Sabbatical: Home Away from Home

Living in a 75 square foot space and having a ball!

Sabbatical: River of Life

Rivers as the source of life is not something I came up with myself.  It is a theme that God presents throughout the entire Bible, from beginning to end.  Check this out!  This is why I am so looking forward to going on this Sabbatical in 3 weeks.

Sabbatical: Sabbatical Route

For all you navigators and geography buffs, here is a little info about the route we will be taking for our Sabbatical.

Sabbatical: What is it?

Hi friends, Laura, Jess, and I are planning a sabbatical for this summer.  I would like to share this experience with you by way of a video blog or vlog.  I will let you know right from the beginning that this is way out of my comfort zone, being the introvert that I am.  However, part of the reason to have a sabbatical is to find new ways to connect with God, family and friends.  So...here we go.  I hope you enjoy it and please share any thoughts with me as we go on this amazing adventure.  Thanks.

December 27, 2017

               My daughter Leslie turns 30 years old today.  That right, 30 years ago today I took Laura to the hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador.  That, in and of itself, was an act of faith for me.  The delivery was pretty normal except for the fact that the doctor who was going to do the delivery was smoking a cigarette in the delivery room as he was about to examine Laura.  And the other thing was that the doctor did not want me in the delivery room; but I refused to leave…who knows, he might have lit up again at any time!

                Leslie came into the world in the normal way and our first daughter was a true prize.  I began to dream about her future and when I did I could not get out of my mind a beautiful girl riding a horse with a long blond ponytail.  I still have that dream of Leslie, only it will not come true in this life.  Leslie developed seizures when she was just two months old.  We did not think anything of it first and neither did the neurologist we took her to in El Salvador.  We went to Costa Rica and had an electroencephalogram (EEG) done on her.  Three doctors looked at it and two said it was fine and one said there might be a problem.  We still were not satisfied.  Laura and Leslie went to Tulane Medical Center where my cousin, who taught at the medical school there, referred us to a pediatric neurologist.

                The results were not what we wanted to hear.  Leslie had a seizure disorder and we needed to stop the seizures which were damaging her brain.  Well, 30 years later, we have still not controlled the seizures.  However, Leslie’s health has been a controlling factor in our lives.  We have bought a house, purchased vans, determined vacations (or lack of them), changed jobs, changed career goals, and simply tried to change the future to be the best parents we could be for our dear Leslie.  It has all been worth it. Raising Leslie has been one of the most profound things that has ever happened to us.

                I am about to embark on a study of the book of Job at Trinity Church where I am the pastor.  I have been reading, wrestling, praying, and crying about suffering over the past couple of weeks.  Though God never created the world with suffering in it, I am finding that it is only through suffering that we learn to love God.  What a paradox.  God allows suffering to come into our life, which in turn teaches us to love him more.  Now this is not the regular response to suffering.  Often we turn in on ourselves and think that we must deserve whatever is happening to us.  Not true.  And just as often we turn on God and tell him he is not fair and we did not deserve whatever we are passing through.  Also not true.

                But instead of blaming self or God, we simply need to find the source of our life and happiness not in our health, possessions or family, but only in God.  And when we find God as the source of everything, then nothing can take our happiness or our life away from us.  Ultimately, suffering teaches us what really matters in life and in death.  And once we have learned that, our joy is secure in all circumstances.  That is the best thing we can learn in life -- too bad it often takes several bouts with suffering for us to begin to understand this.  But once we know and experience the potential of suffering, life becomes the joy that God wants it to be.

Rivers Bring Life

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit created life.  And then, they began to spread life everywhere.  God the Father created the heavens and the earth.  He did so through God the Son, as the book of Colossians says: “For by him (Jesus Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth.”  But the Holy Spirit is also active in the creation of the world, as Genesis tells us when it says, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”  The Triune God loves life, and let me tell you, I do too!  And I just love the way that this Triune God bring us life.

