Day Two

We had wonderful day today. It was a long day again, but a wonderful day of visiting many places such as the Mt. of Beatitudes, and the border of Lebanon and Seria(not sure if I spelled that right). We went on to visit the Tel of Dan, and an Olive Oil company just around the corner of Dan. We ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant (wonderful food) as well as seeing the Jordan river (at a distance, the real visit is tomorrow) and Caesarea Philippi where Jesus questioned the disciples as to who they said He was. So that is a snap shot of our day with more short details and pictures below. Tomorrow we will both be baptized in the Jordan River, and I will get to assist in the baptism of some of the others. Very exciting and humbling all at the same time. The food is wonderful, the relationships are growing and the weather is absolutely beautiful. We are being told that we are seeing Israel at it's most beautiful time. Everything is green with grass and vegetation due to the rains they received shortly before we arrived. In just a short period of time, things will all turn yellow then brown and it will remain like that till next spring, so we lucked out.

Mt. of Beatitudes
Is located opposite side of the Sea of Galilee from where we are staying and the church located on the hill is currently being run by the Catholic church, se we didn't get to stand on the actual hill, but I could see the hill through the gate and approximate where Jesus would have stood to give his sermon. What an amazing place to see how the wind,topography and surrounding area made it possible for Jesus to speak to so many at one time.

The Tel of Dan was neat to see. This tel is only two layers thick so it was easier for the excavators to dig through to find the layers and walls of the last civilization. Herod's sacrifice alter was there, a total pagan place, but in terms of architecture, wonderful to look at.

The Golan Heights - Ancient Qasrin - A Talmudic Village and Synagogue
This place so very cool in that we were able to see a synagogue and an excavated village that dates back to the time of Jesus. It is not a replica, but the actual thing. Pretty cool to see how the houses were built, laid out and all together in a group.

Lunch at the Lebanese Restaurant

Caesarea Philippi
What a place, so many misconceptions I had prior to coming here. The place, it's distance from the Sea of Galilee, and what was here when Jesus visited. Now it all makes sense.

That's it for now. More to come tomorrow!!

We Made It

WE MADE IT!!
Well we made it safe and sound. The flight was very long and uncomfortable, but we have settled in and are enjoying the trip. It is amazing how hilly and how rocky this region is, almost impossible to build in from a westerners view point, but it is quite populated with new construction happening almost every where you look. Our first night was spent on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Lisa and I walked down and I had to take my shoes off and walk in the surf just to say I had. It was cold and the sand was nice, although there was an amazing abundance of sea shells and rocks in certain places, only telling me that sea life is abounding in that area.


     Our first day started off with an amazing breakfast spread of fruit, vegetables cheeses and breads. I loved the fresh cottage cheese and the tuna/vegi salad they had. Our first stop of the day was Caesarea by the Sea.

Caesarea by the Sea

What a wonderful place. Located right on the Mediterranean Sea, It was built by King Herod the Great who ruled the land from 37 to 4 B.C. Herod created a wonderful, yet seemingly impossible port in honor of Caesar Augustus, it was also functional in  which to accept boats for trading and goods. We stood in the Theater that had a seating capacity of 3500 and is the same place that Acts 12 records the death of Herod Agrippa. We also saw the Hippodrome where they would hold horse and chariot races, Gladiators would fight and they would have foot races. The Promontory Palace is also located in this same place. A wonderful view of the sea and centrally located in all of the other places mentioned. Herod built an olympic sized pool that was filled by the sea daily and then would drain out daily refreshing the water. I (chris) stood out in the stone that comprised this pool, and it was amazing how something like that could be built using hand tools. It was truly amazing to think of what it must have looked like in the day. I have a feeling I will be saying that a lot through out this trip. The feats of engineering they accomplished is simply astounding. 

Roman Road 

Our next stop of the day was a quick 2 minute stop to see a recently uncovered Roman road. You could see the marble floor that they had used to cover the road, there were also two wonderfully preserved Roman statues that were larger than life. 

Roman Aqua Ducts 

This was also a short stop, as we didn’t actually stop. We drove through the parking lot slowly to get a glimpse of another of Herod’s great inventions and that was of the Aqua-duct. It measures some 12 miles long and was built to bring fresh water to Caesarea by the Sea because there was only salt water there. Varying the size of the water flow channel on top of the duct would create pressure allowing for further distances to be traveled by the water.

