Photos from Israel

I have uploaded photos from our September 2014 trip to Israel at this place:  https://plus.google.com/photos/116153564359477814846/albums/6072260134719557265?authkey=CMO81beU08aWzwE .  I will write more about the trip in upcoming posts.  We had a great time in Israel this year!

Israel Trip - Day 0

   When a person travels overseas, getting there is always half the fun.  On my recent trip to Israel the journey there took me into a time machine.  Leaving September 2, I stepped on a plane to visit my daughter in New York City (Step one of the journey).

   Arriving in New York, we took my bags to the apartment where I was staying, and then went to Metro Moses, a group of Messianic believers who met for a Bible Study.

   Wednesday we began the morning with a bagel (eastern European Jewish food), and then went into the city.  We took a walk in Central Park (top to bottom, visiting botanical gardens first.  We rode a tram to Roosevelt Island.  Then we visited the Tenament Museum (http://www.tenement.org/), which looks at life of immigrants (including the life my grandfather lived when he arrived in this very community).  We took a walking tour, and saw how the community changed over the years.

   In the evening we attended prayer meeting at East Seventh Baptist Church (www.graffitichurch.org) in lower Manhattan.  The church purchased a Synagogue made up of a Jewish Community from Poland.  The building had to be rebuilt, and I had the opportunity to help in the construction (lots of fun stories, but not part of this blog).  The members of the church are from inner city NYC, and always fun to see.  We enjoyed prayer and a good message from the Pastor.

    Thursday after a bagel breakfast at Ft. Greene, we boarded the plane.  It flew east, so the afternoon and the night went very fast.  We flew to Istanbul, where we spent four hours in the airport.  We endured some jet lag, took some rest, and explored.

   This area is not far from where my grandfather grew up.  Turkey is just below the Black Sea.  My grandfather comes from Odessa, which is on the north side off the black sea.  When he immigrated the first leg was on a ship which sailed through the Bosporus to France.

    Leaving Istanbul, we took the 2 hour flight to Tel-Aviv.  We flew over Turkey, and saw the area where Paul must have traveled.  Landing at Ben Gurion Airport we passed quickly through customs and readied to leave the airport.

   True to New York, we took mass transit to Tel Aviv, and then walked to our hotel, Beit Immanuel Guest House (http://www.beitimmanuel.org/) which is in the American Colony.  This area was settled in the nineteenth century, and has a long history.  Our accommodations were very good, and close to Jaffa.

Retirement!

     King Solomon wrote: "In everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Wise words from a king with real world application.  There is a season for everything in life.
     I have found there are seasons I enjoy in life, and seasons I do not enjoy in life.  When I go through a season I do not enjoy, I get through it with the knowledge that it will end and something else will come.  When I experience a season in life I really enjoy, I find it comes to an end too soon.
     There was a season when I was born ... I am not yet ready for the other part of this proverb... It will come later ... I hope much, much later.  But when it comes, I am prepared ... and the Bible tells me after a little while, when the transition takes place it will be a good season (Philippians 1:21; Luke 23:43; Genesis 15:15).
     There was a time to be a child.  I enjoyed that time.  Sometimes I still try to slip into that time.  We watched Peter Pan last night, it was fun.  I even tried to fly, and I sang, "I'll never grow up;" But the season ended, and I did ... and it was not so bad (as long as one can remember where they came from and join the little children sometimes... To this I tell every adult, sign up to work in the church nursery, and spend some time playing with the children in the block area.  Matthew 18:3).
     There was a time I was a student.  I did not like that at first, but with graduation it passed, and that phase was over (I thought!).  Well, I guess that phase keeps coming, and I keep learning more, and that is ok.  I will start a new phase of learning in my next stage of life. (Psalm 19; Ezra 7:10; 2 Tim 2:15)
     There is a season to work, and earn a living.  I have been experiencing that season now for about 40 years (35 in ministry).  And there is a season to move beyond a normal job.
     I have come to one of the season changes.  I have enough on my agenda, I will not get bored.  There are at least three areas of productiveness in which I will be involved ... and then some travel, time with friends, recreational activities, which I will be able to do ... in this new season.

