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Common Era? November 11, 2009

Posted by Jeff Block in Philosophy and Religion, Travel.
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Jesus Christ was the central figure in history. Everyone knows that time before his birth is marked with the label “BC” for “Before Christ”, and counts down to the year of his appearing on earth. “AD” stands for “After Death” and counts up since his birth. So it has been for 1700 years since Constantine standardized the Caesarean calendar.

For the first time this week, I’ve heard these eras referred to differently. Our tour guide has been referring to the era before Jesus’ birth as “BCE” or “Before Common Era” and the period after his birth as “CE” or “Common Era”. I tolerated it for a while, but the longer it goes on, the more it’s really starting to annoy me.

Cutoff (except for quickly posting these entries) from my routine abnormally high dependence on Internet connectivity, I am not sure where this came from or where it’s going. I imagine it’s a Jewish thing, and likely not terribly proliferated in the outside world. But there are dozens, hundreds of examples of this kind of post-Christian shift in the modern world.

Even if not with this specific example, in general, the world has gotten pretty seriously invested in the concept of attempting to eliminate Jesus Christ from the public arena. It’s sad and frustrating, on the one hand, that men are so invested in the (foolish, ridiculous, ultimately doomed-to-failure) attempt to diminish God’s glory as represented by the marks believing men have made on western civilization. But on the other hand, I welcome it. It means, first, that the end is drawing nearer. Second, it means that the church will be strengthened as persecution (the next phase) comes.

Church of Agony / Church of All Nations November 11, 2009

Posted by Jeff Block in Philosophy and Religion, Travel.
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I thought about entitling this blog entry, “How I wasted an hour of my life in some dingy Catholic ‘church’ on the Mount of Olives”, but I figured that might be a little harsh. Instead, I’ll try make this brief, and let you get on to far more important things.

So, a Catholic Franciscan order of some kind has purchased / has the rights to pretty much every major “holy site” in Israel. Their modus operandi (Latin — you know, their “M.O.”) is to raise money (ostensibly from Bingo tournaments), purchase the land where something of Biblical significance (like where Jesus stubbed His toe one day in Nazareth), build a church there to commemorate the event (such as “The Most Holy Church of the Stubbed Toe”), and finally set up shop to sell superstitious trinkets to tourists at ridiculous prices (“Replicas of Jesus’ stubbed toe – 3 for $10″). In this case, they had purchased a small plot of land next to the Garden of Gethsemane and built a church called the “Church of Agony”, because Jesus had agonized in the garden over His decision to be obedient to God in going to the cross (as recorded in Matthew 26).

It is also called the “Church of All Nations” because churches from around the world – mostly Catholic, I think – contributed financial to its construction.

Don’t get my wrong, I’m happy that an order like this has taken the time and invested the money to preserve holy sites in Israel. Good for them! It’s more than I’ve done. But what I don’t like is that it feels like, in the process of “preserving” these sites, they’ve in some sense ended up destroying them. Let me explain…

The churches they setup are fine, I guess, but they’re more like museums. The body of Christ doesn’t meet there. There is no Biblical community. The hungry aren’t fed, the naked aren’t clothed, and the gospel isn’t preached. I’m sorry, but churches aren’t buildings. Churches are local communities of the followers of Jesus Christ. Churches are the hope of the world. Churches != monuments. I’d rather have them toss up a statue and be done with it, if they really feel like they have to spend money, time, and energy to create a something-or-other of remembrance. And when it really goes off the rails is when they tack the tourist-trap-gift-shop wing onto the church. Now, instead of just sucking up funds needlessly to propagate the false message that “if you have a building with the right (read: symbolic) number of walls, then somehow you have a church that honors God in some way”, now you have a full-on way to blasphemously idolize / trivialize the thing that happened there in the first place. So, when we visited the Jordan River, for example, they were selling little bottles of “holy water from the Jordan” … right next to the $3 cans of soda, the $2 Snickers bars, and the $5 cans of Pringles. Total rip off. I’d rather they just put up a fence and a guard, and let us come and reflect on Jesus in peace. But maybe that’s just me.

Okay, end of rant.

