Why do things we look long upon with disinterest suddenly zoom in and become priority to us? How is that something we have discounted as improbable or impossible transform quickly into "want tos" and even "have tos"?
It's not time to pack our bags yet, but before Spring gets very old Nadine and I will travel to the center of the world and visit the land of Israel. I could thank Mike Canny for sharing how traveling there deepened his walk with Christ. I could thank Nadine for buying our tickets (it's her savings that makes this possible)! I must thank God for giving us the health and opportunities over the last ten years that allow us such special experiences.
Israel is a place we have spent our lives learning, teaching and (in my case) preaching about. We have walked spiritually with Jesus since we were children. Like the bards of old, we have sung the songs of Zion and told the tales of the Fathers across five states and to uncounted audiences of children and adults. It's the Story that brought us together and that we have sought to live into for forty years. Now we get to walk where Abraham, Jacob, David, Ruth, Mary and Jesus walked. We will eat as they ate (no dairy and meat at the same table), but our accommodations will be beyond their imagining.
I referred to Israel as "the center of the world." Look at any typical world map.
The Middle East (and Israel in particular) sits right in the middle, at the joining of Asia, Africa and Europe, with the Americas shoved off to the left side. Over thousands of years the Christian faith has spread across the world, yet unto today millions of believers have made their way to Israel/Palestine to visit and even to live.
Now it is our turn. I don't know what we will sense when we set foot on the ground in Tel Aviv, or when we sail across the Sea of Galilee, or climb Mts. Carmel and Moriah, or when we wade into the Dead Sea, or sit on the Mount of Olives. Our group will spend time each evening reflecting on where we have been that day. I believe that the One we have taught about, believed upon, and prayed to will reveal Himself to us as we best need now. That's true regardless of wherever we are in His world.
It's not time to pack our bags yet, but before Spring gets very old Nadine and I will travel to the center of the world and visit the land of Israel. I could thank Mike Canny for sharing how traveling there deepened his walk with Christ. I could thank Nadine for buying our tickets (it's her savings that makes this possible)! I must thank God for giving us the health and opportunities over the last ten years that allow us such special experiences.
Israel is a place we have spent our lives learning, teaching and (in my case) preaching about. We have walked spiritually with Jesus since we were children. Like the bards of old, we have sung the songs of Zion and told the tales of the Fathers across five states and to uncounted audiences of children and adults. It's the Story that brought us together and that we have sought to live into for forty years. Now we get to walk where Abraham, Jacob, David, Ruth, Mary and Jesus walked. We will eat as they ate (no dairy and meat at the same table), but our accommodations will be beyond their imagining.
I referred to Israel as "the center of the world." Look at any typical world map.
The Middle East (and Israel in particular) sits right in the middle, at the joining of Asia, Africa and Europe, with the Americas shoved off to the left side. Over thousands of years the Christian faith has spread across the world, yet unto today millions of believers have made their way to Israel/Palestine to visit and even to live.
Now it is our turn. I don't know what we will sense when we set foot on the ground in Tel Aviv, or when we sail across the Sea of Galilee, or climb Mts. Carmel and Moriah, or when we wade into the Dead Sea, or sit on the Mount of Olives. Our group will spend time each evening reflecting on where we have been that day. I believe that the One we have taught about, believed upon, and prayed to will reveal Himself to us as we best need now. That's true regardless of wherever we are in His world.
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