Thursday April 14, 2016
Wow, still trying to get my head wrapped around of the idea
that we are in Israel …it’s
no longer an idea, it has become a reality.
This journey, for lack of a better word, this pilgrimage to seek God and
see where Jesus lived and loved over 2000+ years ago is real and front and
center in my life now. Lori’s desire for
Brandi and me to do something like this is being realized right now in a
country 11000+ miles, half way around the world and 13 hours ahead of our home
in Hawaii .
Went to bed at about 11pm Israel time and got up at 4am and
could not go back to sleep. Spent an
hour praying and reading the bible, checking FB, reading the news back home and
just talking to God. Brandi wanted to go
and walk the coastline of our hotel the Ramada Inn in Netanya. It reminded me a lot of Shoreline
Park in Santa Barbara . The view of the Mediterranean
Sea was spectacular at 6:15am in the morning. So amazed by God’s beauty and wonder across
the world. This Ramada Inn was no
joke. We had a 2 bedroom suite with 1.5
baths..bigger than my apartment. The
breakfast was amazing, just like the dinner last night. Man, Mediterranean food is filled with so
much fresh vegetables and so many different spices. There is a lot of protein via egg, chicken
and beef. There was a Greek cream cheese
yogurt that Brandi had and it was rich.
There was another tour group led by EO Travel (the same one we are on)
but they were much bigger and we were blessed to meet a few of them as our
seating arrangements got mixed up.
At 8am, we packed the bus with our bags (as usual, this
Kanaka here does not pack light lol. One
big blue suitcase, one roll on carry on and a back pack. Brandi too..everyone else in our group, the
other 12, sure packed super light for the trip).
Our guide, Hillel is from the USA
but has been in Israel
for 40+ years. Hatem our driver we think
is Arab and doesn’t say a lot, but he could also double as our security
force..tall, lanky but strong, and very quiet but friendly. We had a 45 minute drive to Caesarea
in a little traffic and had to take a quick detour to make sure that one of our
ladies did not leave her purse back at the hotel (found it in the baggage
storage..thank You Lord).
Caesarea Maritima (it’s official name) was amazing. Much of the remains of this port city that
was built back in 25 BCE and took 12 years to build back then (that in itself
is amazing considering what was built and how they had to build it – took
Hawaii 30 + years to build H3 – go figure) have been excavated and
restored. This was a focal point of the
Roman Empire back then, it was the Roman Capital of Palestine and was built by Herod to honor
Caesar. It was magnificently built and
was a crucial gathering place of a sea port and trade route and many battles
were fought over this land. However, it
was built on a major Fault Line and Earthquakes and other natural disasters
like storms took its toll over the years. This area is where Peter’s ministry
flourished to the Gentiles (non Jews). He was able to share the Gospel of Jesus
and the Holy Spirit fell upon to all those who were listening.
Acts 10:44-45 While Peter was
still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were
listening to the message. 45All the
circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the
Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
Peter’s ministry was to those who were Non-Jews, people like
me and most of you reading this…we were deemed unclean and not part of the
chosen people of Israel if we lived in that time…but Peter in a revelation from
God realized that all that was created by God and cleansed by Him (made anew in
Him) was no longer unholy..in other words..all people were valuable to
God..everyone, was important to God and they needed to hear the Good News of
Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection because it is what will make them clean,
holy and right with God. Peter spoke
this here in Caesarea at this place that King
Herod built and where Cornelius, an Italian cohort, who feared and was devoted
to God invited Peter to come and speak the Good News. Wow, talk about the Bible coming alive while
reading Acts 10 in the location where it happened.
We got to see the Hippodrome, the area where Roman games and
entertainment took place. Chariot races similar to the one we saw Ben Hur race
around an oval track on TV where held here.
