TEACHING AND PREACHING

I apologize to those of you who have been checking this blog regularly while I have been in Kenya. For the last week we were conducting our class on the gospel of Mark. Every day we were at at Kua Pwanga, a growing village, outside of Malindi about 15 miles away, where we were teaching 12 pastors. So, all day we were teaching and fellowshiping. Then, in the evening there was some preparation for the next day of classes, to answer questions that the students had and to prepare the class material for the next day. Plus, I preached twice to the class, once on Monday and once on Friday, on Mark 1:1-15 on Monday and on Mark 6 on Friday. This also took some preparation because, even though I have copies along of messages I have preached on these texts I needed to change some illustrations to fit my audience. It's not an American congregation! So, I tried to think through illustrations from nature that would fit with their context, such as illustrations about hippos and mangoes. Then, over the weekend I preached on Sunday at the church to a congregation that was about 75% youth below age 18. This took a whole different preparation.

On Sunday I was preaching on a passage in Galatians 5 where the influence of the sinful nature is contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit. The last verse in the section from which I was preaching, says, “Let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). When I preached this passage in the United States I used the picture of a marching band staying in step with each other. Here, I wasn't sure they would know what a marching band is, so at the end of the message I picked up one of their drums and started beating it in rhythm. They seemed to get quite a kick out of this illustration, especially when I showed them what happens when you get out of rhythm with the Spirit, and I beat on the drum in random fashion while I walked like a drunken man.

Today, the FGP fellowship of churches is holding a large conference. The speaker is David Kiamu, from Reach Africa, a division of ReachGlobal, the missions arm of the Evangelical Free Church. David is from Liberia, and he travels throughout Africa encouraging the churches toward maturity. David is going to be speaking on church planting and church development. He has been with me at our lodging place over the weekend, and we have had a good chance to get to know one another and encourage each other. Sometime when he is in the United States we may have him come and preach at our church.

Here is what David has said about other parts of Africa, "Most of Sierra Leone is Muslim, and Liberia has five major unreached tribes. David, Church Planting Director for ReachAfrica, describes the spiritual plight of West Africa: "The rate at which whole people groups are turning to Islam and animism is alarming in West Africa… Extreme poverty at the grassroots level is providing opportunities for Islam, animism and Cults to lead people away from the truth. In Liberia alone, Islamic organizations and Cult groups are lending more material assistance to villages and towns than any Christian organization is doing. This is how most people groups are turning away from Christ."

We see some of this Islamic evangelistic aggressiveness here in Malindi, Kenya as well.  On our way to the Kua Pwanga church where we are holding our conference we drive by a new mosque that is being erected right along the road side.  What is sad is that the mosque has a sign about 50 yards from it that says that the property is going to be used to build a Christian church.  How long has the sign been there?  Did the Muslims buy the property from the Christians who couldn't afford to build?  I don't know, but the Muslims are building and the Christians are not.  That's what I see in this case. 

If you want to reach more about Reach Africa go to the website....
http://www.efca.org/reachglobal/where-we-serve/africa/about-ministry-africa/africa-vision/-new-vision-african-missions

I am preaching at the conference on John 15, the passage where Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches, and our need to “bear fruit that will last” (John 15:16). This is a part of what is on my heart for however many years that the Lord gives me on earth. Jesus says that “you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5). Really, nothing??? Jesus' point is that we can do many good things, but we can do nothing that lasts, if it is not His power and His work. We can teach Sunday School, start churches, minister to people, but it's His work that matters.

Tuesday I leave for home, about a thirty hour trip.

UNDER THE STARS

6 of us (3 Africans and 3 Americans) drove 200 miles on Friday in a small car with four of us in the back seat. One of the white American guys is about 6 foot four inches tall, so we let him sit up front most of the way. Bob and sat in the middle of the back seat, and we had the good seats in back, because we got to sit with our back against the seat back. One African pastor sat to my right and one African pastor sat to Bob's left. They leaned forward in the seat the whole way. Now, what I didn't tell you is that the roads we traveled were filled with ruts four to 10 inches deep most of the way, so we could only travel about thirty miles an hour most of the time (sometimes at 5 miles an hour and sometimes at 50). And when there weren't ruts in the road there was two inches of dust that was kicked up by the front tires and came in our through our back windows (kept down because there was no air conditioning). Now, to be honest it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We had great fellowship all of the way, with lots of good joking around and some beautiful vistas when we reached the tops of various small hills. The area of Kenya we were traveling in has a lot of bush country interspersed with red clay soil. Some places which receive more rain water are fairly lush. Places which receive little rain are fairly barren.

After two stops in other villages we arrived at the home of Pastor Eric around sunset. He and his family live back in the bush in four small huts set in a semi-circle. Eric works as a social studies and math teacher in a local secondary school. This is his job during the week. He lives at the school and then travels home during the weekends. On weekends and during school breaks he pastors a small church and he farms about 7 acres, a fairly substantial plot when you, your wife, and your family are farming by hand. We had Chai (Kenyan Tea) with Eric and his family. By this time darkness had fallen, and the show had begun..... God's show. Since there weren't any street lights and we are in the southern hemisphere there were thousands upon thousands of stars in the sky that showed forth God's glory. It's been a long time since I've seen the milky way, but you couldn't miss it streaking across the sky. Then, off on the horizon we saw the biggest moon I've ever seen come up over the Indian Ocean. One of the neighbors had some fresh honey still on the honeycone that he had gathered. He was willing to share, and one of the African pastors enjoyed this treat immensely. We passed. A long time ago, one time or another, I ate some honey on the honey comb, but this is one food I think is better eaten in sterilized jars. Who wants to pluck wax out of their teeth all night? The Africans did tell us that the bees that were still on the combs were just “babies” and wouldn't sting you. Yes, I believe what they said, but I didn't believe enough.

