Location: At the hotel in Tiberius

After Nazereth, we drove to Tiberius and checked into the there. Nice place. Another awesome spread for dinner. I even took pictures this time, after forgetting at both dinner last night and breakfast this morning.

Had dinner with some interesting folks from Harvest, New York, and South Carolina. We got into a brief political discussion that I regretted immediately. I’m really working hard on avoiding investing time and energy in the things of this world like the death of Capitalism. My concern is for the gospel and the church and what’s going to happen to both as the politics and economics of the world change. I want to, increasingly, leave God in charge of governments and fiscal policies. That’s not at all my call.

We added a few other folks and wandered around downtown few an hour or so as well tonight. That was interseting. It had a first world feel to it. Lots of womens’ clothing stores. I saw nothing exciting to get for soveineers. I think that kind of shopping will likely be in Jerusalem at the end of the week. But it was fun to just explore. And I got a Diet Coke, so that was good. No Pepsi here, though.

And the best part of my day… I wrapped it up with a call to my family to talk to my lovely wife and son, and to wish my dad a happy birthday. He turned 39 for the umpteenth time today. How funny that I caught them at the Dragon Palace after church! And what’s even funnier is that I knew they were there as I was dialing the phone. Some things just don’t change. Rock on!

I love them and really miss them, but this has definitely already been an amazing experience. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Better get some sleep.

Footnote… WOW! I’m sitting in the lobby writing this, and James just walked in the door, fresh in from a marriage conference in LA. That man must not sleep. God love him! Will be praying for him in the morning, that’s for sure.

We drove through the city of Nazereth, which may have been small in Jesus’ day but was pretty big by my standards today, and marveled at the spralling fields of high-rise dwellings. We drove to the top of a small mountain, and saw the place where the people from his hometown tried to toss Jesus off a cliff in Luke 4. It was definitely a cliff, and had a beautiful view, including a great sunset (the sun goes down at like 5 here). We also saw a small mountain that might be the place where Jesus was transfigured before the disciples (we don’t know for sure where that was).

By this time, I was getting pretty tired and pretty hungry, so my focus had turned to getting back to the hotel for dinner.

Megiddo is an area at the other end of the Valley of Jezreel from Mount Carmel. The word “tel” is Hebrew for “hill”. This is a high hill overlooking the Valley of Armaggedon, a word derived from the word “Megiddo”. There we saw an archeological site which revealed 26 layers of history dating back to 4,000 BC. To give perspective, King David’s reign in the golden age of Isreal was layer 16.

We saw the ruins of several cities which had been built on top of each other. One of the most amazing layers (can’t remember who built this) involved a somewhat unique system used to bring fresh water into the city. A fresh water source existed outside the city walls. They dug a hole about 100 feet deep inside the city, then they dug a tunnel through the rock like 200 feet from the water source to the bottom of the vertical hole, sloping from the source to the hole. Then they camoflauged the entrance to the tunnel.

So, the water flowed down the tunnel, and all they had to do was bucket the water up the vertical hole which was now basically a well. And when enemies beseiged the city, they didn’t know this water was accessible to those inside the city, so it made them able to last much longer in the siege. Genius.

Before embarking to explore any of this, though, we sat down for lunch. It was awesome. Pita with several kinds of meats and veggies. Simple, but I absolutely loved it. So far the food has been absolutely outstanding on this trip.

Okay, I’ve gotta pick this up. There are lots of books and websites that can tell you all the Biblical facts about these places.

Mount Carmel was the site of Isaiah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal and Asherah in 1 Kings 18 during the reign of Ahab in Israel.

But the amazing thing about Mount Carmel was standing atop a Catholic monastery on top of the mountain overlooking the Jezreel valley, the eastern most part of which is called the Valley of Armageddon. Revelation 16 makes clear that this is where the final battle will take place at the end of days. Well, it won’t be much of a battle, per se. Basically, all the foolish self-worshipping powers of the earth will align to do battle with the Creator of the Universe, who spoke galaxies into being with a word. I imagine they’ll pretty much line up and then get wiped out in a moment. The Bible describes that a river of blood the depth of a horse’s bridle will run through the valley I saw today. This is the final battle when Jesus returns to end the tribulation (God’s judgment on the world) and set up His kingdom on earth for a 1,000 year reign of peace prior to the construction of the New Jerusalem. Rock on!

