Friday we got on the bus at 7 am, early morning, and we started our trek around the Benjamin area! We started by going to a place called Beth-schmesh. This place is important because it is a passage way throught the Sorek Valley. It is also very important for the man named Sampson, the really strong guy from the Bible, who was born and buried in a place called Zorah no more than a half mile away. We then traveled up to Gezer passed Emmaus Nicopolis, which is mentioned in the Biblical text, and then arrived in Gezer. At Gezer we saw some amazing things! We got to see the Coastal Plain of Israel off the Mediterranean see! This was completely different because we have been going through a lot of hills from the Hill country. It was amazing to see so many beautiful cities along the Coastal plain and for the people of the plain it was nice becuase it was easy to farm but back in the day when the super powers of the world like Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Rome wanted to go through it was a terrible place to live because of all of the pillaging and stuff like that. Then we traveled to a place called Nebi Samwil. This place was an amazing look out area but also used a fortress back in the day for many different forces. They would come up on the ridge and be able to look out and see Gibeon, Jerusalem, which most were after, and smaller villages along the way. This place was called Nebi Samwil because it means the Prophet Samuel. They say that Samuel was buried under the sanctuary that is there. I am a little sceptical of this because in the Biblical text it says that he was buried in Rammah. So i believe what the Bible says and not what traditions say. Then we traveled to a place called the Lookout which looked out over the Judaean wilderness! This was completely different then what I imagined, because i thought it would be a lot of flat area like the Coastal Plain but nope! It was all hill country and it was really rough terrain. There were rocks everywhere and it was insane to get down the mountains and back up again. Me and a friend, Joe Minks, decided to go all the way down to the valley below and get a better view of the Wilderness from down there. It was intense! There were so many places to fall and slip and break something or even die! But getting down there and seeing what we saw was awesome. The view from the bottom was rolling hills and more hills. The valley was pretty massive in size unlike what it looked like from above. We then had to turn around and go all the way back up the mountain and that was just terrible. I was in so must pain, and just felt so dehydrated! But it was amazing.
We then traveled to a little place called JERICHO!!! It was amazing! The weather was awesome, and it was so much different than anything we had seen up until then! The archeological digs of the city walls were so awesome! And there stood a huge rounded tower in the middle of a dig, done by Kathleen Kenyon. This tower was amazing! It was from the Neolithic age. According to most scholars Jericho is considered to be the oldest city on the planet dating back to 6000 BCE and is considered to be the very first city with walls around it. Such an awesome place! So beautiful and so amazing!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Wailing Wall and Dome of the Rock!!!
SO today was a pretty good day! Super tired so far but we have been walking all over the place and running up mountains, i will get to this later, and for the most part waking up at 5:30 or 6 every morning! I have a few posts coming so don't worry here comes all the fun!
Thursday was called Jerusalem walk, we literally walked around Jerusalem, and we started by going to the Dome of the Rock. For those of you who call it the Holy of Holys, then we are on the same page, but for those of you who do not know, the Dome of the Rock is a structure the Muslims have in the Old City and what it is, is the place they believe that Muhammad ascended into heaven, now on the Christian side of things i don't really believe that to be true but what i believe is that this is where the Holy of Holys is. I believe that on this place is where Solomon built the temple, then it was destroyed in 586 and then rebuilt in 516 again and then destroyed again. So this is the place where God was said to have dwelled and the place where Jesus would be entering into the city of Jerusalem and going to this point. It is really interesting to note that this place is forbidden for anyone not Muslim to go into and there have been problems in the past between Jews and Muslims over this spot. The Muslims wont let anyone excavate the area because, in my honest opinion, i believe they know that something was there at one point, aka the Temple built by Solomon and again in 516.