So, we arrived back at our lodging late, late, late after many hours in a hot, packed car bumping up and down. I would do it again to build the relationships with the pastors , to encourage them, to help them and their churches, and to see opportunities for the gospel grow.

CORN IN KIMBULE

We traveled to the village of Kimbule, which sits on a dry hilltop west of the Kenyan coastal ridge. This area receives little rainfall, but the natives try to grow maize. Most of the maize we saw is failing, similar to what has happened to some of the Iowa corn this year. The difference, though, is that the consequences here, of not having a crop is even more devestating than in Iowa. Since the growing season is almost finished these people will have empty bellies for most of the next year. The children will have at least one meal a day through the local public school, but the adults will have little to eat, unless there is some crisis aid that comes from either a private or governmental agency or from their children who have better jobs in the city.


One of the observations that is quite apparent is that this hillside where these people live is not conducive to grow corn/maize. The ground is too hard. The rain is too little. Bob Hall's recommendation is that they consider growing sorghum. This is a hard sell to the people because the women don't know how to cook with sorghum. They only know how to cook with the corn meal. Apparently the sorghum has some better nutrients than the corn, but it's an uphill battle. If you've ever been on a diet you know how this goes: if you don't like it you don't eat it. So, there are multiple components operating. Another option is that the people can grow goats on their hill Then, they can potentially drink the milk from the mama goats and sell some of the goats for goat meat. This is a very valid option, and some of their neighbors are doing just this. So, one of our projects in this village might be to help the people start raising goats. The other advantage of this approach is that if they are successful in raising a goat herd the goats from early herds can be used in other herds in other villages If we decide to partner with the church group to get some goats, then a part of the agreement will be that there is a responsibility to share breeding stock with other Christians in other villages. In this manner there is multiplication of the initial investment so that many are impacted and can sustain themselves when drought occurs.


One great thing about this Kimbule village is that there is a very active church in the village. The pastor came to know Jesus as Savior when he was working in the big city of Mombassa, and then he returned home to his village to start the church a number of years ago. In addition to the church he started the school. When we arrived at the village about 60 children came out to sing and dance for us. They were as enthusastic and beautiful as you can imagine. I was able to capture a little bit of video on my small camera. I am so very glad that even with the poor audio capabilities of my crude sound recording equipment I was able to capture some of this event on camera. Four of us white guys spoke to the children and village, and the kids did great listening to us.

MOVED BY MUSA

We were walking down the street in Malindi, following a meal at a local restaurant. We should have left the restaurant earlier in the evening, but conversation with friends kept us there up to the very edge of nightfall.


As we walked we were greeted by a group of Muslims who had just left their evening services at the local mosque. Some were dressed in white from head to toe. They gathered around a local food cart on the street like hyenas pouncing on gazelle carcass. They had fasted all day, going without food or water, since it is the month of Ramadan when observant Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.


On a side note... Kathleen and I did this once when we were in a training program for Muslim evangelism. Going without food wasn't too hard, but going without water all day was significantly more challenging. We were trying to repeat the experience of Muslims, to better empathize with their emotions and physical feelings during the fasting period. So, we went about our normal studies and street evangelism in Brooklyn, New York, all day, without any food or water. It was a hot clear day in Brooklyn, and by early evening we were parched for something to drink. We cut our evening evangelistic visits short and went to a cool place to sit and rest until we could eat when the sun went down. So, as you can imagine, after a day of fasting, a Muslim is ready to feast.


Back to present time, life in Malindi, with Bob Hall and Jim Watson, on our missions trip here in Kenya. As we walked by the Muslim men at the cart they suddenly started yelling at us. These were not threatening cries, but invitations to come and join their feast. It is customary for Muslims to do this. In fact, it is a part of their hospitality evangelism. They are in the midst of a month of spiritual renewal, so they naturally are eager to share their faith with strangers. And, what better way to do that than to invite people to a meal? We should have probably accepted their invitation, but we had just eaten a large meal, and we were trying to get back to our lodging before total darkness set in.


As we continued our journey on foot through Malindi we were approached by two young men, in their late teens. One tried numerous ways to sell me some Jambalaya music. Once he discovered that I was from the United States he started speaking every American name he could think of in quick repitition: Barack Obama, Snoop Dog, 50 Cents, Shaq Tapur (I'm sure I have some of these names wrong, well not Obama). I guess he thought that if he could impress me he I would buy the music. I told him I wanted some “Jesus music.” He had no idea what I was talking about, and primarily left me at that time.


The other young man who approached us was wearing one of the small stocking hat like the one that American teenagers sometimes wear (I think I've seen Tim Tebow wear one). He was a slender built young man, his features more Egyptian than Kenyan. And, indeed, his ethnic heritage is closer to Egypt than Kenya. He was quite animated and articulate in English for someone whom I would underestimate at first glance. His name was Musa, and he told us a bit of his story, which seemed to be true. He said that he had come to Kenya on a Dao (sp?), a small boat, from Somalia. There he had escaped from capture by Al-Shabab, a Muslim terrorist organization that recruits young men into their organization, sometimes by force. He had sailed south on the Indian Ocean until he arrived on the east coast of Kenya. Now, he lives on the beach, surviving as a homeless young person. Jim Watson, the more experienced of us, said that many young man from Somalia do exactly as Musa described, and that they eventually find some type of manual labor in Kenya.


