Video Blog: Elijah and the Prophets on Mt. Carmel

On the Blue Med

Our tour group arrived safely in Israel.  Easy 9 hour flight. 

Spent the night in a beachfront hotel on the great Blue Med in a city called Netanya, about 20 miles north of Tel Aviv.  You could hear the ocean crash all night long.  The vastness of the great ocean that Jesus saw most often is a refreshing reminder of God’s big-ness.  When you look out over the coast line, you can not see anything but more and more water.  Your eyes try to imagine the next piece of land, but it is incomprehensible to fathom.

God’s love is much like the big, blue med.  It is vast and never ending.  It is deep and replenishing.  It is powerful and continuous. As I watch the sunrise on the big blue med this morning, I will reflect on the song by John Mark McMillian, and made famous by the Dave Crowder band…

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so, 
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

Best of Israel

Here is my travel schedule for the Campbellsville University Best of Israel tour. See Piligrim Tours for more info.

Day 2: Arrive Israel – We travel northward to our hotel for one night in the coastal area near Tel Aviv. The remainder of the day is free to walk along the Mediterranean, relax, and have dinner.

Day 3: Caesarea, Megiddo & Nazareth – After breakfast, we travel along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Caesarea, where Gentiles first heard the Good News from Peter and were baptized. We’ll see the Roman Amphitheatre and aqueduct, and then journey on to Mt. Carmel, where Elijah challenged King Ahab and the prophets of Baal. Next we travel through the Jezreel Valley to Megiddo, the Armageddon Battlefield. We drive through the area of Cana and Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus.

Day 4: Capernaum, Dan, Caesarea Philippi & Mount of Beatitudes – Dan is where the children of Israel fell to the depths of pagan worship and Caesarea Philippi which is also the site of Peter’s Confession. In Capernaum we will visit the ruins of an ancient synagogue and Peter’s home. Then we travel on to the site of the multiplication of loaves and fishes and the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the Sea. After viewing the ancient Fisherman Boat at an operating Kibbutz, we enjoy a relaxing cruise on the Sea of Galilee.

Day 5: Jordan River Baptism Site, Beth Shean & Dead Sea – We begin our day with a visit to the Jordan River Baptismal site. Next we travel southward to Beit-Shean/Scythopolis, the most magnificent archeological site in Israel, located at the strategic juncture of the Jezreel and Jordan valleys. We pass ancient Jericho, view from a distance this city famed as the oldest in the world, before coming to our lodging for the evening at the Dead Sea.

Day 6: Masada, Ein Gedi, Dead Sea Scrolls, Abraham’s Tent – Our day begins with a cable car ride to the mountain top fortress of Masada. Afterwards we proceed to Ein Gedi, “Spring of the Goat,” an oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea. This is where King David hid from Saul, and where God defeated the enemies of the Israelites by praise and worship led by King Jehoshaphat. Next, we visit Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

Day 7: Around Jerusalem, Bible Times, Holocaust Museum - Passing by the Protestant Cemetery, we visit the “Upper Room” just outside the Zion Gate where the disciple whom Jesus loved laid his head on His breast and where later Thomas cried, “my Lord & my God.” An interesting and educational time awaits us at the Israeli Museum. Walk through collections of centuries old Israeli artifacts including the Dead Sea Scrolls, and a then a guided walk through an accurately detailed model of Biblical Jerusalem will help to prepare you for what you will experience in the following days. We conclude the day with a visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum.

Day 8: Jesus’ Steps, the Last Days – Today we walk where Jesus walked; beginning the day with a panoramic view of the city, Mount Moriah and the Dome of the Rock from atop the Mount of Olives and then the Garden of Gethsemane. Next we visit the House of Caiaphas where Jesus was beaten and spit upon. See a pit where he may have been held for the evening and the ancient hillside steps he walked as he was taken to be condemned. On our way into the city we will visit the Wailing Wall and then the fascinating Rabbinical Tunnels leading us through the Second Temple era. We move on to the Judgment Hall of Pilate, hear of those who conspired against Him and are reminded of His brutal beating and humiliation. From here we will also be able to see the Pool of Bethesda, Stephen’s Gate and St. Ann’s Church.

Day 9: Way of Suffering, Garden Tomb, Pentecost, Bethlehem – While walking along the Via Dolorosa, we are reminded of His way of suffering along with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Our climax of the day is the area of Golgotha (place of the skull) and the Garden Tomb, where we celebrate the resurrection with communion and a time of praise.

Day 10: Home – A very early morning departure for the Tel Aviv Airport for our flight homeward will allow for arrival home by early afternoon.

Dr. King Musem

Memorial Pool

Reposted from 2008.

Our second Atlanta family stop was the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Museum. We visited the church where Dr. King served for 8 years as Associate Pastor, under his father Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

I learned he received his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology. Wow!!! We saw pictures of the other churches he served as a Baptist pastor.

But more importantly, we saw the history of one of America’s greatest men. His legacy is more than inspirational; it’s revolutionary. His committment to Christ and to his fellow man led him to go farther than any other civil rights leader.

What it would have been like to live in those days of hatred and segregation? I am so thankful for men like Dr. King and so many others who fought hard to make America a better place for ALL PEOPLE.