Israel-Day 4

We started off early again (7:47 am) and enjoyed a much needed Morning Prayer service together on the bus.  Our first and longest stop was Masada.  I wasn't looking forward to this part of our journey because it is not a biblical event.  But the fortress itself is something to behold.  Our guide took us to each of the Jewish building built while occupied and discussed the benefits of Jewish practices.  A "elephant in the room" question stays with us, "Why should we be impressed with devout Jewish practices when they missed the Messiah?"  It is sometimes acknowledged but most of the time it is overlooked.  I do care about what the Jews did whether it be cultural or religious but only because I want to better understand how and why Jesus acted toward them the way he did.  There is too much more to discuss on the issue so I will save it for later teaching times.

Our next stop was the Qumran where the Essenes left their scrolls and where so much of our Old Testament content is revealed.  Consider that before these scrolls were found the latest archaeological evidence for the Old Testament were 900 A.D. scrolls.  These were 100 B.C. scrolls and virtually identical to the 900 A.D. scrolls.  Add to this evidence that Malachi was written 300 years before the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jeremiah just over 200 years before Malachi and we have the high likelihood that what we have today is a the Word of God.

Our final stop was to take a deep in the Dead Sea and it was worth the wait.  There is literally no effort needed to stay afloat and no sting to the skin.  Another once in a lifetime opportunity.

We ended our day here at the Christ Church guest house and what a blessing it is.  It is in the Old Jerusalem right across from the Tower of David.  This will be our home for the next four days.  Peace, Pastor Eric

Israel-Day 3

 

Israel-Day 3

The day started with a visit to the home and memorial for Ben-Gurion.  He was a modern prophet for the state of Israel as he became instrumental in establishing the contemporary Jewish state.  If your education was like mine or if you simply remember yours like I remember mine we thought Israel became a state because the UN felt sorry for them after WWII and Holocaust.  Not true.  How Israel came to be a nation and why they face the animosity they now face is found in their beginnings.  Too much to discuss in this blog.

We next went to En Avedat where we took in spectacular views and realized just how difficult it was to get across the dessert region called the Negev.  We went down the ravine and then we climb up 100 meters by way steps, trails and 90 degree ladders.  A picture of us at the top is on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ericbobbi.jorgensen

A wonderful outcome of such a trip is found in what it meant for Moses to hit a rock twice for water to come out.  I had always thought of it as a simple big rock in the dessert but when you walk the ravine and see water seeping out of canyon walls and understand that it was an old shepherd's trick to hit such rocks causing them to de-plug and for water to come forth, you know why God told Moses to speak and not strike.

Finally we went to Makhtesh Ramon a crater that was not on our agenda but was a beautiful view of God's creation as we meditated on the view reading Psalm 104.

This journey with Old Testament references is such a fantastic way to anticipate following the steps of Jesus and entering Jerusalem.

Please read Bobbi Lynn's comments below as she is keeping a woman's perspective along with me.  

Israel-day 2 Walking in the footsteps of Abraham

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet wife! I wouldn't say that to her until it was the 14th in the states.  Our first stop today was at the "supposed" well of Abraham. Evidently the Bedouins claimed it as Abrahams well in the 19th century but archeologists cannot age it past 1000 years. We took pictures there anyway.

Israel-day of travel

The plane was scheduled to leave at 10:50 pm. While waiting we spent $40 on sliders and pita with hummus at Newark Airport.  Israel has an additional search before you board which we preferred. I was curious regarding the many Orthodox Jewish men on board. They were dressed in accordance with the rabbi they follow. Most were in all black with different curls for sideburns and different top hats. They prayed, recited and rocked together at certain hours even on the plane. Some people might have respect for their devout life styles but I struggled watching them. It was not their ritualism that bothered me. It was not even that they trusted in their ritualism. It was the fact that they have rejected Jesus as their Messish.

Our group Evening Prayer followed the lectionary reading from Ezekiel 3. There the prophet is told by God that the people of Israel will not listen to the prophet because they will not listen to God.  To hear that while being present in the land of Israel was surreal and gave me a deeper appreciation for the courage of the prophets.  St. John records Jesus saying that the Jews did not know him as their
Savior because they did not know the Heavenly Father. As Christians we can have respect for devoted Orthodox Jews but they need Jesus as their Savior. No exceptions!

We arrived at The Leonardo hotel in Beer Sheba at 7:30 pm (12:30 est).  Had a good meal and now wait to fall asleep so that we don't wake up at 3:00 am. Tomorrow we look at the land that Abram walked. Peace to you, Pastor Eric

And yet another problem...

with the "Jesus and me only" doctrine is how it seriously limits a believers ability to understand the covenant of salvation God has made for His people.  When Abram looked to the stars at God's instruction he was not only to understand the number of "seeds" that would come from him but also to see the immensity of the covenant God had made with him.  When Abram believed God's promises and it was accounted to him as righteousness the specifics of those promises would not be realized by Abram.  And it didn't matter.  The faith Abram had was not about him.  That cannot be said by those who think that their personal testimony to ask Jesus in their heart is the crux of their life.  That is why they bounce from church to church.  It is why service to the Lord is conditional and convenient.  It is why they can treat other Christians in a non-loving manner.  But it is never "Jesus and me only."  Believers are part of an immense covenant that God has made for our salvation.  Just look to the stars!

For the minister, those who want to be minister and for those who are curious

That rascal Rev. Doug Wilson has put up on his blog 21 maxims for discouraged pastors and you can find that link here https://dougwils.com/s8-expository/21-maxims-for-discouraged-pastors.html

I would like to interact with a few of them with the recognition that much of a pastor's discouragement comes because he does not heed good wisdom and thus is a cause to his own discouragement.

The first ten I am in agreement with with no reservations that matter.  Number 11 is what drives me personally.  I "feel" personally responsible and yet I also have experienced my limitations.  I can tell a family to not go a certain route such as take a new job without a sound church in the area or I can tell a family not to send their children to a particular school, but in the end it is their choice and I am to love them even when the fallout occurs.

Number 12 is so very important to establish and practice.  I have been convicted too often of trying to be a pastor to a flock of people that don't want me to pastor them.  Loyalty to those who do want you to pastor them is very important.

Number 13 I am not in full agreement with and I will not post a particular verse that is a counter argument.  I will council instead that because perception is reality to those who have been confused or emotionally hurt, it is wise to confess an unawareness of how your actions as a minister have unintentionally hurt someone.  No harm in doing so as we all are "looking through the glass dimly."

Number 14 is quite necessary to be fruitful for the sake of the Kingdom of God and is related to number 15.  No one warned me about betrayal for if they had I might have been better at keeping bitterness away as number 16 warns.  Of course I was actually warned for if it could happen to Jesus it can happen to any minister who follows him.  But be warned because the betrayal hurts.

Numbers 17 thru 21 are great and I would underline number 21 because keeping your eyes on the prize gets you through much of what is difficult about the call.

Thanks Doug!

The Problem of Envy

In our study of Genesis the sin of envy has stuck out.  The devil tempts Eve to envy that God has knowledge that she does not.  This got me wondering what comes first, pride or envy.  Perhaps pride comes first because we would have to believe we deserve something that we don't have and therefore we envy others who do have.  But is envy different than coveting?  Why not just point to the 10th commandment and stop thinking about it?  The root of coveting is lusting.  You want something that is not yours and you desire it more than God.  It also includes being dissatisfied with what you already have.  The etymology of envy includes hate and ill-will.  Envy then is the sin of hatred that not only wants what someone else has be wants said persons who have to suffer loss, to suffer pain.  When you get there, when you get to envy it is the devil who has your ear.