Merry Christmas!

Today was a very exciting day.  This morning Andrew woke up first and was quickly demanding his chocolate milk.  So we were the first ones up.  As I carried him into the living room his first word was "presents".  I then looked out the window and was shocked to see snow!

It was a wonderful day.  The kids had a blast and are worn out.  It is hard to believe it has come and that it is almost gone.  I was sitting here just thinking about another Christmas night and what that night must have been like.  Bethlehem was a small obscure place.  Think of all the residents of this small town who were busy doing their normal evening activities.  That night, however, was unlike any other night.  Grace had come.  The baby in the manger would release us from our captivity.  I love how Galatians 4 describes this:

 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
 (Gal 4:4-5 NAU)

Merry Christmas!

Christ Gave Himself Up for Our Sins

Jumping into the book of Galatians has been really exciting.  The more we can reflect on the wonder of the gospel the better off we will be.   Galatians is a book of grace. A grace that is truly free.  We learn over and over that if we try to mix grace and works we no longer have any grace.  We often are good at pointing out works based religious systems, yet at times fail to see how we can fall back into a “works” mentality in our day to day lives in Christ.  This is exactly what Paul is dealing with in the churches of Galatia.  Those that "preached Christ", yet wanted to add a little more to it.   The false teachers would say, “We preach Christ” yet they emphasized circumcision, obedience to the law, and observance of the feasts. The problem was that they didn't preach Christ, but preached works.

  

One thing I love about the intro to the letter is how Paul emphasizes the foundation of the grace of God in Jesus alone.  In verse 4 he says, “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”  Did you catch that?  Jesus gave Himself up for us!  This is the message of the Gospel!   It is finished, paid for –done.  I need not nor I cannot add to His perfect work on the cross.  It is completely by grace through faith.  This is where it really hits me.  If we can just see how our sin put Christ on the cross we are closer to realizing the futility of adding anything to grace.  Isaiah 64:6 tells us all our righteousness deeds are as filthy rags.  There is nothing we can bring to somehow complete our justification or somehow aid our sanctification along.  It is truly all by grace through faith.  By grace alone, let's walk in this freedom.  Have a great Wednesday!

Earthen Vessels

Alright, I have been horrible at this blogging thing. I am picking myself up and back at it again. It has been a crazy summer. I can't believe it is already July. We had an amazing youth camp where it really seemed God worked in a tremendous way. As a church we continue to study through Judges and I am learning a ton. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the simplest most foundational truths are the ones I have to constantly come back to. In the last two months we have seen God raise up judges like Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, and we are getting ready to jump into Samson. One theme that has constantly been coming up with each of these leaders is the amazing thread of God's grace. God raises up the unlikely, the unworthy, the one who wont compete for His glory. What a great reminder in our day to day lives. It is not about us, but it is about Christ in us. Othniel appears to just be a normal guy only known for who he was related to. Ehud was a left handed apparently insignificant man. Shamgar (I still love this guys name) was an unlikely man with an unlikely weapon. In the story of Deborah we see how God takes a woman and uses her for His glory, and in that day to many men this would have been a shock. Gideon was afraid and hiding in a wine press when he heard God's call. Over and over we see how God loves to take the weak to confound the strong, to take the foolish to confound the wise.  When I take time and look over each of these people I am once again reminded of the insufficiency of man, but I am then pointed to the amazing sufficiency of Christ.   I think 2 Corinthians sums it all up.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; (2Co 4:7 NAU)

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Conformed or Renewed?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  I dont know about you but it blows my mind that it is already May.  Time is flying.  As time flies by it is imperative to live for what truly matters.  Living not just to live but living in light of His grace.  Living in light of His grace calls us to daily abide in Him.  Daily abiding in Him involves allowing the Word to renew our minds and shape the way we think and operate.  The book of Judges is filled with examples of people who drifted away from the authority and truth of the Word.  A couple of weeks ago this really hit me when looking in chapter 2.

Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. (Jdg 2:11-12 NAU)

 As a consequence of turning from the Word that God had called them to hold so diligently, they began to compromise and became conformed to what was around them. What really hit me when looking at this is that simple phrase, "who were around them." Isn't that the way it always works? When we choose to do it our own way it will always result in conformity to the culture around us. I pray by God's grace I will embrace His renewing Word, and live for what truly matters.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:2 NAU)

Bochim or Gilgal?

Well its Monday morning.  I love Monday's cause I stay home and right now Ann is at the gym and the kids are playing.  Controlled chaos for the moment.  I am even on the computer.  Judges 2:1-5  really hit me these last few days.  I had never seen this contrast between Gilgal and Bochim.  Gilgal was a place of triumph, blessing, memorial, victory, and joy.  Bochim on the other hand was indicative of a people doing it their own way in their own strength.  It was known for forgetfulness, deception, and sorrow.  Sadly, the people of Israel had moved from Gilgal and all it represented to this place called Bochim.  So often I find myself in a place in my life much like Bochim.  Just like Israel when I choose to do it my own way it will lead to forgetfulness, deception, and sorrow.  By God's grace it doesn't have to be this way.  All the people of Israel were called to do in this early section of the book was to take God at His Word and possess the land He had given them by faith.  While its different for us as New Covenant believers, the principle holds the same.  We haven't been given a land, but we have been given a life.  Ephesians 1.3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."  2 Peter 1:3  says that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness.  The key thing becomes realizing how God calls us to appropriate this life He has given to us.  Just like Israel we are called to appropriate it by faith.  This type of faith calls for a wholehearted yielded obedience to Christ and His Word.  It reminds me of Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 when he prays, "that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."   This is really what it comes down to, although the comfort is that it is only by God's enabling grace we ever abide in Him.  God calls us to simply say yes to Him, a wholehearted response of submission.  By God's grace let's walk in Gilgal.

Daily Looking at the Gospel

Well it has been about three weeks since getting back from Israel. It was an amazing trip! One of my favorite parts of being in the land of the Bible is to see geographical connections from place to place. It really helps you get familiar with different locations. So it was very exciting to start the book of Judges this last Sunday. So many of the places that are mentioned were places we had a chance to visit or travel through. I have never taught through the book so I am excited to study it more in depth. The one thing you consistently see throughout the book is disobedience. Over and over there is the same cycle. One of sin, slavery, supplication, salvation, and silence. My dad once told me if you want to get a good picture of the flesh just look at the nation of Israel in their disobedience. It is easy to point the finger at Israel, yet we all relate don't we? Every day I am faced with my weakness, my inconsistencies, and my failures. If it turns to nothing more than a selfish introspection it can lead to overwhelming despair. This is where the gospel comes in. Two weeks ago on Easter it was such an encouragement in my own life being reminded of the truths of Romans 6. Daily we need to be reminded of the gospel. In that reminder we see that by the grace of God we are now identified with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We are also enabled to even consider these wonderful truths to be true. These realities become the very foundation of how we are now called to live. The wonder of this new identification is that it is a full identification. I am fully identified with His death and with His life. It not only identifies me with the amazing benefits of His death, but it identifies me with the wonder of His resurrection. I don’t know about you, but I desperately need to be reminded of that daily. So as I relate with the people of the book of Judges in their weakness I pray it will give me even greater appreciation for the marvelous grace that is only found in Christ. At the core of the gospel is the wonderful truth, "Jesus for me". I pray by God's grace I will be reminded of that all through this Wednesday.