Musa had plenty of energy, but he was thin enough that we decided to buy him a little food. He wasn't selling anything, at least not anything he was carrying with him. We weren't sure what he was offering to us beyond conversation. We bought him some rice and oil at a local grocery store. I asked him if I could pray for him, and he seemed moved by this, as we were too, to do so. Musa was enough of a character that it's been hard to get him out of my mind. I don't think he understood much of what we were praying for him, but at least he knew he was cared for on this night. What happens to Musa, and the thousands like him, from here? How does a young Somali refugee in Kenya come to know the gospel? How does he experience the love of Jesus? How does he survive? I don't know. God knows. So, I pray.

New Mercies

Follow up to yesterday's post.... I am thinking about places like Kibera, and my prayers took me to Lamentations 3:22-24 where Jeremiah hopes in the midst of his lament: "The Lord's lovingdkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I have hope in Him."

In the midst of sorrow, devastation, and the horrible side of life there is one hope, one faith, one Lord.  Put your hope in Jesus and never let go.  Great, great, great is His mercy, compassion, love, hope, and faithfulness.  No matter what.

The Nairobi Quick Tour

Here we are in Kenya, Wednesday, August 1....  on Monday Bob Hall and I traveled about 30 hours to get here.  Our jets traveled from Des Moines to Detroit to Amsterdam to Nairobi.  Tomorrow we take a small jet from Nairobi to Malindi where I will be training pastors through the "Pathways to Understanding" Bible curriculum.  This course is on the gospel of Mark.


One small story from the plane ride... I was sitting next to a government worker from Amsterdam.  Her job is to oversee monies given by the Dutch government to various African organizations to make sure that there is some accountability for how the monies are spent.  As we visited she asked about why I am traveling to Kenya.  I explained that I will be teaching from the gospel of Mark.... and there was a pause in the conversation.  Awkwardly she looked at me and said, "Should I know what 'Mark' is?"  This question came from an intelligent college educated  European woman who had attended a bit of church in her childhood years, but obviously is not a Christ follower.  This conversation was toward the end of our plane ride so I only had a little bit to explain what the gospel of Mark is about, but perhaps I peaked her curiousity to investigate further.


Today we took a jet tour of Nairobi (metaphorically speaking). We drove through downtown, by a large soccer stadium, and then we stopped on a hill overlooking the Kibera slum. Kibera is one of the largest slums in the world, occasionally mentioned in the news or by high profile people. You can read about some of the conditions on various websites. Just go to wikipedia for a starter, and look up “Kibera.” There you will find sentences like, “Kibera is heavily polluted by human refuse, garbage, soot, dust, and other wastes. The slum is contaminated with human and animal feces, due to the open sewage system and the frequent use of "flying toilets". The lack of sanitation combined with poor nutrition among residents accounts for many illnesses and diseases.


I will let you do your own research and reading on the “flying toilet.”


We didn't walk into Kibera, though the people we were with have both been there. In fact, one of the people we were with is part of an organization called Community Health Evangelism, a para-church organization that combines community health with Christian outreach. This organization is also working over in eastern Africa and in several other countries. They have just begun to work with some of the pastors and churches in eastern Africa where we are doing our mission work. We had a good conversation on how to raise local motivation for community devlopment. The latest trend in missions is to invest in people rather than in church buildings or in making people from Africa and Asia dependent on western support. So, we visited with how this organization accomplishes this. If you would like to do some more reading on this approach pick up the book, “When Helping Hurts.” On the web you can go to the Medical Ambassadors International website, http://www.lifewind.org/ or go to http://chekenya.org/  where you can see pictures of some of the Kenya representatives of the organization with whom we met.


I am having problems posting a picture of Kibera, but you can find many pictures on the web.

ICEBERG

Picture: Iceberg

You've never heard of the icebergs in Israel?!? Me either. That's because there aren't any. This is just my visual representation of what I've been doing on this blog. I've used this illustration before in regard to people (with credit to Larry Crabb).... there's always a lot more under the surface than what you see above the water. In fact there's a Proverb that says "A man's heart is deep waters....." But that's not what I'm writing about. Some of you may think I've been writing a lot of blogs, but believe me, I'm only skimming the surface. I could write for hours and hours and hours on all I've seen and experienced. This little bit of writing is part of what I'm doing to remember some things from the trip and it's really been a lot of fun, just kind of letting my mind freeflow from what I've seen. Of course, freeflow for a former undergraduate engineering major just means throwing in a goofy line or two every once in a while. I'll be home soon, and maybe I will write some on the blog back in the states, but it's harder there because I have deadlines to keep, meetings to attend, and ministry to do.

To all of you who are old friends, new friends, and family: Thanks for reading.

A SAD CITY

I'm feeling a little melancholy tonight, not sad, just melancholy. Maybe it's just because I'm tired or maybe because my Israel adventure is coming to an end or I'm just longing to be home. Whatever the source of my mood the following is the story of a sad city, the ancient city of Beth Shan where we visited today. In the Scriptures we first hear about Beth Shan as one of the Canaanite cities that was never driven out of the land when Israel came to take possession of the promised land (Judges 1:27). Beth Shan was eventually conquered, but not by Israel, but by the persistent enemy of Saul and David, those nasty Philistines. In 1 Samuel 31 the Philistines eventually got the best of Saul and his son, Jonathan. It says that “the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa” (1 Sam. 31:1). By the way Mount Gilboa is easily seen as you drive around the Jezreel Valley like we have been doing in our bus. The Philistines first killed Jonathan. Then, it says that the Philistine archers “wounded [Saul] critically” (1 Sam. 31:3). Saul took his own life, and his body was found the next day by the Philistine aggressors. Here it gets gory... the Philistines cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and they hung his naked dead body from the wall of Beth Shan. Fortunately some brave Israelites rescued the bodies during the night and buried the bones.



