The Pinnacle

I’ve heard it said many times about museums, “You can’t see it all in just one hour; you need an entire day!” Well, so far this week at any site that we have visited, whether it be monastery, Church, or ancient ruins, “You can’t see it all in just one hour. You need the entire…

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The Power of the Light

The first public words of Christ after His Baptism and temptation by the devil were words of inspiration. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4.17) Christ has invited us to change the way we look at life. He has invited us to look at those around us with the Light of…

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Gratitude to God

If we think that God is somehow obligated to bless us, or to give us gifts, then we will likely not be grateful to Him. In truth we are not worthy of anything good from God. We do not deserve any blessings from him. If we are willing to accept this truth, then maybe we…

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Emotions are Running High

I don’t really know where to begin today. We visited several monasteries today. As we draw closer to our Lord’s Tomb, which we will visit tomorrow, the depth of our visits hits me more with each visit. Forgive me for admitting, but if my phone did not timestamp each picture, I would never remember what…

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History and Hope

Today was a whirlwind day. I even got more than 11,000 steps in before coming back to my hotel room after dinner. I was ‘warned’ about all the walking, but it hasn’t really been that bad, and when you consider where we are walking, it is more than worth the steps. We began today with…

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The Sea of Galilee

Today’s journey began boarding a boat “for the other side” for an hour on the Sea of Galilee.  We were headed to Capernaum, although by today’s standards it may have been faster to drive. Being in this place will forever sear in my mind the surroundings of the Sermon on the Mount. From this one…

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From Antiquity to Modernity

Our first visit today was the city of Caesarea by the Sea. This ancient city, founded by Herod the Great, the same Herod who was King when Christ was born, is my first testimony to better understand the reality that life goes on from generation to generation, and the physical places are in a constant…

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Arrival in Israel

A beautiful praying area with pictures of Jesus

Our travel to Israel was uneventful, thank God, but long. We left Tampa International Airport at 11am Friday, January 24th, and arrived at Tel Aviv International Airport 9:30am on Saturday, January 25th. We were warned in America that arriving on the Sabbath would create a few delays as most Jews do not work on the…

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Through Security and Ready to Board

You never know what to expect when you’re traveling. This morning, I got a late start thanks to the snooze button, and there was a bit of traffic, but by God’s grace, I was able to check in and get through security quickly, and still have time for a cup of coffee. People have asked…

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Be Grateful

Every morning we wake up to another day filled with opportunities and choices, opportunities to honor God with our choices. In our morning prayers, we often ask God to bless our day and maybe even ask Him to intercede and help us with a particular struggle, or we may ask Him to help others in…

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