The valley was beautiful too. It’s considered the bread basket of the Middle East. According to our guide, it’s some of the most fertile land in all the world. 70% of the fruits and vegetables grown there are exported all over the world. Israel employs the most sophisticated agricultural techniques in the world there. When Mark Twain saw the swamps and dead cattle there at the turn of the 19th century, he was witnessing the promised land after centuries of neglect. When Israel was reborn in 1948, the Jews drained and began working the land, and today I truly saw why God called it “a land flowing with milk and honey”. It’s a lush paradise in the midst of desert or sea in every direction. Amazing!

During his reign as a governor in the Roman empire, Herod the Great turned Caesarea from a simple fishing village into a large, prosperous sea port. He was called “the Great Builder” by some, because he undertook amazing construction projects in this Mediterranean port city. Strategically positioned on the Via del Mares (the way of the sea) — the major commerce highway of the ancient world connecting Africa, Europe and Asia; an intercontinental bridge — Caesarea became a booming center of commerce.

Herod built a palace there — where Paul was imprisoned after standing before Felix and Aggripa in Acts 24 and 25. We toured the ruins of this palace, which jutted out into the sea, seeing among other things the in-ground stone swimming pool he’d built in the residence area of the palace. We sat in the theater where Paul likely presented his testimony before Roman officials. We saw the Hippodrome, where horse races and gladiator matches took place. We saw where Herod built a temple using the latest in Roman technology in arch building (this was right after they invented the keystone, which was the secret of the strength of the Roman arch). And we saw the site of the roman bath houses built by Herod. And we saw the site of the great water break and harbor Herod built, using cement for the first time in history.

And of course we saw the ruins of a great aqueduct that stretched 10-15 miles from a fresh water source north of Caesarea down to the city. I’ve always heard that the aqueduct is one of the wonders of the ancient world, but seeing it up-close really confirmed that for me. Amazing!

After Jerusalem was destroyed in the 1st century AD, Caesarea became the capital of Israel. When Constantine “christianized” the roman empire in the 4th century, the Christians put an end to the theater and the games (races, gladiator battles, etc), and built churches in or on top of the amphitheaters. When the Muslims invaded in the 7th century, it was more of a cultural takeover, so (at least in Caesarea) there wasn’t much destruction of the existing buildings / architecture. And the crusades in the 12th and 13th century didn’t really change enough to worry about.

However, when Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, Caesarea was covered in sand. Most of the ruins we saw today were uncovered and carefully excavated by the Jews after their nation was restored to them.

Another interesting note: the second largest library in the ancient world was in Caesarea. While the museum in Alexandria, Egypt was destroyed, the one in Israel survived and thrived during the Constantine era, helping to support Christianity as it spread throughout the known world. Very interesting!

But the most interesting thing about Caesarea for me was the rest of the story of Peter and Cornelius…

As a Roman centurion, Cornelius was the commander of 100 Roman soldiers (from the Latin, 100 = century). This was a very prestigious position. When Peter got to his home, he found that Cornelius had “called together his relatives and close friends”. According to our guide, this likely meant that he had gathered his family, friends, the 100 men who served under him, and their families. They would almost all have been gentiles.

When Peter entered the room, he immediately realized that these were not people with whom he should be socializing. But when Cornelius shared the vision he had had from God, Peter realized that his vision about unclean foods had really been about the gentiles. God had said, “Do not call unclean what the Lord has called clean.” So, Peter shared the gospel with them, and hundreds (ostensibly) came to a saving faith in Christ. And the movement to take the gospel to the entire world was born.