The focus of waters right from the beginning gives us an indication of the way that God was going to use water as that which brings us life. Genesis 2:10-14 says, “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”

The river flowing from Eden gives life to all that God has created.  The river separates into four headwaters which signify the four corners of the world as the ancients understood it.  God simply used four rivers to bring life to the entire creation.  From the beginning, water was life.  And water is best delivered by way of a river. 

Later, in a seemingly hopeless time for God’s people, the prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of a river flowing from the altar in the Temple.  Though it started very small it was soon a great river with many trees growing on the banks.  The river flowed into the Salt Sea and there everything turned sweet with swarms of living creatures everywhere.  People were fishing on the banks of what once was a barren body of water.  This is a great picture of a river giving life to flora, fauna and folks everywhere.  Don’t we just long for the vision of Ezekiel to become a reality in our lives?

Ezekiel’s vision is repeated in the last book of the Bible.  In the last chapter of Revelation, when heaven has come down to earth and eternity is about to begin, we see a river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God.  As it flows there are trees that line the river producing fruit every month of the year.  The leaves of those trees are for healing the brokenness of the world.  So once again, as in the beginning, the river is the way that God brings life to the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Right in the middle of these beautiful images of rivers giving life to all God has created, Jesus takes this image several notches higher.  In John 7:37-39 it says, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”  Jesus is the ultimate life giver, but with this unbelievable promise he tells us that all who drink of him will become rivers of life-giving water.  Imagine that; out of me and you there will be a river of life wherever we go!

I so want that to be true of me.  I long to be a river of life flowing all over the place, giving life to whomever wades into my waters.  This is also why I find caring for rivers and streams so very important, especially in the context of a church ministry.  Rivers bring life to all the creation.  The church is called to bring life to all creation.  And when we can combine the two in a visible way that helps the world see how much we value bringing life to creation, that is truly a beautiful thing, and something that gets the attention and appreciation of our community.

Rivers are essential for our environment so we need to care for them.   It does not matter if they are the mighty Mississippi or little Rush Creek.  But whether we are restoring badly degraded waterways or simply appreciating the life they give, each one of us is called to be a river of life spreading God’s life in some way wherever we go.  Are we doing it?

Between an In-law and an Outlaw

I love camping.  We have a great tent, sleeping bags, and cooking equipment.  But what I love the most is the opportunity to find some solitude and be outdoors for several days at a time.  Having grown up in a camping family, I have been pleasantly surprised as my wife Laura’s family has gotten into camping.  In fact, they now have a family camping trip every summer in Vermont, where they are from. 

This past summer we tried a new campground on a beautiful lake.  We pulled into our campsite just after noon on Thursday and got our tent, tarp and outdoor kitchen all set up.  It was a great place under some majestic white pine trees.

 

Later that afternoon Laura’s family began to set up camp just to the south and west of our campsite.  Fifty-three of them arrived in all.  It was good to see her family again after about a year had elapsed.  Interestingly, the campers to our east and north started arriving about the same time.  First one Harley, then another, and another, and then some trucks until there were about fifty-five members of the Devil’s Desciples (spelled wrong intentionally) motorcycle club from Boston, MA, occupying the rest of the campground.  For four days our little campsite was surrounded on one side by fifty-three in-laws, and on the other side by fifty-five outlaws.  In fact the Devil’s Desciples consider themselves one of the 1% of motorcycle clubs that pride themselves on not being so law abiding.  They did their share of drinking, fixing their Harleys, and smoking pot.  In Vermont, possession of an ounce or less is not a criminal offence and, I guess, once you smoke the first ounce you can possess a second ounce…and so on.  Anyway, needless to say, we got to smell our share of second hand pot smoke for four days.