When David heard what had happened he sang a sad song: “David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son, Jonathan....” (2 Samuel 1:17). He sings of “how the mighty have fallen” and his love for Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:19-27). He ordered that all of the men of Judah be taught this lament.
Israel's geography is filled with peaks and valleys, up down and around every corner there is peak or valley. And that's real life too isn't it? There are peaks and valleys to living and we have to travel through both. Times of sadness come to all of us. Loss and grief are part of what it means to live. We don't deny it. We don't hide from it. Just read through the Psalms, and observe all of the peaks and the valleys of emotions that the psalmists struggled with. They are filled with lament. Sure there is a lot of praise in the psalms, but there is also a lot of sad songs, lamentations. This morning I read Psalm 130 which begins, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice, Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy” (Psalm 31:1,2). But we're always urged to move on through the valley, to put our hope in the God of the valley: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning” (Psalm 130:5,6). I don't know if you are in a peak or a valley today, but God is God of both.



As I was taking pictures at Beth Shan I noticed that high on the peak above the ruins of Beth Shan stands a tree, a lonely tree high on the hill. Look real closely in the middle of this picture and you will see it. And I was reminded that there was a man who hung on a tree. His name was Jesus. All who trust in his death on that cross overcome the wages of sin, namely death, eternal sadness and judgment: “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Psalm 130:3,4). In the midst of my peak and valleys this is where I look. What else do we have?

Paul McCartney sang, "Hey Jude, Don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better." If you read the rest of the lyrics to "Hey Jude" it's really not such a bad song (musically or lyrically speaking) about the importance of letting people into your life. And that's good advice. Unfortunately I will always associate this song with playing high school football because in my junior year of high school this was one of the songs that was always played in the locker room while we were putting on our pads. So, this song doesn't make me sad. It just makes my adrenaline start jumping and pumping.

Anyway, there's a better song I'm thinking about that goes more to the point:


On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

SEA OF GALILEE

We took a ride on a boat out on the Sea of Galilee. I hesitate to call it a "Sea" anymore because it's more like a "Lake", much smaller than it looks on pictures of Israel. The body of water is only about 7 miles across east to west and 13 miles north to south. It was very moving to sit on the water where Jesus and his disciples had so many encounters together, to think that while some of the shoreline has changed the mountains and valleys are virtually unchanged. When the water is low during drought years you can actually find the ancient harbors. For example, we know that Capernaum was a heavy duty fishing village. Right next to Capernaum is Tagba, known for the 7 springs that come into the Sea of Galiliee providing an ideal place for Peter, Andrew, James, and John to do their fishing.

Last night we sat and watched the sun set over the mountains on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. Then as it turned dark the lights in Tiberias began to shine like a "city set on a hill." About 9 p.m. we sat in the dark by starlight and watched the F-15 jets make their run up to the Golan Heights border with Syria. Their green flashing lights were hard to miss with the eyes. The sonic boom was hard to miss with your ears. Israel is such a small country that we could see them in the sky all the way northup to the border, twenty miles away or so, and then they did a looping turn back south. A great night.

CAPERNAUM

PICTURES FROM CAPERNAUM TOP TO BOTTOM:

1. Peter's house where one of the earliest Christian churches met for worship;

2. The foundations of a synagogue where Jesus spoke;

3.an ancient Olive Press used to make olive oil.

"Then [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, "Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" "Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area" (Luke 4:31-37).

We were in Capernaum today, pretty awesome to be right there on the shore of Galilee where the fishing boats docked, our Lord Jesus taught, and Peter was used by the Lord to help give birth to the Christian church.

THE ROCK

I'm having a hard time loading pictures on this internet connection, so this post is totally verbal. We're at a hostel on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, somewhere near where the guy was running around crazy, and Jesus cast the demons into a herd of pigs. I still haven't seen any pigs here, although one of the guys who has traveled to Israel said that there is one herd of pigs. But, the building has to be kept up on stilts because you can't have pigs touching the holy land of Israel (apparently this is really true and we will see it in a day or two). That's what happens when your religion becomes rule based. I was trying to take a picture on Saturday afternoon and I was rebuked by some Jewish guys playing basketball that I shouldn't be taking pictures on the Sabbath. When I asked why they said "Because the rabbis said so." They were familiar with college and pro basketball so I asked them a couple of questions about Adam Haluska (former Iowa Hawkeye BB player from Carrol, Iowa) and they knew some about him as he plays for an Israeli professional team.

I took a dip in the Sea of Galilee late this afternoon which was nice after hiking all day. We were up in Galilee at Caesarea Philippi today. Caesarea Philippi was named by Herod Philip (one of the sons of Herod the Great) to honor Caesar (and himself). This is an area with powerful springs that bring wtaer out of the cliffs and ultimately into the Jordan River. This city is northeast of the place called Caesarea, so don't confuse the two. One of the remnants at Caesarea Philippi is an ancient cave/shrine structure to honor the Greek god Pan, a god of the woods who chased nymphs around trees. Woo hoo! He was a raw nature god: wild, sexy, earthy. There was a cave at the back of the shrine that some people believe was associated with the Greek idea of hell. So, with all of this in mind think of what happened when Jesus brought his disciples to Caesarea Phlippi.