The most amazing aspect of this story is the global significance of this event. This was the last of 3 events that changed the world forever in terms of the spread of the gospel. First, Philip was sent by God to share the gospel with the Ethiopian Eunuch on the Gaza road in Acts 8. The Eunuch, a descendent of Noah’s first son Dan, believes in Christ and is saved.

In Acts 9, Saul is confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus. Ananias faithfully preaches the gospel to him, the scales fall from his eyes (both literally and figuratively), and Saul becomes the mighty apostle Paul. Saul was a descendant of Shem, Noah’s second son.

And lastly we have Cornelius, who is a descendant of Noah’s third and last son, Japhath. In Acts 10, he too receives Christ as a result of Peter’s faithfulness. So, in three chapters of Acts we see the gospel spread to every tribe of the whole world. Amazing!

Every gentile Christian can trace his roots to one of these three events.

The bus left a few minutes after 8, despite the (I’d have to call them) threats from the Discovery Ministry folks that if we weren’t on the bus 10 minutes early we’d be left behind. Clearly they’re really softies.

We drove through the streets of Tel Aviv, north of our hotel, heading for Caesarea. Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel, its largest city (by population), and the governmental and social and cultural center of the city. Our guide put it this way: the social rhythm of Israel is best represented there. Shopping, night life, food, etc. Jerusalem, on the other hand is the spiritual center of the nation. We’ll visit there at the end of the week.

An old section of Tel Aviv (just south of our hotel) is Jaffa (called Joppa in Biblical times). As we drove, we recanted the story of Peter’s staying with Simon the Tanner in Joppa in Acts 9-10. There, he saw a vision of unclean animals being lowered from heaven in a sheet, and an angel told him to take and eat. As a Jew, that was a serious violation of the law, so of course Peter was repulsed. However, God was orchestrating the spread of the gospel to the entire world, including the gentiles. Moments after his vision, three men showed up at Simon’s house – mess angers sent from a Roman centurion living in Caesarea named Cornelius. The men said to go with them, and the angel reinforced that he should, so Peter undertook the day long journey (it is about 35-40 miles) from Joppa to Caesarea.

Joppa, by the way, was also a center of commerce in ancient times. Among other things, this was the site where the cedars of Lebanon where received as they were shipped down the east coast of the Mediterranean sea to be transported to Jerusalem for the construction of Solomon’s temple.

Joppa is also the city from which Jonah set sail for Tarshish to rebel against God’s call to preach the gospel to Nineveh.

On the way to Caesarea, driving through Tel Aviv, our guide pointed out how people are constantly driving into the city. He made a point of being aghast at the horrible traffic driving south as we headed north out of town. Of course, I’m from Chicago, so it was nothing in my eyes, but for them, I guess it was a parking lot. The city seemed poorer than I expected. It looked like the kind of area in Chicago you wouldn’t want to go alone. I didn’t see any McDonald’s either. Both these things surprised me. It was fairly clean, though. It just looked run down and there were lots of vacant storefronts, etc. It was clear a lot of people lived in a small area, because everything was high rises. We also saw a lot of balcony gardens, and every room had a solar heating and power system on it. There wasn’t much in the way of modern architecture in Tel Aviv, but a little ways north we drove through “the Silicon Valley of Israel”, where I saw offices for Microsoft and a number of other high-tech companies. This was definitely a valley of glass and steel, but there wasn’t much of that in Tel Aviv.

Location: In my hotel room in Tel Aviv

As we gathered in the lobby for instructions from the tour guides upon arrival at the hotel, they told us that dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning would be a buffet setting at the hotel. Dinner at 6:30PM. As I mentioned in a previous post, between getting settled in the room and dinner, we had taking a stroll along the Mediterranean sea. By the time 6:30 rolled around, I was starving! I was excited that dinner would be a buffet, but I didn’t really know what to expect.