Then we strolled on down to the Wailing wall, now this was a cool place. We got to see a multitude of worshiping and we even got to see some Bahmitzvahs taking place. The culture is so amazing to realize that this is how things are really done over here, it is impressive. While at the Wailing wall me and a friend were swindled into a tour of the library and then asked for donations in a small area in a kind of back area. That was really creepy, that is all i am saying about that. The idea that people are at this wall, crying out to God was amazing, the intensity of it was so powerful. Some of us even made our prayers at the Wailing Wall itself, that was awesome!
The next stop was on the Southern part of the Old City and it was called the Southern Wall. This place was really cool because it was actually pieces of the old wall that Herod had built. There is one place that can be seen that has the huge rocks from the old wall that had been pushed over upon destroying the wall. The were actual pieces of the road that Jesus, our Lord and Savior most likely walked upon. We then went down a ways to a staircase which was massive in size. It led to the triple and double gates where people would enter into the temple mount area. These steps had been there since the day of Jesus time and I WAS SITTING ON THEM!!! Just think about how cool it would be to be walking up the steps to the temple mount with Jesus. Just amazing. From our vantage point we could see the Kidron Valley bending East going towards the Dead Sea and we could see all the hills of the Eastern and Western Ridges around us.
Okay now hold on there are two more coming tonight so just be patient and let me tell you about my life here in the beautiful city of Jerusalem!!!
Thursday was called Jerusalem walk, we literally walked around Jerusalem, and we started by going to the Dome of the Rock. For those of you who call it the Holy of Holys, then we are on the same page, but for those of you who do not know, the Dome of the Rock is a structure the Muslims have in the Old City and what it is, is the place they believe that Muhammad ascended into heaven, now on the Christian side of things i don't really believe that to be true but what i believe is that this is where the Holy of Holys is. I believe that on this place is where Solomon built the temple, then it was destroyed in 586 and then rebuilt in 516 again and then destroyed again. So this is the place where God was said to have dwelled and the place where Jesus would be entering into the city of Jerusalem and going to this point. It is really interesting to note that this place is forbidden for anyone not Muslim to go into and there have been problems in the past between Jews and Muslims over this spot. The Muslims wont let anyone excavate the area because, in my honest opinion, i believe they know that something was there at one point, aka the Temple built by Solomon and again in 516.
Then we strolled on down to the Wailing wall, now this was a cool place. We got to see a multitude of worshiping and we even got to see some Bahmitzvahs taking place. The culture is so amazing to realize that this is how things are really done over here, it is impressive. While at the Wailing wall me and a friend were swindled into a tour of the library and then asked for donations in a small area in a kind of back area. That was really creepy, that is all i am saying about that. The idea that people are at this wall, crying out to God was amazing, the intensity of it was so powerful. Some of us even made our prayers at the Wailing Wall itself, that was awesome!
The next stop was on the Southern part of the Old City and it was called the Southern Wall. This place was really cool because it was actually pieces of the old wall that Herod had built. There is one place that can be seen that has the huge rocks from the old wall that had been pushed over upon destroying the wall. The were actual pieces of the road that Jesus, our Lord and Savior most likely walked upon. We then went down a ways to a staircase which was massive in size. It led to the triple and double gates where people would enter into the temple mount area. These steps had been there since the day of Jesus time and I WAS SITTING ON THEM!!! Just think about how cool it would be to be walking up the steps to the temple mount with Jesus. Just amazing. From our vantage point we could see the Kidron Valley bending East going towards the Dead Sea and we could see all the hills of the Eastern and Western Ridges around us.