Now you might think that being a tent sandwich between so many in-laws and so many outlaws could ruin a vacation.  We certainly did not plan this.  However, our son Jesse resurrected the weekend by showing hospitality to everybody all weekend long.  He was very comfortable to be with his cousins by our campfire and to be with the Devil’s Desciples at their picnic table.  In fact, he was so accepting of the Devil’s Disciples, that when we were about to leave, they gave him an honorary member’s t-shirt: a black T with an ugly white skull and bright red letters saying, “Devil’s Desciples.”  There was no giving it back.  They even threw in a black neoprene beer cooler with the same skull on it to show how much they loved Jesse’s hospitality.

I wish I could be so hospitable.  Oh, maybe you could simply chalk it up as being Jesse’s Down Syndrome that makes him so accepting of others.  But if is it Down Syndrome, I think I would like a little of it!  I often ask, “How can I be as attractive to and accepting of others as Jesus Christ was?”  I think the first step is seeing people as Jesus sees them, not as enemies, or outlaws, but people created in the image of our Heavenly Father and for whom Jesus came to earth.  

If the outlaws, or the in-laws for that matter, got a glimpse of Jesus Christ that weekend, it was not through me, unfortunately, but through my son, Jesse Ryan, a man after God’s own heart.

A Bride for God

One of the greatest wonders in the world is falling in love with somebody. This is unbelievably special and changes one’s entire life. It is one of those inexplicable mysteries of the world. This is especially true when you consider God falling in love with His people. Moses puts it very succinctly in Deuteronomy 7, “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

It was the pure and mysterious love of God that caused Him to embrace the people of Israel and bring them out of Egypt. He took them first to Mt. Sinai, where a covenant was made between them. It was oh so similar to a Jewish wedding, even today. God and his people stood under a hupah (cloud) to say their vows. God promised to love, protect and provide for his bride, and His bride was to promise to be forever faithful.

What a shock then that before the ceremony is even finished Israel has created another god—a golden calf! The idea for a calf was not original at all. Hathor, the goddess of fertility and consort of Ra, was well known in Egypt, having many temples dedicated to her. She is the calf-god of Egypt. It was almost as if the people took themselves out of the marriage ceremony and placed Hathor in their place. But God wanted to wed a people made in His image, not an idol that is unable to love.


Unfortunately, the situation did not change much as God’s bride entered into Canaan. Here they were presented with Asherah, the fertility goddess of the Canaanites. She is said to have been the consort of the god Baal. She is depicted as a pole with the figure of a woman and is placed next to the altar of Baal in the pagan temples and high places. This summer we visited a high place. There we saw the altar for sacrifices made to their god, and right next to it was a platform that would quite possibly be used for the image of the god’s consort.


In a terrible offence to the God who loves and cares for His people, Israel continued to substitute their position as God’s bride with an idol which was incapable of affection. Even the evil king Manasseh made an Asherah pole and placed it in the Temple, probably next to the altar of God.

But God is not interested in dating a pole! He is looking for living, loving people. And though we are COMPLETELY unworthy of being His, he loves us and gave his Son for us. Now we are the bride of Christ. Could there be anything greater?! So let’s get rid of any and every thing that would keep us from placing all of our affection on the One who loves, protects, provides, and even died for us.

Living Water

One amazing thing about our trip to the Middle East was that we traveled through several deserts—the Sahara, Sinai, Negev, Judean, and Arabian. But at the same time, we swam or waded in some wonderful waters—the Nile River, Red Sea, Gulf of Aquaba, Dead Sea, Arnon River, Ein Gedi, Jordan River, Sea of Galilee, and Mediterranean Sea. I think the favorite dunking I took was in the Arnon River. Hiking up the river gorge in the river was challenging and refreshing at the same time. Working together we were able to climb over huge rocks, slippery boulders, and negotiate water falls. Everybody made it to the 30 foot water falls which stopped our progress up the gorge. However, we all were able to squeeze into a cave behind the water falls where Pastor George talked to us about the overwhelming love of God, like the water that was plunging over us.


We also learned about the difference between living water and water that comes from a cistern. Living water is water that is clean, cool and refreshing. It is running water and a great thirst quencher. Cistern water might be ok for bathing, but is not the best for drinking. It probably has some microbes in it that you would not want in your body, and it is not that refreshing.