Picnic for 5,000

One miracle which appears in all four Gospels is the feeding of the 5,000.  [Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:35-45; Luke 9:10-17; John 6].  Recently I thought about who would have been at the picnic.  Although this list is not exhaustive, it does capture many of the people who were present and participated at the picnic.  You will find it to relevant because many of the same people are at large group event today.

• There was Simon Peter - who heard Jesus say to the disciples: “You give them something to eat,” and he just sat there like a rock and did nothing about the request.
• There was Thomas - He doubted that the disciples could feed the crowd, so he just sat and doubted and watched.
• There was Philip - the worrier.  He wanted to know how they would ever get enough money.  He had not yet learned that with God all things are possible (Mark 9:23; 10:27).
• Matthew the Publican who understood the methods and reasons for taxation.  He probably responded to Phillip, “If we had known we could have charged admission.”
• And there was Andrew (John 6:8-9), the Problem Solver.  Andrew went out, worked the crowds and found a boy in the crowd who brought some food.
• In the crowd there were lots of children: Ben , Yelda , and Peyton , for example.  These were children who could not sit still (you see them at every picnic, and often in other large groups).  These children, although asked to sit with their group of fifty, were actually running around the group playing games and creating commotion.
• Not all the children were like this.  Shelly and Damien sat quiet and securely in the group with their parents, waiting until the food arrived.
• Nathan was the child that Andrew found with the two fish and five loaves.  Nathan was a kind hearted child, willing to share his lunch with Jesus.  He knew there was not enough for everyone, but because Jesus asked, Nathan was willing to give.  I think Nathan was as surprised as everyone else when Jesus broke the bread, blessed it and the disciples began to distribute the food … and there was enough for everyone!
• Pat was one of the first people to get some food from the disciples.  She wondered if there would be enough, so she only took a few crumbs so others could have some to eat also.
• Esthio had been there all day, and was hungry.  He saw how little Pat took, and decided that he could take her portion, and a couple others.  He was hungry, and didn’t care if there was enough for those who were last in line.
• Mary was bitter.  She was several rows behind Esthio, and saw how much he took.  She worried there would not be enough food for her, and she was hungry too. 
• Camad tasted the food, and found it to be pleasant.  Nabashal thought it wasn’t cooked well enough (of course she was a picky eater).  Melody said the food was the best she had ever eaten.  It reminded her of food she ate at a wedding (John 2).  Something about this meal was much better than the ordinary.
• Tessie was served near the end.  She knew that Jesus had received only one lunch, but there was so much food she decided to take some home.  She liked to put food in her purse, which is what she did without anyone knowing.
• Nemalia is a regular at any picnic, and carried the scraps on the ground home.  (This is the ant, not a person, of course)
• Cathy , Jardin , Cher ; and Cal <5526> cleaned up after the crowd, picking up twelve baskets of broken bread.

Israel 2012

Israel is the homeland of our faith (Jewish and Christian).  Our family visited Israel in 2012, and learned much about the land, its people, our Bible and our faith.  We took some pictures (I shared in a July 2012 blog).  The links are as follows:

Pictures of Jerusalem – https://plus.google.com/photos/115544123164287975321/albums/5761726037763508785?authkey=CKjs4fbz6MOBsQE

Pictures from the rest of Israel - https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/115544123164287975321/albums/5761026986035271169?authkey=COqExoL17_GkVw

Chelsea & I look forward to returning to Israel in September.  We will visit some of the same areas, and some new areas.

Our trip will begin in Tel Aviv, and go south into the Shephelah where many historic (and current) battles took place.  We will visit the valley where David fought Goliath, where Gideon fought the Moabites, and where the Maccabees fought.  We will get to see the landscape which made this area so important to defend ... or to conquer.

We will travel south to Beersheba, where Abraham lived.  This is the desert.  Perhaps we will get to drink some water out of one of the Patriarch's wells.  We will visit Arad, the Wilderness of Zin, and the dead sea.  We will spend one night in a Bedouin tent.  We will climb Masada (lots of walking on this trip), visit Qumran, and EnGedi.