Okay now hold on there are two more coming tonight so just be patient and let me tell you about my life here in the beautiful city of Jerusalem!!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Hezekiah's Tunnel and City of david
So since the last post ran way long i will make a new one for Jan. 5th
Today we traveled down to Hezekiah's Tunnel and to the City of David. We first traveled and stopped at the City of David, all of this in walking distance mind you, and it was really cool to see the history here. The City of David is said to have been located on the very tip of the eastern ridge, right off the Kidron Valley. The City of David is something that we don't actually know a lot about. Many believe that it was a big city with a major King David and had power, but some believe that this wasn't even a city at all, and it was almost just a settlement in the hills of Israel. Now the things that I saw today at the site were pretty amazing, we first stopped and saw a rounded steps made from rocks. This dates back as early as 1300 BCE. and it could of actually been a place where at the top held an amazing building built for someone of great importance like a King, David perhaps? We don't actually know for sure and my professors believe that David's palace was in a different place as well. We then made our way down to a pretty entertaining 3D movie about the land itself. It was 15 minutes long but it wasn't filled with historical information, kind of cheesy, but hey that is always the best right? Yes!
Okay, moving on, from the City of David there is a very significant piece of history just below it. under all the rubble and rock there is a tunnel, this is called the Hezekiah tunnel. It is called this because during the reign of Hezekiah, he built a stream leading up to and from the Gihon Spring to bring water to his people. Now this Gihon Spring is at the bottom of the Kidron Valley and off of the Eastern Ridge there is a HUGE drop-off so to defend such a prominent water source in a good location is very hard to pull off so Hezekiah built huge towers to defend this spring because of its importance. Back to the tunnel, the tunnel itself is about 1400 feet long, give or take, and it was dug out from both directions so there are two sets of people digging this out in the 8th century BCE and they are trying to get to each other so there are some mistakes but pretty good overall. This tunnel was very small and narrow and had to duck a lot of the time. It used to be that people couldn't go in it because of it flooding when people were in the tunnel, FREAKY!!! So here we are, 27 Bethel Students, walking through this tunnel that has water up past our shins and half of us in sandals and the other in socks. It was a great time. I absolutely love that kind of stuff. Walking through tunnels and actually living out history by doing it and not just hearing about it. Then at the end we come to the pool of Siloam, now the pool of Siloam as some may know, is used in the Biblical text from the New Testament when Jesus heals the blind man with mud and spit and then goes and tells him to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. It was really cool to see a portion of this because it is like WOW Jesus healed someone around here! He was HERE!!!!! The rest of the pool is under a garden owned by some dude who has yet to accept an offer from the government to excavate, LAME!!!!!
Well we also visited some cool tombs today of some super old people from a long long long time ago. I really liked the tombs too, it is just one of those things where you are living history and not just hearing about it. I took a picture of a friend laying down in an actual grave. Thats just wrong and creepy, but also awesome!
Well there is so much more to say and more to talk about but I will have more to tell you tomorrow as i travel to the wailing wall again and then on to the Mount of Olives. So stay tuned!!!
This land is your land this land is my land from the Watershed Ridge to the Mount of Olives, from the Kidron valley to the Old City, This land was made for you and me! That was epic! All land features of Jerusalem. Look it up!
Today we traveled down to Hezekiah's Tunnel and to the City of David. We first traveled and stopped at the City of David, all of this in walking distance mind you, and it was really cool to see the history here. The City of David is said to have been located on the very tip of the eastern ridge, right off the Kidron Valley. The City of David is something that we don't actually know a lot about. Many believe that it was a big city with a major King David and had power, but some believe that this wasn't even a city at all, and it was almost just a settlement in the hills of Israel. Now the things that I saw today at the site were pretty amazing, we first stopped and saw a rounded steps made from rocks. This dates back as early as 1300 BCE. and it could of actually been a place where at the top held an amazing building built for someone of great importance like a King, David perhaps? We don't actually know for sure and my professors believe that David's palace was in a different place as well. We then made our way down to a pretty entertaining 3D movie about the land itself. It was 15 minutes long but it wasn't filled with historical information, kind of cheesy, but hey that is always the best right? Yes!
