IN A MANGER

While in Israel, we were fortunate to see so many things too marvelous for words. Above is a picture of a manger thousands of years old. It is very possible that a cold hard carved stone manger was where the King of Israel was placed and not a cute wooden crib that we place under our Christmas tree. It was overwhelming to be shown how humbly our blessed Savior came to earth. His family was all alone when He came. It put "Christmas" in a whole different perspective. I wonder what God thinks when I sometimes complain about being uncomfortable?

Alone at birth, alone at death. Above is a picture of a deep dark stone dungeon where Jesus spent His last night before the cross. Abandoned by all, I am sure He communed alone with His Father and spent the dark lonely night in prayer for me. How can I ever find adequate praise and thanksgiving for such a loving God?
Below is a picture of a most treasured gift. I daily thank my Father for this beautiful family and I am awed at His faithfulness and grace to each one of us daily.
God bless you all from our family to yours as we all rejoice and celebrate how much the Father loves us.
MERRY CHRISTMAS

THE GOD OF ISRAEL

Since we entered Jerusalem we haven't had a great deal of time. But what we saw and did from this city has been amazing. We drove down to the Judean Desert. There we ascended Massada by cable car to tour the 2000 year old fortress and palace of King Herod ( who didn't use it for long) This was also the place the Jewish people made their last stand after the destruction of the second temple. That whole story is amazing. Below is a picture of Ein Gedi. Remember the story of how David hid in a cave and as Saul entered it, he cut off the hem of his garment? Well below is a picture of the path to the cave. Beautiful waterfalls all along the way and we actually stood in the cave. Who would have thought all this was hidden in the wilderness? There were mtn. goats running up and down the hills and so fun to watch.
Below is a picture at Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. You can see one of caves in the middle of the picture. The next day we toured the museum where the scrolls were kept. This is what the wilderness looked like and I can't imagine what it was like to even spend much time here searching for scrolls. The stories of how they were found and what they did with them is incredible. From there we went and swam in the dead sea and floated like a cork. So fun.
The temple steps where our Savior would have entered the temple are pictured below. Pat is coming down the steps and it is one of the places they are absolutely sure that Jesus actually walked. If you look to Pat's left you can see an arch which was the entrance that has been sealed up to the temple and the Holy of Holies. We can't explain how it feels to be here! We also visited the pit where Jesus was imprisoned the night before He died. But visiting the Garden tomb was indescribable. And the list of things we saw and did goes on and on and on. Not only that, while we were driving the guide is constantly pointing out things and telling history.
The western wall was also a fabulous experience. Below is a picture of Pat praying at that wall. The wall is divided and the women and the men cannot be together and there is a wall separating them. How did Terry take this picture?

Below is a picture of the male side of the western wall where you can see the orthodox Jews in travailing prayer. It was awesome to spend some time in prayer here.

The tour that we were with has left and we are in Jerusalem alone. After visiting the western wall again for prayer, can you guess where Terry wanted to go? Here we are walking down in the Kidron Valley. Behind him is the wall of Jerusalem. It is the eastern wall where the temple is located and the gate through which Jesus is going to return. To his right is the city of David and looking up in front of him is the garden of Gethsemane and then the Mount of Olives. We spent a long time just walking around this valley. Needless to say, it was not crowded. In fact we were the only ones there. But down there was Absolom's pillar, the Tomb of Zechariah, and the Cave of Jehoshaphat.
Today we visited the Pools of Bethesda and also walked on the ramparts of the wall. That is the very top of the wall where the watchmen and the guards would have been. So cool. There is so much to see and do here. We walked around Jerusalem from morning until dinner. Indescribable.

An Unusual Day

Above is a picture of the most unusual opportunity that arose today. Because our tour guide is a volunteer director of a charity that makes provisions for the North Israel Army, we had the most wonderful opportunity to go to the front line bunkers, literally on the border of Lebanon where the watchmen protect the border with high power rifles. We could see Lebanese bunkers where their watchmen were watching us. Phenonmenal!!
Above is Terry looking through THEIR binoculars....!!!! We were also there as these young Israeli soldiers (ages 18-23yrs.) were loading their guns to go out on patrol.
Above is a picture of a place during Jesus time of a pagan worship site called "the gates of hell." So when Jesus said "the gates of hell shall not prevail against the kingdom of God" it actually had a double meaning, the pagan shrine worship and the literal hell.
Here is a picture from the mount of beatitudes where Jesus taught and revealed those famous beatitudes in the bible. We actually read them up there on that mount. We were given a quiet time alone with God.
Then we went back and had dinner looking out at the sea of Galilee.
Shalom. The bus is leaving.

Israel- An Incredible Day

WOW! How can we ever tell you all that we saw and experienced today. It was incredible to see the bible come alive before our eyes. But we will try and give you a thumb nail sketch. Above is the theater in Caesarea. On this stage where we are standing is the place where Paul was on trial and imprisioned in this city. Also this city is where Peter came to Cornelius's house from Joppa to bring the gospel to the gentiles. Amazing to see both ends of this story. Also there are ruins here from King Herod and the principal buildings, and port he erected. Pontius Pilate resided here. The crusaders came through here....and the list goes on and on. It was quite moving for Pat to sit in this theatre and picture Paul on trial. Amazing.
Above is the view from Mt. Carmel where Elijah challenged the prophets of baal. If you look closely you can see the winding brook where Elijah took the prophets of baal down and slew them. This valley is the future site of the Battle of Armageddon. From this mountain you can see the place Joshua fought one of his battles, the valley where Giddeon chose his army and where he fought the battle, the Mediterranean Sea where Elijah told his servant to go look for rain, Nazareth on the hillside, Solomon's chariot city, the Mount of Transfiguration......and the list goes on and on.....unbelievable . I had to actually drag Terry away from Mt. Carmel, the bus was leaving. Words do not describe this place and the pictures do not even come close.
This is the gate to one of Solomon's palaces. This is Megiddo that had 28 layers of civilizations and layers of history excavated. It would take all day just to tell the stories of this place. Five thousand years of history....
This is a sacrificial altar of the Canaanites. Can you see the steps leading up to the big round altar? They found a great deal of animal bones on this altar site. Just one of the layers of Megiddo.
This is in Nazareth. After Jesus read the scriptures in the temple that the "Spirit of the Lord was upon Him," they took Him up to this cliff where the city was built to throw Him off. He walked right through them. I am sitting on that cliff. Crazy.
Here we are with the Molloys standing at the Sea of Galilee. We drove to Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee where we will be spending the night.

Israel - The Sycomore Tree

Today was another beautiful day. Above is a picture of the market at breakfast in Netanya. As you can see it was very crowded and a wonderful place to people watch.
The Mediterranean Sea was beautiful. The colors were magnificient and you can't help but think of the Majesty of the Lord.
We found an impressive old Sycomore tree. It is 1,000 years old and has a circumference of 8 meters. If you look closely you can see Pat at the base and get an idea of how large this tree was. If was fun to look at and we couldn't believe how twisted the trunk had become.
In Luke 19:2-6, Zacchaeus climbed a Sycomore tree to see Jesus. Terry is still up in this tree waiting for the Lord to call his name.
Shalom and Good night.