From this point we will travel north to Galilee.  At present this is a more peaceful area.  We will walk where Jesus walked ... both along the Sea of Galilee, on the road to Nazareth, and climbing Mt. Arbel.  We will travel to points north: Dan and Cesarea Philippi.  We will go east to Gamala.  Then west to Megiddo, Mt. Carmel, and south to Jerusalem.

Our tour with http://biblicalisraeltours.com/ will end in Jordan where we will see Mt. Nebo and Petra.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Three Pieces of Motzah

The Book of Exodus tells the Hebrew people: “For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.” (Ex 12:17) Because of this command the Jewish people have extensive rules which require cleaning the house (removing all leavening products) before the Passover.  To remove the Leavening is a huge act of obedience.

The Exodus Story tells us how when the Jews left Egypt they were forced to leave in such haste they did not have time to allow the bread to rise.  God told them, “Eat it with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste” (Ex. 12:11)

Motzah, which the Jews eat for seven days, is a type of bread made without leavening. It is one of the requirements of Passover week to help the Jewish people remember.  To eat Motzah (and to go without Leavened products such as bread, cake, pie, and many other foods) is an act of planning and obedience.

Paul wrote related to this in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8: “Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.”

In other words, Paul wrote that leavening stood for wickedness.  He told the church in Corinth (and our churches today) to do away with wickedness.  Every bit of evil!

Many today have a problem with that.  They want to blend with the world.  But God says be ye Holy for I am Holy. (Ex 22:31; Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26; 1 Cor 1:2; Eph 5:3; 1 Thess 3:13; 4:7; 2 Thess 1:5-10; 2 Tim 2:21; Titus 1:8; Heb 12:14; 1 Pe 1:15-16; 2 Pe 3:11)  

But we don’t want to be odd!  We want to eat our sandwiches on bread.  We want to eat dessert.  We want crackers in our soup.  In our churches we fear if we are too different, people will not come.  We want to be flashy like Hollywood or Disney in order to attract people.

When we blend with the world we become like white bread (called Chometz), which is all puffed up with air ... unless you are like the "Upper Crust" (the tough upper crust that many children just cut off the bread and throw away because they do not like it).

Is there something to this Holiness?  We are to live and walk with God (Gen. 5:24; 6:9) so we can live lives pleasing to Him.

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. His righteousness (not our own puffed up kind) will draw the world to Himself.  With God all things are possible.” (Deut 6:5-9)

The three pieces of Motzah are a reminder of God's mighty acts, and God's desire that we Honor Him.  The first piece of Motzah symbolizes the Manna God provided to sustain Israel while in the wilderness (we are sort of there right now, our real home is heaven); the second is for Good Friday, the day we get two servings of Manna, because we get to rest on the Sabbath.  The third is for Pesach, remembering there is more to life than the drudgery of this world, and for those who know the Lord, there is a Promised Land!

Shank Bone 3

Even with the knowledge of what I wrote in the last two blogs, still ... a dried up bone in the middle of the Seder Plate is unusual.  It is the only item on that plate which none can eat (except the dog under the table, which looks at it with his big brown eyes).  Could it mean something else?

Well ... that bone can represent us, if we are not careful!  All too often Christians (who call themselves people of faith) can become dried out images of what God desires, worthless dead bones, which are of little use except for the trash (and the dogs who love to chew them, remembering what they used to be ... and are not!).

It is almost as if we are used up salt.  Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13)

So, what makes us become like worthless bones?  Consider Jesus words to the churches in Revelation:

-  Ephesus (the opposite of Philadelphia): “You have forsaken your first love” ... God tells us the first and foremost command is: “Love the LORD your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength.” (and Jesus adds, with ALL your mind) (Deuteronomy 6:5; 11:13; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27)

-  Sardis (the opposite of Smyrna): “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (yes, think of themselves as being “blessed” because they are rich in the world's goods but they are poor [dead] spiritually speaking ... do you think we need revival?!)