We walked into the dining room and were greeted by a wall of food. I should have taken a picture, but didn’t. (Sorry! Maybe I’ll get breakfast.) There was chicken, fish, lamb, potatoes, green beans, a whole table full of salads, a table of breads, and a table of desserts. And of course, the hummus. It was awesome! I had two big pretzel-like rolls and at least two big tablespoons of hummus. I could have eaten that stuff for my whole meal.

A group of people from Harvest was good enough to invite me to sit with them, so that I didn’t sit alone. I was the only one at the table without my spouse, but I had a great time listening to all their banter back and forth. It was fun, and I very much appreciated their hospitality. Here’s a picture of our table.

Upon leaving, I had to sample the gelato. I tried the mango and the pineapple, and they were awesome. At the end of my first evening in Israel, I have to conclude that the food is AWESOME. I just wish Faith was here to share it with me. She too would be in heaven.

Location: In approach to London Heathrow

I forgot to call ahead about the food. Did I mention that I’m not nearly as disciplined at planning ahead as I hope to be someday? I didn’t plan to mention it, but I think I did. Sorry.

Anyway, so dinner on the plane… Pasta… good. Spinach… good. Cheesy gooey sauce… Haven’t put that in my body in like six months.

Breakfast on the plane… A danish. Period. That’s it. Well, and tea … I’m flying over the UK, so there’s always tea.

So, now the healthy snacks Faith packed for me are definitely making my morning. A banana never looked so good in my whole life.

Before I left, I committed that I wouldn’t record what I ate while away on this trip. After all, this trip is definitely going to be all about authentic Mediterranean food. YUM! So, instead of keeping my nutritional record, I’ll probably just put a big red X and footnote it with “1 cup olive oil”. I’m not sure my body is ready for this.

Net of this post… Pray for me that I don’t fall off the wagon, steal it, run a few folks over with it, and so forth.

Can you believe Faith said to me before I left, “I hope you’ve put on a few pounds by the time you get home.” I’ll take “Things I Never Thought I’d Hear in my Whole Life” for $800, Alex.

Location: Somewhere over the Atlantic … but Further East

On my way to Israel, I have a lot to be thankful for. God has given me, in every sense, far more than I deserve or need or even more than I knew to ask for. God has been very good to me. Shame on me for how often I feel deprived of whatever trivial thing I believed I had to have to be happy.

Well, among many other far more significant things, God blessed me today with a bulkhead row seat (thank you, Father!), so I have plenty of leg room. He also placed skinny folks on either side of me, so I didn’t have any issues being in a middle seat. Both are British women about my age returning home to the UK (we’re going to Tel Aviv through London Heathrow) after a business trip to the US. One, named George, has evidently been traveling to the US every two weeks on business for the last year. Ouch!

George opened the door early to spiritual conversation (my favorite subject), and what started as a few minutes of chit-chat quickly turned into a three-hour discussion about who God is, who Jesus is, what the Bible says about all manner of things, what my opinions are on a number of hot topics of the day, human nature, sin, the gospel, and of course British music (okay maybe not all spiritual conversation). The big hot topic of the day for her was homosexuality. George’s focus for much of the conversation was on how hard it is for her lesbian friend to not act on her homosexual tenancies. She described at some length her friend’s religious upbringing and how being gay creates severe guilt in her life. According to George, she can’t be happy because when she does what feels “right” to her, she is miserable because she’s deprived of her sexual expression. But when she does what feels “good” to her, she feels this overwhelming guilt.

I tried to help her understand that all rebellion against God is sin. Homosexuality, from the perspective of God’s holiness, is not some special kind of sin. I explained that the personal difficulty of making right choices doesn’t absolve us of our responsibilities in the decision-making … or of God’s right and readiness to stand in judgment of our decisions. She made the point a dozen times that her friend “has a heart of gold”, but just struggles with this one thing. How can God judge her for that? I tried to help her understand that A) it’s never just one thing – for anyone – that nobody has a “heart of gold”, and B) that God’s love for her, for me, for her friend, is not tied to our actions. No amount of sin is great enough to separate us from God if we throw ourselves on the mercy of the cross. But if we don’t come to God in humility and repentance through Jesus, then no number of righteous acts will make us worthy to approach God and even the smallest sin will separate us from Him … being a practicing lesbian included. I tried to contextualize the message by referring to a broad spectrum (humanly speaking) of sins: greed, selfishness, homosexuality, murder, and a few others. All are sin. All separate us from God. All create in us the desperate need for Jesus.