It was here that Jesus asked his disciples, “Who to people say that the Son of Man is?”. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Then Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:13-16). There are several interpretations of what Jesus meant by “the rock”, but I heard a new one today. It could be that Jesus was standing near this shrine to Pan, far away from Jerusalem, in the heart of paganism, and he was saying, “You see this rock mountain symbolizing the power of hell. Well, there is a more powerful rock, the rock of the gospel, and this rock is so powerful that hell can not stand against it. In fact, your mission is to storm the gates of hell, to see people transformed to live their lives for King Jesus and his kingdom.” So, all we know for sure about the context is that this important conversation took place in Caesarea Philippi, that there are big rocks there, and that rocks are certainly used in Scripture to refer to the strength, power, and stability of life in Jesus' kingdom. Remember Jesus parable about the wise man building his house on the stable rock rather than on the shifting sand? “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Mt. 7:24). And that's what it's all about.

HIDDEN TUNNELS

Last Monday night we had a special opportunity to go underground through the tunnels that run parallel to the entire western edge of the Temple Mount. Typically, when we talk about the western wall we are specifically referring to portion of the wall toward the southern end of the Temple Mount. This section of the wall has a large plaza associated with it that is open to the sky above. This is where we have gone numerous times to watch the prayer services of the Jews. But, during the last twenty years there is another portion of the wall that has been uncovered. People call it the Western Wall Tunnels or the Rabbinic Tunnels.

The original excavators literally dug under the city of Jerusalem, underneath houses and businesses to reveal the entire length of the western wall. The excavators were faced with complicated engineering problems, such as maintaining the stability of the structures above them. The original explorers, back in the 1800s describe swimming through the cisterns with a candle to light the way. The modern excavators had to divert the sewage from the houses above them, which on occasion flushed down unexpectedly into the tunnels, which was serving as a general sewage system in many places. After much delicate and difficult work they they found enormous carved stones that are still preserved. There were also remains of the Herodian road which ran alongside the Temple Moun and ancient cisterns that originally were used as water sources. One spot along the wall is not completed. Some scholar speculate that this happened when Herod the Great died and the project was no longer funded, so the workers just picked up their tools and went home.

The biggest stone in the Western Wall is often called the Western Stone. I couldn't fit the whole stone into the picture, but if you look closely at the big stone on top of the smaller stones you can see it in the picture ("smaller stones" is a relative term since the stones on the bottom row weigh several tons apiece themselves). It is one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. Listen to this: the stone is about the size of a bus, around 40 feet long and about 12 feet wide. They estimate the weight at 570 tons! Think about this. The empty weight of the first 747-400 is about 200 tons, and its maximum takeoff weight (with luggage, people, and fuel) is about 450 tons. They have no idea how this stone was moved into place!!

People did not like the archaeologists digging under their homes, and they had all sorts of fears about their homes and businesses collapsing. One tragedy that has set the course for this site happened on September 24,1996. Prime Minister Netanyah ordered that a new exit be cut through from the Struthion Pool area to the Via Dolorosa nearby. Yasser Arafat commented on the event, alleging the real aim was to make the Temple Mount collapse. This sparked riots in which around 80 people were killed. Normally there is a soldier located at this exit to protect people when they exit the tunnels in the Muslim quarter. Since our tour took place at 10 pm when it was dark and at a time more prone to radical Palestinians harassing people who exit the tunnels we had to retrace our steps and go out the entrance.

There is still excavating and exploration going on with these walls, and new discoveries and insights into the Temple Mount area are being made. It was cool to be down under the city of Jerusalem so late at night, but I didn't get to sleep until about 12:30 pm that night and our bus left Jerusalem at 7 am the next morning so the first day on the road was a killer, and there are no coffee shops out in the desert. So, we just had to tough it out until we finally found a place to grab a Coke at lunch time.

TOMB RAIDERS

Since I am mentioned in the following post by my friend Norm Langston (pastor from Portland, Oregon and also wifeless on the trip) I am just going to copy his post here. By the way, it's easier to tell people that I'm from "near Des Moines" than to say I'm from Adel, Iowa. That's particularly true for the natives here in Jerusalem who have not even heard of Iowa (I have to tell them I'm from "near Chicago!"). The pictures are my own, and my pictures are probably not going to exactly match Norm's commentary below. The point is that there is a round disk rolled back from the tomb and there is an empty bench in the tomb which should remind you of someone else's tomb who turned out to be a whole lot more important than Herod. Anyway, Norm has a blog at NormLangston.blogspot.com in which he is commenting on his version of the trip. And I borrowed his title for this entry too because it was so good. So, with full credit given to Norm, here is what he wrote,

"We had a free afternoon on Monday. Tom, a pastor from Des Moines, and I hiked across the Hinnom Valley with the goal of finding the tomb of Herod's family. Although Herod was buried at the Herodium, his family was not. We were interested because this is one of the few intact 1st Century tombs in Israel. Especially unusual is the fact that this tomb has a large stone that was rolled across its entrance to keep out scavengers. In this picture, can you see the top of the stone to the left of the entry arch?Allow me to make a suggestion: if you ever go "tomb exploring," take a flashlight. Since we expected this tomb to be sealed, we didn't. However, two pastors couldn't let a little darkness deter us, could we? So we climbed down the stairs, bent down to explore the first chamber, and got down as far as we had to--even on all fours--to grope our way through the other three chambers. Another interesting thing about this tomb is that it--like most Jewish tombs of this era--was designed to be used by multiple people. After a body was fully-decayed, the bones were placed in an ostuary, and the tomb was ready for the next corpse(s).There are two reasons our exploration was important to me. First, everything about this tomb corresponds well with what the New Testament reports about Jesus' death. It was good to see that with my own eyes.Second, it reminded me that many people have been buried in a tomb like this. Only one came out alive. Isn't that reason enough to want to get to know him better."

