"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!

Luke 24:5-6

Garden Tomb

John 19:41-42

Tombstone

Golgatha

John 19:13-18

Temple Gates have been closed off

Temple Steps Jesus would have used

Old Jerusalem Street

Women at Western Wall

Men at Western Wall

Jerusalem

Dead Sea

Qumran

View from Masada

Oasis at En Gedi

Gethsemane

At Jericho

Jericho

Nazareth - First Century House

Capernaum - Peters house

Caperaum synagogue

Tabgha

View from the Mount of Beatitudes

Sea of Galilee

View from Mount Carmel

Caesarea by the Sea

Joppa

At the end

Lord’s Day, July 26, 2009 –6:30 AM

Again the Lord of light and life 

Awakes the kindling ray, 

Unseals the eyelids of the morn, 

And pours increasing day. 



I must add one more chapter to our pilgrimage report, on this Lord’s Day, half way around the world, from the place where more than 2,000 years ago Mary Magdalene proclaimed “He is risen!”

It is certainly not necessary to visit Israel to follow in the steps of Jesus but what a privilege it was to see the places and occasionally walk in the actual, physical, material foot steps.

Our trip home was an important part of the journey. It was a beautiful day as we left Israeli airspace in the early morning hours. By grace Marilyn and I had seats near a window where we could see the earth clearly below us. Our plane flew over the area where the Good News first spread including the island of Cyprus and the coast line of what was ancient Asia Minor. We could so clearly see the sea, the rugged mountains and the area where John Mark returned to Jerusalem as the Pauline Mission Team pushed northward into the continent, an event which later caused an intense conflict between Paul and Barnabas. We could see from above the area where the gospel crossed into the European continent and made it’s persistent way to the uttermost parts of the earth.

The day was remarkably clear as our plane approached Heathrow airport just outside of London. We could see the city, the Tower Bridge, the royal palaces and gardens of the Land that gave us the combination of sounds to communicate the Message in our day in that strange tongue called English.

Most of us should have been in bed by about midnight but my spirit did not calm until nearly 2 AM. Our thirty “pilgrims” had enjoyed ten flawless days. I never heard an angry or unkind word from anyone in our group, and we were often in intense and trying circumstances. No one complained and everyone cooperated to make it a meaningful experience.

Our special thanks to Jo Liston of “Go With Jo” travel agency who worked out the myriad of details, faithfully gave us good advice and direction, selected our tour company (Guiding Star Tours) and guide. She joined us at each location as a fellow-pilgrim. And we must mention our tour guide Rimon Makhlouf. He is a Palestinian Christian, born and reared in Jerusalem. He is a part of the 1.2% of people in that city where Christianity was born, who now recognize Jesus as the Messiah. He boldly holds his faith, often in the face of what most would call persecution. He quoted or cited by memory thousands of facts and hundreds scripture references and we never caught him in an error… maybe one or two extra-scriptural suppositions but he almost always identified them as possibilities and/or probabilities even though not specifically affirmed by scripture. He knew “the Book” better and more extensively than any of us and what a blessing that was.

Happy Lord’s Day. It will never be quite the same for this pilgrim.

O what a night was that which wrapped 

The heathen world in gloom! 

O what a Sun which rose this day 

Triumphant from the tomb! 



This day be grateful homage paid, 

And loud hosannas sung; 

Let gladness dwell in every heart, 

And praise on every tongue. 



Ten thousand different lips shall join
To hail this welcome morn, 

Which scatters blessings from its wings 

To nations yet unborn.

-- Jacob Vincent

Jerusalem, part two

Friday, July 24, 2009

This is our last day in the country and amazing city so significant in the life and history of the Judeo-Christian world.

We spent the day in the old city of Jerusalem. We traced the approximate “Way of Suffering” (Via Dolorosa) of Jesus as he was taken to the place of the skull for execution. It goes through the narrow stone-paved streets of old Jerusalem which are even today alive with the frenetic sounds, smells and activities of thousands of pilgrims, hawkers, shop keepers, children, etc. We were supplied with a cross that pilgrims could take turns carrying though the street. We visited one monastery that recalls Pilate’s pronouncement; “Behold the Man.” Beneath, excavations have uncovered a few authentic paving stones from the time of the first century, including ancient markings of games of chance that the soldiers or others might have played. The other Stations of the Cross in this area memorialize traditional events in the last passage of Jesus by this route – His falling, encounters with Veronica, his mother and other women, meeting with Simon of Cyrene, etc.