Mount Carmel

Mt. Carmel over looks the Valley of Armageddon and give you a spectacular understanding of why this valley is such an important place. This is the same mountain that Elijah called down fire from heaven to prove that God is the true God. Here we ate lunch, and I (chris) had my first taste of a Falafal which which is chic peas that are deep fried into balls and put into a pita bread. Lisa had deep fried chicken stuff in a pita bread. There two tables loaded with all kind of vegetables and a wonderful sunny porch to eat on. It was a very peaceful lunch.

Megiddo 

One of the most important Tel’s in the land as it is called the doorway to the valley. It used to be a military base that stored the likes of Solomon's horse stables, and is also the place where one of the most cruelest sacrifice practices took place. People used to sacrifice their children to appease the fertility gods hoping that by doing so, it would bring them fortune in their crops. A very humbling place to stand as you think about how mighty this place was in terms of protecting the valley and who traveled through it, and also in terms of how many young lives were ended in hopes for good and plentiful food.  Megiddo was also home to a very interesting water tunnel that was dug from the inside of the fortress under ground through solid rock to the outside of the protective walls that enabled the inhabitants of Megiddo to get fresh water from a spring. The vertical shaft is 60 meters straight down and the tunnel itself is about 120 meters long. It is about 6 feet wide and about 8 feet tall. As you walk through it, you can’t help but imagine how hard it must have been to make this happen. it is almost perfectly straight and how they accomplished it is beyond me.

Nazareth

The home town of Jesus. At the time of Jesus, there were only about 30-40 families (approximately 200 people) that inhabited the area. Nazareth sits on top of a large hill and also over looks the valley of Armageddon. Today the mountain is covered with a large population of people, approx. 60,000 in all. Standing on Mt. Precipice gave one an amazing view of not only Nazareth but also the valley. This is the point they believe that Jesus as going to be tossed off the cliff because of what he had preached to his home town. Our trip to Nazareth was short, but while there we did see the only spring for the town that was an original spring from His day. It now has a Greek orthodox church built over it, (which is common for most, if not all of the holly sites) but we were still able to see the running spring and marvel at the art of the old church.

Scotts Hotel 

This our home for the next three nights. Located on the Sea of Galilee we will be able to spend three full days here in Galilee seeing the various places that Jesus taught and spent time. We will take a boat ride tomorrow on the sea and spend time talking about Jesus’s ministry.

Apprehension

For historical purposes, I am going to blog about todays' events although I have no desire to talk or think about it. Today March 23rd, 2011 a bomb exploded in Jerusalem on a main road leaving Jerusalem leading to Tel Aviv. The explosion apparently came from a satchel that was tied to a pole and left unmanned. There was one death, a 60 year old woman and approximately 50 others were injured as a bus passed by the site at the time of the explosion. About 8 years ago, this would have been an everyday event, and something that would have gone under the radar, especially mine, however; under the circumstances I am quite aware of it.

It certainly comes at an unfortunate time, not that there is an appropriate time, but unfortunate as we leave for Israel on Friday. I know this region is fraught with fighting and power struggles and tension, that is part of everyday life in the Middle East, but it doesn't usually effect me personally, at least not directly. It just goes to underscore how isolated we are here in the U.S.A, how isolated I am. I can travel to and from work on a daily basis and not think about being attacked or injured because of another's hatred toward me or "my people". Is that good or bad? Some may say good, however in terms of having the biggest impact on others, I would say bad. The more comfortable you are, the less of an impact you will make.

This news has made me uncomfortable, it has caused me to think about the things that "could" happen in life. It has made me stop to think about how blessed I am with all that I have in terms of my freedom and comforts in life. But at the same time it has caused me to realize how much of a bubble I live in. I almost don't know or understand how the real world lives on a daily basis. I have forgotten about the struggle, strife, anguish, fear, violence, death, sickness, oppression that I witnessed when I traveled to Indonesia over 20 years ago. And here I am in bubblite Indiana worried about how I am going to get my homework done so I can relax.........

I know that God will protect us while we are on our trip, and should something happen while we are there, then I know as well... that I know God. I fully expect that our trip will be just fine that by the time we get there, we will not sense anything had even happened, the Israelite people are good at getting on with life. I will use this however, to remind myself that I need to stay aware of the struggle of life. I need to remind myself that there are people that need prayed for, people that need taken care of, children that have no home and no parents. The sick who have no one to offer them help. The elderly who have no-one to take care of them. What can I do about that? How can I make a difference so that I don't "grow up" unaffected by the real world?

