A Place for Authentic, Mindful, & Healing Thoughts
Today has been a great day filled with deep spiritual experiences from the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philip in the Golan Heights, Kursi where Jesus healed the Demoniac, and Baptisms in the Jordan River. Our wifi is slower tonight and making video uploads more difficult. However, I have updated the picture gallery for you to follow along with.
We appreciate your prayers and we are praying for you as you follow along with us in spirit.
Shalom,
Pastor Brad
We began today by visiting the ruins of the ancient city of Caesarea by the Sea. The city was built by King Herod to honor Caeser the Roman Emperor, and to be the seat of Roman power in Palestine. We spent time in the Roman theater, and Hippodrome as well as the ruins of Herod’s summer palace and the old city ruins in which once housed the home of Cornelius (Acts 10), and where St. Paul was held in prison for over 2 years.
Below is a video of our singing in the Roman theater. You can hear how amazing the acoustics are. The children playing on the stage behind us are just about as loud and clear as our voices in up in the seats; all done with a natural amplification. I’m not a sound engineer but it’s amazing to me how well the sound carries there.
In this second video we heard the Word of the Lord from Acts 10 about Peter and Cornelius. We gentiles gather as Christians in the Holy Land precisely because God showed His great love for all the world by offering not only salvation to the gentiles but even the gift of being baptized with the Holy Spirit.
These are only a few of our high lights. Please look for more exciting updates tomorrow as we sail on the Sea of Galilee!
Shalom,
Pastor Brad
Here are some thoughts I have while preparing for our Holy Land Pilgrimage next week. Follow along with us next week as I share thoughts from our Holy Land experience.
Shalom!
Pastor Brad
Here are some thoughts I have while preparing for our Holy Land Pilgrimage next week. Follow along with us next week as I share thoughts from our Holy Land experience.
Shalom!
Pastor Brad
Day 25
A Countdown to Listening to Jesus in the land of the Bible
Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” … Jesus said to them, “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me and by completing his work.
John 4:32,34 CEB
Unfortunately, no one has to remind me to stop and eat. It’s more like they have remind me to stop eating. Food has always been a joyful thing to me. I have fond memories of home cooked meals growing up. My mother was a fantastic cook. In scripture, we find the concept of feasting through the Old and New Testaments. In fact, it’s the central theme of our redemption story. One day we will all feast with Jesus around the table at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). Each time we as Christians celebrate the Holy Eucharist (Communion), we are pointing to the great feast of the Lamb that will be the consummation of all feasting.
While scripture does have a lot to say about feasting, it also has much to say about fasting. Sometimes filling ourselves isn’t just about eating food. That’s what Jesus meant in John 4 when He said He had a kind of food that his disciples didn’t know about. You know that feeling you get from the satisfaction of knowing your work was a job well done? That feeling fills us to a point of satisfaction such that we don’t need anything else – sometimes, not even food. For Jesus, nothing was more satisfying than knowing He was doing the will of the Father.
Fasting, which is denying ourselves of food or other elements for a specified time that we may concentrate more fully on God and His Word, letting that fill us. When we begin to concentrate on Christ and His will for us we begin to see Him accomplish great things in and through us. Our upcoming pilgrimage is about taking time to do just that, concentrate on Jesus and His Word as we relive His story in His land.
Pilgrimage is about fasting and feasting. I would encourage each of you to begin fasting in some measure as you prepare to leave over the next 25 days. And to my readers, you too can begin fasting as you prepare to follow along with us. Fasting prepares us for great things from God.
As we step into the Holy Land in just 25 more days, a great feast will begin. We will be literally sitting at the table with Christ and His Holy Spirit as we fellowship and learn in the Land of the Bible. Believe me, the feasting that lies ahead of you on this pilgrimage is like a food you nothing about.
Day 25 has begun…
Shalom,
Pastor Brad
image credit: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/feasting-on-thanksgiving
Day 26
A Countdown to Listening to Jesus in the land of the Bible
A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
John 5:5-6 CEB
Think of something you really want. Now, how much do you really want it? It had always been a dream of mine to go to Israel, to walk in Jesus footsteps. I wanted to hear Him say to me the words He said to others in scripture. I wanted to put myself in their place. That is a great part of pilgrimage, to put yourself into the time and space where Christ lived, where He walked and talked, and worked so many miracles.
I remember standing by the ruins of the pool of Bethsaida where Jesus healed the man who’d been sick for 38 years. We don’t know his age or what was wrong with him exactly. Perhaps he was sick from something he’d done, or as the consequence of some sin. We don’t know. What we do know is that he hadn’t always been that way. And we know that he longed to be healed. 38 years is a long time to be carried out by someone and placed by the pool in hopes of being healed.
Jesus, being God, never asked a question he didn’t already know the answer to. So, when he asked the man if he wanted to get well, Jesus knew that he did. His 38 years by the pool demonstrated that. But how much did he want healing? Would he be willing to obey whatever Jesus told him to do? When Jesus told him to get up and walk, being a Jew, he knew that was to break a Sabbath law. But being in the presence of God, and hearing Jesus command, he knew he must; it was his moment for healing. God had heard his prayers of all the years.
As we journey to the Holy Land, we will visit the pool of Bethsaida. When I was there, I remember thinking of all things I wish I’d done different in life, things for which I too wanted healing. Healing is for more than just our physical bodies, it’s for our spirits, and emotions as well.