The last five “stations of the cross” are located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and include Jesus being stripped of his garments, crucified, his death, his removal from the cross and finally his being laid in the tomb. Words are too poor to describe this location. It is a disputed site of various branches of Christendom and indeed Muslim authorities hold the keys to the place. It has been honored for many centuries as the place of Calvary and the subsequent burial and resurrection of Jesus. The pilgrim traffic was intense and, for want of a better word, disquieting. The ambiance was dark. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of smoky candles gave a burned oil taste to the air. Human kindness was often strained as pilgrims jostled and jarred to make contact with the “holiest” places. Designated guardians confronted, urged, restrained or moved the pedestrian traffic according the needs of the moment. The experience did not significantly move my spirit and heart in a devotional way.

Shortly after noon we exited the shrine and made our way through the old city market to the coffee stand and snack bar of our tour director’s son where we enjoyed a more relaxed lunch and those who wished could browse and/or be abused among the numerous small shops that lined the sides of the streets.

In the afternoon we had an appointment at the “Garden Tomb.” It is owned and operated by the British “Garden Tomb Association.” It is a marked contrast to the so-called “Church of the Holy Sepulchre” and the bustling commercial area that surrounds it. The Garden park has been preserved and restored to be, still today, like a garden. It is located just outside the walls of the ancient city and has evidence of a wealthy person’s vineyard and garden including a large cistern and burial area with an unfinished tomb. There is also nearby an out crop of rock that resembles a skull. The area has been restored to a lovely quiet oasis in the midst of a hectic, throbbing city. Our guides here were British and the garden area has numerous places for groups to sit in the shade and meditate, worship or discuss. We were provided with one hour for our own private devotional. They will not let other guides speak in the Garden park. We sang the song from Mary Magdalene’s point of view, “I Come to the Garden Alone.” Also “Because He Lives,” “Up From the Grave He Arose” and others. We stretched ourselves by partaking of communion on a day other than the first day of the week, Lord’s Day. We had communion cups made of olive wood and found it to be an experience that, for some reason, moved many of us to the point of tears.

As I write this we are back in hotel. We must arise at 3 AM to begin our pilgrimage back to our homes in far away south Texas.

We recognize that it is certainly not necessary to make a trip to the Holy Lands to follow in the steps of Jesus. The affirmation of Christianity is that Jesus is our Salvation—it’s not a place, like the physical temple or the Holy Land; it’s not a book like the Holy Bible; it’s not in rituals, as important as they might be. It is Christ who is our Savior. And that is different from the other religions of world. And what a magnificent blessing that is. “It’s all about Jesus!”

Jerusalem

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Our day today was spent in Jerusalem and what a day it was!

Our first stop was at the remains of the temple grounds from the time of Herod’s Temple, when Jesus would have visited. We saw the Western Wall (formerly called the Wailing Wall) which is so very special to the Jews today. Numerous Jews were praying, reciting and celebrating various events including several Bar Mitzvahs at the wall. It was a significant throng of people—men and women were required to approach different sections of the wall reserved for the two genders.

Moving on around to the south of the ancient temple grounds we saw the reconstructed pinnacle of temple, from which Jesus was tempted. It is still several stories above the valley and in Jesus time would have been every higher above the floor of the valley. Moving on around we came to the old southern stairway by which the ordinary people would have approached the temple in Jesus’ time. Jesus would have entered here for his blessing as an infant, the visit at 12 years of age, and other visits to the temple. The actual entry-way is now blocked but the stairway is considered authentic from the time of Jesus. This is also where Peter would have preached that great sermon from Acts 2. We were impressed by the numerous mikvahs (stone “baptistery” type structures for the ritual cleansing) that are in the area. It makes the immersion of 3,000 on that first day seem quite do-able. This area, in spite of being quite authentic was generally abandoned by the crowds. In contrast, nearly all of the activity was around the Western Wall and was by Jews.

