The Jordan River!!

 Thursday, March 6, 2014

River Jordan is chilly and cold, hallelujah
Chills the body but not the soul, hallelujah(-Michael Row the Boat Ashore)

Today was the day I took a dip into the Jordan River. On purpose. I had been looking forward to this day for several months, ever since I first saw the itinerary of this trip and saw that there would be a baptism service in the Jordan.

Wait a minute. I've aleady been baptised. Twice, in fact. But once I found out about this opportunity, I just had to, well, "jump in" at the chance.   I know I raised a few eyebrows when I told people that I was gonna do this (again).  Why is it necessary?  You know, it's not. But it's special.

Baptism is an outward sign of my faith. It is a public declaration that I absolutely believe in Jesus Christ and that He is my Lord & Savior.  It's publicly declaring faith in Christ and commitment to Him—an identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.1 It is absolutely not required for salvation -- nothing is required of us, except for our belief and God's grace. It's just a symbol that we do out of obedience. So, I suppose that my baptism in the Jordan is a symbol of a symbol. We only need be baptized once. There is nothing in the Bible about getting baptized more than once; and I suppose there's nothing there about being baptized only once, altho I know my theologian friends will correct me if I'm wronng!  People renew their wedding vows, and I'm seeing this as kinda like that. In fact, on the website of the place where we went to get baptized, they talked about rededications. I did talk w/ my pastor about getting baptised again, & he basically said that if I think it would help my faith journey, go ahead. So, ahead I went!

This baptism was even more special in that it was performed by our very, very, very good friends, Holden & Vicki Bowker. We love these people, and don't tell Charles, we really came to Israel because of them (altho we are thoroughly enjoying Charles and his teaching, and now consider him and Janet friends, as well).  When Vicki started to ask my "the question" ("do you believe...") when we were in the water, I couldn't look at her, knowing I would turn into a blubbering blubber-blub if I had.

We went to this place called Yardenit, a  place built just for Jordan River baptisms. This is what they do. We have to wear these white robes. Whatever. 

 I don't know what's up w/ my hands. I held them like that most our time there. Guess I didn't know what to do w/ them. But boy, I look all papal or something!

And down she goes! Holden told me that at that point Vicki said, "Should we let her back up?" Haha. They did.

So, what's the deal w/ the Jordan River? Why did I want to get baptized in it??  Before the service, I just told people on the tour that the Jordan River was very special to me in my devotional life, and I was gonna leave it at that, but then this guy on the tour asked me if I was gonna give my testimony. I wasn't planning on saying anything until he said that one of the best parts of baptism was hearing the testimonies.  I almost backed out, but then another gal on the tour encouraged me, saying that it might encourage others.  So, in about an hour or so, I scribbled down some notes in the bus on a pretty bumpy road, and this is what I shared the day I got baptized for the 3rd time:

I got baptised as an infant in 1963 or 1964. I'm ot sure... I wasn't good w/ dates back then.

I was baptized as an adult the year we were married in 2003.

Since that time, like you the Lord has brought me down some wonderful, glorious paths. And some... not so much.

In the spring of 2009, I went through some cahlelnging times where I clung to god more than I probably ever had at any other time in my life. 

One morning during my devotionals, I was reading Joshua 3, when Joshua led the people across the Jordan into the Promised Land... from the wilderness they had wandered around in for 40 years, to the land of their dreams.

But they had this obstacle in front of them -- a rushing, turbulent river. Now as hikers, Rich and I have faced some river fords. Most of them we crossed, but one, in Hawaii, turned me back.

I was facing a pretty big river to ford in my life in 2009, and the Lord brought me to Joshua 3.

I put myself in Joshua's sandles, facing that rushing river, trying to strike up the courage to dip my toe into the river ahead of us.

" And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” (Joshua 3:13) ...15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is besideZarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

And what came to me 5 years ago... before we saw it on Pinterest or on Facebook, was this: If God brings us to it, he'll get us through it.

If he brings me to it, He'll get me through it.

And He did, and I've depended on this several times since that morning in 2009, and I depend on it today.

