Stay The Course

This week we’re having our VBS.  I have to say it is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  First, to see so many people in a local Church Body putting in the time and effort to all the planning, decorating and practicing is a blessing.  It is one sign of some health.  Second, it just does something to you to hear those children soooo excited to sing and learn about the Bible and Jesus.  Third, to see assistant Pastors and grown ups acting up in those outfits, no restraints, shields down, completely free.  It’s just a little taste of heaven.  Maranatha!

The Vanishing Word by Arthur Hunt is one of the best books I have ever read.  He really does a great job discussing the effects of this Media Centered Culture we’re living in.  It’s particularly important with regards to how we do Church.  We want to take advantage of modern technology, but we don’t want the the technology to dominate everything.  We should remain a Text based, Word based Church and he shows that if we do, we will not only be healthier spiritually, but we’ll end up being the better thinkers as well.  I recommend getting it and devouring it.  Maranatha!

“I am never at my best as when I am in a full stretch for God.”  -George Whitefield-

This article by the Washington Times is incredible. It seems that Planned Parenthood (PP) can not account for billions of taxes dollars that they have been funded with. There is a growing sentiment even in Washington that PP shouldn’t be funded with tax dollars. PP has to now explain to Congress what they did with all that money as they systematically killed something on the order of 1.8 Million pre-born babies. The article states that 5 separate surveys all show that a majority of the country now is pro-life. I have begun to believe that we really don’t need Roe versus Wade over turned. What if people just didn’t go for abortions, what if these babies were born and raised? I think abortion clinics including the largest abortion chain would go out of business.
Here’s the article: Planned Parenthood’s Missing Millions

I have been to plenty of ministry conferences and we as a local Church have hosted many over the last 25 years. I must say, this year’s Pastor’s Conference was special. If you study Church history, almost every movement that has started in the Spirit begins to hold on to it’s tradition and gets stale and dry. This usually runs it’s course after about 40 years. The theme of this years conference was “Continuing In The Spirit” and I must say, I have much hope for our Calvary Chapel movement. The evenings were all set aside for worship and prayer. It was powerful to have 900 (about half of those in the US) or so Senior Pastor’s all glorifying the King at the top of their voices and praying for each other, and seeking God’s face for at least 3 hours each night. A strength of our movement has been the teaching of the Word, cover to cover. We’re not the only movement that does this, but it is one of our strengths. We have other strengths as well, but as one Pastor who led the communion on the last night said, “The strength of our movement is a function of the devotional life of it’s Senior Pastors”. This conference certainly demonstrated some of that devotion. Maranatha!

This is an interesting video from Pajama TV.  Pajama TV is from a pretty reliable conservative blog site named powerlineblog.com.  They are seeking to ask the questions that the Main Stream Media will not.  General Paul Vallely has been a trusted source for the Gulf War on many different news outlets.  According to him, the Summer of 2010 should be very interesting.  We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem and our friends in Israel.  Here’s the link to the video: http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=121&load=3505

I forgot to publish this day, so here it is.  Today we said good bye to the Galilee region.  We spent a good 6 days there, but now we headed south.  Today we travelled to Masada and spent awhile there.  Masada was a mountain top palace designed by and for Herod the Great.  Around 70 A.D. the Jewish revolt against Rome took place.  A small remnant of Jews fortified themselves in this palace only to eventually lose hope as the Roman General Silva would build a ramp up to the Palace.  The Jews thought it would be more honorable to kill themselves as free people rather than continue to live as slaves to the Romans.  When the Silva arrived at the Palace, they were shocked to only find a couple of women and a few children alive.  It is a great historical site and everyone enjoyed it tremendously.   I’ve included a couple of pictures of that site.  We then travelled a little south to stay near the Dead Sea where people got to experience it.  Maranatha!

A view of the snake trail leading up to the top of Masada.

A view of the part of the Palace Complex.

This is at the North end overlooking Herods private bath area.

This was our final day.  We took a long walk through the old city.  It was fairly quiet since it was Sabbath, but some of the Arab shops were open.  We spent some time in what would have been the Antonia Fortress.  We stood at “The Pavement” where Jesus allowed himself to be beaten for us.  Remember this is where much of Psalm 22, 69 & Isaiah 52/53 was fulfilled.  Most of the blood shed for us was shed there.  We’re told in Isaiah 52.14 “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.”  We made our way through the Lions gate and walked down to the Kidron Valley.  As we crossed the Kidron, we came to Getsemene where Jesus allowed himself to be arrested.  We then went to the Pools of Bethesda (House Of Mercy) where the man who was impotent was healed in John 5.  We had a great Bible Study there.  We sang quite a while in St. Anne’s Church where the acoustics makes any of us sound good!  We then went to the top of the Mount Of Olives and had a great Bible Study about the return of our Lord.  Fantastic!  After a couple of hours of free time, we made our way to Golgotha and the tomb where Jesus was laid.  FYI - the tomb is still empty!  Tomorrow we fly home.  What a great tour, what a great group.  We are all ready to go home though and share all our experiences.  Maybe next year, you can go with us.  Maranatha!

The eastern wall from the Mount Of Olives.

Golgotha - 777 Meters above sea level.

Our group entering the empty tomb.

Today we started at the Southern steps to the Temple Mount.  We went over John 9, the man who was healed by the Lord and told to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  We then went over to the Southwest corner and walked on the street level that Jesus walked on.  I’ve included a picture of that street level and the stones from the Temple that were thrown down by Titus in 70 A.D.  We then went to a Roman Coliseum and went over Romans 1, followed by a great Bible study at the Elah Valley.  You really get the picture of David & Goliath.  Tonight we’re going to take the group through the old city near the Western wall, it should be quiet since it is Sabbath.

Temple Stones thrown down by Titus in 70 A.D.

We had a good reminder of just how volatile this area remains.  Today on Sabbath, the Israeli police had a tip that Muslim riots were going to break out.  They believed that Muslims would come out of their Church services all filled with hate, ready to riot.  Much of the city was closed off and there were many more Police and IDF Soldiers everywhere.  It’s another reminder that there won’t be any real Sabbath until the Prince Of Peace arrives.  Maranatha!

P.S. One other note for all those back in the fellowship.  Remember this is “Spring Forward” weekend.  We’ve decided to wait until after Church service to move our clocks forward, so don’t forget!

We started the day with a Bible Study at EnGedi where David hid from Saul.  1 Samuel 24 records the situation, what a chapter and what a great number of lessons we benefit from.  The group saw some Ibex and some Conies.  Remember we’re told 2 things about the Conies, “they are a feeble folk” just like us.  Also, “they are wise because they make their homes in the rock”, just like us!  Some say that the Conies are related to the Elephant, but I think they are related to us.  We then went to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, again, is a tremendous testimony to the reliablility of the Biblical text.  Finally, we made our way to Jerusalem where we viewed a model of the Old City and toured the Dead Sea Scroll Museum.  Maranatha!

EnGediNever mess with a lone Conie in the wild

A cave in Qumran - Dead Sea Scrolls

What's an Israel Tour without mentioning the food?

Did I mention the food?

More food. Sorry.

Last one...for today.