Monthly Archives: May 2015

this is my fav pic from my week in Israel… It’s taken from the porch of the 4th century replacement of the Synagogue in Capernum where Jesus preached and healed Peter’s mother-in-law. The sea of Galile is in the distance. The ruins of Peter’s house are nearby and are pictured below…  

Israel done. Next stop Serbia.

Years back, on a tour of NYC with a gaggle of 9th graders (what WAS I thinking?), I learned that old apartment buildings in the city have water tanks on their roofs so that gravity boosts water pressure.

 
Last night as the ‘call to prayer’ blared over Bethlehem, I glanced down this street I was walking past from supper. I grabbed the shot because of the water tanks. See ’em.

They are not for water pressure.

They are the reserve water supply.

So that when the government turns off the water in summer to divert it to other places, these Palestinians will have some water.

old town Bethlehem…

  
98 degrees btw

So, because of some awesome circumstances (for some of us), lectures were rescheduled from today and we were given a free day to catch up on unfinished work. Since I have no unfinished work, I joined a handful of my colleagues in the doctoral program and we headed through the checkpoint from Bethlehem into Jerusalem and went into the old city…

Got a few items checked off the list that my friend Janice told me I need to see. But the place that I was most struck by was the Western (Wailing) Wall. What I saw was rejoicing and people praying the Bible! There were tables set up and carts full of Hebrew Bibles…

a cart of Hebrew Bibles for praying at the wall

I was walking around praying and the atmosphere was really charged and I had this incredible time of worshiping God as I prayed and sang. Those present were really fervent and there were lots of celebrations going on. It was a pretty amazing thing, not just to see but to feel. These guys were crowding around to read the scrolls.

crowding around the scrolls of Scripture

We need to get excited about Scripture.

Afterward, three of us went up to the point of Jesus ascension and were blessed to find, yet another, Palestinian Christian brother who took us back to Bethlehem. Well, actually almost… he took us to the checkpoint in The Wall. I asked him about the wall and he told me it kept out the bad guys but it also kept out the good guys and created hardships for Palestinians… imagine if you live in the city of the Savior’s birth and work in Jerusalem, walking through this everyday…

The wall of separation.

Not as nice looking as these Ottoman era replacement walls of Jerusalem…

but walls.

Earlier in the day we had seen where they suppose Calvary is and the tomb (it was definitely empty, by the way). I am thankful that Jesus had torn down the wall of separation between God and man.

If I post this week, I think it will be about war, injustice and reconciliation.

Here is the first thought.

In many places there have been barriers erected for the security of people.

This is the famous wall. It separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem… Think about that for a second…

This wall protects but it also seperates. People’s lives have been changed, for good and bad.

But what are the limits?

Is this just? Or is this an injustice in the name of security?