Anyway, as part of the tour, we were given the option to visit the Church of Agony. Because I’m a spineless yes-man, I decided to take it in – along with about half of the rest of the group. The courtyard around the church was absolutely beautiful, containing 800 year-old olive trees. I was impressed. Now there’s Franciscan cash well spent, in my opinion.

But upon entering the fenced in area surrounding the church, I knew the effort probably wouldn’t be worth it. There were hordes of people mashed up against each other pushing and shoving to get both in and out of the church. It took us a solid 15 minutes to get in, and when we did it was just a dark little room with three mosaics on the walls – one of Jesus’ agonizing in the garden, one of the soldiers seizing Jesus, and a third one I can’t remember. They were okay I guess, but for me they were overshadowed by the rude, shoving hordes and the lack of any real meaning in the place itself. I think a place like that is great for the “if I just sprinkle holy water on my key chain then it’ll become holy and I’ll have a blessed life” person, because it fits into their superstitious / ritualistic / formula-driven view of God. Personally, I found contemplative time in the garden overlooking the city to be much more spiritually beneficial.

The Garden of Gethsemane November 11, 2009

Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Philosophy and Religion, Travel.
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The Garden of Gethsemane was not at all what I pictured from reading about it in the Bible. I imagined a vast apple orchard, where Jesus was betrayed in the midst of flowering trees and green meadowy grass. Maybe a daisy or two here or there, but certainly a nice flat spacious valley of lush greenery.

We walked from the Necropole down a narrow stone street. A few street vendors called out to us to try to sell us stuff. “Bags 4 for $10!” … “Bookmarks, $2!” … “I’ll give you 2 goats for your used Volkswagen!” That kind of thing.

At one point we walked by a Bedouin-looking guy with a mule that he made smile at us by holding his head and squeezing. He looked the part in every way, and his mule made a fine circus animal. I think he was selling rides, but I’m not sure because I was too busy trying to A) stay with the group so as not to get lost in Jerusalem, and B) fight off the street vendors who insisted that I’d look great in 5 brightly colored scarves for $10.

At another point we saw cars coming within inches of each other and driving through mobs of people with far less regard for their safety than my western sensibilities were comfortable with. Masses of people, narrow winding roads, steep hills, no sidewalks, aggressive drivers, and a total disregard for (perhaps lack of existence of) traffic laws added up to a mildly stressful walking-down-the-street-to-the-garden experience. But we managed.

When we finally got to the garden (only a few minutes walk from the Necropole), it was not at all want I expected (as I said). Instead of a flat lush expanse, it was a fairly steep rocky embankment. There were lots of trees (some of them evidently many hundreds of years old), winding paths up the slopes, and large boulders. There was less grass than there was underbrush, but it was green, and lush, and beautiful in its own way. I think I found it beautiful most because of its Biblical significance and because I was there with dozens of godly Jesus-loving fanatics, like myself. In fact, around these folks I feel the need to step it up a notch.

By the way, just for the record, the Garden of Gethsemane is where Jesus went to pray with Peter, James and John after the last supper on the Thursday night before He was captured and crucified. Judas brought the religious SS out the garden and kissed Jesus to make sure they knew which one He was. Peter cut off the guard’s ear, which Jesus healed. Then they took Him to Caiaphas’ place on the south side of the city to hold Him until He could be tried before Pilot in the morning. The disciples were neither able to pray with Jesus (weak), stop the arresting guards (misguided), or stay with Jesus when He was captured (afraid). And then Peter denied Jesus three times while He waited to stand trial. The more I read about these disciple guys, the more I relate to them. Sigh!

Oh, and check out Matthew 26 to read the story for yourself (which I highly encourage). In the meantime, back to the garden in present times…

After we’d rallied up and selected some nice comfortable stones to sit on, Lindsay McCaul led us in worship (awesome!), and James MacDonald preached on giving hard things to God. As usual, he exposited the Scriptures, rather than just walking through a couple random thoughts supported deductively by Google-located Bible verses. And his delivery brimmed with the expectation that we would actually apply the Word to our lives, not just listen to a message, which I’m all about! James’ main point was that Jesus had to surrender His will to God — to be willing to do something extremely hard that His Father had called Him to do. His question to us was, “What hard thing is God asking you to surrender to Him?” He focused on Jesus’ words in John 18:11, which I absolutely love: “Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?”