Two scriptures come to mind: In Ecclesiastes 7:2 it says: "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart".

And Psalm 68:4-5 says: "Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him - his name is the LORD. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God is his holy dwelling". I need to remind myself that life ends in death, and you only get so much time before your time is up, so what I do with that time matters. I also need to remind myself that God cares for the sick, the homeless, the tired and weary; the fatherless, the widow, and the oppressed, and I should as well.

So......

The next time I have an opportunity................No I need to make opportunities................Both............. The next time I have an opportunity to help the oppressed, the sick, the tired, the widow, the sick, the helpless, I need to do something, not just make excuses about why I can't. AND I need to make opportunities for this to happen as well.

So all that to say, although the situation that has happened in Jerusalem isn't the most exciting news for me to hear right before we leave for the region, it is a wake up call for me on the homefront to make a difference here when I can. It also underscores for me that God is in control. I don't need to worry about tomorrow, God has everything under control.

So with that, I plan to make my next post from Israel with a happy and grateful heart that I have been given this blessing of an opportunity to go.

Talk to you then!

4 Days And Counting

Counting down seems to be the worst part. Sunday 14 of our group left for the airport to head out early to do a little scuba diving and exploring before we start the learning portion of the trip. Meanwhile the rest of us are finishing out the week working, packing, fretting that we will forget something. I am cramming trying to get 4 weeks worth of homework done in 2 so that I can go homework free. Tonight while I write this, I have two papers, one power point and one discussion post to go and I will have reached my goal.
I am starting to get nervous, not because I fear anything on the trip, just the anxious feeling you get before you go to an amusement park or down a black diamond while skiing.

I finally received our filters for the camera so we are all set to take great pictures to share with everyone while we are there. Also just a warning, my blog posts may be a bit long as my professor has allowed me to skip some discussion postings that week and replace it with a journal of our trip, so I will most likely log everything here and just us it when it we get back.

I appreciate all the prayers that are being offered on our behalf, and I especially appreciate all the friends and family that will be helping take care of the boys while we are gone. Surprisingly enough, that is the one thing I am the least worried about. We have great people willing to care for the kids while we are gone which means one less thing I have to worry about. Ha I may actually worry more about those watching the boys than the boys themselves.......

Well my next post should be coming to you from Tel Aviv, Israel, or somewhere there abouts. Stay tuned...

Hat's

OK not sure why but for some reason I got hooked on this hat I saw on Cabela's website. Wearing a wide brim hat in a sunny, arid climate seemed like a good idea.

Getting closer, only 14 more days!!

Passports!!!!

They arrived!!!!

Wow only three weeks to the day, our passports arrived, we are set! This as a huge load off my mind. I was concerned that it was going to come down to the wire and we would be scrambling to get them expedited. Now just waiting on the new camera lens so we can get those famous closeups.

Ok so this wasn't much of a post, but for those of you who were praying for the passports to come through in time, thank you, your prayers were answered with time to spare...God is good.

Preparations.......Getting Closer

     Lisa and I are starting to feel the pressure and the excitement as we near our trip to Israel. Time is flying and there doesn't seem to be enough of it to get everything done. I still dn't have our passports, but have been speaking with the passport agency and I feel confident that I won't have any issues there.

     I have been watching a DVD series called" Faith Lessons on the Life and Ministry of the Messiah" with Ray Vander Laan.
It has been a great tool in helping me see the land and the people, also just learning about Jesus' time and His ministry there. My favorite so far was the section on Masada, King Herods mighty mountain fortress. Such an amazing piece of land and story behind it. I can't believe I will stand on that piece of rock and look over the same landscape. That of course doesn't even compare to the opportunity to stand in the Garden of Gethsemane and imagine what it must have been like so long ago. So many things we will see and experience, it's almost over whelming to think about it. We have our itinerary and now know pretty much what and where we will be so that in terms of pre-study on the area.

    Anyway, thought I would give a quick update and ask that folks would be praying for a safe trip and that it would impact us in ways we never thought possible. Also be praying for Israel as a nation. With all the turmoil in the Middle East, I am hoping that things settle down and that order and calm are brought back to the surrounding nations and countries.

     Be back soon!