After a few moments there with some songs and prayer we moved to Hezekiah’s Tunnel. It is a water way established by King Hezekiah in 701 BC to bring water into the walled city as a war provision (2 Kings 20:20). The tunnel empties into the Pool of Siloam where Jesus sent the blind man to wash (John 9). We splashed along for more than a quarter mile in the fresh, cool water sometimes a ways above our knees and finally exited at the Pool of Siloam. What an experience!

We went for lunch at a small coffee shop in the street market of the old city. And then on to the Chapel of the Upper Room. Certainly not an authentic location but it does celebrate the event and the chapel provided a wonderful reverberating location for us to sing several hymns and remember the “last supper.”

Next, on to the location of Caiaphas’ residence and which includes a first century holding cell and torture chamber. We were able to sing a few very powerful songs and several people thought this was the highlight of the day. Associated with this event was the denial of Peter and the church of St. Peter at the Cock-crow commemorates the fact.

Our day went all too quickly.

In The Garden

The Garden experience has been one of the most moving for me.

Masada, Dead Sea, Etc.

Wednesday, July 22

Today we visited En Gedi National Park. It is a beautiful oasis, south of Jerusalem on the Dead Sea in a terribly inhospitable and barren land. A lovely sparkling stream feeds the palm trees and other foliage and numerous Ibex deer and rock badgers frolic around in the area where very little other wildlife… or any other kind of life is evident. We were impressed with the barren harshness of the landscape. It was a retreat site for Saul, David and others and its refreshing beauty is celebrated in the Bible.

Next stop was the historic Masada—a luxury fortress palace built on a mountain top, under the auspices to Herod the Great. It’s where 960 Jewish patriots stood their ground (or mountain top) for a year and a half and then committed suicide rather than live under Roman rule. Marilyn, Bobby Sparks and I walked the 1.5 mile “Snake Path” to the bottom. Our hike went from a few feet above sea level to about 1000 feet below. The temperature was a balmy 110 and we were sweating like heathens when we got to the bottom. The others made the trip up and down on the cable car.

We then moved to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and learned a little about the Essene-like community that lived there at the time of Christ and hid their precious scrolls in various caves of the community as they foresaw the coming defeat by the advancing Romans in about 70 AD. It was a great a moving experience. The opulence and sophistication of the palace was impressive and the courage of the defenders inspiring.

At last we visited the lowest spot on earth, the Dead Sea. We had brought our trunks to take a float in the sea. What an experience! The water was hot and salty. The mud was black, hot and slimy and supposedly has great therapeutic value for those who would rub it all over their body. It is a strange and somewhat disarming feeling to just float on the water and not be able to put your feet down. The subsequent showers to wash off the briny water and mud were naturally hot… too hot. Marilyn says she has never had a less refreshing swim.

One of the highlights was looking across the sea to see Mount Nebo, where Moses looked over in to the Promised Land, but didn’t enter. We wondered if the terrain had changed over the centuries to make it look more appealing to Father Abraham way back then.

Next two days will be in Jerusalem and then we’re off for home.

Gethsemane, Bethlehem, etc.

Tuesday, July 21

Another great day!

Our first stop was the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane. According to our guide, scientists from the University of California have tested and found several of the olive trees on the side of the hill to be more than 2,000 years old. “Pilgrim” traffic was heavy throughout the area which made it a little less appealing to me but we were able to read a passage from the Bible and sing “When My Love for Christ Grows Weak then in thought I go to thee, Garden of Gethsemane” We concluded our time there tracing what might have been the route of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem so many years ago.

At the bottom of the hill we re-boarded our bus and made our way to the Israel Museum, a part of which is the Shrine of the Book, which houses most of the publically displayed Dead Sea Scrolls, including the scroll of Isaiah which is a complete copy of the book.

After that we headed for Bethlehem, behind the dividing wall erected by the Israelis. We had lunch at a souvenir and antiquities shop owned and operated by the family that first received and evaluated the Dead Sea Scrolls. They indeed have been given the privilege of keeping one of the original jars in which some of the scrolls were found but the scrolls and other artifacts have become the possession of the state. They are a lovely, gracious family and one woman on our tour remembers her father telling of meeting the current owner’s grandfather (the man who received the scrolls originally) many years ago. They felt like old friends.

A visit to the Shepherd’s Field memorial and then the oldest continuously operating Christian church in the world The Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. We read the accounts, sang “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” etc.

It was a great day but the crowds were quite intense at most locations and the street hawkers and others were somewhat distracting, but overall it was a truly great experience.