When he had finished his brief message, James directed us to spread out and get alone with God in the garden. Unlike the message two nights before on the Sea of Galilee or the previous morning on the Mount of Beatitudes, I knew exactly what God was asking me to do and how James’ message applied to my life personally. Although that felt really good, the task at hand feels intimidating. No, of course I’m not going to share in this context what I’m talking about, but I would say this… God calls us to trust Him with our whole hearts, our whole lives. Not only is it foolish and impractical to withhold from God any part of who we are, it keeps us from the life God wants us to have. Fullness of joy only exists in total surrender.

Mount of Olives November 11, 2009

Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Philosophy and Religion, Travel.
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After breakfast, the first place we gathered on our first whole day in Jerusalem, was the Mount of Olives. The temple mount (where Solomon’s temple used to sit and the Dome of the Rock sits now) sits atop Mount Moriah in the south of Israel, above the Negev dessert immediately west of the northernmost tip of the Dead Sea. The Mount of Olives is west of the temple mount, across the Kidron Valley.

The Mount of Olives was one of Jesus’ favorite places. He retreated there often to pray, taught their occasionally, and ascended to heaven from there. It’s believed that just as His feet last touched the earth there, it will be the first place they touch the earth again when He returns. Also, the Garden of Gethsemane – where Jesus was marked by Judas and captured by the Jewish leadership, to ultimately be crucified – is located on the Mount of Olives.

We started our day in one of several mini stone amphitheaters created as teaching / viewing spots on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city. With the exception of some terribly fleeting glimpses of it the evening before entering into the city, this was our first real view of the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. Gary Frazier, the Director of Discovery Ministries, our tour company, spoke to us about the history of Israel past, present, and future. I won’t go into huge details on Jerusalem from his talk. Maybe I’ll devote an entry to a brief Jerusalem lesson, but there are so many other places far more qualified to give that kind of supporting / contextual / historic information than my blog.

There are a couple highlights from our time together on the Mount of Olives – before we descended down to the Garden of Gethsemane – that I’d like to share though.

First, just behind us (over the Mount of Olives to the west) is the town of Lazeria. In Biblical times, this was Bethany. This is where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and it was from roughly where we were sitting during Gary’s talk that Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and wept (Matthew 23, Luke 19) because the people had rejected God provoking God’s judgment on Jerusalem and the Israelites. Jesus knew that someday the city would lie in ruins, and of course He was right.

Secondly, Lindsay McCaul led worship, which I always love. I was particularly interested in a new song I haven’t heard before called “Beautiful”. Will have to get that one from iTunes when I get home.

Lastly, a word on the Temple Mount. It is built where it is on Mount Moriah because that’s where David built an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite in 2 Samuel 24. David displayed a sinful independence and a lack of faith in God by conducting a census of his fighting men. As a result, God punished him and Israel with a plaque, But David built an altar to pray to God and beg forgiveness. As a result, God averted the plaque. It was in this process that David – in response to Araunah’s offer to give him the threshing floor for the altar – made his famous statement in verse 24, “I will buy [the threshing floor] from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.”

This all took place on Mount Moriah. So later, when Solomon set out to build a temple for God after David’s death, he chose this sacred place to do so. This is where the Dome of the Rock sits today.

Our Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem November 10, 2009

Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Travel.
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I hope that isn’t a blasphemous title, But to listen to the music our driver played as we ascended the mountain up route 1, that’s exactly what it was. This is the route Jesus and all the other pilgrims from the north would have taken, at least three times a year to celebrate Passover, the Feast of the Tabernacle, and some other festival at roughly the same time as Pentecost.

I was stunned at how high the mountain was. I can’t even imagine making that trip on foot, with children and animals. It was obviously hard for the bus to make it up the hill, let alone the walking caravan. Not only that, but it had to have taken weeks to get from someplace like Nazareth to Jerusalem. And three times a year?! Amazing! Brings a whole new perspective to stories like Jesus’ staying behind in the temple to chat with the Pharisees at age 12 (see Luke 2). He would have had plenty of opportunities to do so; did I mention that they did this trip 3 times a year?! I don’t know about you, but my mom would be pretty hopping mad if she noticed at the end of the day (after descending the 5,000 ft mountain) that she had to climb back up over the next two days to find me.