Okay, moving on, from the City of David there is a very significant piece of history just below it. under all the rubble and rock there is a tunnel, this is called the Hezekiah tunnel. It is called this because during the reign of Hezekiah, he built a stream leading up to and from the Gihon Spring to bring water to his people. Now this Gihon Spring is at the bottom of the Kidron Valley and off of the Eastern Ridge there is a HUGE drop-off so to defend such a prominent water source in a good location is very hard to pull off so Hezekiah built huge towers to defend this spring because of its importance. Back to the tunnel, the tunnel itself is about 1400 feet long, give or take, and it was dug out from both directions so there are two sets of people digging this out in the 8th century BCE and they are trying to get to each other so there are some mistakes but pretty good overall. This tunnel was very small and narrow and had to duck a lot of the time. It used to be that people couldn't go in it because of it flooding when people were in the tunnel, FREAKY!!! So here we are, 27 Bethel Students, walking through this tunnel that has water up past our shins and half of us in sandals and the other in socks. It was a great time. I absolutely love that kind of stuff. Walking through tunnels and actually living out history by doing it and not just hearing about it. Then at the end we come to the pool of Siloam, now the pool of Siloam as some may know, is used in the Biblical text from the New Testament when Jesus heals the blind man with mud and spit and then goes and tells him to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. It was really cool to see a portion of this because it is like WOW Jesus healed someone around here! He was HERE!!!!! The rest of the pool is under a garden owned by some dude who has yet to accept an offer from the government to excavate, LAME!!!!!
Well we also visited some cool tombs today of some super old people from a long long long time ago. I really liked the tombs too, it is just one of those things where you are living history and not just hearing about it. I took a picture of a friend laying down in an actual grave. Thats just wrong and creepy, but also awesome!
Well there is so much more to say and more to talk about but I will have more to tell you tomorrow as i travel to the wailing wall again and then on to the Mount of Olives. So stay tuned!!!
This land is your land this land is my land from the Watershed Ridge to the Mount of Olives, from the Kidron valley to the Old City, This land was made for you and me! That was epic! All land features of Jerusalem. Look it up!
Jesus' Tomb, Crucifixtion and SO much more!!!
So today being January 5, 2011, it is 9:07 here in Israel and 1:07 in the great US of A. The time thing is still killing all of us. We are all pretty jet legged and it doesn't help that we are walking around for four hours daily, up and down hills. You know how old people always say they had to walk up hill both ways to school and back, well if someone from Israel told me that they would be telling the truth it is full of hills and i will get to that later.
Jan. 4, 2011
Best day of the trip so far, well it was the best because it was like our first day but it was so spiritually and emotionally awesome! I can't believe the things i am seeing over here. My favorite part of the trip so far was going to the Holy Sepulcher. The Holy Sepulcher is a church that is pretty much place around the most significant places of the Christian faith. You walk into the church and the first thing to the right is a staircase that leads up to Golgatha, where Jesus was Crucified! WOW! I haven't been up there yet and i am itching to go, but just knowing that the savior of all men and where it took place was only like 30 feet away is so powerful! Then you go to the right, around a bend and there you see this box like thing with steel gerders and a round like thing sticking out of the top of it. Well this is actually the place where Jesus was buried, they had to put up a holding place around it to secure it from earthquakes and well people that would want to ruin it. So you go stand in a long line and then when it is your turn you come to the first of the two rooms where a piece of the rolling stone is actually placed and you can look at it and touch it. Then you go into the second room and that is the supposed burial place of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who of course isn't there because of his resurrection 3days after burial. I also have not been in this but just standing there knowing that this is where Jesus rose from the dead is so unbelievable it is just amazing! I get goosebumps thinking about this. Then behind that is a room for the Armenian prayer and worship. There is a little shrine in there and off to the left is a whole in the ancient bedrock. This is actually a place where people think Joseph of Aremathea was buried, now this is the guy who went and got Jesus body down and buried Him. I actually went into the tomb and that was really cool! Then we strolled along the rest of the day looking at a bunch of sites in the Old city, like the pools of Bethesda, St. Anne's church, Waling wall and many more things. Another one that stood out to me was the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is the place where Gethsemane is, where Jesus was arrested and betrayed by Judas, and where Jesus is said to be returning. There are graves everywhere along the hills of the Mt. of Olives and mostly Jewish. They believe that when Jesus returns they will be the first to be risen and taken into the Holy City where Jesus will reign. The most interesting part of that is that the Muslims have burial plots all along the Eastern Ridge, which is opposite the Mt. of Olives, where the Old city is, and they believe that by putting their dead there Jesus will have to defile himself and become unclean to get into the Holy City. Very interesting idea by the Muslim culture, just goes to show that there is still fighting but in strategic burial placements.
