Blog 7 The Lord's Day, Mt. Olivet, Gethsamane, Bethlehem

Blog 7 Lord’s Day: Mt. Olives, Gethsemane, Bethlehem

Today was a day of many things! I suppose I need to ask someone to “pinch” me just to make sure this is real. Oh, I know it is real, but each time God has blessed me to walk in the very city He has chosen as His own, it is overwhelming.

We started this day, the Lord’s Day with a worship service with Dr. David Jarrell preaching from Psalms 122. David preached a very good message on "Who, What, and Why". I cannot put into words what a special experience being able to worship our risen Savior in the very city God has placed His name and chosen for Himself is.

All of us were thinking about all of you: both our families naturally and our families spiritually. We prayed that you would have a blessed day and that your worship services would be something special.

We were ready to leave the hotel for Mt. Olivet and eventually when I discovered I could not find my passport. Not a lot of panic began in my mind and heart, but a lot of concern. After all, if I had lost my passport I would not have been the first one to do. But, prayer changes things! I found it in the very spot I had put it in so “I would not forget where I put it.” Sound familiar to anyone?

Although we did not go to Mt. Moriah today (we will go tomorrow), we did go to Mt. Olivet, the garden of Gethsemane, and the Kidron Valley. So much of what we read about in the Scripture, especially in the last week or Passion Week of Jesus, took place in these places. The first time Debbie came to Israel was 2001. When we were talking about what she learned and what surprised her, she said “It is how close things are to each other” she was referring to how close in proximity things lie in relation to each other.

Having the view from Mt. Olivet we had of Mt. Moriah (also known as the Temple Mt., the place where Abraham offered Isaac, the place David purchased from Ornan, the place Solomon built the first Temple) is breathtaking. As we stood on Olivet we read Scripture, as we do at every site visited, and sang and stood with a degree of amazement at being here. It was from this very mountain that our Lord and Savior wept over Israel’s failure to discern the times; it was from this very mountain that He gave His famous Olivet discourse (maybe it was in the same place we were standing today! wouldn’t that be something?); it was from this very mountain that our resurrected Lord ascended to Heaven; it was from this very place that two men in white apparel gave a glorious promise “This same Jesus, which is taken up from into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Wouldn’t it have been AWESOME if He had  come while we were there!?); it is here that, when He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that His feet will touch down on Earth again. Not to die this time, but to rule and reign! How great it that!!! Glory!!!!!

Time in Gethsemane was special. Gethsemane is not one of those traditional places I refer to, Gethsemane is Gethsemane. Where Jesus prayed here, and He prayed here more than once, none of us know. But as we had some personal devotional time in this place where olives were pressed, pray and praying took on a new meaning. The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, as He prayed He agonized. Luke tells us He prayed so fervently that His “sweat became as drops of blood.” In fact, Matthew tells us that “he fell on his face.” I am told that in the Greek, the idea conveyed is that He fell and kept falling. In the place olives were pressed, so our Lord was pressed in a way none of us are familiar and in a way so holy no human eye beheld. Remember, the disciples lay sleeping not a stones cast away.

While in Gethsemane, we had a special time of worship. Yes, I know I just told you that we already had morning worship and great preaching by Pastor David, but I shared a message with our folks in Gethsemane that I pray was a blessing. Before we left that marvelous place, we took some time for private and personal reflection while in this marvelous place.

I wish I could put into words what Debbie and I experienced during our private time while in Gethsemane. Although I know I cannot describe it, I will try and I hope the picture will help. We decided to sit beside one of the small olive tress in the private area of the garden that we were allowed access to. We both took some time to pray and after we were finished, Debbie said “Look.” I did and was moved deeply as Debbie already had been moved. When I looked at what Debbie had already seen.  The way the sun was shinning, a shadow been cast from the very olive tree we were praying beside. It looked as if it were the shadow of a man with his arms stretched out and his head bowed forward and his body poised as if under great agony. I do hope you can see it, it was not difficult for either of us to. In fact, we invited all of our group to come by to see if they too could see what we saw. I believe some them did.

From this wonderful place, we made our way to Bethlehem. What an experience that was. I will not take the time to tell you about the whole experience, I will allow your loved one to tell you themselves. Israel is crowed with tourist this year which is both good and not good. Good for this wonderful nation and not good for other pilgrims that are trying to get from place to place.