The source of the Jordan River is living water. It runs out of several springs at the base of Mt. Hermon. It is cool, clear and very refreshing. It also gives life to everything around its banks. There are abundant plants and an amazing amount of birds that make the upper Jordan River their home.


We also got to walk Hezekiah’s tunnel, which he built in about 700 BC to secure the water supply to the old city of Jerusalem. He tunneled 1,700 feet from the Gehon spring to the pool of Siloam. Today you can walk this tunnel as cool water rushes around your knees.


This is all simply background for the time that Jesus was in the temple on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Just when the priests would have taken some clean, fresh water from the pool of Siloam and poured it around the altar in the temple, Jesus says in John 7:37 & 38, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

As believers in Jesus, we are the ones who should be gushing living water everywhere we go. There should be life springing up all around us because of the living water flowing from us. So just a simple question: do we bring life to people, do we help people come alive in Christ? I really hope we who believe in Jesus are life givers.

Finding our Refuge in God

Finding our Refuge in the Lord

It seems like there is an abundance of caves in the Holy Land. Or you might say that the Holy Land is very holey. David found out that these caves were the place where he could hind from King Saul when he became jealous of David’s success as a warrior. It was probably in the of the caves of Adullam that David wrote the beautiful words of Psalm 142. In it he says, “Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living’.”


There in the darkness of the cave the Lord heard his plea and saved him, not by destroying Saul, but by bringing people around him. His family came and soon many others came to live with him in the caves. Before long 400 rabble rousers joined him and became his protection. God brought people who were distress, in debt and discontented to David and he became their leader—a veritable Old Testament Robin Hood.

When David needed another hiding place he found the caves of Ein Gedi to be just the place. Saul again was searching him out when unknowingly he ventured into a cave to releave himself where David and some of him men were hiding. Without Saul knowing, David found where Saul had taken off his robe and then cut the corner off it. After Saul was finished and out of the cave David went to him, bowed down before him with the corner of his robe in his hand. He told Saul how he could have killed him but did not because he was God’s anointed. Saul then had a change of heart and acknowledged that David would indeed be the king of Israel.



I would have to think that David learned many life lessons in the caves of the Judean hills. He learned that even though the caves provided protection, it was really the Lord who was his refuge. And the Lord provided him a community to care and protect him.


Where do we find our refuge? I have a suspicion that we find refuge in being able to control our circumstances and have power over any situation. But if we simply seek out of refuge in the Lord who is in control of all circumstance and has all authority over every situation, we can rest at peace no matter where we lay our heads down to rest.

The Heart of God

Often when we read the stories about the people of Israel leaving Egypt and traveling into the Promised Land, we have to swallow hard when we come to the fight scenes. We ask, “Why did God tell the Israelites to kill so many people?” It seems so cold, and not something the God of the New Testament would do. It is certainly not Jesus’ style.
But before we begin to chisel away at the reputation of the God of the Old Testament, we should take a good look at what God is doing in bringing his people from Egypt to Israel and how He does it.
Take the story of the Amalekites. God took his people out of Egypt and away from any populations that could attack them. He did not want his people to go to war. However, the Amalekites followed them on their journey down the Sinai Peninsula. There they attacked the Israelites who fell behind—those who were old, weak, or disabled. Finally, at Rephedim, God told his people to fight the Amalekites. This was in response to the terrible things they did, the killing of the old, weak and disabled. This is simply evil and God would not just sit back and do nothing while those who needed the most help were slaughtered by a people who preyed on those who lagged behind.

The Valley of Rephidim -- Amalekites defeated

I hope you see in this the heart of God – a God who desires peace, yet who will not let the weak be destroyed by evil. I wonder how closely our hearts resemble this heart of God when it comes to defending the weak and those who “lag behind.” Do we care for and stand up for the disabled, the elderly and even the unborn? Do we take on another’s burdens and share them? Do we follow the example of our Saviour, who was so desirous that God’s people not suffer that he took the evil of the world onto himself and defeated it with love and forgiveness? This now should be our modus operandi– to “overcome evil with good.”