I also used alcoholism, drug addiction, and to a lesser degree my former tenancies to grossly over-eat, as examples of habits that control us, trap us, and make it hard (sometimes very very very hard) to choose the right instead of the wrong. No matter how much I might feel like “I was born this way” or “I can’t help myself” or “I need a fix to be happy” or “it’s too hard to change” … none of that changes the reality that we’ll be held responsible for our decisions before God. And that’s true whether we’re talking about greed, selfishness, adultry, homosexuality, murder, or whatever other hard thing we face. Life is hard. But that’s not God’s fault, it’s ours. We – with a built-in sin nature – choose the wrong hundreds of times a day, surround ourselves with distractions and bad influences, and then demand that God should make our lives easier. God is not responsible for my bad choices, or George’s, or George’s friend’s. But the God who made me and gave me the right to choose (so I could choose Him, by the way), has every right to hold me accountable for my choices when I do choose.

So, this trip is off to a great start. I’m thrilled to death to have had the chance to share the gospel with George. And I’m pumped to be hanging over the Atlantic, Bible in hand, on my way to explore and see in person the land God gave to His people. But more than that, I’m pumped because God does not live in temples built by man, but in the temple of my heart. I hope there are more George’s before this trip is over.

Next stop (in 3 hours), Heathrow. But for now, maybe a few minutes sleep.

Location: On the Tarmac at O’Hare

Of course, I didn’t prepare for this trip nearly as well as I could or should have. That’s the story of my life — too much activity in too little time. So, I imagined staying up late getting everything done that I wanted / needed to do, then sleeping on the plane. Of course, this didn’t consider that Faith might want to be the focus of my last night with the family before being gone for nearly two weeks. What was I thinking?

So, there was some packing last night, including trying to stuff John in the right suitcase to come with me. I love some of these pictures. But eventually, I just let the activity go, and hung out with the family and went to bed early with Faith.

This morning was, therefore, an early morning. I switched on the “out of office” messages, and went to town finishing prep for the trip. As is my habit, I read through all the literature (some of it for the same time – ugh!), I had bills to pay, things to pack, messes to clean up so that Faith wasn’t left with them, and so on. But of course, in the middle of all that was breakfast with my family and taking John to school. Faith and I took him together, then went shopping, and dropped supplies off at Sara’s – a colleague and friend who is helping make a BI Roundtable happen next week in my absence.

Because Faith and John were planning to head to my parents’ place for the weekend after dropping me off at the airport this afternoon, Faith had her own packing to do after we got home. It pretty much took every minute we had to get everything together, but we left right on time for the airport.

I have to say that by the time we got in the car, my excitement for the trip was beginning to turn to anxiety. What was I thinking to go on a trip like this without Faith? Why didn’t I spend more time in Scripture and prayer preparing for the trip? Am I going to feel totally alone going by myself? Of course, Faith was very encouraging, and the second I got in line at the terminal and started striking up conversations with total strangers, I was fine. Go figure.

Faith and John dropped me off at O’Hare about 2.5 hours in advance of my flight, and headed south to my parents. As I type this, I imagine they’re finishing up their Legion fish sandwiches and getting ready for bed. I chatted with total strangers, got a head start on Mediterranean food, breezed through security, bought some additional snacks (at double the price I would have paid for them if I was a better planner-ahead-er), and sat down at the gate amongst a whole host of total strangers many of whom also attend Harvest. But of course, this didn’t last long, because … well … I got my dad’s genes in this regard. I had a few brief conversations, called Faith and my folks, made a quick call for work, and then boarded the flight. Phone off, “Flight attendants, prepare doors for departure.”