart of the Arab Quarter. Jerusalem is divided into four quarters, Arab (Muslim), Jewish, Armenian and Christian. If there ever was a contrast between good and evil, light and darkness, it is what you find in the difference between the Arab and Jewish Quarters (see photos on left). It is a sober reminder of the battle between good and evil that continues to this present day.

As we worked our way to the Jewish Quarter, along the way, we stopped at St. Anne’s church which is right next the Pools of Bethesda. It was a hot and beautiful morning to be touring Jerusalem and the Pools of Bethesda, with the five porches, was a great place for a bible study. Pastor Jason taught from John 5, the story of the man who had been lame for 38 years, daily waiting for the stirring of the water, hoping that someone would take him to the water. When no one would take him, Jesus came, asked him if he wanted to be healed, and healed him.

This of course stirred up the Jews, as it was the Sabbath when Jesus healed him.

When we were finished with the study, we went into St. Anne’s church. The Catholics claim that she was the mother of Mary. For centuries they have built shrines and monuments wherever they believe something biblically significant has taken place. Sadly, this has caused some tension in Israel, with some international implications at times. While St. Anne’s was built much later, in the days of the crusades, one of the highlights of visiting it is singing, acappella, in the church. The acoustics are unbelievable. We sat in the church and sang a few songs, then a group from Germany sang a beautiful hymn, and then we sang Amazing Grace, with some of them joining us. It was a very tender moment.

It was from the Arab Quarter that we entered into the area of Antonia’s Fortress, which is currently a Catholic convent. Antonia’s Fortress was the Roman military presence in Jerusalem. If you have ever seen a model or picture of Jerusalem in days of Christ, Antonia’s Fortress would be the four towered structure that stood in the NE corner of the temple mount. It is from here that the Roman guard would stand watch over the activity that was going on in the temple area. Should any sort of insurrection begin, they would be able to disperse the necessary troops to get it dealt with.

Before entering into the area where there are some original floor tiles from the days of Christ, our tour guide, gave us a sobering, graphic and thought provoking explanation of death by crucifixion in Jesus’ day. When we were finished, we walked onto the tiles, where Jesus would have most likely walked and perhaps was mocked and scourged. You could still see the tiles that were etched with board types of games, which the Romans soldiers would play to pass their time. It is likely that Antonio’s Fortress, is the place where the dialogue between Pontius Pilate and Jesus took place.

When we arrived in the Jewish Quarter, we went to a place they refer to as ‘The Burnt House’. This is a house that existed 2,000 years ago and was, in the last century, uncovered by a group of archeologists. What makes this particular house significant, is that they found enough artifacts in the dig, to be able to identify the family by name, social and economic status. They also know that it was burned, most likely during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. They found the severed arm of a woman, holding a Roman spear, among the rubble. We watched a great video presentation, a dramatic reenactment of what would have taken place when the temple was destroyed.

After lunch and a few of the other sites, to include viewing part of the wall that King Hezekiah built (spoken of in Nehemiah 3:8), we headed to Golgotha, the place of the skull, where it is believed Jesus may have been crucified. The area is right outside the Arab Quarter, in the Arab neighborhood. You actually view the skull formation in the rock (see photo on left) from a platform in what is called the Garden Tomb area. The ‘Garden Tomb’ is run by a Christian ministry and provides a place to view Golgotha, and then walk through the garden area and view the tomb, where it is believed that Jesus would have been laid.

Before viewing the ‘empty’ tomb, we had a communion service with a time of worship and a teaching. It got a little crazy during the teaching, as we were smack dab in the middle of two groups from Africa, one of which were extremely Pentecostal. I must say, it was a bit of a challenge trying to teach the solemnity of the cross with all of the ‘whoopin’ and hollerin’ that was going on.

Ronnie Cohen, our tour guide, shared his testimony with us at the end of our time. It truly was one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard. It was very moving and a great way to get to know him a little better and say our goodbyes. Lord willing, we will one day be able to bring him to the states and have him share about Israel at the church. He does a fair amount of this for various churches throughout the US, as well as Moody Bible Institute.

After one more Mediterranean dinner, we headed to the airport where, without incident we got through security, and began the 24 hour trip home. Even now, I am typing this final blog somewhere over Canada. We are about 3 ½ hours from Atlanta, at which time I will try and post the last two days of touring.

Once again, thank you all for your prayers and support during our trip and for letting me share some of our adventures with you. I do pray that the day will come when you can join us, or another group on a tour to visit Israel. Truly it will dramatically impact your life.

Shalom!

Check out this video!

2009-03-07T04:55:00.000-08:00

As promised...here is a video of our bus driver, Avi Maletzky, playing the accordian while waiting for the boatride on the Sea of Galilee. He is a believing Jewish brother whose parents are holocaust survivors and met at Auschwitz. What a blessing he is...I cannot imagine a tour of Israel without him. Enjoy!