-  Pergamum and Thyatira, where the church follows after every wind of doctrine (as the Baalamites and Nicolaitans) and even gets caught up in the sin of Jezebel (Yes, we need revival for we are dead and worthless like that bone!)

-  Laodicea: We are lukewarm, not the refreshing water of a cool mountain stream or the healing hot springs we should be.  And what do you do with lukewarm bath water ... you throw it out on the street! (But don't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet!)

God wants us to experience revival. Ezekiel said to Israel, “The Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’" (Ezekiel 37:1-2)

God desires for His people to become alive.  If we will but take our eyes off ourselves, and place them where God wants them, on Him, then we can again become the mighty force that God wants us to be.  The church can become alive when we leave the safety of our fortress (as Jesus beckoned Peter to leave the safety of the boat in Matthew 14:25-32),and once again go into the world taking the Gospel to the Lost.  When we are obedient to the Great Commission, God can use our lives along with His message to bring life to the church in our land once again.

Shank Bone 2 - Good Friday

John the Baptist spoke these words to introduce Jesus the Christ (Messiah) “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! “ (John 1:29)  The Lamb of God is an apt description of Jesus, for indeed it was Jesus who took away the sin of the world.

In former times the law of Moses required a sin offering (Leviticus 5:5-6).  The shedding of blood was required for the forgiveness of sin. “The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

The lamb is a symbol of the seriousness of sin.  Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness (results of sin) with a patch of fig leaves. (Have you ever considered what their clothing would have looked like the day after they made them!)  A dried up leaf is really not sufficient.

God took a lamb ... I do not believe it was just any lamb, but I think it was a pet which was close to the couple.  It had to be killed - that is the lesson, Sin (wrong doing) always hurts someone!  Then the pet lamb was skinned (yes, our foul deeds: ridicule, rape, theft, and others skin people alive); and a permanent cloak was made for the first couple, which would not wither.

This offering meant something to Adam and Eve.  They knew the Lamb.  Later on people forgot and made light of the offering.  God said: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (1 Sam. 15:22; Hosea 6:6)

And God knew that the system of offering could (would) not go on forever.  There was a day coming that God would provide his own and only Son, the Son of Man, Jesus the Messiah (Anointed One) to die on the cross for us (Good Friday), to take away the sin of the world.

Peter Tells us: “Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:17-21)

After the death of Jesus the Temple was no longer needed.  Jesus is the Sin Offering pictured in the Torah.  God allowed the removal of the Temple 40 years after Jesus died on the cross (within the generation) because it was no longer needed.   John writes in Revelation: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne. … Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:6, 12)

John tells us: “I did not see a temple in the city (New Jerusalem), because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation 21:22)

The Shank Bone in the middle of the Jewish Passover table is a reminder to that the beloved Temple exists no longer. It is a reminder in the Christian celebration that "it is finished," our sin has been removed, and is no more.  Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Shank Bone 1

One of the most unusual items on the Passover Seder Plate is the Shank Bone of a Lamb. When one looks at this plate prominently displayed at the Seder it captures your attention immediately.  Why would this dry, uneatable bone hold the central place of the main display at the table?  Is it to keep the dog (with the big brown eyes) happy?

No, actually, the bone is the main part of the story.  In ancient times the bone used to contain roasted meat which the family would eat.  We are told in Exodus 12:3-11 how to select and prepare the lamb.

The famous Hillel Sandwich (eaten just before dinner) was a composite of three items: Motzah smeared with bitter herbs (morror) and a piece of roasted lamb.  Today that sandwich (without the lamb) is only a bitter reminder of what it used to be.

The Afikomen (Tzofun) which is eaten as the dessert was formally a morsel of the roasted lamb, saved to be savored at the end.  This savory taste was strong enough to last into the night.

Shortly after 70 AD Lamb's meat was removed from the Passover Seder as a reminder of the Temple's destruction.  In the good times over 260,000 lambs were killed in the ritually acceptable method in the Temple on the day of Preparation.  After the Temple was destroyed, there was (is) no longer a place to kill the lamb in the proper manner.  