Aliyah!

When Laura and I signed up for a trip to Egypt, Jordan and Israel we understood that we were going to have to hike and hike hard up several mountains. We knew that the biggest hike was going to be up Mt. Sinai, or technically, Mt. St. Catherine. So we began to prepare ourselves for what we knew would be a four hour climb up about 4,000 feet to the summit. Laura ran stairs and walked hard. I ran several 5Ks and a 10K before we left. We also went for long hikes together every Friday for several weeks leading up to our departure. It was a real challenge and a good deal of work getting ready for our trip. We did not want to fail at climbing Mt. Sinai.

Our trip up Mt. St. Catherine started after a long bus ride from the Red Sea. It was not until about three in the afternoon that we started up the mountain. The first hour we traveled on camel back -- interesting but not real comfortable. Then we got off and began the real hike up, and up, and up. The trail was well-marked but steep, with many switch backs zigzagging up a rocky face.






We were still an hour from the top when the sun set and the world became dark. Then, climbing with our flashlights, we arrived at the top where some Bedouins had a fire and dinner waiting for us -- tea, soup, roast quail, rice and melons. We put on a base layer, rolled out sleeping pads, and pulled heavy wool blankets over us to sleep under the stillness of the billions of stars.





What kept us going up and up was a Hebrew word that Pastor George taught us: aliyah. It is a great word which means “to go up” or “to ascend.” It is used frequently in the Old Testament to describe how people went up to meet the Lord. It is used of Moses when he climbed Mt. Sinai. The Exodus narrative tells us that Moses “went up” to the Lord at least four times. God could have easily met him at a lower elevation. He could have even come down into the valley. But he told Moses to come up to the top of Mt. Sinai. What a tremendous effort God expected of Moses to meet with Him and come to know Him.

Today we rarely expend any effort to meet with God. Instead we look for convenience and comfort in our meeting with the Lord. Simply attending church takes minimal effort. We often fit our life of devotion to God into our lives when it works for us -- driving down the road, or a quick prayer before a meal. When do we really go up, or aliyah, to meet with the Lord? It makes me wonder, do I really put any effort into my relationship with God? I am really trying to take the effort that I put into getting physically prepared to hike up Mt. Sinai into getting spiritually prepared for all the mountains the Lord will have me climb during the rest of my life.

Trust or Security

I am sure that the people of Israel were excited when they thought about getting out of slavery in Egypt. But I can only imagine they became less than enthusiastic when they learned they were going into a vast and barren desert where they would have nothing of the things they enjoyed in Egypt. They would not have meat, an abundant supply of vegetables, water melons to cool their thirst and many spices to make their dishes tasty. And I am not even mentioning the water that is so essential for life.

I never realized the stark contrast between Egypt and not-Egypt until our teacher, George DeJong, made it very clear to us by having us hike up a mountain on the edge of the flood plane of the Nile River just west of Luxor, Egypt. It is unmistakable what is Egypt and what is not-Egypt when you look over the Nile River valley. The contrast could not be greater.


One is lush and full of life. There are all kinds of plants and crops. Birds of all kinds fly up and down the river. The Nile River is a fountain of life. When the Nile flooded it brought fertile silt and water to keep the valley the center of a prosperous and thriving civilization. Outside of the flood plane there is death. In fact, this is where the Necropolises were built. Here the Egyptians buried their dead; some in pyramids and some in deeply dug tombs like in the Valley of the Kings.


So when God took his people out of Egypt, they were going from the land of the living to the land of the dead. No wonder they often wanted to go back. You ask yourself, “Why did God not bring them back?” I mean, after Pharaoh and his entire army were drowned in the Sea, there was nothing stopping them from going back and taking over the country. They could have places to live, fertile fields, and all the prosperity they could ever want. But this is not what God wanted for his people. He was taking them to a land that he cared for and one in which they would have to trust in him for their life. To be prepared for that, they had to learn to trust the Lord in the dessert for 40 years. They HAD to learn that trust in the Lord was more important than security.