Day 8 – Western Wall Tunnel, Western Wall, Temple Mount, Southern Steps and Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum)

2009-03-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Our second to the last day of touring began earlier than all the others. We had to be on the bus at 6:30 AM, rather than 8:00 AM, because of an early appointment to tour what they call the Rabbi’s Tunnel. It is actually a tour that takes us along the foundational wall of the original retaining wall that Herod built for the Temple Mount. It really is quite an amazing thing to consider the stones that Herod used in building the foundational wall. One of the stones of the wall is estimated to weigh in the neighborhood of 610 tons. How he was able to maneuver such large stones is hard to fathom. They fit so tightly together that you could not even slide a business card in between them...crazy!

Both the entrance and the exit of the tunnel are at the western wall, also known as the ‘wailing wall’. This is the holiest of sites to the Jews as it is as close to the temple as they are able to get. Even though the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, they still regard this spot as holy and spend much time there, praying and lamenting over the destruction of the temple. The wall is divided into two sections, one side for the men to pray and the other for the women to pray. One Jewish man with prayer shawl, phylacteries and all was happy as could be, in a corner all by himself prayers and dancing around.

Additionally, we (the men) were able to go into the synagogue which is just to the left of the wall. One of the most startling things in watching the emptiness of their worship, knowing that they have denied Christ as the Messiah, is that they are worshipping the same God as we worship. How tragic it is, knowing that in all of their zeal for religious things they fall short of the kingdom, because of the failure to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God incarnate.

As you can see by the photo on the left, security is extremely tight. This is the Israeli Swat Team and Police, ready to get the job done in whatever manner needed to stop any violence in the area. Our guide told us that they can take those motorcycles up and down the steps of Jerusalem at a moment’s notice. One of the Marysville team had a pocket knife which he put on the table before going through the metal detector. Apparently they didn’t like the idea of any knives going onto the Western Wall area. Our guide had to go and talk them into letting him go, they were wanting to take him in for questioning. It seems that it is not unusual for people, even children, to enter the area with knives as there have been a number of stabbings in the past. It is times like that, that you realize that you are in an area of tremendous conflict.

When we were finished at the Western Wall, we headed up to the Temple Mount. What a contrast, going from the holiest of Jewish sites to one of the holiest of Muslim sites, the Dome of the Rock. This is the gold domed building that has become a symbol of the Old City of Jerusalem (see photo at left). While it technically still belongs to the Jews, they have allowed the Muslims to retain the rights to use it as their holy sight. Our guide told us that they do this in respect to another faith’s religious site. It seems odd when you consider all of the tension that exists between the two. There is a Muslim presence on the mount, as caretakers of the property, but there is also the armed presence of the Israeli police as well. We were not allowed to take our bibles up there.

One of my favorite spots on the Temple Mount is what the Muslims refer to as the Dome of the Spirits. This is the one place, on the whole Temple Mount, where it is believed that part of the original floor of the temple exists (see photo on left). You can tell that it is different, because the stones are distinctly different than any place else on the Temple Mount. The Muslims obviously know something about it, hence the special acknowledgement as ‘The Dome of the Spirits’, but they are not about to say anything more about it. It is believed that this will be the location that the Antichrist will allow the temple to be rebuilt in the first part of the Great Tribulation period. It is located in such a manner that both the Dome of the Rock and the New Temple would be able to co-exist on the same site. This of course would make sense, given the ‘pseudo’ sense of peace that the Antichrist will usher in.

We concluded out time in Old Jerusalem with a tour of the Southern Steps. Truly this was the nicest weather we had had since our arrival and it was a great day to visit the Southern Steps, also known as the ‘teaching steps’. These are the steps that Jesus would have used to enter the temple mount when the temple was still standing. Our guide refers to them as the ‘teaching steps’ because Jesus, along with other Rabbis, would have done much of their teaching from there. I had the blessed opportunity to teach a study on Matthew 22. What a glorious feeling, teaching on the very steps that our Savior would have taught some 2,000 years ago.

After the study, we had the opportunity to walk around the area and see the area where the Romans had pushed over the temple wall when they destroyed the Temple. As you can see by the photo on the left, these stones were so big that they shattered the streets of Jerusalem below them. Needless to say, it was pretty impressive to see the pile of rubble, that has been there for close to 2,000 years.

Our last stop of the day was clearly the most somber of the trip up to this point. We visited the Yad Vashem, Holocaust Museum. Words cannot express the different displays and that were there. It is absolutely shocking and hard to believe, that so many millions of innocent people could have been brutally and senselessly murdered. Clearly it was a diabolical plan of Satan himself. Hitler was a possessed human being that epitomized the depravity and wickedness of man’s heart. It was heartbreaking to hear the testimonies of the few survivors. How anyone could ever even think that such an event did not take place, is beyond comprehension. One cannot come away from time at the museum, without a greater love and compassion for the Jewish people. I am so thankful that, at least to this date, we live in a country that supports Israel. May God help us to continue in such a manner of support.

Well, one more day of touring, ending with communion at the Garden Tomb. I will be writing the last of the blog entries on the plane and posting it when we are back in the United States.

Thank you so much for your prayers during our trip. I pray that each of you will be able to join us on our next journey. We are anxious to be with you all again...see you soon!