 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. (Rom 6:11-14 NAS)

Petra

Well it was quite a day.  I am absolutely whooped.  We did alot of hiking today all over Petra.  Well I didn't find my rock.  I looked for a while and finally gave up.  Even though I could not find it I am allowing myself to exit Petra.  I think it was buried under a bunch of dirt.  Who knows.  Tonight we eat dinner then go to bed and tomorrow we start our track home.  I cannot wait to see Ann and the kids.  Two weeks is a long time.  I know Scott is ready to get back and see Metta and Arlen, and I think Richard, Cliff, and Charla are ready as well.   It has been an amazing trip.  Here are some pics from the beautiful city of Petra.  Petra was home to so many people over the last three thousand years plus.  Many feel it is Petra where the people who received the prophesy of Obadiah lived.  Some also believe this could be the place where the Jews flee to during the last 3 and a half years of the Tribulation.  Over time it has been home to the Edomites, the Nabateans, the Romans, and the Crusaders to name a few.  The pics just cant show how amazing it really is to be there.

Standing in the Siq

Richard and Scott in the Siq

The Treasury Temple (remember Indiana Jones?)

this is the first thing you see as you enter from the Siq

Here is the Riverside 5 in front of the Treasury

Roman Theatre at Petra

Beautiful view on walk to Monestary - takes what seems like forever to get there- but it is worth it

Monestary- I am standing in doorway

Leaving Petra- One more shot of Treasury Temple

Leaving the Siq

Good Evening from Wadi Musa!

Good evening from the Hashamite Kingdom of Jordan.  Yes, that is what they actually call it.  I am writing this from Wadi Musa, known as the Valley of Moses.  The archeological part is the amazing city of Petra.  Tomorrow we get a chance to explore this incredible place.  Today we left the Dead Sea and drove over to Mount Nebo.  Mount Nebo is the place where Moses was able to look into the Promised Land.  A land that Joshua would lead the children of Israel into.  Looking out you can see the Plains of Moab.  There are so many biblical stories that take place from this area.  As you look into Israel you can see the Dead Sea and the outline of the Jordan River as you look towards the area moving towards the Galilee.  Hard to imagine what must have been going through Moses's mind as he looked upon the land he would not be able to enter.

It is taking forever tonight for pictures to upload so I will try to get more pictures later.

Tomorrow we are going to hike to a place called the High Place and then a few of us are going to try and make it to the Monestary.  The Monestary is a monument way back into Petra that is my personal favorite.  It is a really long hike and about 12 years ago I hid a rock.  Ok, I admit it I am a dork, a big kid at heart, and years ago I hid this rock and put my initials on it way back into Petra.  So tomorrow I am going to try and find this dumb rock.  If I never make it back to the States you will know I never found it.  Well it is getting pretty late and it will be a long day tomorrow.  Good night from Wadi Musa!

Here are a couple of pictures of Petra I found online to give you an idea

Hello from Jordan!

Well I was too tired the last two nights to type anything but we have had a great last 48 hours.  First off Scott is recovering well and is back in action.  He stayed at the hotel two days ago to get his arm rested up and is still sore but seems good to go.  Thursday morning we listened to Dr. Deyoung talk about the crucifixion and resurrrection.  It was very interesting hearing his thoughts on Jesus being crucified on the Mount of Olives.  Most people believe He was crucified at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Garden Tomb, but the reasons he presented for the Mount of Olives spot are very compelling.  He has some very interesting biblical arguments and historical data to back up his position.  After listening to him teach we headed out to a few sites.  We started at the Church of the Pater Noster.  This church is interesting,  it has the Lord's prayer on the outside courtyard in over 100 diffferent languages. This is the location where many scholars believe the first church in Jerusalem met the first two hundred years it was in existence.  We then headed over to the area on the Mount of Olives where Dr. Deyoung thinks the crucifixion took place.  It was an area where Josephus (the famous historian) writes that over 500 people a day where being crucified.  It is also the location of the altar of the red heifer.  The significance of everything that took place on the Mount of Olives is truly amazing.  From here we headed over to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is such a touching place.  There is at least one tree that many believe would have been alive at the time of Jesus. 