Nazareth, Beth Shean, Jericho

Monday, July 20, 2009

I, Jake, will add my bit to Catherine's good report.

Another incredibly full and significant day. I have determined that the extent and variety of places visited makes it unprofitable to even try to report. It is difficult enough to keep up with it all when we are present on site. It would not be of interest to most people unless they had a keen interest in one or two specific places that we visited. So, here’s basically just a list of what we saw or did today.

We left the beautiful Sea of Galilee and moved in land, passing by the town of Cana of Galilee. We didn’t even stop. Location is uncertain and it has been highly commercialized specializing in weddings and wine. Lots of folks repeat vows there and buy wine, even though none is produced locally any more.

Nazareth far surpassed my expectations. We first visited the ancient spring that supplied water for the village of Jewish workers that were attracted to the area in the first century to help with construction projects at the nearby, Sephoris. The original spring still produces some water. A long legend assumes that the angel announced the coming birth to Mary there by the water spring which someone from each family would indeed have to visit nearly day. It is now covered with an Orthodox church.

We then moved to the Roman Catholic Church of the Annuciation a few blocks away. It is built over an important archeological site that contains several cave homes from the first century period. Ancient graffiti indicates that it was a revered site from a very early time and many are actually convinced that it could have been the residence of Joseph and Mary. Recent archeological discoveries have tended to confirm the tradition. The church is the largest Christian church in the Mideast. The cave-homes were certainly interesting with their rooms, “stable” areas, storage area, etc.

We then traveled to newly constructed replica of a first century “living” village with appropriate buildings and a man actually working as first century carpenter might have and a lady making yarn and weaving on a hand loom, etc. It was quite interesting and helpful in envisioning what the world might have been like 2,000 years ago.

Next stop was Beit Shean. It was not as familiar to most of us. It is the site, close to the Jordan river where enemy forces displayed the bodies of King Saul and sons on the city wall. It was quite an important city and the recent archeological excavations and subsequent restorations make it an important window into the ancient land of Israel. We found it fascinatingly interesting.

Then we were off toward Jerusalem, but not without a stop at the ancient ruins of Jericho. We saw the place where Catherine Kenyon did her important, ground breaking (literally) archeological excavations. It is the oldest occupied city on the planet as far as we know and has the oldest known remains of a human-built structure. We read the account of the Joshua’s attack, under the shade of brush arbor and sang “Joshua at the Battle of Jericho. When we came down from the tel an enterprising resident was offering camel rides, which were eagerly accepted by several, including Marilyn.

In the city we stopped by and got leaves from a very old sycamore tree reminding us of the story of Zachaeus, the short-of stature tax collector who wanted to see Jesus. We sang “Zachaeus was a wee little man…”

And finally into our hotel at Jerusalem after a hot, sweaty and very fulfilling day

Nazareth and Jericho

We have had another full day. We visited Nazareth where we saw the ruins of a first century house that has been uncoverd. We also had a tour of the "living village" of Nazareth where we visited Joseph working in his shop and Hannah making yarn and weaving on her loom.

We also visited Jericho. It was very interesting recalling the story of Joshua and Abraham.

We are in Jerusalem for the next 4 nights.

Tomorrow we will visit the Mount of Olives and Bethlehem and then who knows. Our tour guide, Ramon, is a fabulous guide. We are not going exactly by our itenerary. We are doing so much more.

More but ran out of time for tonight. A great day.

Capernaum, Sea of Galilee, etc.

Sunday afternoon, July 19, -- Sea of Galilee.

Well, we’ve certainly had a full day so far. Marilyn, Randy and I were up and out by six am to walk along the “board walk” outside our hotel, along the Sea of Galilee.

At 8:15 in the morning we began traversing the Sea of Galilee in a smallish old style boat. Our first order of business was to take the Lord’s Supper. Marilyn had pre-prepared unleavened bread, our tour guide provided wine and small, individual Olive wood communion cups. We passed by the table to take the elements. The sea was beautiful with no “sudden squalls” and no one followed the Jesus example of sleeping in the stern. It was a special, emotional and spiritual experience. We read from The Word, sang “Come Share Lord” and communed with God, Christ and one another. We sang a few songs that had been inspired by experiences on the Sea of Galilee—“Master the Tempest is Raging,” “Love Lifted Me” and a round of “There are fishes in the nets of the hands of the men, in the boat, on the Sea of Galilee.” Staff on board showed us how an ancient net would have been thrown. Rodney Cramer followed suit and did a credible job of casting the net. Neither cast produced any fish. We felt like the disciples who “fished all night but they caught no fishes.”