Day 7 – Mount of Olives, Palm Sunday Path, Garden of Gethsemane, City of David, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Pool of Siloam and Model of Jerusalem

2009-03-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

We had a full day of touring in our first day in Jerusalem. It began, early in the morning, with a trip to the Mount of Olives. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very cooperative and once again it was cold and rainy, but we were very glad to be there. Truly it is one of my favorite spots. Standing on the Mount of Olives, looking upon the Temple Mount, observing the Eastern Gate which the Arabs have sealed up. They understand that the Scriptures indicate that the Messiah will come into Jerusalem through the East Gate (as if a sealed gate is going to stop Him). The photo on the left is the vantage point from where we were standing. Sorry for the blurred photo, the rain made it somewhat hazy.

I had the opportunity to teach on the Mount of Olives. It is such a glorious place to be, realizing that it is not only the place where Jesus taught but also where he wept over Jerusalem, was betrayed and arrested, ascended into heaven after His death and resurrection and will rise again, in the same manner as He ascended (Acts 1:9-11).

Immediately following our teaching on the Mount of Olives, we walked down the Palm Sunday Path, or what it called the Hosanna Road. This is the path that Jesus would have taken on His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. There were Arabs along the way who were more than eager to sell us umbrellas, 2 for $10.00, which we were more than eager to buy.

Our next stop at the bottom of the road was the Garden of Gethsemane (see photo on left). We had a teaching there and spent some individual time with the Lord. There is no way to know for sure where the garden was, but that it was in the general area. Some of the olive trees in Gethsemane were 2,000 years old. It was amazing to see trees that were that old.

Avi, our bus driver, met us in the bus at the bottom of the hill and we were off to the City of David. Originally, the City of David lay within the walls of Jerusalem. However today, the city is outside of the walls.

There is not much to see as far as a city is concerned other than knowing the location. We did walk through some of the ruins to get to Hezekiah’s tunnel. This is the tunnel that King Hezekiah dug, through solid rock, to get fresh water into the city. Once we climbed down a number of stairs to get to the tunnel, seven of us crawled through the narrow dark tunnel with running water under out feet. At times the water came up to our pockets.

It was the first time I had gone through the tunnel and must say it was quite adventurous. Somehow, I ended up being the lead (I think because I had a miner’s type of head lamp). I was a little apprehensive at first, but it didn’t take long to enjoy the whole journey. I definitely would do it again!

When we came out, it was only a short distance to the Pool of Siloam (see group photo at left) where Jesus healed the man born blind from birth, John 9. I had the opportunity to teach there and it was a very sweet time of fellowship. Thanks be to God, the Sun had come out and we wouldn’t see any more rain for the rest of the day.

After lunch, which was at the only ‘kibbutz’ in Jerusalem, we found a great vantage point of the city of Bethlehem. There is really nothing to see there, apart from knowing that it is the birthplace of Jesus. We opted not to visit for good reason. It is 100% Palestinian occupied. Ronnie and Avi are not allowed to go into the city, at the risk of peril, and can take no responsibility for anything that might happen to us while we were there. Good enough reason for me not to go! Ronnie warned us that the cab drivers would offer to take us there for shopping, etc. Sure enough, PJ and April took a cab to Jerusalem this morning...and the cab driver offered to take them to Bethlehem. PJ told him they would pass.

Our final tour site of the day was the Israel Museum where we got to see a miniature, built to scale, replica of the City of Jerusalem as it was in the days of Christ. Truly this is an incredible teaching tool. We missed this on our first trip to Israel and I so wish we hadn’t. One of the most confusing parts about Israel is making sense of the existing walls as they relate to the walls and arrangement of the city in the days of Jesus. This model really helps to clear things up. Ronnie, our tour guide did an excellent job of explaining things. It was especially nice, because we visited it in the first day of touring Jerusalem. It helped to put things into perspective from the very beginning.

Our last stop, before heading back to the hotel, was the Olive Wood Store. If you like olive wood carvings, this is the place to come. George, the owner, is Aramaic and a Christian and one of the treats of visiting the store is when he recites the Lord’s prayer in Jesus’ native language of Aramaic. It is really beautiful in that language. Ronnie says that George looks like a mixture of Don Ho and Anthony Quinn. I say Anthony Quinn, what do you think?

Tomorrow, we will visit the Western Wall, the Southern Steps and the Holocaust Museum. So, until then...Shalom!

Day 5 & 6 – Beit Shean, Gideon’s Spring, Dead Sea, Masada, En Gedi, Qumran and Abraham’s Tent

2009-03-03T19:38:00.001-08:00

I will attempt to get us caught up on two days of the tour. I will try to make it brief without losing a bit of the sense of what we experienced.

Our first stop on Day 5 was Beit Shean, which is most known for as being the city where Saul and his son Jonathan were hung when they were killed on Mount Gilboa after being defeated by the Philistines. While there is not much to see in regards to that incident, it is always exciting just to know what took place in the area you are visiting.

The most remarkable part of visiting Beit Shean is the Roman city of Skythopolis. Truly it is one of the most amazing archeological digs in Israel. This city was discovered when the local municipalities were building a playground for the children of the city. Years later what unfolded was an entire city (see photo on left). The city was destroyed by an 8 or 9 point earthquake. It was spectacular seeing where the massive columns of the city toppled over breaking the road beneath them.