One more thing i wanted to point out is that the almost shocking thing to me what that with the grave site of Jesus body and the where he was crucified were so close to each other. They were literally within a football field for sure. It was so close. That amazes me. When I read the Bible i have this sense that everything is so far away from each other and i don't realize that Bethlehem is only 5 miles from Jerusalem. Just awesome. Also it is said that the church of the holy Sepulcher can not be the place of Jesus' death and resurrection because it is inside the city walls but when you look back to the time of Jesus' day Herod's wall of Jerusalem is not including the site of the Holy Sepulcher and in fact when it says that Jesus was taken out of the gate and was crucified, there was a gate built right by the Holy Sepulcher.
So to wrap up yesterday as it were I just wanted to point out that this place is so AWESOME! I wouldn't personally live here but just the idea that Jesus walked in the places I am walking and that my Lord and Savior died and then rose again only a half mile from my living area is just amazing and mind blowing!
Jan. 4, 2011
Best day of the trip so far, well it was the best because it was like our first day but it was so spiritually and emotionally awesome! I can't believe the things i am seeing over here. My favorite part of the trip so far was going to the Holy Sepulcher. The Holy Sepulcher is a church that is pretty much place around the most significant places of the Christian faith. You walk into the church and the first thing to the right is a staircase that leads up to Golgatha, where Jesus was Crucified! WOW! I haven't been up there yet and i am itching to go, but just knowing that the savior of all men and where it took place was only like 30 feet away is so powerful! Then you go to the right, around a bend and there you see this box like thing with steel gerders and a round like thing sticking out of the top of it. Well this is actually the place where Jesus was buried, they had to put up a holding place around it to secure it from earthquakes and well people that would want to ruin it. So you go stand in a long line and then when it is your turn you come to the first of the two rooms where a piece of the rolling stone is actually placed and you can look at it and touch it. Then you go into the second room and that is the supposed burial place of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who of course isn't there because of his resurrection 3days after burial. I also have not been in this but just standing there knowing that this is where Jesus rose from the dead is so unbelievable it is just amazing! I get goosebumps thinking about this. Then behind that is a room for the Armenian prayer and worship. There is a little shrine in there and off to the left is a whole in the ancient bedrock. This is actually a place where people think Joseph of Aremathea was buried, now this is the guy who went and got Jesus body down and buried Him. I actually went into the tomb and that was really cool! Then we strolled along the rest of the day looking at a bunch of sites in the Old city, like the pools of Bethesda, St. Anne's church, Waling wall and many more things. Another one that stood out to me was the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is the place where Gethsemane is, where Jesus was arrested and betrayed by Judas, and where Jesus is said to be returning. There are graves everywhere along the hills of the Mt. of Olives and mostly Jewish. They believe that when Jesus returns they will be the first to be risen and taken into the Holy City where Jesus will reign. The most interesting part of that is that the Muslims have burial plots all along the Eastern Ridge, which is opposite the Mt. of Olives, where the Old city is, and they believe that by putting their dead there Jesus will have to defile himself and become unclean to get into the Holy City. Very interesting idea by the Muslim culture, just goes to show that there is still fighting but in strategic burial placements.