We learned after arriving in Bethlehem that the Shepherd's Field were not open to us seeing that is was Sunday. The Church of the Nativity was open but was EXTREMELY crowded. It took us a great deal of time to walk though, unfortunately, to see a traditional place of what is referred to as the Grotto and the manger. For us, it is not a place we put a great deal of emphasis, but to others of other faith, it is. In fact, I am afraid too many of them actually worship the place…they acted like they did in kneeling down to kiss the spot. YUCK!

Our lunch in Bethlehem was the second best thing that we did. I guess the best thing was shopping…you could ask James to see whether or not I am right.

Anyway, it was an experience on many levels we will never forget and one which we hope we will not have again. I believe with all of my heart that the Lord ordered our steps into this place, and I am glad to say, out.

Well, so much to say and so little time and room to do so.

I suppose I had better end today’s entry here. It is impossible for me to tell you about everything I would like to tell, I just hope I have said enough for you to get some of the flavor of our day and our experience. I do hope that in some virtual way you can experience some of what of have experienced.

Dinner sounds good, but a hot shower and a little sleep in the city of Jerusalem sounds a little better to me at this point.

A new day lies ahead. I can hardly wait! But then again, these days are passing far too quickly.

God bless all of you!

Shalom

:O)

Tom/Deb

Luke 13:34-35

PS It didn't take much money to get Judy out of Bethlehem, but it sure looks like it would have cost a lot.  :O)

:O) Yeah...my computer is running again!

Shalom everyone!  I'm glad to be a part of the cyber space communnity once again.  My computer is running as you can see, but due to its recent illness, I will not be posting pictures immediately with the new postings I will be putting up.

Please give me a little grace and I will add pictures also.

Thanks for coming by once again. 

Enjoy what I have written.
:O)
Tom
from Jerusalem...how great is that?

Blog 6 From Tiberias to Jerusalem

Blog 6 From Tiberias to Jerusalem

It’s me once again! I just had a thought about this day when it began. When we get to the end of it, we will have gotten to the half-way mark of our tour! That hurts me to say. Time is passing so quickly.

It was another day that began early. Breakfast was good and our evening meals are also. I haven’t said too much about eating have I? Well, believe me, we are eating well. Just ask your loved ones when you get to talk to them.

Today was an especially exciting day. Why? For many reasons, but for the main reason, we are heading for Jerusalem! How great is that!? This is THE city God has chosen to place His name and to make it known to all the world. This IS the capital city of the nation of Israel regardless of what the world says.

But, it took us a while to get there. Our journey took us toward the south, traveling along the Jordan Rift Valley. Would you like to do a rich and wonderfully full Bible study? Look up all the references you can find on the Jordan River and see how many great things took place in and around this Biblically mighty river.


Bet Shean was our first destination of the day. It is typically a very hot place to live or visit and today, it was maybe one of the hottest days of the year. What a remarkable place Bet Shean is for many reasons. This is one of if not the largest active archeological digs in the land of Israel. The Biblical history and natural history of this place is amazing. At one time it was a Philistine city (the Philistines are NOT the ancestors of the Palestinians. The Philistines came into the land of Canaan from the area of Greece about the same time the Israelites came into Canaan from Egypt. They were Israel’s number one enemy.) But Bet Shean eventually became a ‘Roman colony.’ (By the way, researching why Rome established Roman colonies in the countries they concurred is interesting.)

We walked along the ‘cardo’ or main street of this remarkable city that in its day, must have been a beautiful place to live. The word ‘cardo’ comes form the word ‘cardiac’ which refers to our heart or the ‘main’ part. We looked at the mosaics that actually made up the street that ran parallel to the ‘cardo’ and just outside the shops and stores where many different items were sold. We visited an ancient bath house that revealed a number of interesting features.

The bath house was interesting for a number of reasons. One is obvious and just simply for time’s sake I will only mention one more, it was the place to learn about what was going on. It would be like us turning on our computer in order to see what is going on in the world or to talk with our fiends. It was a major part of the Bet Shean or any city where a Roman bath house was located.

This year we went to what I believe is a very interesting place located near Mt. Moreh. Do you know what took place near Mt. Moreh? It was there that God instructed Gideon on the best way to reduce volunteers for combat duty. You recall the test that was designed by God Himself in order to decide who could and who could not be trusted in battle against Israel’s enemy don’t you? It was whether or not the one drinking would get down on both his hands and knees in order to drink water from the spring or whether they would just kneel and bring their hand to their mouth in order to keep their head up and scan the horizon for the enemy. It worked if you remember. An army of 32,000 was greatly reduced to the size God was sure to get the glory for the victory.