As for me, there has been new discoveries with each trip. On our first trip to Israel, the bus stopped at an amphitheater and we were able to get out of the bus and see the arena and the places where the animals were kept, animals which unfortunately were used in killing the Christians, which the Romans enjoyed for their entertainment. How tragic it is how depraved a man’s heart can be.

This arena was used for gladiator fighting and this trip we were able to get out of the bus and wander about the arena (see photo on left). At one point we entered the room where the gladiators would enter the arena. Needless to say it was surreal, knowing that 2000 years before men were waiting to go out into the arena and fight to the death. You could just imagine the sounds of the crowd and the anxiousness of the gladiators as they were waiting to walk out.

After Beit Shean, we visited Gideon’s Spring, where the Lord scaled Gideon’s army of 32,000 down to 300. We had a bible study in Judges 6 & 7, learning how God provides the victory against what can seem like insurmountable odds. What a reminder to us that we must trust God in our every circumstance, even when it seems like we will be defeated. God is always faithful!

As we prepared to head south, to the Dead Sea, we found out that the road had been flooded out and thankful for the quick thinking of our bus driver and tour guide, we took an alternate route which added about a half hour to our trip to the Le Meridian, the hotel at the Dead Sea. We got there in plenty of time to go and swim, or I should say float in the Dead Sea. The water was a bit too cold for me, although I did go in long enough to say that I did. We spent some time in the indoor heated Dead Sea pool (same water as outside).

The salt content is at 38% which is unbelievable considering the Pacific Ocean is less than 1%. As you can see by the photos, everyone had a good time and the next morning we would be off to Jerusalem after stops at several more sites. Some of you have asked about pictures of our bus driver, Avi Maletsky, and tour guide, Ronnie Cohen...so here they are! (see photo on left)

Our first stop on Day 6 was Masada. Masada in another most amazing archeological discovery that the historian Josephus wrote much detail about. We went from the lowest point on the earth, 1,400 feet below sea level, to 1,400 feet above sea level to a city built on a mesa type mountain. Originally, it was a city and palace built by Herod, to flee from any insurrection that might occur. He was quite paranoid about such things. There is no indication that he ever stayed there and after 70 AD when Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed, close to 1,000 religious Jewish zealots took refuge up there and lived for several years before being overtaken by Rome when they found out that they were there.

The tragedy of the story is that rather than face the brutal slavery by the Romans, they chose to take their lives. They drew lots for ten spots, then agreed that one by one each of the ten would kill the families that remained, then the one would take the remaining ten’s lives. This enabled only one, to commit the unforgiveable sin of suicide, according to Jewish law. I would recommend, if you have not yet seen it, to get ahold of a copy of the miniseries that was done capturing the event. It stars Peter Straus and Peter O’Toole. I asked our tour guide how historically accurate it was and he indicated that it was quite accurate.

Our next stop was En Gedi, which is where David hid in the caves. It is referred to in 1 Samuel 24 as the Rocks of the Wild Goats. Pastor Jason did a bible study there, exhorting us in the importance of being honorable in our actions by loving our enemies. When David could have taken Saul’s life, he chose to honor God instead. We took a great little hike up a trail to the various falls in the area. No doubt, David and his men would have bathed in the very springs and natural water falls we were seeing. The various animals that were running around were an added treat.

As we proceeded towards Jerusalem, we stopped at Qumran, the place where the dead sea scrolls were found. We watched a film about the strict sect of the Essenes who committed themselves to copying the Scriptures. In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy threw some rocks in an attempt to scare his flock away from the caves and back to him. You can see, by the picture on the left, the cave where many of the scrolls were discovered.

Our final stop before Jerusalem was Abraham’s Tent, or Genesis Land, which was just 20 minutes from Jerusalem. The trip from Qumran to Abraham’s Tent is quite spectacular, driving through the Judean wilderness where Jesus would have traveled on his way from Galilee, past Jericho, and into Jerusalem. It was also, somewhere in the Judean wilderness, where Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty days and forty nights.

Of course, as you can see by the picture on the left, the highlight of Abraham’s Tent was the camel rides. After putting on our cloaks, provided by Abraham himself, we mounted the camels. This was the second ride I took on a camel, the first was with Jenny, and I have to say it was much more ‘painful’ than I remember. As the camel was heading down the road, my legs started cramping up and I was wishing that the camel ride was over. Everyone, who wanted to, got a chance to ride a camel...not something you do every day!

We arrived in Jerusalem by early evening where we will stay for four nights before heading home. It is amazing how tiring touring can be. All we do is eat breakfast, get on and off the bus a bunch of times, eat lunch, get on and off the bus a bunch of times, eat dinner...and then pass out for a good night’s sleep. There is not a lot of chumming around at night, people are just too exhausted. Fortunately the beds are comfortable and you never have to worry about a wakeup call, because it is pretty rare for anyone to be able to sleep past 5:00 AM. We will probably get into a good sleep routine about the time we head home.

Tomorrow, we head to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. I hope that this post finds each of you well. We miss you and are looking forward to being home again. So...until tomorrow...Shalom!

Day 4 – Golan Heights, Mt. Bental, Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan, Golan Heights, and Mount of Beatitudes

2009-03-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

I aplogize for the delay in Day 4, as it turns out several of us got sick, including Jason and I, but we are feeling better today and should be back on track.

