• Paul Bernard

Israel 2017

10-päiväinen seikkaillu — Paul Lue lisää
  • Matkan aloitus
    9. marraskuuta 2017

    Waiting to Leave

    9. marraskuuta 2017, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    We leave tomorrow for our trip to Israel. Please pray for our trip and for everyone on the journey with us! Follow along if you can!

  • SFO

    10. marraskuuta 2017, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Most of the group! :) 41 of us are about to board. Exciting!

  • Ben Gurion Airport

    11. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Just landed in Tel Aviv! Phew... tired. :) But all safe and sound.

  • Neve Ilan

    12. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Good morning from Israel! Quite the whirlwind of travel and planes and luggage and people. The details there aren't all that exciting except to say that it was long, but not overly stressful.

    However, the thought that came to me this morning is that whether or not we're ready, because "Here we go!" All the preparation that we have been putting this is now at the point of testing. Did we remember the razor? Did we leave enough cat food? What about the name tag? Did we remember the blasted name tag!?!?

    Now we get to really see if we're ready.

    Carol (my wife for those that don't know us) sent me a powerful devotional this morning from Living Proof Ministries.

    "I’ve thought over and over in the last five years," it said. “We’re unprepared for what has befallen us. Our discipleship, generally speaking, is not matching the demand of our violent, unstable days. We who follow Jesus were timed for this exact era on earth. God thought we were capable of serving it or He would not have planted us in this bloody soil at this moment in history. He’s a strategist. We leaders and teachers and mentors and communicators can either embrace what has been entrusted to us or answer for it when we see Him."

    The author goes on to talk about the lost call of discipleship in the church today. Like that gritty discipleship of old where you walked on hard paths and you made life altering decisions for the cause of Jesus Christ. That type of discipleship that was not needing to be coerced, entertained or played to. It was a sold out commitment to a cause and to a revolution. It was a cause that would call for suffering and rejoicing... simultaneously! It was the type of discipleship that equipped one to suffer persecution and gave cause for joy.

    Are we ready?

    I hope the call of Jesus Christ to perseverance, sacrifice, strength, love, faith and defiant joy in these times of chaos will be heeded by the church. I want to be like Paul described Epaphras who was “always struggling” on behalf of those he served, that they might “stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Col.4:12)

    Your prayers are appreciated for our own readiness... as we face day one in Israel and as we, as followers of Jesus Christ face whatever it is He has for us.

    Blessings.
    More to come.
    Paul.
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  • Bet Guvrin

    12. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Amazing underground city with all sorts of wonderful excavated chambers, pigeon roosting room and the oh-so photogenic Bell Caves (a man-made limestone quarry).

  • Bet Shemesh

    12. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    The site of Samson's powerfully anointed, yet whacked out, life. Philistine territory in one direction and Israelite territory in another. One of the neat things about this site was visiting a 2500 year old cistern (dating back to the Babylonian invasion) (see photos).

    Then we read from Jeremiah 2:12-13. It brought whole new meaning to the living water that is offered by God to the stale and stagnant cistern water that the people of Israel had settled for. Standing in a cistern as you read that passage will change the way you understand it forever.
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  • Yad Hashmona/Kiriath Jearim

    12. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    A beautiful Biblical garden where we learned about the 7 big crops of Israel, various herbs and plants and the ancient traditions of weddings and wine! We celebrated communion together near an olive press as we came to a deeper understanding of Jesus being "crushed for our iniquities."

    This was also the place where the ark rested for 20 years before going back to Jerusalem with David.
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  • Azekah

    12. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    We had lunch here and it gave us an awesome vantage point of the Elah Valley where the battle of 1 Samuel 17 played out. David wasn't expecting to become a hero that day, but God had other plans for this normal outing. David and Israel found out that day how powerful God was. Yet again, we read another Bible story that starts out being about a person and ends up being way more about the God he serves.

    The other photo is just a picture of our sunset tonight...
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  • Choose Life or Choose Death

    13. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌫 8 °C

    It's a good place to begin. Any trip that starts in a garden seems like it'll be a good trip. Our first stop here in Israel was a Biblical Garden in the hill country of Judah called Yad Hashmona. I took a bunch of photos there, only to discover that I had forgotten to put my memory card back into my camera. I want to go back and recapture them, but those photos are gone now.

