Israel Experience (Day 1)

I just got back from a 7 day pilgrimage to sites in Israel. It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad I was able to do it. I gave a presentation of my experience at church this past Sunday, however, I thought I would blog about where we went and what we did each day to give more detail and more insight. So here it goes.

After a long overnight flight from Newark we arrived in Tel-Aviv, Israel on Wednesday January 30th at about 4pm. We arrived safely to the hotel in Bethlehem and had time to freshen up before dinner. I didn't sleep much that first night.

We were on the bus by 8am ready to start the day. It was a cold, windy and rainy day. Our first stop was the Herodion. We didn't spend much time on top of the Herodion because it was so cold and wet and rainy.

This was a fortress built by Herod a few years before Jesus was born. Herod actually took ground from a neighboring mountain to build the mountain the Herodion is on. He built it as a monument to his own greatness and as a reminder to those living in Judea that he ruled over them.

From there we went to the Shepherd's field. This is traditionally where the Shepherds were visited by angels.  It's also possible that Mary may have used a cave such as the one we saw to give birth to Jesus. I quickly learned that wherever a significant biblical event took place, a church was built on that site. I was a little disappointed that the cave we went in had been "modernized" with lights and figurines. I would have much rather seen it in it's original natural state. While being in the cave we reflected on the story of the visit and sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

Our next stop of day was the Nissan Brothers Olive Wood factory and store.  The owner said the Lord's prayer in Aramaic for us which would have been the language Jesus spoke when he taught it to his disciples. The Olive Wood Carvings were just beautiful. The more detailed the carving the more expensive it was. I couldn't afford the one's I really wanted.

Our last stop was at the Church of the Nativity. This is where some people think Mary gave birth to Jesus. The church is old and beautiful and huge and amazing. You walk into it and it just takes your breath away.  To the right of the altar there are steps leading down into the grotto where it is said the birth took place.

Below are pics of Saint Catherine's church. A more modern church built next to the Church of the nativity. Underneath the church, near the place of the nativity is where Jerome translated the bible into Latin. The last pic is a statue of Jerome.

It was an awesome day even though it was cold, wet and windy. Looking back I wish I would have purchased something a little nicer for us as a family from the olive wood store.

Here's a pic at part of the dinner we came too each night at the Angel hotel in Bethlehem.

Lots of fresh veggies and delicious hummus.  At the end of this table was a hot bar with a couple of different meats and hot sides.  Also, to the side of this was a place for pita bread, coffee and soup.  The food in Israel was delicious.

Stay tuned for day 2!

Getting Better at Preaching

I came across this advice from pastor Mark Driscoll about preaching and thought is was really good.  While I differ with Driscoll on a number of theological points, if something is helpful then it can and should be used.

Here's a link to the article: http://theresurgence.com/2012/12/05/5-ways-to-get-better-at-preaching-and-teaching

Jesus and Santa

This video does a good job of using humor to sum up why my wife and I have told our daughters the truth about Santa Claus.  They are welcome to pretend Santa brings them the presents, but they know they are from us.  And we have verbally told them: "you know you should be good and behave well, however, whether you are bad or good you will get presents at Christmas simply because we love you and that's how much Jesus loves you too!"  I believe it's an awesome message that is close to the heart of Jesus.

How to Train Your Dragon

I recently watched How to Train your Dragon and loved it...how have I not seen this until now?

The movie does a great job of addressing how ignorance and misguided assumptions lead to unnecessary violence.

The connection made between Hiccup and Toothless is asbolutely masterful.

I can see using this one in a sermon soon.  It would definitely fit for a sermon on racism and ignorance.

Daddy of Girls

As the father of two daughters I loved this article:

http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/50-rules-for-dads-of-daughters

The article pointed me to a great blog written by a dad of girls: http://lifetoheryears.com/

That blog led to me finding this sweet song:

I'm blessed to be a daddy of girls.  The article, blog and song make me realize that I need to say "yes" more when one of them asks me "will yo play with me."

Your Life a Letter

This is the article I wrote for Catawba UMC's newsletter for the month of October:

            During the summer between my Junior and Senior year at UNC-Wilmington I served as a youth intern under the full time youth pastor at a large Presbyterian church in Wilmington.  At the end of the internship he wrote a general letter of recommendation for me knowing that I would be applying for ministry positions after I graduated.  That letter of recommendation was so good that in two different interviews one of the interviewers mentioned the letter and how highly I came recommended in it.  I’m sure that letter helped me land an internship as a youth pastor at another church while I was Seminary.     

           

Did you know that letters of recommendation existed in the New Testament?  Paul lived in a society that placed a similar value on personal achievements and introductory letters as employers do today.   Itinerant speakers in particular were expected to carry letters of reference with them as they travelled from place to place.  In his letters Paul often recommended his pastoral colleagues in ministry to the churches he had planted (Rom 16:1-2; 1 Cor 4:17; 2 Cor 8:16-24; Phil 2:19-30).  Paul, however, never carried letters of recommendation for himself. 

           

In chapter 3 of 2^nd Corinthians Paul asks a few rhetorical questions about the validity of his ministry and uses the metaphor of a letter of recommendation to make his point.  Instead of an actual letter about his credentials, He says that “you” (meaning the Corinthian Christians) are our letter.  Then in verse three he writes: You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

           

For Paul, the work of Spirit of the living God in the lives of the Corinthian Christians was all the recommendation required for his ministry to be valid.  It was not about what was actually written or not written, it was about the work of the Spirit.  It wasn’t about ink on tablets, it was about the Spirit’s work within people’s hearts and how that manifested itself among the people of Corinth.  It was not about who was worthy or who was recommended, it was about people responding to the power of the Spirit.  For Paul, the greatest letter of recommendation for his ministry was in how the people responded to the Spirit at work among them.

           

What kind of letter are you writing with your life?  Is your life a “letter of recommendation for Christ” or is it discrediting His name?  Are you a living witness to the God of love and grace and forgiveness when you are among your peers?  What kind of letter is your life writing to the people who are reading it?  What kind of letter are you writing to your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your coworkers and your friends by the decisions you make?  Is it a letter recommending a real relationship with Christ as the best possible way to live life? 

There are too many Christians who give Christ a bad name…if you are a Christian your job is to give Christ an exceptional recommendation with the way you live your life.                                                                                                                       

300

To celebrate my 300th blog post I am doing two things:

First, I am giving you some random thoughts about the number 300
and
second I am taking a sabbatical from my blog until September 19th or 20th...so post number 301 will have to wait until then.

So Here are some random things about the number 300:

-It's the title of a movie I really like

-It's the number of Jelly Belly's I can eat in one sitting (my favorite flavors are Tutti Fruiti, Cherry, Sizzling Cinnamon (not to be confused with regular cinnamon) Peach, Tangerine, Cream Soda and Root Beer.  Here's a little secret: if I get sizzling cinnamon and cherry I put them in different bags so I don't get confused between them.

-According to Wikipedia: 300 is a triangular number and the sum of a pair of twin primes (149 + 151), as well as the sum of ten consecutive primes (13 + 17 + 19 + 23 + 29 + 31 + 37 + 41 + 43 + 47). It is also a Harshad number.
-If you type 300 into Google the first hit you get is for the new 300 Sedan from Chrysler, the second hit is to watch the movie 300 online and the third hit is for a Lexus IS 300 from Carmax.  

-It's the number of days Xavier Rosset lived on an island and filmed a documentary...here's a link to the video synopsis of him.

-The title of a book actually has the number in it four times...don't believe me, check it out here.

-And lastly...300 is the approximate number of hours before I post the next blog.