With Day 4, came more rain, but the spirits of everyone continued to run high. After all, we are in Israel in the land where Jesus walked. Come rain or shine it is a blessing to be here. At one point in the previous day of touring, while we were waiting for the boat, Avi Maletsky, our bus driver, busted out his accordion for a little music. I will try and send the video in the next couple of posts.

We started day four with a tour of the Golan Heights. It is hard to believe that Israel has survived so many years of being persecuted and unfairly harassed. Our bus driver spent 17 years of his childhood, from birth, in a bunker (a bomb shelter) in the ‘kibbutz’ En Gev. He said it was terrible having Syria, from the Golan Heights shoot at them 5 or 6 times per day for many years. It was hard for him to talk about it. Even today, while we have been here, the Hamas continues to fire at Israel from Gaza. Truly it is a picture of darkness vs light, evil vs darkness.

It is not unusual for people to ask me if it is safe to come to Israel. After being here three times, and making friends like Avi, David (our previous tour guide), Ronnie Cohen (our current tour guide) and Steve and Pat Apple (Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv), you don’t think about the danger much. You begin to think of it as coming to visit old friends who live in this environment 24/7. It is a privelege to be here to support them. They are very thankful that we come.

We visited an old army post at the top of Mt. Bental. Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture, it was snowing and so foggy that we couldn’t see much of anything. At one point, it started hailing a bit, and the hail was hitting us in the face like buck shot. It was a bit painful and fun all at the same time.

We then proceeded to Caesarea Philippi where Peter answered Jesus’ question, “Who do men say that I am?” Peter, inspired by God the Father declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then acknowledged that it was upon that statement of faith, that Jesus would build His church, and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it.

I had the blessed opportunity to teach from this bit of Scripture found in Matthew 16. The setting was majestic as directly behind us, stood these mighty rock walls with various shrines to pagan Gods carved out of them. Our guide told us that the residents of Caesarea Philippi, were so into sacrificing to these gods that their hope would be to somehow, in their sacrifices, to prevent falling into ‘Hades’. This of course makes the conversation between Jesus and Peter all the more meaningful.

After our time at Caesarea Philippi and a great lunch at ‘kibbutz’ Kfar Blum, we headed all the way north to Tel Dan. We visited this ancient city that dated back to King Rehoboam, who re-instituted calf worship, for fear that the Jews who were now part of a divided kingdom would head to Jerusalem to worship. How easy it was for him to convince the people to worship a golden calf, in the same manner as the gold calf that the Israelites worship while waiting for Moses on Mt. Sinai. I guess some things never change much. People today are just as easily swayed to worship many other different gods rather than acknowledging the one true God.

One of the most amazing things we saw at Tel Dan, was a Canaanite gate which was dated some 4,000 years ago to the time of Abraham (see photo on left). It is most likely, that Abraham would have passed through this gate at one time or another. Tel Dan is also the site where the first discovery of King David’s existence was found. It seems that virtually wherever you go in Israel, there is one sort of archeological dig or another going on...and I am sure many more to be discovered.

Our day of touring ended, beautifully, at the Mount of Beatitudes (see photo on left). It was raining when we got there, so we did the bible study in the bus, looking at the natural amphitheater that the rolling hills of Galilee provided. It was here that Jesus taught what has become known as ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5, 6 & 7). After the study, the rain stopped and we were able to get out of the bus and get a closer look. It was the first time in all of my visits here that I has seen it from this vantage point. Truly it was one of my favorite visits.

Our next day of touring will begin our journey to the south, ending at the Dead Sea. So until then...Shalom!

Day 3 - 2000 Year Old Boat, Baptism in the Jordan, Lunch on the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum and Boatride on the Sea of Galilee

2009-02-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

As it turns out, our good weather was shortlived and by the morning of the third day the rains and storms of Israel it. Needless to say it set the stage for an adventurous stage of touring.

We started our day looking at a boat that they call the 'Jesus boat' because they were able to date it to the times of Jesus. It

was pretty spectacular when you consider how they came upon it and the ingenuity it took to preserve it while they were digging it out. They had to keep it wet constantly because once the air hit it, it was crumbling into powder. The metal bars that you see are holding the pieces of the boat in place. They soaked the boat in a wax solution for 16 years before they were able to put it on display.

Immediately following the viewing of the boat and a little shopping at the souvenir place in the museum we headed to take a ride in a boat to Caprnaum, the town where Jesus' ministry was headquartered. What an adventure that turned out to be! We stepped outside to the dock and, literally, by the time we got to the boat, the rain was coming down sideways. At one point some of us actually thought we might be blown off the dock. There we were, standing on the boad dock waiting for the boat to come, being pelleted by the rain. When our guide saw that the boat we were about to get on had no screens on the side to prevent the rain from blowing in, we opted to postpone the ride until later. Thus began our planning our day based on what we thought the weather might be.

Figuring that we were all soaking wet already, we opted to head to the Jordan River to hold a baptism. God was so gracious to provide a break in the weather as we baptised around twenty people from both churches. You can get an idea of what the area looks like where we baptized. Pastor Jason and I are getting ready to baptize Kevin McCarthy in the picture on the left.

