Life in the Holy Land

Last week in sunday school one of the students was teaching on Matthew 4. When Satan took Christ to "the holy city" another leader asked if the students knew what city that was talking about. No one was sure. That was interesting...I thought about it and realized that I probably would not have known the answer to that when I was in high school. So I didn't look down on them for not knowing...but it again made me think that I should teach something about the Holy Land so that the students are familiar with the land that they are always reading about. I had the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land back in 2001, sadly our trip was punctuated by the events of 9-11-2001 and we were only able to spend one month there. But I will always remember that month as one of the best months of my life. Reading about the Holy Land is nice and all, but actually traveling there and seeing the sights and smelling the smells and understanding the geography and the ways of life and the features of the land changed the way I read the Bible.

Take Habakkuk 3:17-19 for example. I read that a while back and it broke me. But it would not have had such an affect if I did not understand the desperate situation Habakkuk was describing in verse 17. The things he mentions as failing in verse 17 are ALL of the things that people in Israel had for food and for employment and income. I understood that because I had been in the Holy Land and had studied the custom and culture of the Israelites in that day.

I think we should all seek to know more about the Holy Land. Imagine trying to follow a football game over the radio if you did not know what a football field looked like. You could follow the score and who was winning - the main point and purpose. But it would be tough to understand the details and the play by play information. The same is true with the Holy Land. Without being familiar with the Holy Land we can understand the main points and purpose: Heaven is a free gift, Man is a sinner and cannot save himself, God is loving and does not want to punish us, yet He is also just and must punish our sins. Christ solves this dilemma by being the infinite God-man and coming to earth to die for our sins, to rise again conquering death and to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in Heaven for us. And we receive this gift by true saving faith: trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation. These are the most important facts and one can be saved and live a powerful life for God without being familiar with the Holy Land. But when you understand the Holy Land and the dynamics of the people and places there then when you read about the "Good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37) you can understand what a shocking story this is. When you understand the culture you read the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32) and realize what a shocking story this is about two sons. When you read about Jesus calming a storm on a lake (Luke 8:22-25)...that doesn't sound so miraculous if you're only picturing Hensly Lake. But if you understand the dynamics of the Sea of Galilee then you better understand Jesus' dominion over His creation (See "Waves on the Sea" photo and text).

Well I didn't plan for this blog to be so long...but I really do love the Holy Land and hope that I can go back some day to spend more time in the land where Christ Himself walked.

All this to say, there's a new website out by a professor of "IBEX" (learn about IBEX here, and here), and he wants to get the word out and he has asked for help. The website is an attempt at transporting us back in time before the Holy Land became 'modernized'. It has pictures and drawings of the Holy Land from many many years ago. I have always been curious to know what lepers look like. Well now I know because there is a section on lepers on the site (there are also many not so shocking photographs :) ).

So, if you would like to learn more about the Holy Land, more about the Land of the Bible, then check out this website:
Life in the Holy Land

Another site by the same guy who built that site is this one:
Bible Places
This site has many many current photos of the Holy Land including many archaeological pictures.

Check 'em out.

in time of need

God, give me eternal eyes.
That I may see through these momentary light afflictions which come into my life.
To see Your hand as the potter's, shaping and breaking and forming me
into a vessel which will be sanctified and set apart for Your use.

Cause me to be far-sighted.
That I might not walk with my eyes at my feet seeing only what is directly in front of me. But that my citizenship, my sense of belonging, my focus would be in Heaven, that my eyes may be fixed on the prize for which you have called me Heavenward because of and through Christ Jesus.

Give me focus.
That my eyes would be fixed on Him. He is the author, He is the perfecter of my faith, of my walk. You began a good work in me, You will complete it.

I see hard times, I see mistakes, I see insufficiency. You see trials that will bring strength. You see, through Christ, a purified me. You see an opportunity to display Your strength and sufficiency through me as I move out of the way. Help me to see what You see.

Give me eyes of eternity.

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." ~Hebrews 4:16

John Piper has cancer

Read this amazing letter from John Piper.

Here are some other blogs about the news:
To Be Relevant
Between Two Worlds
Todd's Thoughts

Let's be praying for John Piper and for how God is going to work through this situation.

New Year's

It's New Years Eve and I'm full of empty promises,
I half pretend to keep this time, just like last year.
The band is loud and I'm wandering the shadows,
wishing I was never here.
I persevere.
A crowded room, these whitewashed tombs,
they raise their glasses high, they kiss the past goodbye.

This New Years Eve, I'm waiting for tomorrow.
My heart is on my sleeve,
and yes I still believe, this New Years Eve,
will turn out better than before,
I'm holding on, still holding out,
until they close the door...on me.

It's New Years Eve and I feel my insecurities,
are haunting me like ghosts, this sinking quicksand.
And then with thunderous praise and lofty adoration,
a second passes by, yet nothing changes.
I hate my skin, this grave I'm standing in.
Another change of years, and I wish I wasn't here.

A year goes by and I'm staring at my watch again,
and I dig deep this time,
for something greater than I've ever been,
life to ancient wineskins.
And I was blind but now I see.

This New Years Eve, something must change me inside,
I'm crooked and misguided, and tired of being tired.
This New Years Eve, I'm waiting for tomorrow.
My heart is on my sleeve, and yes I still believe, in You.

~Five Iron Frenzy - "New Year's Eve"
------------------------

ever make a new year's resolution but can't keep it? it's 'cause change takes place inside. God must change us. let's allow Him to change us this year.

i love that line "a second passes by, yet nothing changes". the calendars may say 2006 instead of 2005, but what's the real difference? It's no different than between now and.........now. No difference between any second and the next. If there's going to be real change it has to take place inside us, in our spirit, in our heart, and only God can do that. We must let Him change us.

Time is not a changer or a healer. Time is only a revealer of how God changes and heals.