    But even with that little mishap, a garden is still a good place to start a journey. Adam and Eve started in a garden. Theirs was a garden with a choice. They were going to choose to obey God or not. One way would lead to life and the other way would lead to death. "I have set before you life and death," God would tell them. "So choose life." (Deut 30:19).

    We ended last night with a dark drive down 3000 feet to find ourselves on the shore of the Dead Sea. This is the lowest place on earth. It actually feels like you're closer to the center of the Earth here. It's dry, the air is heavy and hot. This sea is dead and you can tell.

    One of the reasons this Dead Sea is a dead sea is because it has no outlet. The Sea of Galilee to the north teems with life as the Jordan river flows in and then right back out. It brings nutrients and life in and the Sea of Galilee responds by letting nutrients and life right back out.

    But that same Jordan river only flows into the Dead Sea. Nothing flows out of it. So the water sits.

    All that potential for life sits and stagnates.

    "I have set before you life and death,"

    My devotional this morning reads, "Whether in Eden or Canaan or California, our decision remains the same. The land where we live - be it lush or desolate - is the stage on which we act out God's glory. Regardless of our location or influences, God gives us a choice each day from which tree to eat."

    Paul writes to the Romans in Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

    As we walk through our days today, may we see every opportunity to overflow with hope and to bring life.

    Because if hope and life get stuck in us and never flow back out, it rots.
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  • Negev, Israel

    14. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We spent our time in the desert in the south of Israel, the Negev. The Negev is vast and hot and barren and the thing that kept occurring to us is, "Why here?" Why did God bring the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) here to this rough place?

    Someone said, "No wonder everyone grumbled and complained."

    It dawned on me yet again that (no new epiphany here) that we really shouldn't be too quick to judge anyone else for their lack of ability to maintain a strong faithfulness to God. You and I struggle with the same thing daily.

    Oh, and camel riding is NOT for the faint of heart. :)
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  • The Dead Sea

    14. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Our hotel in Ein Bokek is on the southern part of the Dead Sea. I mentioned yesterday part of the reason this sea is dead, but there is more to the modern story of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a dying sea (figure that one out!). It is facing a modern ecological crisis. Water levels are dropping faster than ever before as the modern Israeli uses a 1000 times more water than an Israelite in Jesus' time. Water use (daily use, crops, irrigation), drought and evaporation are becoming so significant that the dead sea is disappearing and the modern state of Israel is scrambling to find a solution.

    In the mean time, minerals for mud masks and tourism remain at an all time high.
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  • Masada

    14. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    I won't go into the whole tragic story of Masada here (you can google it), but suffice it to say that this place has a weight that goes beyond the story of a Jewish revolt. It is a place of inspiration for heart, mind and soul. One look over the edge of the cliff to the Dead Sea below and you're filled with a sense of the vastness of this place. Some brave souls opted for the hike up the "Snake Path" and were given the sense of the impenetrability of the fortress. Some of us walked through the chambers that Herod built, but rarely used, and were struck with the lavishness of the accommodations. All of us saw the balls of stone hurled by the Romans and were struck by the weight of importance of this placeLue lisää

  • Bedouin Culture

    14. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Besides the riding of the camels, we were treated to a cup of hot sweet tea and coffee by a man in the Bedouin community. The Bedouin used to be a nomadic people, but have since largely settled into modern political states. Just like many cultures before them, their way of life is slowly giving way to the pressures of the modern times.

    We were reminded of the importance of "desert hospitality" and how in our modern culture, this is disappearing (don't talk to strangers, lock your doors, etc.). The Bedouin who live in this hard land, depend on the hospitality of others, and there seems to be a sense of community, even among strangers, that should resonate with every Christian who witnesses it.
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  • Jordan River

    15. marraskuuta 2017, Palestiina ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    I’m typing in the morning after a full day’s journey up the Jordan river valley along the west shoreline of the Dead Sea and along the west bank of the Jordan River. Of course, that name might ring familiar because it’s in the news quite a bit. The West Bank is an area of Israel that is under Palestinian authority for “civil affairs, internal security and public order,” but is, according to Israel, part of the state of Israel. The Palestinians would argue that wording of course, but that is the way it stands. Much of the unrest in the area in years past is experiencing a lull right now, but one gets the feeling that everyone is simply regaining energy to take up the fight again. Lord, may it not be so. Psalm 122:6 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.”

    We should take that seriously.