Games of competition was held in Roman times to entertain people and
celebrate things or times. This was
right on the ocean front and the area we sat in was like the emperor’s box..the
VIP section. However, this place was
made more important as this is where Paul, the Bible says gave his defense as
he was imprisoned to King Agrippa and those that wanted him killed. Paul shared his testimony with King Agrippa,
his whole life story – how he killed and murdered followers of Christ before,
but yet his encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus, changed his life
forever and he wanted people to know the life and light that Jesus Christ had
for all those who believed in Him. King
Agrippa knew that what Paul was saying to be true and still yet resisted to
believe but almost did.. As Pastor David
shared in his teaching, we all have friends that we want to get them to know
the Lord, and we keep sharing and sharing our faith…but questions, doubt, pride
block their ability to see who Christ is and what He has done, can do and will
do in their lives…Pastor David shared 5 things that may hinder most people to
believe and I truly understand that these 5 all lead back to pride in our
lives…we are not willing to understand or believe that God has a plan for us
all in Love, Death, Suffering, knowing who God is and eternity. We want to control how we love and who we
love. We want to control when we die and
how we die. We don’t want any kind of
suffering in our lives and when it happens we blame others for it. We don’t want to believe in a God whose Son
died and rose again to give us life and instead choose to believe in Science or
karma. We don’t get the concept that our
time on earth here is but temporal…we live maybe 46, 70 or a 100 years and then
die for eternity…eternity is eternity…we don’t understand that we can either be
with God in eternity or not be with God…in hell. Prior to coming to Christ, I totally thought
I was in control of my life..filled with pride, anger, lust, obsessed with the
things of this world…instead of knowing and seeing that my calling was to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That
is what Paul was trying to tell King Agrippa..you can choose to live the way
you are without Christ, or you can live the life God intended him to live. We were created for God’s glory in His image
and His likeness for great things.
Sitting here, in this place where words and actions of the Bible 2000+
years ago became more deep, more intimate for me today. It put a picture behind the words.
Prior to leaving Caesarea, Hillel showed us this area where
the Roman’s built an aqueduct and the brilliance behind the technology of that
time and how water was obtained from the ocean, filtered, processed and
returned to the ocean. Unreal how much of the Roman building techniques are
still used today.
That was 2.5 hours we spent there…half our day not even done
yet and I am still in amazement of where I am.
From here we headed inland to Megiddo .
Megiddo
was a strategic area built 7000 years ago.
It has a history of 25 civilizations built 25 times and destroyed and
conquered 25 times. It was the center
of major traffic and transportation but with limited resources through its
history. Whoever controlled Megiddo , controlled the
traffic. Egypt
was south of Megiddo and Mesopotamia
was North of it, two of the major ancestral territories. It was surrounded by the Jezreel Valley
From Megiddo , we headed North
to Nazareth . Mary, mother of Jesus hometown. Jesus stomping grounds. Where he grew in wisdom and knowledge. We stopped at the top of Mount Precipice
to get a 360 degree view of Nazareth , Jerzeel
valley, Mt. Tabor ,
Mt. Carmel ,
Cana and the entire landscape of the area
where Jesus roamed and spent a majority of His life. We saw the area, Church
of Annunciation , where Mary was told
by the angel of her carrying Jesus in Nazareth
from this view. Modern day Nazareth is huge today
compared to the small town it was back 2000+ years ago. Scholars and historians have said that Nazareth was no more than
200 people back then, based on what was dug up and found by archeologists. It was not much of an area, as the Bible
says, but Jesus was from there and not accepted there also. Amazing to continually see the places of the
Bible. Gives so much more context From
here we went to Cana , a good 5 mile walk (we
drove of course) to see where Jesus did His first miracle, turning water into
wine. Got to see the area where the
wedding was at and on the walls of the walkway to the Franciscan church there
was the scripture John 2:1-11 written on the wall. Tom Webster (tall Tom)
shared a devotion on this and how God always gives us His very best in life
even when we don’t deserve it. Like the
wine Jesus made from water, it was the best of the best.
It was now almost 4:30pm and the effects of jet lag, time
difference and the day filled with so much joy and emotion was taking a toll on
most of us. So we headed to Tiberias,
the Sea of Galilee and our hotel for the
next few days, Leonardo
Plaza
What a great hotel, right on the waterfront of the Sea of Galilee .
Got a quick workout in, decompressed for a bit and ate a great dinner
again..man, the food here is really good..did not expect it be like
this..actually, not sure what I expected.
Anyway, got super tired and went to bed by 8:30pm and it is now 3:30am
Friday morning as I type this.
Today our adventure includes: Sea of Galilee
boat ride where it’s my turn to share a devotion on Matthew 14 and Peter
getting out of the boat. Then we head to
Capernaum ,
where Jesus spent a lot of time there, then the Chapel of Primacy and we end
our day at the Jordan River Baptismal Site.
Brandi and I will be getting baptized today in the Jordan
River …something I was looking forward to doing. I was baptized back in 2003 when I first got
saved and yeah, when I was baptized when I was a baby in the Catholic
church…but being able to be baptized in the Jordan River
in this time is something I am looking forward to.
Having internet issues here at hotel so trying to post pics
of our first day hopefully soon. Thank
you all for your prayers, words of encouragement and following along on this
journey. An amazing journey.
Love you all and God bless. To God be the glory!!
this is Daniel, so excited for you brother... love Jesus
ReplyDeleteWow Brother and Brandi! It sounds so unique and amazing!
ReplyDeleteLove you both, be safe. Can't wait to see pics
Your Lil bro