I am not sure that we have gotten to this point yet. We tend to look more to security than trust in the Lord. I have often heard people tell me that when they give to the Lord they give “what they can afford.” This means that they have to make sure that they will be able to eat and pay the bills first. But the Lord wants people who trust him for everything. Maybe we need to allow the Lord to take us into the wilderness to learn to really trust in him.

A Great Preoccupation with Life

Even though Laura and I are home from our trip to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, the journey of learning, of incorporating what we have seen and experienced into lessons for our life, continues. Here is what I have been thinking about this week.

God created us for eternal life. This was his desire for us. But ever since sin brought death, people have been obsessed with getting eternal life back. The ancient Egyptians were preoccupied with death and the afterlife. They strove to please the gods in the hope that they would in turn bless them with a wonderful afterlife. This can be seen so clearly in the vastness of size and quantity of tombs and temples in Egypt; in the symbols of the ancient scriptures that remain on the walls of all the tombs and temples; and in the way that bodies were embalmed after death.

One ancient symbol is the key of life, which seems always present in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The gods were almost always depicted as having a key of life in their hands, and life was given after death in the symbolism of a god putting the key of life into the deceased person's mouth.



Another important symbol is found in every tomb. It is from the “Book of the Dead,” and is of a human heart on a scale being weighed against the weight of a feather or feathers. If the deceased persons heart was found to be heavier (or also could be translated "harder") than the feather(s), then he would be condemned and kept from eternal life; but if his heart was found to be lighter than the feather(s), he would in fact receive eternal life.



Think of this as you read the 10 instances recorded in the Bible where God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, or more fascinating yet, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Could it be that Pharaoh was willing to forfeit his own eternal life rather than to let the Israelites go?

In complete contrast to this preoccupation with death in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Old Testament does not speak of eternal life or seem that preoccupied with what happens after death. However, there are three very important “eternals” in the Old Testament: Eternal God, Eternal Covenant, and Eternal Kingdom. It as if God is screaming to his people, “I got this death thing covered, you should just be preoccupied with life and not death.” Ezekiel gives us God’s very words about this, “I will remove from you your heart of stone (heavy heart) and give you a heart of flesh.” God does not want us to be preoccupied with death, but with life!

We life in a culture where a new paganism is in vogue -- though nobody would want to call it that. However, something inherent in paganism is a preoccupation with death. And this we see all around us as evidenced in the emphasis on “dead heads,” zombies, TV programs that trivialize death and the deceased, and senseless killings. What we really need are armies of God-followers who are preoccupied with life and living well. When God takes care of the death thing, we can live the wonderful, abundant life that pleases him.

The Final Day :-(

For the last day of our journey George had us do a lot of walking retracing the steps of Jesus from the Mt. of Olives through Jerusalem to the Church of the Sepulcher. We first walked through the market place to the Old City before is was even awake. The narrow streets were bare and easy to maneuver. We went out the Damascus Gate, past Solomon's Quarry, where the large stones for the Temple were cut, and then up to the Mt. Of Olives. It was a beautiful morning and the sun glistened off the Old City.


We then walked down the road that leads to Gethsemane. It is very steep and gravity pulls you along, but as George said, it was love that pulled Jesus in this direction. We spent some quiet time along a path in the Garden reflecting on that love. We also saw olive trees that were centuries old, possibly over 1,500 years old.

We then crossed the Kidron Valley and entered the city again by the Lion's Gate. We went to St. Anne's Church, a beautiful 12th Century Catholic church. It has amazing acoustics and our group walked up to the steps and sang. Ryan, a young pastor with a beautiful voice, lead us in singing Holy, Holy, Holy; it was a powerful moment for us. We then walked next to the church to see the remains of the pool of Bethesda.