1 Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-baptism.html#ixzz2vGrA8HIQ

What a Day, Part 2 -Mount of Beattitudes

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Korazim - Mount of Beattitudes - Seven Springs (site of Peter's Restoration) - Capernaum - the "Jesus" Boat - Sea of Galilee

(Written Wednesday, March 5, 2014)
It took me a while to ponder & think about why my reaction to some of the other sites we visited on Tuesday was different than that at Korazim... While we had some down time on the bus this morning, I journalled a bit...

As thrilling as Korazim was for me, spiritually, many (but not all!) of the sites we saw afterwards were pretty anti-climatic.  What follows are just my thoughts & feelings, and I in no way want to give the impression that I want anyone to agree with me. Everyone has their own experiences, and these are just mine... 

Scholars & historians believe there is a very high probably the Mount of Beattitudes is almost certainly the place where Christ taught the Sermon on the Mount, but for me, even w/ this authenticity of the location, it just didn't seem as organic or impactful.  The place was authentic, but my experience really didn't seem as authentic as it was at Korazim.  I was surprised and a little disappointed by this. I mean, the greatest sermon ever preached was preached here! Three chapters of the Matthew were taken up by the words spoken here.  Not just the Beattitudes, but the Lord's Prayer, Treasures in Heaven, teaching on anxiety, and ending w/ one of the greatest instructions I've ever had: But seek first the Kingdom of God and his rightousness, and all thee things will be added to you (Matt 6:33, the second to last verse of the Sermon on the Mount).

Why wasn't I blown away here???

Perhaps it was the crowds of people streaming in and out of the site, reminding me of crowded hikes which have transformed spectacular natural sites (like Johnson Canyon in Banff) into tourist attractions. 

This photo was actually taken at the Seven Springs, site of Peter's Restoration,
but you can see how crowded some places were...

Maybe it was the enshrinement of the place. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful place, a present day monastary with beautifully manicured grounds with gardens and benches and places for quiet contemplation and prayer. 

And a beautiful 8-sided chapel (one side per beattitude).

But to me, all this actually detracted from the meaning of the place, and the words that were taught there twenty
 centuries go, and the man who uttered them.  It was just a place -- a beautiful place, where we did recite the Lord's Prayer together, but in a strange way, the enshrinement of the place seemed to supersede and shrink the events that happened there. I know they wanted to honor & celebrate them, but for me, it was kinda like not not being able to read the story for the cover.

There will be more places like this, significant locations where memorials and churches and shrines have been built to commemorate and enshrine (for lack of a better word) these places.  But for me, I think I prefer the raw, organic places, the ones which haven't been improved or commemorated or built up. Undug, yes, but built up, not so much (altho we do appreciate the wash rooms there!). I think I can see my Savior more clearly w/o the ornamentation & clutter of the celebration of him. 

Somebody asked me, on this tour, why I describe myself as a "nature girl" (I mean, has she not seen me?). I think the way I see my Savior is kinda like the way I live my life. Simple, unadorned, it the natural state, raw, organic, pure.  

More ruins, fewer crowds, please.

On the Sea of Galilee.

An amazing experience to sail where Jesus sailed.

Wow, What a Day!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Korazim - Mount of Beattitudes - Seven Springs (site of Peter's Restoration) - Capernaum - the "Jesus" Boat - Sea of Galilee

... and we got home in time for dinner! Actually before dinner. As we were queued up at 6:45 at our hotel, we found out the dining room opens at 7:00.  Not a big deal. But they do like to dine late in Israel. But that's neither here nor there. This is about our day. An amazing day.

In all our travels, Rich & I have found that everything we saw that was man made was not so impressive, but everything that God made was breath-taking. Today was sort of a hybrid day, as we stood amid the things that ancient man had made, celebrating the things God had made and done.  Korazim was such a place for me.