Norm didn't mention that we did solve the "flashlight problem." After a couple of pictures we figured out that we could put our digital cameras on the "Examine picture" mode, and there was enough light coming from the picture to see our way around the tomb if you held the camera within a couple feet from any object you were trying to look at.

SHAVUOT

Picture: At the western wall a few days ago

Today is a special holiday in Israel called Shavuot. The holiday began last evening and continues today. Friday is also the main day of prayer for Muslims. Consequently the old city has been packed with people and cars are parked wherever people can find a space. People are parking in alleys and on the sides of the hill wherever they can find a spot. There are also Jewish and Muslim pilgrims coming and going every which way. We went down to the Western Wall for a while last night to watch what was going on. We were a little bit late, so some of the crowd had already gone home. But I was able to go up to the front of the western wall and then turn north for a couple of hundred yards where the wall extends underneath the old city. The area under the old city is a combination library/community congregational meeting center. I am assuming that most of the books were copies of the Talmud, the historical rabbinic commentary on the Old Testament. One congregation was having a meeting in this underground area, so we tried not to disturb them. The men were singing a song together. Others were praying in their characteristic bob up and down kind of praying that many of them do. One person told me that they pray like that to keep their focus, so that their minds don't wander. That makes sense, but I haven't talked to a Jewish person about it yet. Some of my friends went down at 4 am this morning for a special worship time that the Jews hold at the western wall. My friends said that the whole area was packed with people and they had to stand way far at the back, about 200 yards away from the front area where the wall is located. Another friend said that he heard several rabbis from the United States at the ceremony. And that makes sense as Shavuot is one of the great gathering festivals of the Jews. You and I know this festival as The Feast of Pentecost. It was on this day nearly two thousand years ago that Peter preached a message of repentance and salvation (Acts 2), possibly on the steps just south of the temple mount (where I was standing the other day). Over 3000 new believers in Jesus the Messiah were added to the church that day, an influx from multiple nations of peoples who were in attendance at Shavuot. So, this is a very important holy day for us as Christians as well. The following press release comes from the government of Israel:

"Shavuot [Pentecost], one of Judaism's three pilgrimage festivals (along with Passover and Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles), will take place this year between sunset on Thursday, May 28, and sunset on Friday, May 29. The Government Press Office (GPO) would like to offer the following as a brief summary: Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; Judaism's most basic Scripture) at Mt. Sinai, seven weeks after the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. Indeed, Shavuot literally means "weeks" and is celebrated exactly seven weeks after the first day of Passover, which marks the exodus itself. The celebration of Shavuot is specified in Exodus 34:22 and Deuteronomy 16:10. On Thursday night, May 28, after festive evening prayers and a festive meal, many people will follow the custom of staying awake all night and studying religious texts, and then saying morning prayers at the earliest permitted time-thus expressing the enthusiasm of the Jewish people to receive the Torah. Most synagogues and yeshivot [religious schools] will organize special classes and lectures throughout the night of Shavuot. In Jerusalem, there is a widespread custom of going to the Western Wall-which will be exceptionally crowded-for Shavuot morning (Friday) prayers, often accompanied by dancing and singing.

The Shavuot morning prayers are marked by special hymns and scriptural readings, including the Book of Ruth. Special memorial prayers for the departed are also said. Some communities maintain the custom of decorating their synagogues with green plants and flowers. This is in keeping with two traditions: that Mt. Sinai was a green mountain and that Shavuot is a day of judgment for fruit trees. On Shavuot, it is also customary to eat dairy dishes; there are many explanations for this custom.

In ancient times, Shavuot marked the end of the barley harvest, and the beginning of the wheat harvest. Jewish farmers brought their first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 26:1-11), where special offerings were brought (Numbers 28:26-31). In honor of Shavuot's status as the "Day of First Fruits" and the "Harvest Festival" (as it is referred to in Numbers 28:26 and Exodus 23:16, respectively), many kibbutzim and moshavim [collective settlements] also organize special celebrations revolving around these themes, including ceremonies in which new produce from the kibbutz or moshav is highlighted. (The Government Press Office, May 26, 2009)

And here is a modern version of the holiday (remember that there is a large segment of Israel that is more secular in orientation).....

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243346499752&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

BEERSHEBA (BEER SHEVA)

PICTURE: at Makktesh Ramon, a place in the Negev, south of Jerusalem. This place looks a little bit like the Grand Canyon.

The last few days we have been out on the road, down in the Negev. We have been to various places like Mizpe Ramon, Arad, Avdat, Qumran, En Gedi, and the Dead Sea. Some of these places you have probably never heard of, but they have important archaeological remains that give us insights into understanding biblical history and culture. If I have a chance I will write more tomorrow about some of the interesting visits and insights from the Negev.

One of the places we visited was BEERSHEBA.......

It sounds like an ancient fermented drink. Serve me up a “Beersheba” please! Beersheba is a town at the southern edge of the territory that the Lord gave to Israel, “from Dan to Beerhsheba” (Judges 20:1; 1 Sam. 3:20; et. al.). Beersheba was an administrative center where people came to trade. It was the primary city of south Israel. Beer Sheba actually can either be translated “The Well of Seven” or “The Well of the Oath.” It was here that Abraham dug a well and settled down (Gen. 21:22-34) after his long wanderings from Haran. “It was here that Abraham “called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God” (Gen. 21:33). I was thinking about this as I stood on the ruins of ancient Beersheba.