After the baptism, we headed back to the 'kibbutz' to change clothes, and then it was off to a fish lunch on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee. Most of us ate the fish, served with the head on it. It is called 'talapia', and is the very kind of fish that is caught in the Sea of Galilee. It was really quite tasty, and as you can see by the picture, some of us (P.J.Dattilo) ate everything...but the bones!

Our next stop was Capernaum. Probably one of the most amazing sights of the tour. As I mentioned earlier, Caperaum was the sight where much of Jesus' ministry is centered. He spent a lot of time there and we learned that in some respects He was the resident Rabbi, in the sense that he would have spent a lot of time teaching in the synagogue there.

You can see a picture of a synagogue on the left. While this is a newer synagogue than in Jesus' day, they know that part of the floor are the original floor. When they were digging up the site, they discovered a box of Roman coins underneath the old floor which dated back to the times of Jesus. It was pretty incredible to think that we were standing on the very same floor where Jesus would have taught.

Although it continued to rain, we had a bible study underneath the trees next to the synagogue and then spent time looking at the various ruins that made up the town. It is unbelievalbe how many ruins there are in Israel. Everywhere you turn, they are discovering an older part of Israel. It is exciting to know that the bible is used to confirm what these places are and the reason for their existence.

We finished our wet day of touring with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. The boat we had, had the screens to keep the rain off of us. We were able to have a sweet time of worship and a bible study on the boat. It was a great way to end a good day of visiting the area where our Lord spent so much time ministering. As you drive around the Sea, you can just imagine the crowds of people, walking with Jesus, just waiting to hear Him speak. What a glorious time it must have been!

Day 2 - Caesarea, Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth and Cana

2009-02-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in getting Day 2’s blog out. When we got to the ‘kibbutz’ (hotels that are run by communities of local Jews who began settling in Israel when it became a state in 1948) at the Sea of Galilee, they informed us that they had no internet. So I will be posting two days worth this.

We begin touring each day at 8:00. We began Day 2 with a trip to Caesarea. Caesarea was established by King Herod the Great, the king of Judea, who received the title, the Great, not because of his popularity but rather by the fact that he was such an amazing builder. He always had building projects going on, so much so that when he was alive, many of the people in Judea were employed on one or another of Herod’s construction projects. Caesarea was his vacation home of sorts, and sat right on the Mediterranean sea. The setting was magnificent it was not difficult to imagine what it must have been like in that time. Though there are only ruins left, there are enough to get a visual of what it must have looked like.

We started with a bible study in a restored theater, where Paul would have made his appeal before King

Agrippa (Acts 26). After touring Caesarea, including a hippodrome (where they would hold chariot races, gladiator fights and sadly enough the brutal killing of Christians), we headed off to look at a Roman aqueduct, which Herod built in order to get fresh water from Mt. Carmel to Caesarea. It seems that he wanted a fresh water swimming pool (see picture upper left). The aqueduct was 8 miles long with a variance of only eight inches from Mr. Carmel to Caesarea, all that was needed to flow eight miles.

Mt. Carmel is the place where Elijah slew the 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). There is nothing overly spectacular about Mt. Carmel, other than the fact that you know that you are on the mountain where it all took place. However, what is so very spectacular to me is the view of the Valley of Armageddon, where the final battle against good and evil will take place. It was Napoleon Bonaparte who said, upon seeing it, said that he had never seen a finer location for a battle than this valley. It is also known as the ‘Jezreel Valley’ or the ‘Valley of Esdraelon’. I had the opportunity to do a study on 1 Kings 18, with an emphasis on the danger of ‘faltering between two opinions’. Just like Elijah is was a ‘troubler of Israel’, so we will be troublers of those who are hostile towards God. Darkness hates the light.

Upon leaving Mt. Carmel, we headed to the ancient city of Megiddo. Actually, there have been some 25 cities that have been built there, one upon the other. Each one built, destroyed, another built, another destroyed and so on for thousands of years. Some of the ruins which we saw dated back to the times of Abraham. We saw ruins of Solomon’s stables, where he would keep some 450 horses. Horses were incredibly expensive in that day and 450 would have been a large number. Perhaps the most startling thing we saw was a ‘high place’ where the Canaanites would have sacrificed there. We concluded our time at Megiddo with walking down over 100 feet to a sistern that held the water for the city.

As the day concluded, we headed back to the Sea of Galilee, driving through Nazareth, which is now a modern city, and Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle. We were all thankful for our guide, who was able to point out parts of the original city of Nazareth.

Until tomorrow...Shalom!

Day 1 - Arrival in Tel Aviv, Israel

2009-02-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

I am going to try and blog our trip to Israel, along with photos of the various sites we visit. It may prove to be an exercise in futility for two reasons. Number one, it is the first time I have tried blogging with photos, and number two there is no guarantee that we will have internet access at all of the hotels we will be staying at. So, here we go!

We left Seattle at around 12:30 PM on our way to Atlanta, GA where we would catch a 10:45 PM flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. There is a total of 39 of us traveling together, fourteen from South Hill Calvary Chapel and another 25 from Calvary Chapel Marysville. Everyone is pretty excited about the trip. Several of the people have been to Israel before including the Calvary Chapel Marysville pastor, Dave Woodward and his wife Shannon, along with several others from their church.