Our bus was waiting at the end of our hour-long voyage. We boarded and stopped briefly at the location that celebrates the Sermon on the Mount and then headed north to the region of majestic Mt. Hermon, Caesarea Philippi and the ancient shrine to the god Pan (where Peter made the good confession at the “gates of Hades.”) What an experience that was!

After a lunch of pita loaves and fish we visited the cliffs of Arbel along the old road from Galilee to Nazareth. Our guide thinks that it would be likely that Jesus would have called Simon the Zealot from the refugee caves along the way where the Zealots hid out.

Then on to the probable site on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called the fishermen and later appeared them once again after the resurrection and ask Peter three times about his love. It is in the same area as the feeding of the five thousand may have occurred.

And finally for our days adventure we visited the ancient cite of Capernaum where Jesus spoke with authority in the synagogue, healed a demoniac and many others including Peter’s mother-in-law. The foundations of that very synagogue are still present, as well as remains of Peter’s house—both of which have been pretty well authenticated in the last few years with a high degree of certainty as authentic first century remnants.

What a day it has been.

Tomorrow we’re off for Nazareth and then Jerusalem.

Friday

Saturday, July 18:

Our day was made simpler today, as far as travel is concerned, due to it being a Sabbath when most Israel comes to a halt.

We have simply seen too much that is too interesting to communicate. We have visited Caesarea by the sea (where Paul was “tried” and imprisoned, Cornelius lived and was baptized, etc. It was one of Herod’s amazing architectural feats.

Mt Carmel, where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. The truly spectacular view from the summit shows the heart of the Bible lands—Nazareth, Mt Tabor (probable Transfiguration) and the Jezreel Valley where most of the major battles described in the Bible took place.

Tel Megiddo, sentinel of the ancient crossroads of civilization. Home for some of Solomon’s stables and a significant city for King Ahab and Jezebel. 20+ layers of civilization, one on top of another.

Jordan River where it empties out of the Sea of Galilee. Many were be baptized, including several in our group.

Tiberius and Sea of Galilee, where we are tonight. I wish I had more time, energy and ability to describe what we’ve experienced. It seems to me that a visit here should be a virtual requirement for anyone who aspires to teach the word. It is truly a life-changing event… and we’ve only been here one day.

Maybe I’ll post more later. -- Jake

Tel Aviv

Friday, July 17: Well, we’ve arrived on Friday afternoon in TelAviv and are more or less settled in to our Grand Beach hotel. We’ve made it fine so far with only a few little “contra tiempos.” On the way in from the airport we were able to stop briefly by the old city of Joppa. What a delight. One of the oldest continuously operating ports in the world, going back at least to the time of Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses the Great in the 13the century before Christ. Some of the ruins supposedly go back to that period when Egypt had a port here. The site is significant for several Biblical reasons.

1. Port of escape and subsequent departure for Jonah.

2. Port of reception for the Cedars of Lebanon, used in construction of the Jerusalem temple.

3. Residence of Dorcus (Tabitha).

4. Temporary residence of Peter, who received a message from God to go tell the good news to Cornelius.

A little further

We are now in Houston waiting for our flight to London. Enjoying the fellowship.

First leg

Well we've successfully made the first leg of our journey. We are in McAllen at the airport. Everyone showed up right on time... except the bus. Next time we "lay us down to sleep" will be in Tel Aviv Israel.

The time draweth nigh.

The time draweth nigh for our trip to the Holy Lands. We'll be leaving on Thursday morning, July 16. You may check on our progress here.

Holy Land Tour - July 16 - 25, 2009

As you ride a boat across the Sea of Galilee, stroll in the Garden of Gethsemane or pause for a moment by the Wailing Wall, you’ll find this unique Holy Land Tour to be a very spiritual experience. The focus of our program is on Biblical history, religion and tradition. The group will be accompanied by Jake Vincent and Bill Reagan. A local Christian guide will also accompany us offering an unforgettable journey.