Although the spring at Harod was still producing some water, it was obvious that rain in Israel is very much needed. Please pray that they will have an above normal rainy season this year. Their rainy season runs from October through March. The water that was there allowed us a place to cool our tired and hot feet. It was a nice experience to say the least.

Although we could not visit Jericho and the traditional site for the Mt. of Temptation, we did see it from the backside, meaning from the Wilderness of Judea’s point of views. This view, to me, is simply amazing.

While gazing over into the wilderness from our vantage point, I find it hard for me to not allow my mind to wonder to long on what it may have been like for our Lord during those forty days of being tested and tempted.

It only too a few minutes to get onto the old ‘Jericho Road’ where we were able to look back down toward the Jordan Valley and into the wilderness. This may be the very place Jesus was driven to by the Spirit in order to be tempted by Satan after forty days of fasting. It was easy for my mind to wonder and to imagine what our Lord and Savior heard and felt while wondering in this place. Oh what a Savior we have!

Our next stop was Jerusalem. Imagine us being in Jerusalem! For the next five nights we will be staying in Jerusalem. That’s a little different than Lewisburg or Myrtle Beach!

I cannot put into words what our/my heart(s) felt upon arriving in this city. And when we stopped on Mt. Scopus and took our first view of the Old City, Mt. Moriah, Kidron Valley, Olives, it was more than our eyes could take. Most of them (but not all of them) began to melt as did our hearts. The view is, to me, simply breathtaking! Jesus overlooked this city and wept over it knowing what lay in its future. I weep over it knowing its future. I rejoice knowing its future.

Here is where Abraham offered Isaac. Here is where David purchased a threshing floor from Ornan and offered a sacrifice. Here is where Solomon built the Temple. Here is where Nehemiah rode a mule at night in order to survey the possibilities. Here is where Zachariah rebuilt the Temple. This is where Herod worked forty and six years in beautifying a Temple that Jesus said would be destroyed. Here is where the third Temple will be built. Here is where Jesus, the greater Son of David, will sit on David’s throne and rule the nations from. Here is where the nations will be judged by He who is ‘right and righteous.’ Enough said? I could go on….

We were able to get a look at the Old City of Jerusalem from both the North and the South. It was magnificent. And, I almost forgot, our guide Mauri and our driver Moses (I’m not kidding), welcomed us to Jerusalem, their home town, with a cup of grape juice. Mauri gave a welcome/blessing in both Hebrew and English. It was a special event.

Our hotel, the Grand Court Hotel, is within walking distance to the Old City. Sure wish you were here to walk to Jerusalem with us.

As always, dinner was good. Sleep is becoming more normal, whatever that is. Our after dinner meetings have been a blessing to us all.

Tomorrow is another big day for us! Oh it is truly exciting to be here. We will be having a morning worship service in our hotel with Dr. David Jarrell preaching. I am looking forward to this service with great anticipation. In fact, this will bet he first of two services that we have planned for tomorrow. The other one will be held in a place called Gethsemane…awesome!

Maybe you will start today planning for your pilgrimage with us to Israel in 2012, the good Lord willing that is.

Rest well, I pray, and I pray that you will have a great time of worship on tomorrow’s Lord’s Day!

Until next time….

Shalom

Tom/Deb

Psalm 122:1

Sick computer...:O(

Shalom everyone!  The reason I have not been posting is that I have a sick computer.  Obviously I am making progress in correcting the problem, but I still have a little work to do before I can begin posting again. 

SORRY!!!

Also, it looks like when I do get back up and running that I will only be able to put up some commentary until I get home.

BUT, I promise to do the best I can.

Again, sorry...:O(
:O)
Tom/Deb
from Jerusalem
PS We had a graet day today and expect an even greater day tomorrow.

Blog 5 North to Mt. Hermon

North to Mt. Herman Blog 5

I can hardly believe that this is day five of our trip. Talk about time passing quickly! Wow!!!

This is the third day of our touring. Yes, we are still tired, but still blessed, very blessed.

Let me ask you a question. Have you even eaten anything that looks at you as you look at it? Well, several of our folks did that yesterday. For lunch they had what is called St. Peter fish. Although you would think it would have been caught in the Galilee, it is actually a farmed fish. Mauri, our guide, told me the government has suspended commercial fishing on the lake for at least three years. It is a very popular lunch item and sold by most restaurants located around the shore of Galile.