As for us, this will be my third tour of the Holy Land. The first was when my wife Jenny and I came with a group of other pastors to familiarize ourselves with what a tour looks like and how to host your own tour. I didn’t want to bring a group of people from the church without understanding what I was seeing.

In the Spring of 2007, we brought our first group from the church. I must say that the second trip was even better than the first. There is so much to see here that you come away the first time with a bit of an overload of all that there is to see. My second trip here was definitely more meaningful as even more of the glorious history of this amazing land began to fall into place. Things just start making more sense. The opportunity to teach short bible studies at the various sites we visit is an amazing privilege.

As for this year’s trip, I am looking forward to it even more so. We have one person from the church returning on this trip. All the rest of the people are experiencing the trip to Israel for the first time. One thing that is a real bummer for me is that Jenny isn’t with me. She was with me the first two trips and I already miss her. My oldest son Jason, who is also one of my assistant pastors at the church is with me, so that is certainly making this trip all the more special.

We are spending the night in Tel Aviv, at the Dan Panorama hotel. The hotels we stay in are very nice hotels, three and four star hotels, and this particular one is my favorite in Tel Aviv. It sits within walking distance of the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and within eyesight of the ancient city of Joppa.

Joppa was the home of Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the sea (the Mediterranean Sea) Acts 10:6. I love walking along the shore at night, listening to the waves crash against the rocks, imagining how many times the apostles Paul and Peter sailed from the port of Joppa. Joppa was also the city that Jonah went to, to catch a boat to Tarshish, in disobedience to the Lord’s command for Jonah to go to Nineveh.

Tomorrow, we have a wake-up call at 6:30, breakfast at 7:00 and on the bus for a full day of touring by 8:00 AM. We will drive through Joppa on our way to Caesarea, then on to Mt. Carmel and Megiddo. We will conclude our day of touring by driving through Nazareth and Cana on our way to a kibbutz we will stay in, right on the shores of Galilee.

So until then...Lord willing, I will fill you in on the happenings of the day tomorrow!

"God is easy to find...if you really want to find Him!"

2009-02-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

Several years ago I was playing golf with a couple of friends when, on the 11th hole one of them made a ‘hole in one’. It really was an amazing shot and though we were all excited, yelling and screaming, understandably none of us was more excited than the one who hit that incredible shot. As we were walking down the fairway of the next hole, my friend was still beaming about his accomplishment and as he passed by a couple of players on the adjacent hole, he said to them, “Someone just got a hole-in-one on the last hole.” Of course when they responded with, “Who?”, he proudly said, “Me!” I have never let him live than moment down.

Just as my friend was eager to be known, so it is, even more so, with God. In fact, God is so eager to be known, that he has preappointed the times and places of people’s dwellings, just so that He might be discovered. Doesn’t that just blow you away?

Acts 17:26-28
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

How sad it is when people suggest that God is difficult to find. Nothing could be further from the truth! Acts 17 tells us that God determines a person’s time and place of birth with this primary purpose in mind, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him. Don’t you just love this picture of God hoping that we will cry out to Him?

This is how much He loves us! And, lest someone think He is unreachable, the writer assures us, He is not far from each one of us. It was James who said, Draw near to God and he will draw near to you, James 4:8. And so, the next time someone suggest s to you that it is hard to find God, remind them of these verses. The issue is never that He is hard to find, but rather that people just don’t want to find Him!

“No matter how hard you strive...you will never arrive!”

2008-09-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

I have begun, once again, to read that most amazing book, The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. If you have a heart that hungers and thirsts for God, it is a ‘must read’. I find that each time I read it, I underline more of it than I had previously underlined. Before I know it, I will have underlined it completely. Then, I suppose, I will have to get another copy and start all over again.

As I read this morning, I found my heart beating faster and faster as I was stirred to go deeper with God than ever. I want to go deep with God. I want to know Him more each day than the day before. I am easily discouraged by the times I fail to do this.

I am continually amazed at how much of God there is to discover. I will always remember, what I once heard a pastor say about the striving to discover God. He said, “No matter how hard you strive...you will never arrive.” I remember thinking that this was a depressing thought, much like going on a trip where you know you will never arrive at your final destination. As I pondered on his statement, I soon discovered its truth, realizing that the reason you never arrive is because there is so much of God to discover.

In the opening pages of The Pursuit of God, there is an introduction entitled Tozer’s Legacy. In it the writer writes, “Perhaps the continued usefulness of this book can be attributed to the writer’s (Tozer’s) great spiritual discovery that to seek God does not narrow one’s life, but brings it, rather, to the level of highest possible fulfillment.” Oh what a wonderful truth this is!

I pray that the Lord will never grow tired of my fumbling through attempts to discover the depths of who He is. I thank Him for His love and patience with me through that process. He is so good!

In the coming weeks, I will be sharing different things that the Lord stirs deep within my heart as I read through the pages of The Pursuit of God once again. My hope and prayer is that you might be encouraged by it and drawn into the exciting journey of discovering that there is more of God to be discovered, than we will ever fully discover.

The prophetic word of God...