A couple of weeks ago I met a couple of computer programmers in Jerusalem. They told me this sad tale of being stuck in Beersheba for a few days with nothing to do. I suppose they meant that they had nothing to do in the evening, and that might have been true. Of course they were in the modern city of Beersheba, and we were out at the archaeological dig, which is only open during the day. So, they didn't even get to see what I would say is the most exciting part of Beersheba, the dig.
Beersheba was also the place where Isaac built an altar to the Lord (Gen. 26:15-23) and where Jacob received direction from the Lord to take his family to Egypt along with a promise that Israel would eventually return to the land (Gen. 46:1-7).

Centuries later the citizens of Beersheba encountered trouble because they had an altar that did not conform to the Lord's directions (Amos 5:5; 8:14). There have actually been worship centers which have been discovered in Beersheba (and nearby Arad). These worship centers may be the “high places” that are spoken of in Scripture, places where false worship took place, such as the worship of Asherah, a female deity, worshiped around something called an “Asherah Pole” which we don't really know what it looked like, since we don't have any archaeological finds that have been verified as an “Asherah Pole.” Why did people in Beersheba (along with Arad, Bethel, Gilgal, and other places) stray from their devotion to “the Eternal God” of Abraham their forefather? (see Amos 5:4,5; 8:14). Perhaps it is for the same reason that we sometimes stray: our hearts are “prone to wander” as the old hymn goes.

Unless we discipline ourselves in “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) we will wander. The root of the word “disciple” is, of course, related to the word “discipline.” One who is a disciple of Jesus disciplines their life to conform to the life of Jesus. It's not that we live perfect lives, but that we are constantly perfecting ourselves. This is an authentic life, a real life, and not a caricature of a Christian who looks down on others. We only look at Jesus as our aim and to Jesus as our strength. To look to our right or left “at other people” is to be diverted from our discipline. The Lord has given us the gift of “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12) as an encouragement to strive to become like Jesus. There are many “religious people” in Israel. Our aim is not to become more “religious.” Our aim is to become more filled with the life of Jesus in us and through us, both individually and corporately.

22 little things

Picture: Jerusalem looking east from the Mount of Olives

1. In Hebrew “Bethlehem” is spelled with two words, “Beit – Lechem” (House of Bread).



2. I'm glad I didn't pay a taxi driver to take a visit to Bethlehem (The taxi drivers are very aggressive and when you are walking on the streets they yell out the window or stop you on the sidewalk and ask if they can take you to Bethlehem). The class trip wasn't worth it, and was the most disappointing place I've been.



3. Out in the agricultural areas I've seen chickens, goats, sheep, peacocks, burros, camels, but no pigs. Think about it.



4. The largest coin by size and weight is ½ argorot, with a beautiful picture of a harp on the back and a big ½ on the front side. It's worth about 12 cents.



5. The Palestinians have the cutest children under 5 years old with their brown skin and dark eyes.



6. The Orthodox Jews have the most unusual looking teenage boys, all dressed up in their long black suits, and the beginning of their curls on the sides of their heads.



7. Some of the girls in the Israeli army would do better in a sorority and should definitely NOT be carrying a gun.



8. They take their politics very seriously over here.



9. There is a lot, a lot, did I say a lot of tension between the Israelis and the Palestinians.



10. I'm not sure which is more annoying, the daily Islamic call to prayer over loud loudspeakers broadcast over the whole city or the Israeli youth singing Jewish songs at 2 am outside my window, the Sound and Light show across the street that goes on until very late every other night, the big iron door that slams and shakes our whole building, or the inconsiderate people who talk loudly out in the hallway late at night. There. I got that off of my chest.



11. There are a lot of priests and nuns in black or brown robes running around the streets, either serving in the various churches or touring the sites.



12. The best music I've heard here was the Master's College Chorale singing at a concert in Christ Church.



13. The best museum I've been to was the Bible Land's Museum which displays various artifacts from every era and country mentioned in the Old Testament.



14. The best food I've eaten was a pasta dish with bacon bits sprinkled in it (not a kosher restaurant!).



15. The best coffee I've had is actually the hotel coffee at breakfast.



16. I'm still doing my laundry in the bathtub with shampoo because it's easier than hauling it all somewhere.



17. I sometimes eat an ice cream bar for my meal BECAUSE I CAN.



18. I'm having fun and learning lots, but I do miss not having Kathleen with me.



19. If Kathleen were here she could, and would, correct my grammar. And I would like it, really!



20. Since I'm auditing the class I'm really glad that I don't have to take the exam this morning.



21. The most meaningful times I've had in Jerusalem have been times of worship and reflecting on the Word of God because the Lord created us to worship him and to be in community with Him and his people, not to just look at rocks, though the rocks are interesting.



22. God is everywhere, but the Lord is in Jerusalem in a special way because this is the place where he has most chosen to display His glory.
    

ARABIAN WORSHIP

Picture: Damascus Gate Market, on the Palestinian side of the city.