What will you bring with you to the pool? As you look in to the ancient ruins and think of how so many came there for healing, remember that the one who created the world stood there one day and brought the greatest healing of all. There isn’t any water in the pool anymore, but Jesus didn’t need the waters of the pool to heal the man that day. What will you bring to the pool? The only thing you need to bring – is faith.
Day 26 has begun…
Shalom,
Pastor Brad
image credit: http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/the-bethesda-pool-site-of-one-of-jesus%E2%80%99-miracles/
Day 29 – What Are You Looking For?
A Countdown to Listening to Jesus in the Land of the Bible
When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked, “What are you looking for?” They said, “Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are you staying?” He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
John 1:38
In John’s gospel, the first recorded words of Jesus are in the form of a question to two men who are following Him. We know the two men were Andrew and Simon Peter, brothers who became the first of the twelve to follow Jesus. Knowing the two were following, Jesus turned to them and asked, “What are you looking for?”. What a great question.
As pilgrims on a journey, do we know what we’re looking for? If we don’t then we aren’t really pilgrims, we’re just nomads. Nomads wander around with no particular destination in mind, no purpose that compels them towards something. But, disciples are followers. As disciples of Jesus we want to follow him wherever He goes. That’s what Andrew and Simon wanted.
Andrew saw Jesus first and went and found his brother Simon to tell him he’d found the Christ. Wow! Who wouldn’t follow the coming King of prophecy? The One all Israel anxiously awaited? Apparently, many didn’t follow Jesus that first day. Scripture doesn’t record a great multitude observed him and then followed along with Andrew and Simon. In fact, the great crowds didn’t begin following until they saw him work miracles.
How about you? Why do you follow Jesus? Is it because like Andrew, you know you’ve found the Messiah? Or, is it because that’s just what church going people do? In 29 days, we will begin a pilgrimage to follow Jesus. We will literally retrace His steps and walk where He walked. Not just because it’s a fun and exciting thing to do, like the crowds who wanted to see miracles. Rather, we follow because we want to see Jesus. Like the Greeks who found Philip and said, “Sir, we want to see Jesus?” (John 12:21)
In response to the request that the Greeks wanted to see Him, Jesus replied, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me” (John 12:26). We follow Jesus Christ the Risen Lamb, the Savior of the World. As such, we must also serve Him. As we follow Jesus to the land of His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, we follow as servants who desire to better learn how to serve Him in this world.
As we countdown the days to our pilgrimage let’s be sure we can answer Jesus’ question – “What are you looking for?” Then, let us hear Jesus calling to us as He did to Andrew and Simon… “Come and see”
Day 29 has begun…
Shalom,
Pastor Brad
image credit: http://www.giveliveexplore.com/2012/10/05/the-art-of-the-pilgrimage/
https://wn.com/andrew_simon_feldman
Day 30 – Words of Life: A Countdown to Hearing Jesus in the Land of the Bible
Based on John 6:68
“Are you ready? All systems are go in T minus 5-4-3-2-1 – Blast-off!” Ever since I was a boy watching Major Astro on TV each day after school, I’ve loved countdowns. They’re exciting. They bring you to the moment when something big is about to happen. In 30 days from today something big will happen. I will be leading a team of 17 people on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We will leave for Israel on January 9, 2017 and return on January 18.
In this series called, Words of Life, I’d like to invite each of my readers to join us in spirit to prepare yourself for something big to happen. I will be writing and vlogging from Israel each day we are in the Holy Land. You too can follow our Pilgrimage on our daily updates. We will visit the holy sites where Jesus walked and ministered, where he lived and died, and most importantly where He rose from the grave!
When you visit the land of the Bible you will never read scripture the same way again; it comes alive to you. Each day until we leave, I want to offer a brief devotion to prepare us for what we will experience on our Pilgrimage together. Today, among all the talking heads and political commentary of times, we need to hear more than ever that there is only One who has the words of life. Words that can bring hope and pierce the vail of any darkness. Jesus Christ is that One.
In John 6:68, Simon Peter acknowledged that Jesus is the only One whose words mattered when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” The words of Jesus were difficult to hear that day as He talked of eating His body and drinking His blood. It sounded gruesome to many. Some thought He was crazy and they turned away from following Him after hearing those words. Jesus spoke those words while in the synagogue at Capernaum. We will visit that very place where Jesus spoke those words and I will bring a devotion on the deeper meaning of them that we often miss.
But for now, it’s important that we recognize what Peter did that day. There is no place else to go. Only Jesus has the words of life. It’s what Jesus wants to say to us that matters. I’ve written a book to accompany our journey titled, A Pilgrim’s Path: 31 days to Discovering Life In Christ. The book is a devotional journal to help you process the great challenges of life and how to discover the deep meaning of living IN Jesus Christ. While it’s available at Amazon and many other retailers, if you’d like a signed, personalized copy it’s available on my website for a limited time, with free shipping. (Be sure you give me your name, or the name of who it’s for on the order form).
In the words of Major Astro, “Join me here tomorrow boys and girls. Same time, same channel”. I hope you will “Blast-off” with me for a new adventure in the Words of Life.
Shalom,
Pastor Brad
image credit: http://pocketfulofginch.blogspot.com/2012/09/major-astro-circa-1970.html