Korazim's (Chorazin) claim to fame was for being cursed, along w/ Bethsaida and Capurnaum:

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)

Its crime? Basically mine: pride. Obedience to the Hebrew law to be noticed:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,  so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.  They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,  and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues (Matthew 23:1-6)

Charles Morris, host of the radio program Haven Today, told us today that when we visit Israel that it will be like reading the Bible in 3D.  Today, at Korazin, those 3D glasses were placed before my eyes as Yuval, our amazing guide,  read the above passage from Matthew 23 and showed us where the people sat in the synagogue:

And then showed us the best seat in the house, the place of honor where the Rabbi sat.

But what really got me was when Charles (or was it Yuval?) reminded us that the Bible said that Jesus taught in all the synagogues in the Galilee, so he would have been in . this . synagogue.  The synagogue probably didn't look like this when Jesus was there (there had been several restorations & renovations for hundreds of years of as this  ancient town's life), but He was here.  

 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.(Matthew 4:23)

Jesus was there! It was a powerful realization to know that He stood in the very building, a couple thousand years ago, and now I was standing there, too.  And I did not want to leave.

Not my best selfie, but I was there. Boom, in the first couple hours of our "Walk Where Jesus Walked" tour, I was there. It was a little overwhelming.

To be continued...

Israel!! Joffa & the Valley of Elah

Monday, March 3, 2014 - Tel Aviv to Galilee
Joffa, David Ben Gurion's House,  & Valley of Elah

Hello! And welcome back to my Journey!! It's been a couple of years, hasn't it?
Today is actually Tuesday, March 4, and it's been fun facebooking some friends while it is still last night, this morning. I always knew they were a little "behind the times" Hahah :-P  Our Israel tour starts in earnest today. Our last couple of days in Tel Aviv were acclimation days to get used to the time and culture (altho I still can't read Hebrew!).

Yesterday we had pretty much half a day before we picked up the rest of the group at the airport & headed north to the Galilee, so we went to Joffa in the morning. Joffa is about a km from our hotel, & a group walked there on our first day. It's the town from where Jonah departed on his ill-fated ocean voyage, trying to run from God's plan for him. Jonah's Joffa is about 15 layers underground, and there is a historic town there, but not quite Jonah's Joffa. This guy reminded us of Joffa's claim to fame...

Old Joffa is a walled city with a maze of foot alleys that run between the buildings.

This is our group entering the city

 Between some buildings

Down one of the alleys was an inocuuous looking door which looked like all the other doors in the village (only many of the doors had modern shops behind them!).  This may (or may not) have been the house of Simon the Tanner, on whose roof Peter had the vision of the unclean meat descending on a sheet (in Acts). There are several indications that this could possibly, maybe, kinda be his house, but there's no way to know for sure. At the very least, it's what his house could have looked like...

But oh wait. It says it is, so it must be! (please note my sarcasm):

Joffa is a walled city, and gave me a better understanding of what Jericho might have looked like.

After we explored the more contemporary Joffa, we toured the home of David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel & who declared its independence on May 14, 1948. A very modest 1950s house that wasn't very spectacular.

We still had some time to kill so we went to the Valley of Elah, where there is certainty that this is where the battle of David & Goliath took place. A very non-descipt, normal looking valley between two rises (they call them mountains in Israel). No signage (that I could tell), no gift shop. It was just some random looking valley in the middle of nowhere, only "they" are pretty sure that something really significant happened here.

As we were walking to the brook from where David found his five smooth stones, we ran into a bit of a road block. Since David was a shepherd, this just added a bit of authenticity to the place (and sheep poo to the bottom of everyone's shoes!). The rise behind the sheep on the right is where the good guys were.

Everyone was looking for their own five smooth stones in this dry creek bed.

Our guide is demonstrating how the sling worked.

Bonus!! This little guy was born just minutes before we got there. The presence of 24 people arriving on the scene was (understandably) upsetting for Mama Sheep, but she calmed down after we went down to the creek.

We are now in the Galilee, about 1/2 hour north of the lake. We'll be here for three more nights.  Today we will go to Capernaum, see where the Sermon on the Mount could have been preached, and cruise out into the Sea of Galilee. It's gonna be a full day!