    The Israeli/Arab divide was made clear as we made our way down to a famous site on the Jordan River. This site is at least close to the place where Jesus was baptized, where Joshua crossed the Jordan as they entered the promised land and where Elijah passed the mantle to Elisha. On one side of this site is where Israeli tourists come to be baptized in the Jordan and on the other side is where Jordanian tourists come to be baptized.

    Even with all the hustle and bustle and chaos of the moment (think hundreds of tourists off dozens of tour busses coming down to the river for baptisms), there was something tremendously powerful about it. The power came from seeing Israelis, blacks, Asians, Russians, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, denominational and non-denominational followers of Jesus Christ submerging themselves in water as hundreds of thousands of Christians before them have done.

    We are part of something so much bigger than ourselves and our church. We are part of a worldwide movement to see the power of the gospel transform lives.
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  • Ein Gedi

    15. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    I won't talk much about this because I want to give time to the Scriptures to tell the story. I was so blown away, not by the same stories we've all heard about David hiding from Saul, but by a prophecy in the book of Ezekiel. Take a moment to read the picture of redemption that God presents to Ezekiel.

    Ezekiel 47:1–12 [1] Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. [2] Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. [3] Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. [4] Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. [5] Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. [6] And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this? Then he led me back to the bank of the river. [7] As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. [8] And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. [9] And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. [10] Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. [11] But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. [12] And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

    The Dead Sea will no longer be dead. It will live once and for all.
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  • Mt. Arbel

    16. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    The story of Mt. Arbel is another story of the brutality of Roman rule and the various attempts at rebellion by the Jews of Israel. An important thoroughfare ran through this region and the Jews saw it as an opportunity to exert some small modicum of control. By lobbing stones and other objects on travelers from nearby cliffs, they were able to sufficiently disrupt the flow of people and goods that the Romans got involved. Young Herod came as a general to rout the rebels as he established his power sometime around 47 BC. He lowered soldiers over the cliff in huge baskets and they used hooks to grab Jews out of the caves, dragging them over the cliff to their death.

    A little over half a century later, Jesus would likely come up onto this mountain as a place to get away and pray. He must have known the story. He must have, as he sat by himself on the hillside to catch his breath, thought of the world that the church would grow up in. It wouldn't be an easy journey for new believers. Many of them would die at the hands of these same Romans. "In this world you will have suffering." "This world will hate you as it hated me."

    It wasn't that Jesus would try to protect them, it was that he would give his Spirit to be with them as they walked the long and dangerous road of discipleship.

    It struck me that the Spirit within us is all we need to endure any hardship of this life.

    (Obligatory jumping shots in high places may seem a little out of place, but after thirty minutes of prayer and contemplation, our spirits were sufficiently lifted for a little fun to be had.)
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  • Sea of Galilee

    16. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    The boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is an Israel classic, but Ronen (our tour guide) brought it up a notch. We won't get into all the details here, but I'll just say the boat-ride turned dance party as we celebrated the land (and water) where Jesus walked.

    May your day give you some reason to do a little jig step (if not a full blown dance party)!
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  • Capernaum

    16. marraskuuta 2017, Israel ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Wonderful layered stories of the miracles of Jesus here in Capernaum. The centurion's servant, the bleeding woman, the calling of Matthew. All examples of outcasts and unloved being brought into the light of Jesus Christ.

    As we stood in the ruins of an ancient synagogue (likely a synagogue Jesus was in as he taught in this region), I thought it would be a good place for some portraits of our group. As Gentiles, every one of us was an outcast and a sinner who would be brought into the Kingdom only by the grace and love of Jesus.
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  • Days 5 & 6

    18. marraskuuta 2017, Palestiina ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    We're finally in Jerusalem after a long couple of days. We've been up in the Sea of Galilee Region, Golan Heights, Caesarea Phillipi. Yesterday we went through Bet Shean (Schyothopolois), Mt. Carmel and over the Caesarea Maritima on the coast.

    I haven't been posting too much here because I haven't found the time to sit down and hammer it out. I'm taking photographs for the team, so getting those up is my priority.

    Please make sure you check out our team blog at http://gtitours.org/online-tour-journal/almanor…. You'll see my photos and be able to hear from several people on the team

    I hope I can post more in the days to come, but I'm not sure I'll be able to.
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  • Matkan lopetus
    18. marraskuuta 2017