This morning I worshipped with an Arabic congregation here in the old city Jerusalem that is associated with the Christian Missionary and Alliance denomination. I was going to give this post the title, "Worship in Other Tongues", but some of you might not get the joke. The church meets in a building that is right behind "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre", the place that is on the likely location of Jesus' crucifixion and nearby resurrection tomb. I was wondering if the tourists going into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre heard our worship time. It was very, very enthusiastic and joyous, even if I only understood the "Hallelujahs." If you have ever heard Arabian music you know that it has a very distinct beat: "1,2and, 3, 4and!" with a quick beat on the final "and" and with more emphasis on the final "and." Plus, the worship kept building and building beginning with prayer and music on a keyboard and one teenager on the bongos. Then, the worship leader started leading us in Arabic worship songs, always with that same beat. Next, the powerpoint guy hopped up on stage and started playing the drum set (his daughter took over the powerpoint duties). Next a guy stood up and started waving a flag. The keyboard guy added a bunch of trumpets and now everybody is excited. They stood and worshiped a really long time, but were very sincere. The closest parallel I have in my experience is when I've worshiped down in Mexico with the congregations there. One funny thing on my part. I was sitting next to a professor who teaches at a Christian university out in California, and I asked him what would be the theological symbolism of the Nokia telephone clip art they kept flashing on the screen. He leaned over and very dryly said, "I think it's a message to turn off your telephone." Anyway, we worshiped with some other students from Jerusalem University, two from Alaska, one from Australia, one from Canada, and about 15 pastors from Uganda who were in attendance at the service, plus about 100 in the Arabic congregation. The congregation was very indigineous, and I was glad to see the turnout. Fortunately the message was translated into English for us. Two and a half hours later we were out of there, and it was time for lunch and a nap on a day off. I spent the afternoon doing more reading on the family of Herod, and that's been the day.

ONE OLD BIRD ON A PERCH

One of the places we visited today was "The Herodium", a combination palace and fortress for King Herod the Great. I may write more about it some time. For now, this picture is just for fun. Our class is composed of people of all ages: college students, seminary students preparing for pastoral ministry, young couples, and a variety of older middle age folks, most of whom are involved in pastoral ministry. There were several ancient pillars standing at the fortress as you can see in the picture. Some of the young college guys (and one gal) climbed up on the pillars and stood there for a picture. This kind of opportunity doesn't come along every day, so without thinking about it too long I climbed up the side of a pillar about 8 feet high, and the one I was standing on was about the second highest there in the courtyard. I'm the guy in the white shirt (look closely at the old guy hat). I scraped my belly a little bit on the way down, but I think the pillar got the worst of it, and I afterward I did feel bad about standing on an ancient irreplaceable piece of history. But not for too long... Herod deserved it.

JERICHO

Picture: Jericho Tower from 9000 BC












One of the greatest cities of the ancient world was a place we know as “Jericho” or in local lingo “Yericho.” Today we saw a tower that goes back at least 9000 BC. We know about Joshua and the children of Israel conquering Jericho, and what a herculean feat that was (Joshua 6). One of the conundrums of Jericho study when I was in seminary was whether or not there were people living in Jericho at the time of the Exodus. In other words there were people who doubt the Bible who criticized the biblical data and said that it conflicts with the archaeological evidence. But, in more recent reconsideration there has been new evidence that Jericho was indeed inhabited during the time of Joshua's conquest. I won't go into all of the technical details. I found an article that summarizes what our professor said at www.biblearcheology.org.





Essentially, there are several key factors that help us date the destruction of Jericho at a time period consistent with Joshua's entry into the promised land including evidence of a sudden fire, pottery dating, and carbon 14 dating.





A few things struck me in Jericho. First was the ancient tower, one of the most ancient standing structures in all of archaeological research and making Jericho one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the ancient world. Secondly, the verdant greenery of the city was a complete contrast to the Judean wilderness northwest of the Jericho. There is a very ancient underground spring that brings water through the limestone all the way from northern Israel down to Jericho. And because of this enormous spring of water there are palm trees, flowers, and green shrubs growing everywhere in this city. Thirdly, I continue to be amazed by the different people I encounter in this part of the world. Today I visited a bit with a young man who has lived in San Jose, California for the last seventeen years. He is married and he now lives in the United States, but was back in Jericho visiting his childhood family, since he is originally from Jericho. He didn't tell me clearly, but since he is from Jericho I presume he is Muslim. What struck me is that the people of the world today are mobile. And it was another reminder to me that it's a small world.

TEMPLE MOUNT THEORIES

We were up on the Temple Mount today, a place where the first and second Jewish temples stood. The first temple was Solomon's Temple, erected around 960 BC, and destroyed by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Then the Jewish people were deported to Babylon until they were able to come back to the land and the second temple was completed around 516 BC. After that there was some further expasion of the hill on which the temple sits both by the Hasmoneans in the 2nd century BC and by King Herod around 19 BC. This second temple is sometimes referred to as Herods Temple, and was the temple that was standing in Jesus' time.

There are several theories regarding the precise location of the temple on top of this hill called the Temple Mount. Instead of rehashing all of the archaeological information and theory pros and cons I will let someone who is an expert answer these questions for those who are curious. I found a website that has some good links. The guy that does this website is a professor at "The Master's College" here in Jerusalem, which runs a Bible teaching program that is similar to the one I am taking at Jerusalem University. See the following site at http://www.bibleplaces.com/templemount.htm for way better research information than I can provide.

One item of personal response is that the Muslims have fairly adamant opposition to archaeological research up on the temple mount. A part of that opposition has to do with Muslim/Jewish tension since many Jews long and pray for the day that the temple is restored up on the temple mount. And, since one of the theories places the ancient temples directly over the Muslim Dome of the Rock you can imagine how they would get a bit nervous when Jewish archaeologists show up with their pick axes, shovels, and measuring rods. But, on the other hand, in my western mind there is way too much in your face kind of tension here. From my viewpoint let's get out our scientific tools and get to work discovering the truth. It feels somewhat like a denial of truth to not allow research to progress. It's the same feeling I have when I interact with a Mormon. Their mind and will so committed to a certain world view that they stubbornly refuse to look at any other position.

Of course Christians never do this :). Seriously, the sinful nature is so deeply embedded within any one of us to the point that we can become strident, intransigent, and stubborn as the proverbial mule in our own ideas and positions. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up"(James 4:10). Stay humble. Keep learning and growing, and I will do the same.