Israel Experience (Day 3)

We went into Old Jerusalem today.  Our first stop was to visit the West Gate known as the Mt. Zion Gate by outsiders and as the King/Prophet David gate by locals.

The old city of Jerusalem is split by population into four sects.  Armenians (the side we entered in), Jews, Muslims and Christians.

From there we visited Mt. Zion and the original site of David’s Palace and where the first Town of Jerusalem would have stood.  It would have stood just West of where it now stands and been much smaller.  We saw where David may have looked down and seen Bethsheba bathing.  We saw where the Kidron Valley and Hinnom (Gehenna) valley met.  Gehenna was the local trash dump.  We translate the word Jesus uses as hell, but it was an actual place.  This area is also the field of blood where it is said Judas hung himself.

 Walking into the City of David

The dotted line is the original town of Jerusalem, it was much smaller in David's day.

 Kidron Valley

Gehenna

From there we walked to where one tradition has the upper room in an area where the Dormition Abbey is located.  The current building was from the 12^th century.  Of course this is where the Last Supper, Ascension and Pentecost all could have taken place.  We read the story and had a moment of prayer.  It was a powerful experience.  

Next we visited the Dormition Abbey – where the Catholic tradition has it that Mary was resurrected.  It's ironic because you can also visit the tomb of Mary.  The church that is there is absolutely beautiful.  It literally took my breath away when I walked in.  I hope the pictures I took do it justice. 

 It's not very often Jael is featured in art.  That's a tent peg and hammer she has in her hand.  You can read about her in Judges 4.

Mount Zion was not at all what I expected.  It’s more like the hill of Zion.  I thought it would be this huge mountain and while it is raised up over some areas, the current city of the Old Jerusalem is higher than where Mt. Zion is today.  Also, I did not know that where old Jerusalem is now and where it was in David’s me and Jesus’s time had changed.  Over time it has basically expanded and shifted.  It has moved further up the hill.

From there we went to where the house of Caiphas was located.  Again, there is a church built there that is absolutely beautiful.  This is where Jesus was brought after his arrest at the Mount of Olives.  Under the house there was a dungeon used as a prison.  Jesus was there and kept overnight.  We read Psalm 88 and experienced a moment of what it must have been like for Jesus that night.  We learned that we was lowered into the dungeon by rope, then raised out by rope.  There were no doors in or out.  So far, being there and reading the Psalm has been the most powerful moment for me.  I got a sense of what Jesus must have felt and experienced.  It was absolutely incredible! 

The hole Jesus was lowered into. 

The hole from the other side.

 The dungeon/prison cell.

Just outside Caiphas's house...this was the original road that they would have traveled to bring Jesus to the dungeon.

From there we went to the Haas Promenade, which is just a nice place to take pictures. 

After lunch we traveled south to our final destination of the day: Ein Karem.  This is where Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  And this is also where John the Baptist was born.  Ein Karem is probably the most beautiful place we have been so far.  We went into the church of the visitation and then into the church dedicated to John the Baptist.  Both churches were absolutely beautiful.  The church of John the Baptist is said to be built where he was born.  It was a amazing to think about John being born in Ein Karem and how beautiful it was, then for him to move away and into the Judean Dessert, he left the beautiful and comfortable for the dessert.  I also thougth about the trek Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem and then on to Ein Karem.

It was a wonderful day and I was exhausted at the end of the day.  I learned a ton and had some powerful experiences, specifically in the upper room, the city of David and the house of Caiaphas.  

One random neat thing is that from anywhere in the city and from my hotel I could hear the Muslims praying from the monastery several times throughout the day.  They would start at like 4 or 5am.  I think it is amplified and sent through the speakers of the monastery so that Muslims within hearing distance can worship with the prayers being said.  It sounded like chanting.

Israel Experience (Day 2)

We were on the bus again by 8am.  Again I didn't sleep well, I was up at 4am.  After not being able to sleep I decided to read and finished the book The Devil in Pew Number Seven.  It was an excellent book.

We headed South into the Judean Desert.  

It was amazing to see shepherd communities on both sides of the road as we travelled deeper and deeper into the Judean wilderness. Our guide said there was more green than normal because of the rain the day before.  Oh and it was cold and rained some this second day as well.

Our first stop was St. George's monastary. It's a monastery still in use and it was absolutely beautiful.  We couldn't go in it so we just stopped to look at it from a cliff.

Our next stop was the Jordan river.  The spot on the Jordan we went to is a newly open area that the bishop had not visited yet.  He said it was much better than the site further north that he used to go too.  It wasn't as "touristy" and historically Jesus' baptism probably took place closer to this location than further north.

As you can see the Jordan river is not very wide.  It was on average probably 10 or 12 feet across.  I always thought of it being much wider than that.

We held a brief service to remember our baptism and it was just an awesome experience.

There were Israeli guards on site.  I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition of being by the river where Jesus was baptized to begin his ministry of bringing peace into the world and there were armed guards walking around.  On the other side of the river we saw a Jordanian guard come down and check things out before he disappeared out of our site.

I didn't realize doves were prevalent near the river but there were a few of them.  When the scripture says that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove...it could have been an actual dove.  

The next stop was the oldest city in the world: Jericho.  We learned about the development over ancient history of the Tel in Jericho called Tel es-Sultan.  It was here the Natufians began civilization.  

 We could see the site traditionally accepted as the place of the temptation of Jesus.  We ate lunch at a place ironically called Temptation and shopped.  

Then on the way out of Jericho we stopped to see what is traditionally known as the Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed.  We also thought of the story of Bartamaeus which took place in Jericho.

The next stop was the caves at Qumran.  It was pretty neat, but it was cold and wet and so we didn't stay outside to look at the caves and the ruins of the Essene community for very long.

After that we went to the Dead Sea.  This is the lowest place on earth.  The Dead is Sea aptly named because no animal life lives in it because of it's thick salt consistency.  I also learned that it's actually evaporating at one meter per year.  

I was so excited to swim in the Dead sea…I mean float in it.  However, it was cold and windy and rainy and because of that and because of the waves they said “No swimming today.”  It turns out that rain is so rare at the Dead Sea that it made international news.  

I was really bummed they wouldn't let us get in.  I did put my hands in the water and tried to experience it the best I could.  I found a cool salt formation that made it back.  I also found what I thought was petrified wood, however, it turned out it was the root of some sort of tree…my guess was that it was a Olive Tree.  I brought in on the bus hoping to bring it home.  My peers convinced me that I would not get it through customs on the way out of the country so I threw it away.

We got back to the hotel around 4:30pm.  I got freshened up and then went exploring Bethlehem with a few friends.  We were so excited to find a bakery.  I thought of how cool it was to eat bread baked in the city that means hosue of bread (Bet-lehem in Hebrew literally means: house of bread).

It was another amazing day.  I kept thinking how surreal the whole experience was.  It still seems surreal.  I kept saying "yeah all I did today was visit Jericho and the Jordan river and hang out in Bethlehem."

Stay tuned for day 3...

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."