This morning we began our journey heading north to the foot of Mt. Herman. Personally, I believe this is where the transfiguration of Jesus took place. There is another tradition that the event took place on the top of Mt. Tabor, but if you look at the Scriptures you may discover that that may be a fairly difficult tradition to prove. Anyway, you remember where the story of the transfiguration is recorded don’t you? You can find it in Matthew 17. But don’t forget to read about the events of chapter 16 as Jesus and His apostles made their way north to a place called Caesarea Philippi. Matthew 16 is a MUST read before reading chapter 17.

Caesarea Philippi is one of my favorite places. It is located at the foot of Mt. Herman. It was on a journey here that Peter made a great statement about who the disciples believed Jesus to be, “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” At this place also known as Banias (Caesarea Philippi), we saw one of the three streams that eventually come together with two other streams several miles south of here in order to form the Jordan River. The word Jordan literally means down from Dan.

Here at Caesarea Philippi, idolatrous worship took place for many years, even centuries. I suppose the most famous false god that was worshiped here was the god Pan. In the mountain side, niches that have been cut out by man’s hands are clearly seen where false gods were placed and before which worship was offered. Worship that included sacrifices of different kinds. At this place, it was believed that the ‘gates of Hell’ was located. When walking the land of Israel, in seeing and hearing the many things we both see and hear, why Jesus said “upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” following Peter’s great confession about who Jesus was and still is.

Leaving Mt. Hermon we headed toward Dan. Dan was the most northern town in the kingdom of Israel. It was there that one of those ole ‘Boam boys, Jeroboam actually, that built a temple in Dan much like the one built in Jerusalem. There, sacrifices were made and idolatry in Israel-in many ways-reached its greatest or worst height. Jeroboam also set up a place of idolatry in Bethel in the southern part of Israel (referring to the area occupied by the ten tribes that broke away during the days following Solomon’s reign.) His idea, the same idea that is still being propagated in our day, was to ‘make worship easy; there’s no use in making that hard trip up to Jerusalem. Just do what is convenient for you to do.’ Hog wash! If you want the Greek for that it is ‘hog wash!’ Sounds too much like preaching now doesn’t it? For worship to be REAL worship and not WILL worship, it must be according to the commands of a Holy God in accordance to His Word.

Although Bethsaida was also on our itinerary for today, we did not stop. Why? Well, there is really nothing there to see. If you recall, Jesus pronounced a curse upon this place and some of its neighbors, i.e. Capernaum and Corazim. It was a curse that was the result of an unbelievable kind of unbelief. I believe the Biblical record of this place stands as a warning to all of us. Don’t you think we would be wise to embrace every opportunity God graciously sets before us? I thought you would.

Leaving Dan, we traveled a road on the Golan Heights looking for a place to eat lunch. Our guide took us to a small mall where we had some options for lunch. Some of us chose to eat at the sign of the golden arches.

Our next stop we at the Mt. of Beatitudes. What a special place this is. While there, we took some time to listen to Debbie read from Matthew 5.  Here, Jesus began His famous sermon on the mount, which is one of His three most famous discourses we have record of in Scripture. After she finished reading we took each other’s hand, formed a circle, and recited the model prayer that is a part of this same sermon and is found in Matthew chapter six.

There were many other pilgrims there today. The place was quite crowded, but we took some private time to walk the grounds, find a place to sit and either read, pray, or just reflect. It was a good and refreshing time.

Our day was to end in a very marvelous manner. How? It would end with our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was simply a wonderful experience! It was a highlight. It was more than a ride across this famous lake. Our operator and owner of the boat, Daniel Carmel, stopped his engine and allowed us the opportunity worship the Lord as we floated the Sea of Galilee. Again, it was wonderful! We sang as a group, Amy Harper and Judy Keller sang solos, several had testimonies, tears, and joy, and I had the privilege to preach a message titled, “When The Safe Place Ain’t The Best Place.” I enjoyed the message and I hope the others did as well. Our boat ride is always a special experience.

So many things I could say and maybe should say, but the day has been long. I am tired but blessed, and tomorrow I will do this again, the good Lord willing.

By the way, tomorrow we head South and finally Jerusalem tomorrow night. We will be there for our next five nights.

All of us miss our families and are still wishing you were here, not just in spirit, but in presence.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this blogspot and for reading about our day’s experiences!