We continued our walk down the Via Dolorosa cutting through the old food and meat market ending at the Church of the Sepulcher. Here we mingled with the religious pilgrims who come here by the thousands to see where Jesus might possibly have been crucified and buried. It is actually rather dark and dreary there from all the candles people have lit and placed by the shrine of the tomb.


After a lunch in the market we packed up and began our trip to Tel Aviv. On our way out of town we stopped at the Israel Museum where we saw a model of Jerusalem as it might have looked in the first century. We then continued our trip to the coast and stopped for supper at a seaside restaurant. After dinner we walked to the Mediterranean Sea, waded in and watched the sunset.


We have seen, touched, smelled, walked on so much in the past two weeks that it will take months to process it all. All I can say now is that it has opened our eyes and hearts in such a way that we will not be the same. It has made us realize that God has always asked of His people some amazing things, and this has not stopped even today. I will try to unpack what that means more in the days ahead.

On the Eleventh Day of Adventure...

We left the hills of Judah and stopped by a Look Out or monument to the State of Israel. From here we got a very good view of the mountains of Judah and the new city of Jerusalem. But we did not stay here very long. We headed past Jerusalem and descended to the western side of the Dead Sea to visit the Qumran Community. Here was saw the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls where found. We also visited the ruins of the building called the "scriptorium" where they were written. They took great pains in getting the text absolutely correct by having one person watching each copier.



After getting a better understanding of the Essenes who lived here we headed to Masada, Herod the Great's fortress along the Dead Sea. Once at the top, we toured this huge complex and saw the hot baths, the cisterns and water collecting system, the Synogogue, and the great palace of Herod. This is truly an amazing place considering the amount of hard work by many slaves it took to construct it.

When we got down from Masada we traveled north along the Dead Sea to get to En Gedi. This is the place where when Saul was trying to kill David, David was able to cut the corner off of Saul's robe. En Gedi is a beautiful wadi with a stream running through it. We climbed up the wadi to a water falls, keeping in the shade as it was 116 degrees out. When we got to the pool under the falls one of the members of our team was baptized by her father. It was a great experience.



On our hike out of the wadi we saw a couple dozen Nubian ibex. They are on their way back from just about being extinct. They are beautiful animals! Interestingly, the Bible also calls this place The Crags of the Wild Goats!

As we travelled back up to Jerusalem we stopped in the Judean wilderness to get a view of Jericho to the north and the place where Jesus was tempted to the south. After a time of devotions and silence, we finished our trip at the Knight's Palace in the Christian Quarter of Old Jerusalem. After cleaning up and having a delightful supper we walked to the Western Wall and spent some time there.

On the Tenth Day of...

We began our day with a nice treat, a ride across the Sea of Galilee from east to west. We got out of the boat in Magdala. We then got on our bus and were dropped off at the foot of Mt. Arbel.

Mt. Arbel is one of those lonely places that is talked about in the Gospels where Jesus went off to pray by himself. Well the reason why Mt. Arbel is a lonely place is that it is really tough to climb. We had to help each other at times climbing hand over hand to get to the top, from which we could see all of the Sea of Galilee and the surrounding county side. We took a different route down which was even more difficult than the route up, but we all made it safely.



We the had a great lunch of Falafels and Coke at a local restaurant and headed off to the Jezreel Valley. We stopped at the ruins of Zippori. This is a Roman villa just north of Nazareth built during the life of Jesus. It had beautiful stone work and amazing tile floors. Jesus' father was a teuton, or stone worker. It would seem reasonable that Joseph worked here possibly making the walls or beautiful floors.



From Zippori we travelled to Mt. Carmel. Here we learned about the Elijah story and saw right where it happened. When you actually climb these mountains you have such a better appreciation for what the people had to do to follow the Lord's commands.



We travelled to the Judean mountains and stayed in a Kibbutz from which we cold see Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea. It was so nice a cool staying on the Judean Mountains, a great change from where we had been staying.