But back to the triumphal entry of the green bus… The driver puts on the “O Jerusalem” song in not one but two versions, and cranks the volume way up. So my ears are bleeding while I watched the terrain get increasingly hilly, waiting with eager anticipation for us to come up over some hill and see a solid gold city nestled in the valley below us.

Instead, it took so long to get there from the moment they started playing the music that to say it was anti-climactic would be a gross understatement. By the time we did start to see signs that we were getting close to the city (you know, buildings instead of rocks), my attention had shifted completely from seeing the city to plotting the death of the bus’s sound system. But eventually, we were surrounded by city, sprawling out over rolling hills and rocky cliffs, on mountain tops and in valleys. The city struck me as absolutely massive, though not nearly as dense as I thought it’d be. There were way more 1-3 story buildings than I anticipated. I guess I was expecting densely packed skyscrapers nestled in a valley. Not so at all. In fact there wasn’t much glass and steal. More stucco and rock and brick. And every roof had the requisite solar heating cells and tank on it.

Between the blasts of “Hallelujah! Jerusalem!”, our guide did explain that getting jiggy on the road to Jerusalem was not a 21st century concept. Even in ancient times, pilgrims would sing songs of ascent as they made their way up the mountain. These are basically Psalms 120-134. Although I can’t imagine the Jews singing “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord” or “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord” in quite the same way we heard it this afternoon.

Another Psalm that came to mind during the ascent is Psalm 48:

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the Great King.
Within her citadels God has made Himself known as a fortress.

These mountains give a whole new meaning to this psalm. This city and its temple were so amazing in ancient times. It’s actually still pretty sweet, but nothing like it was in the first temple period in terms of being marvelous to behold by the eyes of the day. And the God who dwelled for a time in the temple is more amazing still, preserving this city and this people for Himself. It was breathtaking more to be in this place that God has called special than it was to behold some aesthetic beauty of the city itself.

Once the music died down, we reported to the hotel, ate dinner (the OIL!), and settled in for the night. This hotel – the Ramada Renaissance – will be home base for us for the rest of our trip.

Yardenit (Baptismal Site on the Jordan River) November 10, 2009

Posted by Jeff Block in Philosophy and Religion, Travel.
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One unbelievable opportunity presented to everyone on the tour was to be baptized in the Jordan River. Yardenit, just south of the Sea of Galilee where the Jordan exits to head south to the Dead Sea, is a place dedicated to the business (and it really is a business) of getting Holy Land tourists baptized. This is not where Jesus was baptized (there was originally some confusion about this). That’s located many miles down river above the Dead Sea near Jericho. But that’s not really the important part.

A number of our group had not yet been baptized as adults, so for them this was a pivotal moment of professing their faith in Christ publicly. Most people had been baptized, and just wanted to recommit themselves to Jesus and to have the experience of being baptized in the Jordan.

When they presented the opportunity on the boat on the Sea of Galilee the night before, it seemed that there were more people desiring to be baptized than there would be time to baptize. Plus, the logistics of the whole thing were a bit complicated. So, my roommate Jace and I decided to opt out so that those who really wanted to do it could get it done. Truthfully, I didn’t have a desire to smell like fish anyway.

John and Mary asked me to take pictures of them, and handed me their Digital SLR (very nice!). I had fun being their cameraman, as well as taking several pictures of James, Lindsay and Abby, because Kathy MacDonald (James’ wife) asked me to. It was also very powerful to just participate in the worship and watch so many be baptized too. And as much as I’m not a “God is in this place more than that place” person, there was something powerful about all this taking place in the Jordan River. These truly are special places.

One of the things that frustrated me about the place is that there were shops and snack bars galore, all fairly pricy and all selling ridiculous things like bottles of “holy water” scooped out of the Jordan in little plastic vials. Plus, there were (the equivalent of) street vendors approaching me about buying things, and people haggling in the gift shop on prices. I just had that “overturn the tables of the money changes” feeling again. I did laugh when some attendant handed me a discount coupon on the way in. My crack (since they also charge to be baptized) was to ask if this mean that I could get a discount on the cost of baptizm. Ugh!

So overall very interesting. I was a sideline participant, but I still greatly valued the experience. And I was happy to praise God with those who proclaimed publicly a faith and trust in Jesus.

Rock on!