One more thing i wanted to point out is that the almost shocking thing to me what that with the grave site of Jesus body and the where he was crucified were so close to each other. They were literally within a football field for sure. It was so close. That amazes me. When I read the Bible i have this sense that everything is so far away from each other and i don't realize that Bethlehem is only 5 miles from Jerusalem. Just awesome. Also it is said that the church of the holy Sepulcher can not be the place of Jesus' death and resurrection because it is inside the city walls but when you look back to the time of Jesus' day Herod's wall of Jerusalem is not including the site of the Holy Sepulcher and in fact when it says that Jesus was taken out of the gate and was crucified, there was a gate built right by the Holy Sepulcher.
So to wrap up yesterday as it were I just wanted to point out that this place is so AWESOME! I wouldn't personally live here but just the idea that Jesus walked in the places I am walking and that my Lord and Savior died and then rose again only a half mile from my living area is just amazing and mind blowing!
Monday, January 3, 2011
LONG DAYS!!!! But worth it:)
So yesterday at 7:30am, January 2nd, 2011, I left for Israel. I arrived in Israel the net day at 4:00. It was the longest days of my life. We had a relatively nice and short flight from Minneapolis to NYC but from there everything was just blah...We had a 7 hour layover in NYC and couldn't leave, so that was boring to sit in an airport for 7 hours with nothing to do. Then we have to board this huge plane with an upper deck and everything, a Boeing747. Well i thought it would be a good flight and everything would go really smoothly. Apparently the plane ride had other plans. First off there was this couple that had a baby that cried and well it wasn't a lot of crying but just annoying, then that same couple treated that baby like a rag doll. They were just handing it over plane seats like it was nothing. Then the same guy from the same couple decides that he is going to stand up every ten seconds just so he could distract the other people on the plane from watching the movies. It was extremely annoying. On top of all of that the worst part was the seat are the most uncomfortable things to ever sit in. I tried to sleep but that was just not going to work. It was horrible. So the plane ride is over and we have finally landed in ISRAEL!! Awesome right!?! well customs is next. This was so poorly done it was pathetic. I couldn't believe an institute could be run like this. First off, they weren't prepared, they were not ready for people to come through customs. They were not ready for people to come into Israel. So we all stood there for like 45 mins. in a group of about a thousand people or more just waiting. Then they finally opened. BUT IT WAS SO SLOW!!! It was the worst service, it finally came to my turn and the computer for my line apparently doesn't work anymore, so ten mins. later it starts to work and the girl looks at my name asks me why i am going to Israel and then she asked me my parents name, and then proceeded to ask if i was Jewish. I was like I don't think so lady. It was super weird i have never had anyone assume i was Jewish before.
So after all of this we get on a nice looking bus with comfy seats and we come over this hill and boom! There are the lights of Jerusalem! It was so amazing! I just loved it! I was really excited at that point. We get out of the bus and we are walking to our Jerusalem University, and we are walking right past the Old City Walls of Jerusalem. It is just amazing that way back in the days of Jesus these places existed! It blows my mind!
Tomorrow we start our orientation and a walk through the Old City! I will be taking pictures of that for sure! I can't wait for that!
God is straight up awesome! He impresses me everyday I can't wait to see what he has for me tomorrow!!
So after all of this we get on a nice looking bus with comfy seats and we come over this hill and boom! There are the lights of Jerusalem! It was so amazing! I just loved it! I was really excited at that point. We get out of the bus and we are walking to our Jerusalem University, and we are walking right past the Old City Walls of Jerusalem. It is just amazing that way back in the days of Jesus these places existed! It blows my mind!
Tomorrow we start our orientation and a walk through the Old City! I will be taking pictures of that for sure! I can't wait for that!
God is straight up awesome! He impresses me everyday I can't wait to see what he has for me tomorrow!!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Snakes! Scorpions! and JESUS!!!