On the Ninth Day

Today we visited some of the small but important towns on the north side of the Sea of Galilee.First we came to the place where there are several springs which used to be the town of Tabgah where Jesus was probably cooking fish for his disciples after his resurrection.  The mountain where Jesus fed the multitudes is above this location. Tabgah was located where several springs gushed into the Sea.



We then went down the road a ways to Capernaum. Here you can see the ruins of a Synagogue where Jesus probably did some of his teaching. There is also the ruins of what is believed to be the house of Peter's mother-in-law.

From Capernaum we travelled north to the ruins of a city called Hazor which was the last city Joshua conquered. It was a very pagan city and even after Joshua conquered it they soon reverted to pagan worship, setting up again the Asherah poles.

From Hazor we travelled past the ancient city of Dan and into the foothills of Mt. Hermon. While traveling there we came within 100 feet of Syria. There is a huge fence with signs all around to be careful of land mines. We hiked along the headwaters of the Jordan River. The water was so cold and clear, with beautiful waterfalls along the way. The river begins with a huge artisan well right out of the side of the mountain. Here the Romans built Ceaserea Philippi. They was a temple dedicated to the goat god called Pan. It was a terribly pagan city that Jesus visited with his disciples.



We finished the day traveling back to the Kibbutz and going for a swim in the Sea of Galilee and watching the sun set. It was a day in which we saw first hand the tremendous pressure from paganism that was placed on the people of God, and the unfortunate consequences. I wonder how vulnerable we are today to contemporary paganism?

And on the Eighth Day...

After two nights in one hotel we packed up and and headed to where people say John the Baptist taught and baptized. It is hard to know this for sure, but they have excavated a church here which was in existence before 300 AD which probably means that this was the site because of the short time from when it happened to when a church was built there.

Anyway, now there is a brand new Catholic church there named the John Paul church for the work he did to get it built. The church is pretty impressive but the Jordan River is not, it is just a muddy stream when it reaches the Dead Sea.



Next we travelled to the Jordanian city of Jerash. Here there is a beautifully preserved Roman city. It is one of the cities which formed the decapolis, mentioned in the Bible. We spent time looking at the temples of Zeus and Herodotus. There is also a large Areopagus with columns all around it. Then there is a monument which is a large and elaborate fountain dedicated to Herodotus who is the god of the earth and fertility. The water poured into a granite bowl about eight feet in diameter. The granite for this bowl had to have come from Aswan, Egypt as this is the only source for it in this part of the world. We finished by looking at an intact stadium. It really reminded me of the movie "Gladiator".


Interestingly, this city was probably one of the cities that the healed demoniac visited to tell of the wonders of Jesus the Messiah who healed him. His witness must have been very profitable because within a hundred years of the building of this city it had several churches in it.


We spent the rest of the day traveling through Jordan to Israel. There it took us almost three hours to make the crossing as the security is very tight. We ended up at Kibitz Ged which is on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. We are getting closer and closer to Jerusalem.

Shepherds

The last few days we have been observing a lot about sheep and shepherds. Jordan is a very good place for this as they still have many Bedouins who tend sheep and goats. We have observed shepherds calling their sheep, even calling out one sheep at a time.

The harvest is done now in Jordan and the shepherds move the sheep into the harvested grain fields to graze. When you are standing at a distance you might wonder what could they be eating. But getting up close there are very short blades of grass that the sheep are able to eat.

The Bedouin shepherds keep moving their tents and families all the time looking for better pastures. This is harder to do in the dry season, which is what we are in.

At night they bring the sheep back to the tents or if they are in the hills they bring them to a cave for the night. All 48 in our group went into one of these caves to listen to Pastor George teach about Jesus our shepherd. The image of shepherd is the one used the most for God in the Bible. George also told us that a cave like we were in was probably where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Sitting there in that cave that was dusty and smelled of sheep doo, really gives you the wonder of the great love of God that he would send his son into that place to save us from the doo we get our selves into. Love that great is going to get loved back.