I am always looking for ways to encourage people in prayer or to enrich our prayer life as I lead prayer meeting at our church on Wednesday nights. Our current session is looking at the morning and evening prayers of the Jewish people known as the Amidah or the “Standing Prayer.” The first reference to…
Some people have asked me to share the “Best” thing about the trip. I can say the high point of my trip was when I looked out the window and saw the blue waters of the Mediterranean. We were 38,000 feet at the time, so that is definitely the high point of the trip. (I…
Today was our “free” day in Jerusalem. That means we slept in a little. Our internal clock was not exactly right … or we had awaken up early so many days that we did not sleep in. The day started with breakfast, and then I went with Nancy Rogers and Sarah to the Church of…
This morning we left early for our place in line to see the Temple Mount, occupied by the Dome of the Rock and Al Asca Mosques. We were second in line to enter at opening. After entering the mount we sat between the two Mosques for an orientation. Then we moved up to the plaza…
Today was our first full day in Jerusalem. Here are some pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/115544123164287975321/albums/5761726037763508785?authkey=CKjs4fbz6MOBsQE During the morning our goal was to walk the Via Dolorosa, or the traditional route Jesus took once he was arrested at the Mt. of Olives and taken to see Pilate. Accordingly the bus dropped us off at the ridge of the…
This day was the Sabbath in Israel, and many shops and attractions would be shut down in Jerusalem, so, our group went a different direction … to the Dead Sea. Because the day was going to be hot we started out early, eating breakfast and then leaving by 7:15a.m. We drove down the road (4,000…
This day we packed and left our kibbutz to travel south down the Jordan Valley. We drove through Tzemach Junction, Degania Alef, and then stopped at the Kinneret Cemetary. We visited the grave of Rachel (last name not on the tombstone because she is so well known). Rachel is a poet who lived 1890-1931. Shlomo…
The morning started out with a great breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, grains and some herring. Jesus ate fish for breakfast (John 21:9) After breakfast we boarded the bus and traveled to Mt. Arbel. This is a beautiful place overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the villages of Jesus’ Galilee ministry. This was also the…
After a great breakfast we traveled north along the east side of the Sea of Galilee. This is the region of Decapolis, ten Greek cities. The area would be a foreign and prohibited country yet, except that Israel took possession of this territory from Jordan and Syria in the wars. We saw on this road…
We began the day with a great breakfast overlooking the Mediterranean. Breakfast in Israel is Kosher (Ge 7:2; Lev 11; Dt 14:1-21). One of the things that means is that meat and milk are not served in the same meal (Ex 23:19; 34:36; Dt 14:21). Breakfast is a dairy meal. There was also fruit, vegetables,…