2008-08-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

Truly one of the most amazing things to me about the word of God is that it is absolute truth. This especially hit me as I was reading through the first three chapters of the gospel of Luke. The things that happened in the those chapters are so profound. Angels speaking and then man speaking, writing down things that could not have known, apart from the directing of the Holy Spirit. Things as it says in Peter, To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us. 1 Peter 1:12. It is so profound to me...that when we read the Word of God, that we are reading things that were revealed to people who didn’t even fully understand what they were writing and that they were written for our advantage. Wow! I love thinking about it.

“It was unbelievable...at least the part I remember!”

2008-08-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Some dear friends of mine, a married couple, recently fulfilled one of their dreams by going ‘skydiving’. I was a little nervous for them, though not excessively, figuring people do it all the time, and live to tell the story. However, I will admit that I was relieved once I knew that they were safe and sound and back on the ground.

I spoke with the husband first, who proceeded to tell me what an amazing experience it was. He described how the ‘skydiving company’ was running so far behind schedule that they ended up having to jump in the dark of the night. I must say, that it did sound awesome as He was describing the peacefulness of it all, once the parachute opened...the full moon, the flash of the lightning bolts that they could see off in the distance, and the thin red line of the horizon as the last hint of sunlight was fading away. Then I talked to his wife!

She explained that the instructor, whom she was harnessed to, had to wrap his arms and legs around her arms and legs to keep them from flailing about and hitting him in the face. She then began to describe how she didn’t remember the first several seconds of the jump. She said that they explained to her that the body reacts to the ‘shock’ of jumping out of the plane in much the same way as it does to being in a ‘car accident’...in that you don’t remember what happened.

After she enthusiastically explained the thrill of her skydiving experience...the part she could remember...I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. Two people, harnessed together, plunging to earth at a very high rate of speed, with one of them being in a semi-conscious state, needing to have their arms and legs held...so as not to knock the instructor unconscious. Now, call me crazy, but I am thinking that if God designed your body in such as way that you do not remember the initial shock of such things as car accidents or jumping out of planes, you probably shouldn’t be doing it!

I so want to be like Jesus!

2008-08-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

"I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness." David, Psalm 17:15. I think that this is one of the most beautiful sentences in Scripture. What a picture of a heart for God. I want to have this kind of heart. I don't want to be satisfied with anything less than being like Jesus. I know that this won't fully happen until I pass from this life and awake in His presence. The apostle John said, "Beloved, we are now children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him as He is." 1 John 3:2. However, I also know, in the depth of my being, that as I seek to know Jesus...I will find Him, and as I draw near to Him...He will draw near to me and in so doing, I will become more like Him. The apostle Paul said, "...when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away...we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 1 Corinthians 3:16, 18. And so, I will seek, I will draw near and each day...I will awake looking more like Jesus than the day before.

What is a 'defining moment'?

2008-07-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

By simple definition, a defining moment would be ‘moments in our lives that define who we are’. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about such moments in my own life. Partly because, as I am getting older I am facing the realization that I have fewer of those ‘moments’ than I once had. Greg Laurie, in his book Lost Boy, said, “Someone has calibrated the years of one’s life to the hours of the day. If you are 15, the time is 10:25 A.M. If you are 20, it’s 11:34; 30, it’s 1:51 P.M. If you are 40 years old, your time is 4:08; at 50, it’s 6:25; and so on.” What was so funny (maybe not so funny after all) is that Greg and I are the same age (55) and he went on to say, “So for me, the time is about 7:30 P.M-which is sad, because I’ve been going to bed by about 9:30 these days.” This has been precise time that I start yawning and thinking it might be time to turn in...to bed that is.

Another reason I have been thinking about such ‘defining moments’ is as a result of an introductory study I recently did in teaching through 1 Peter. I entitled the study, “Defining Moments of a Fisherman”, in which I took a look at 7 defining moments in Peter’s life. Moments that transformed him from the fisherman he was...to the man whom God wanted him to be. Each of those moments contained a wide variety of emotions to include excitement, confusion, shame and forgiveness. And, each of those moments...built one upon the other to ultimately mold Peter into the man we read about, the man whom most everyone knows something about.

And so it is with each of us! We come out of the womb, being defined by our surroundings, our family and any number of things. Initially we have little or no control over what defines us. Our parents make us go to school, make us eat our peas and so forth. However, eventually we complete control such moments, and that is when the challenge of life really begins!

Over the relatively short 55 years that I have been alive, I have lived through numerous moments that have defined, not only my life, but our nation and our world. I have watched many transitions...black and white televisions to flat screen color; computers the size of a large room...to handhelds; landline phones heavy enough to give you a hernia...to cell phones the size of a credit card; the first man to orbit the earth...to regular trips to the moon and back...and I could go on, but I won’t put you through such nostalgia.

So what does all this have to do with my blog? Simply this, in all of the years that I have observed people’s lives and the various events that define them, including my own, I have come to the place of having what feels like an insatiable need to write about them. Thanks to modern technology, I see “DEFINING MOMENTS” as an opportunity to do just that.

And so I will write, and if people read...cool...but if not, I will at least have enjoyed the process of putting my thoughts about the defining moments in my life and the world around us into words.