Hello everyone! It has been a while since i have been in communication with you. The most important thing to remember is that I am writing a blog now!!! So get ready for this one it is going to be EPIC
So last week I had a meeting about our trip to Israel. Well we learned a lot of new information, things like there is NO Verizon service in Israel, whoda thunk it. There apparently is a three prong outlet converter for Israel at Wal-Mart. I have learned that we can not travel solo, we have to stay in groups of at least two and it is forbidden to actually leave the country of Israel.
Now i know the title may sound a little strange to most of you but let me explain. So i was sitting in the meeting and it comes down to Q&A time. The first thing i ask is about snakes. Now I absolutely hate snakes they are the most nasty slimiest things in this word. I can barely stand to look at them. The first thing i did when i signed up for this trip was look up the number of snakes and what kind of snakes there were in Israel (This was a terrible idea, it just made me more paranoid, i don't recommend this strategy). So i am sitting there waiting for my reply and they say in the time that they had lived there (five years) they never saw one single snake. This was a very pleasant surprise to me. But in turn there was another deadly little animal just waiting in the wings and that was the Scorpion. Now i don't know about you but just the thought of being stung by a Scorpion does not sit well with me. On my google search you can find various searches for scorpion repellent and the like.
So what have we learned for this meeting, I need to bring a converter for my computer and various electronic plug-ins, there are things that can kill me everywhere, and to throw int into the mix is JESUS! That is my driving force through out this whole thing. After all is said and done through all the meetings I have just come to accept that there are going to be dangers and issues that we have to deal with, things such as an exit interview from the Israeli government that i am convinced i might be so nervous to answer any questions i might remain in Israel in a jail, but I know that no matter what happens Jesus will always be there for me and that is the only thing that matters, whether it is snakes, scorpions, no verizon coverage, Israeli government, Jesus will be the one that will overcome! He is the reason for this trip, the first day we get there we take an Old Testament Jerusalem walk, and then a New Testament Jerusalem walk. I will be walking in the footsteps of Jesus and that means more to me than anything. To know that my savior who loves everlasting, is always forgiving, is going to be right beside me the whole time to protect and guide me reassures me that I can do anything through Him. This is an experience i will never have again and i can not wait to walk in His footsteps!
So last week I had a meeting about our trip to Israel. Well we learned a lot of new information, things like there is NO Verizon service in Israel, whoda thunk it. There apparently is a three prong outlet converter for Israel at Wal-Mart. I have learned that we can not travel solo, we have to stay in groups of at least two and it is forbidden to actually leave the country of Israel.
Now i know the title may sound a little strange to most of you but let me explain. So i was sitting in the meeting and it comes down to Q&A time. The first thing i ask is about snakes. Now I absolutely hate snakes they are the most nasty slimiest things in this word. I can barely stand to look at them. The first thing i did when i signed up for this trip was look up the number of snakes and what kind of snakes there were in Israel (This was a terrible idea, it just made me more paranoid, i don't recommend this strategy). So i am sitting there waiting for my reply and they say in the time that they had lived there (five years) they never saw one single snake. This was a very pleasant surprise to me. But in turn there was another deadly little animal just waiting in the wings and that was the Scorpion. Now i don't know about you but just the thought of being stung by a Scorpion does not sit well with me. On my google search you can find various searches for scorpion repellent and the like.
So what have we learned for this meeting, I need to bring a converter for my computer and various electronic plug-ins, there are things that can kill me everywhere, and to throw int into the mix is JESUS! That is my driving force through out this whole thing. After all is said and done through all the meetings I have just come to accept that there are going to be dangers and issues that we have to deal with, things such as an exit interview from the Israeli government that i am convinced i might be so nervous to answer any questions i might remain in Israel in a jail, but I know that no matter what happens Jesus will always be there for me and that is the only thing that matters, whether it is snakes, scorpions, no verizon coverage, Israeli government, Jesus will be the one that will overcome! He is the reason for this trip, the first day we get there we take an Old Testament Jerusalem walk, and then a New Testament Jerusalem walk. I will be walking in the footsteps of Jesus and that means more to me than anything. To know that my savior who loves everlasting, is always forgiving, is going to be right beside me the whole time to protect and guide me reassures me that I can do anything through Him. This is an experience i will never have again and i can not wait to walk in His footsteps!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sinless Jesus
So since i have this blog, and i wont really be using it until Israel i have decided to write down my thoughts, how bad could that be huh? You can decide for yourself...