If you would like to contact me, you may do so at my e-mail address. I believe it is given in the upper right hand corner of this blog place. If it isn’t, here it is:
tomanddeb@suddenlink.net

Until the next time, Sabbat Shalom (today is the Jewish Sabbath).
:O)
Tom/Deb

Blog 4 Around the Galilee

Remember, please forgive me for syntax errors. 

Hello everyone!  As I type this, I want you to know we are all TIRED…unbelievably tired. (maybe I’m not as tired as that sounds…I slept really well!) but we are tired but happy. 

It was simply beautiful morning. I cannot put into words what it is like waking up looking over the Sea of Galilee. I was awake before the sun broke over the top of the Golan Mountains. I could get used to this. (Look who was walking under my balcony at sun rise :O)  This is Chad Amherim from Towson, MD.  We are so GLAD he is with us once again. ) --------->

The scene and the setting here at Tiberias on the “blue” Galilee is nothing less than breath taking.

Today was a full day, but then again, they all are. We spent our day around and even on the Sea of Galilee, Lake Gennesaret, Sea of Tiberias, or the Lake Chinnereth (harp shaped). No, we did not see Jesus walking on the waves as the disciples did, but we did feel His presence in an undeniable way!

Our first stop was Mt. Arbel. This has become one of my favorite places to visit. The short walk up the path to the top of this mountain is well worth the effort. From atop Mt. Arbel we were greeted with a marvelous panoramic view of upper Galilee. We were able to see most of the Galilee itself as well as Tiberias, Mt. of Beatitudes, Migdal, and ever the top of Mt. Herman. It was simply a breathtaking view.

After visiting Mt. Arbel, we drove to Yardenit, where we baptized several pilgrims. Baptisms came early today. In fact, Yardenit (the place where we baptize in Jordan) was our first stop. To me, all baptisms are wonderful, but I must admit that baptizing in the Jordan has been one of the highlights of my life. Not far from where we baptized, the Jordan flows South-ward out of the Galilee. Maybe, just maybe (if they purchased a DVD), you will be able to see your loved one’s baptism as it was captured on video. It would make a great souvenir.

From Yardenit, we began our journey around the Galilee. Near the traditional site where Jesus gave His sermon on the mount is a place called Tabgah. Tabgah means the “place of seven springs.” There were probably more than seven springs there, but it is called Tabgha nonetheless. Did you ever wonder where the five thousand go for something to drink in order to wash down all those bites of bread and fish? Was it water from the Galilee or from the springs of Tabgha? You decide, but I tell you the Bible is a marvelous book! Don’t you agree? I know you do.

We also visited the place Jesus chose to make His earthly headquarters, Carpernaum. From the first time I visited this place in 1985, the changes here are somewhat amazing. In 1985 Capernaum was an active archeological dig and they were in the process of uncovering some of the item we viewed today.

At Capernaum (our guide Mauri calls it Kefar Nahum like the prophet Nahum…who lived in the North of Israel) we spent some time in the remains of an ancient synagogue. It has been discovered this synagogue was built on the very foundation the synagogue Jesus stood in and performed the miracle on the man with the withered hand as we have taught the truths that He taught. Remember what Jesus said about having a mill stone tired around your neck? Well, we saw a millstone. Actually, we saw more than one today. And as we did, it became all too apparent why Jesus said what He did. As He often did in His teachings, He simply used what was available to Him so He could easily and undeniably illustrate the truth He wanted to be conveyed. Truly Jesus was the master teacher.

By the way, at all the places we have visited and all those we are yet to visit, we read from the Bible. It is amazing how the Scriptures we have read a multitude of times take on a new life this way. I tell you the truth, all of us here will never read the Bible in the same way as we did before we came.

Oh yeah, we also stopped at a place known as Peter’s Primacy. This place allows us to put our feet in the Galilee. It is the traditional place for the events recorded in the Gospel of John 21. Have you ever wondered what Jesus and Peter talked about while the other disciples were bringing their full boats to the shore? We will never know, but we do know that whatever the conversation was about, it satisfied Peter for we see him doing what he could to get the fish on shore.

After a blessed and full day, we arrived back at Ron Beach Hotel ready for dinner and rest.  By the way, here is our guide, Mauri.

Keep praying for us! Everyone sends love and prayers.

Until tomorrow the good Lord willing,

Shalom

:O)

Tom/Deb

PS One more thing…does it concern anyone that some of our folks went to the diamond factory here in Tiberias? :O)