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| Looking down on the site of the ancient temple in Jerusalem from the Mt. Olives. Today's view confirms the prophesy from Matthew 24:1-2 when Jesus said, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (The gold dome is a mosque.) |
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| This is the wailing wall; not the wall of the actual ancient Hebrew temple but a wall that surrounded the temple compound of Jesus' today. It is a site today of prayer and reverence for Jews today. |
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| Someone explained the Israel flag to us. The two blue stripes represent the water that piled up on either side as Moses led Israel through the Red Sea. |
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| Certainly a high spot for EB and me in touring Jerusalem was the Garden Tomb. While most religious sites in Jerusalem are noisy, tacky, comercialized and venerated, the Garden Tomb was quiet, clean, and beautiful. It is a likely site for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Here EB and I stand at the entrance to the tomb in the garden. "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid." John 19:41 |
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| Near the Dead Sea east of Jerusalem in a valley between two desert mountains is the oasis of En Gedi. We hiked through the oasis and came to "David's Waterfall." In 1 Samuel 23:29 it says that David hid here from Saul. |
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| On our way down to the Dead Sea we stopped alongside the road at a monument marking sea level elevation. But in order to get to the shore of the Dead Sea we still had to descend nearly another 1400 ft. The shore of the Dead Sea is the lowest place on the surface of Earth. |
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| Along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the ancient site of Capernaum where Jesus called His first disciples (Matthew 4:18-22). It was on the way to the Sea of Galilee where we got lost on the highway and actually found help from the maps in the back of our Bibles! |
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| While in Jerusalem, we were there on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Since in Judaism it is forbidden to work on the Sabbath, this elevator was programmed to stop on every floor, since pushing an elevator button is considered work. I was reminded of the words of Jesus, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," Mark 2:27. |
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| A typical street sign in Jerusalem is in three languages. The topic is Hebrew, the middle is Arabic and the bottom is English. |
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| Before we traveled to Jerusalem, we did a "support raising" training in Budapest. Ellis Goldstein, our friend and the director of all of Campus Crusade's support raising training, flew here from the States, along with Dave Dickens, to teach at this training. 70 missionaries from Hungary and several surrounding countries attended this 2 day training. Here is EB leading a "breakout session," on gift giving and visits to our ministry partners. |
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| Here Ellis trains our staff and several evangelical pastors located in Israel. It is a privilege to come along side the body of Christ in Israel when Christ-followers comprise less than 1% of the population. From our vantage point, we must walk by faith that God is not finished yet with Israel. We did the same ministry partner training in Israel that we did in Budapest. |
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| As our kids get older, EB is able to do more and more ministry with me. She has alot to offer, particularly younger moms and wives. This month we celebrate 24 years of marriage. I thank God for my life partner! |