So i am writing a paper on the Sinless life of Jesus. I have been studying this paper for the last couple of weeks and have now started to write. Let me tell you, it is not fun to sit and look at 9 pages of hard word and know that i am only one-third the way done. But God is good and it is actually a fun paper to write!
Anyways...lets get to it.
Jesus, fully man/fully divine. I believe that Jesus is both fully man and fully divine. I believe that God the Father sent His Son to earth to come as the Son of Man and save us all from our sins. Jesus is the savior of our souls and we need to acknowledge the sinless nature of His life. I know, I asked the same question, why does it matter? Well it matters because if Jesus was not a sinless man then He couldn't of been the savior for us all. The world needed a perfect spotless sacrifice and Jesus, freely and obediently came to earth to be tempted and tried and He rose above all obstacles in His way. Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness from three different temptations. Jesus was tempted all the time by the Jewish leaders and by the people to say the wrong thing, to hate them. Jesus never gave in to sin, He never gave into the worldly temptations. He was the perfect man!
Jesus is the example for all of humans to live by. Not just the Christians. Jesus showed us the way by being close to God. He was so close to God that He was able to refuse the temptations of this world. How cool would it be if we got to that point when we know the Father like the Father knows us. Well it will happen one day! In Heaven. As humans we may never become perfect, but we can try and live like Jesus! We can try and get to the place of that God-conscious feeling and lifestyle.
That is what i got for you in this blog. If you have any questions please ask. I don't have anything remotely close to the right answers but i have found that significant amount of time studying and researching gives you a greater knowledge of the topic you are trying to understand. I have also found that God will provide answers to you when you are ready. God will provide!!!
God Bless, and have a Great day/night/morning, whatever it is when you read this!!!
Do GOOD! One Act of Random Kindness goes a long way!!!
So i am writing a paper on the Sinless life of Jesus. I have been studying this paper for the last couple of weeks and have now started to write. Let me tell you, it is not fun to sit and look at 9 pages of hard word and know that i am only one-third the way done. But God is good and it is actually a fun paper to write!
Anyways...lets get to it.
Jesus, fully man/fully divine. I believe that Jesus is both fully man and fully divine. I believe that God the Father sent His Son to earth to come as the Son of Man and save us all from our sins. Jesus is the savior of our souls and we need to acknowledge the sinless nature of His life. I know, I asked the same question, why does it matter? Well it matters because if Jesus was not a sinless man then He couldn't of been the savior for us all. The world needed a perfect spotless sacrifice and Jesus, freely and obediently came to earth to be tempted and tried and He rose above all obstacles in His way. Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness from three different temptations. Jesus was tempted all the time by the Jewish leaders and by the people to say the wrong thing, to hate them. Jesus never gave in to sin, He never gave into the worldly temptations. He was the perfect man!
Jesus is the example for all of humans to live by. Not just the Christians. Jesus showed us the way by being close to God. He was so close to God that He was able to refuse the temptations of this world. How cool would it be if we got to that point when we know the Father like the Father knows us. Well it will happen one day! In Heaven. As humans we may never become perfect, but we can try and live like Jesus! We can try and get to the place of that God-conscious feeling and lifestyle.
That is what i got for you in this blog. If you have any questions please ask. I don't have anything remotely close to the right answers but i have found that significant amount of time studying and researching gives you a greater knowledge of the topic you are trying to understand. I have also found that God will provide answers to you when you are ready. God will provide!!!
God Bless, and have a Great day/night/morning, whatever it is when you read this!!!
Do GOOD! One Act of Random Kindness goes a long way!!!
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