The Jewish people stopped serving Lamb's meat on the Passover.  They placed an empty bone on the Seder plate.  They removed the meat from the Hillel Sandwich.  And they replaced the final taste of Lamb with a bit of Motzah.  Lamb is not served at the Seder in order to remember ... The Temple is destroyed.

;;; and the Jewish people hope for a Revival ... a time when they can return to the old pattern of faith ... to be continued ...

Passover's Rich Tradition

From father to son to son to son to son for over 3,500 years that's one of the miracles of Passover. It's a wonder! From generation to generation the story has been told over and over again in a line that has never been broken. Fathers (and Mothers and brothers and sisters) share with family members and with the next generation(s) so the story continues to be shared and its truths passed on. (Exodus 12:24-27)

I see books which sound a warning about how in today's world 75 percent of young adults (ages 18-24) you have fallen away from their faith (or practice of their faith). This is a sad state of affairs when I compare this reality to the tradition of sharing Passover together. As I read these books I realize we've missed something.

We're missing out on inspiring the next generation in their faith.  We're missing out on telling the story and passing on the faith to those who need it most. (Deut. 4:9)

What is it that makes a difference with young adults and causes the story to pass from one generation to the next? I think sometimes we get to hung up in our own traditions and in the law.  We focus on doing this in exactly the format it was shared by our parents, and in doing so we forget to make sure this is relevant and enjoyable by all. Possibly it is because we did not enjoy this celebration, so we cut it short thinking it will be boring to those hearing us (which is a self-fulfilling prophecy!).  Because it is our parent’s story, we fail to get into the story ourselves.

How can we affect and infect the next generation? We need to pass on our love and passion for God.  In order to do this love and passion have to live in our hearts.  This causes us to have an irresistible passion to share our love for God all the time (Deut. 6:5-9).  This causes us to desire to make sure the next generation understands and adopts the same passion we have.  We can not mess up.  The faith of the next generation is too important!

There is a verse which is shared each year in the Passover Seder, "On that day tell your son, `I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’" (Exodus 13:8).  This year make sure the next generation knows we have personally left Egypt ... and we are bringing them out also.  Moses would be pleased! 

Three Fathers

I have been given three special fathers to love and to learn from in this life.

One is my earthly father, or "Daddy," who I had the privilege of knowing and learning from for sixty years of life.  He was there when I was born, and gave me part of life.

The second father was "Dad" to my wife, but I called him "Bud."  While many are estranged when it comes to in-laws, I was blessed with a second dad who loved me as his own, and who I loved as my own.  I knew my second dad for 32 years of life.

Both of these fathers have been teachers, mentors and friends.  They have been teachers because they attended the school of life before I was born.  When I was 30, I realized both men had lived twice as long as I had.  Both men had much to teach me.  My earthly dad taught me piano how to swim and much, much more.  My second dad showed me how to care for daughters and to eat breakfast with friends, and much more.  I learned much about life from these two fathers ... more than I can write and more than you would read.

These fathers were mentors from whom I learned many things.  They celebrated with me in good times and walked me through hard times, sometimes giving me financial, emotional and spiritual help to get through.  They could be strict and unbending, but at the right time and in the right way, so it always helped.

These men were friends with whom I could converse, sharing life and lessons and all they had.  Both died nine months apart ... to the day, and will be missed.

I mentioned three fathers - it's in the title, for without my third Father I would not lave life.  This father is my Creator, the Lord of Heaven and earth.  I call Him "Lord," and I call Him "God."  He has been there since my birth, and before, and will be there always.

This Father loves and desires that I love Him.  Life has been a discovery of who this Father is and how much He loves, because He is often considered "unseen;" but to those who know Him, He is always present.

This Father has been a teacher, mentor and friend who knows my every need, and who has given to enrich my life through His Word and His presence.

This Father has cared for and given both my other fathers a home, and He has given me a trust that one day I will see both my other fathers again... and that life is not over ... but only beginning.