We then headed back to the hotel to regroup.  The afternoon was free.  Once we were dropped off I decided to explore a little by myself in the Old City.  Jerusalem is such an amazing city.  The old city is divided up into 4 quarters- The Armenian, the Jewish, the Muslim, and the Christian quarter.  It is difficult to figure out where you are as you walk around, because it feels like you are in a large maze.  I finally figured how to get out of the Damascus Gate so I could go over to Rockefeller Museum.  This is Israel's largest museum of antiquity.   You could spend an entire day here but I got a chance to spend a little time there.  I then headed over to the Lions Gate.   From the Lions gate you are very close to St. Anne's church.  This place is really neat due to the acoustics in the church.  Most groups that come through the church take time and sing to hear the amazing sounds within the building.  It was exciting sitting there for a few minutes to listen to some of the groups sing.  Outside of the church is the Pool of Bethesda.  It was here that Jesus healed the lame man.  This is one of my favorite spots.  As I was standing there looking at the pool it reminded me that I am no different than the lame man.  I am unable.  I need Jesus to do what only He can do in my weak and desperate situation.  This is what salvation and the Chrisitan life is all about, our inability and His sufficient strength.

Church of Pater Noster- site of early church in Jerusalem for first two hundred years

Met this guy at a place called Jacob's Pizza- He was a professing believer in Jesus

This is the Damascus Gate- it took me forever to find it

This is Rockefeller Museum

This is the Lions Gate- close to the Pool of Bethesda and Antonio's Fortress

Pool of Bethesda

Friday we got up and headed towards Jordan.  We crossed over the Allenby Bridge near Jericho and began our way towards the Dead Sea.  On the way we stopped off at what many feel is the area where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  There have been many churches in this area dating way back.  John's gospel says that it took place in an area known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan.  This very area is known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan.  In fact there were churches built on the area right over the water.  During flooding season the church would be destroyed and then they would build it back only to have it destroyed again.  It really appears this may be the area.  We then went through Amman, Jordan.  While there we went to this Jordanian lunch place.  It was really unique and the food was really good.  We then drove to the Dead Sea where our hotel is.  This place is beautiful.  I wish Ann was here to experience it with me.  It is a spectacular hotel with beautiful views.   This morning as I type we are getting ready to head towards Petra.  I had a chance to backpack a little through Jordan years ago with my friend Josh and this was by far our favorite place in Jordan.  I am really excited to go back and explore some more. 
Hope everyone has a great day!

Scott holding an Arabic Diet Coke

Where we are at the Dead Sea

Change of Plans

Well this morning Jerusalem was cooler. We have been having some pretty hot days but today we were in the upper 50's. It actually felt pretty good. There has been some conflict in the area near the Old City in response to the recent political situations taking place. Due to the conflict we were unsure as we went to bed last night if we would be able to get to the Temple Mount area. Everything worked out and we were able to go up on the temple mount. Everything in Israel if filled with so much history, but this place is truly unbelievable. It was here that the temple stood. In the time of Jesus the temple would have stood 21 stories high. Being there is amazing, not only reflecting back to the temple in the Old and New Testament times but also looking to the day when Christ sets up His temple to rule and reign. The Dome of the Rock is the gold top building you always see when they show Jerusalem on the news. Most scholars believe it is here under the Dome of the Rock that the holy of holies was located.   It is amazing to think of being that close to the original holy of holies.  If you are not careful you forget how Christ fulfilled the Old Testament.  You see when God became man, John says that, "The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us".  What a beautiful statement.  The literal idea here is that the Word became flesh and "tabernacled amongst us".  As Christ walked this earth the Shakinah glory of God tabernacled amongst men.  Isn't that amazing?  It gets better.  As believers changed by His grace, Christ now lives in us.  Paul even says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

Here are some pictures from the temple mount area:

We then walked down towards the Jewish quarter. If you heard something in Israel in the last 12 hours it was the jubilation of our group finding a burger place. It wasnt the best burger I have ever eaten, but it was pretty stinkin good. This is where our day changed. As we were leaving the burger place meeting up with our guide Amnon, Scott caught his foot on something and took a really hard fall. It was pretty scary. He looked really hurt. The good news is he is going to be ok. Right after the fall, as soon as he was able to stand up he began to feel sick on his stomach. I thought he was going to hurl. The thought of him hurling at this point was pretty terrifying because we had probably just eaten one of the largerst hamburgers available in Jerusalem. We were joking later that if he would have thrown up they would have had to clear the Jewish quarter. He was in pain so the two of us jumped into a taxi and went to some type of emergency center. He was able to get his forearm-elbow xrayed and looked at by one of the doctor's and they feel he sprained it really bad. He might have had a small fracture but they were not comepletely sure. So be praying for Scott when you read this, he is not feeling that good tonight. We are so thankful it was not worse. Lord willing he will be feeling better tomorrow. We were talking when we got back to the hotel this afternoon how quickly things can change. I can't tell you how much I appreciate Scott. He is one of the biggest encouragers I have ever met, so hopefully we can encourage him along the rest of the trip.

The Jewish Quarter

We were emotinal for the Burger.  There is even a picture of the menu

So due to Scott's accident we came back to the hotel. Cliff, Charla, Richard, and the rest of the group got to go to some amazing places the rest of the afternoon.  I am so excited they got to see them.  They went to a place where the religious Jews are working on items anticipating the next temple, they also went to Antonio's Fortress (the place where Christ would have stood before Pontus Pilate), the Garden Tomb ( probably not the place of the crucifixion and resurrection due to the dating of the tomb there, but a beautiful place), and the Western Wall tunnels. 

For me and Scott it was good to rest a little bit and get ready for tomorrow. Good night from Jerusalem!

South to the Dead Sea

Today we made our track to Masada. While not a biblical site, it represents so much in biblical times. The people of Masada were the last stand against the Romans. Herod the Great built Masada and with his influence Masada had much of a Roman flavor. The people of Masada at the time of the Roman siege were after the time of Herod. As the Romans came to conquer the great mountain city they encamped around it in eight different places. Ultimately they used Jewish slaves to begin to build a ramp to conquer. Josephus records the final words of one of the chief leaders. One of the men made a compelling speech inspiring the Jews to take their own lives rather than be tortured and killed by the Romans. Our guide shared an amazing thing that took place in the synagogue. As they were doing the dig in the area they had realized was the synagogue, they found a scroll that was open to Ezekiel 37. It was open to the place that speaks of the dead bones coming back to life. It was as if the individual who left the scroll wanted the Romans to know that one day they would thrive again. Almost 2000 years later the nation of Israel is thriving again.

On our way to Dead Sea

Cable Car up to Masada

1 of 8 Roman Encampments around Masada

On Top of Masada

This is my buddy Maxine.  We are standing in the synagogue at Masada

En Gedi was the place that David hid from Saul. You wouldn’t think this place would be out in the wilderness. There are trails you can take all throughout the preserve. As you go up near the top waterfall you get a great view of the Dead Sea.

 

Richard continues to call our group the Riverside 5. Today as we asked someone to take our picture, there was what seemed like cameras everywhere taking a picture of our group. We were laughing thinking that they probably thought they needed to take a picture to explain to others about the crazy redneck group from Alabama.

Riverside 5

Qumran is where the dead sea scrolls were discovered. This is where the Essene community lived that I mentioned earlier when we went to the Shrine of the Book. Here we got a chance to see the actual cave and also the actual room where they copied the scrolls. When doing the dig they found the actual ink jars and the ink in them matched up perfectly with the ink on the scrolls.

The Scroll Room

Cave #4- Main cave were scrolls were found by Bedouin boy

High Quality Latrine

 

I got to meet one of my favorite preachers tonight. Chuck Swindoll has a large group here from Texas. It was very exciting to get a chance to meet someone that God has used in my life. Tomorrow we may not get to go where we were planning. There is some turmoil that has been taking place in the Old City the last couple of days and today the temple mount area was closed. We shall see. Hope everyone has a great night!