HE’S A BOY!

Look at the biceps on that kid! Our Grandson Sam Reeves is on the way!

You’ve gotta serve somebody!

This morning I took a risk at church.  I preached on Joshua 24 where Joshua is telling the leaders of the tribes of Israel that they must choose who they are going to serve.  They must choose between the gods of their ancestors, the gods of the Amorites, or Yahweh, the God of Israel.

I couldn’t resist playing one of my favorites Bob Dylan songs and a video at the beginning of the sermon.  The message of his song could not have fit the scripture any better.

Choose you this day whom you will serve….as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.   Joshua 24:15

Birthday Boy!

Last Thursday, July 30, our grandson, Creighton, hit the big…1!  He is the sweetest thing!  He could be the motivation for Katie and Josh to possibly go for #4!  YOU GO, BOY!

Happy Birthday, big boy!  Bebe and Poppy love you!

Whitley Fun and Food

Our congregation at Whitley loves to be together.  These are some of the folks that call me Pastor, among other things.  I love being around them.  Nothing like spending a late afternoon with hot dogs on the grill and about 10 freezers of home made ice cream in the beautiful backyard of Ed and Mary Louise Filicky!  My kind of people!

Hot dogs are ready!

Master Chef Ed Filicky!  Bobby Flay’s got nothing on him.

These beautiful ladies are part of our Friday night family.  We love it when they spend time with us.

So, exactly how does one describe that look on Bryan’s face? Pain? Laughter? What are you doing to him, Ginny?

That egg toss was hard on Bobby’s heart.

So, is Joyce getting up, or sitting down?  Only the photographer knows.

We had a great time.  Thank you Ed and Mary Louise for your hospitality!

Sister Camp at Bebe and Poppy’s

This week is the second ever Sister Camp. It is a time for sisters to be spoiled rotten for a week and then sent back home to mom and dad and little brother Creighton.

It started with a pig pickin’ for Auntcy and  Uncle Christopher on Saturday night.

Mommy danced with Creighton.

Daddy danced with the campers.

Ben and Katie leaned to the right.

Sunday afternoon we went for a ride on Uncle Franklin and Aunt Jennie’s boat.

Nana, Papa and Uncle Rick came up from Florida for Auntcy and Christopher’s party and went on the boat ride too.

Charlotte drove the boat.

So did Olivia.

Olivia held onto a lantern to keep the trolls away.

Thumb’s up to the three Captains for a great voyage.

More fun still to come!

Yippeee!

They weren’t kidding when they said they wouldn’t wait long to start a family!  Grandchild #4 is coming in February!  It’s official! I have had to bite my tongue for a week until today’s appointment.

Cydne went to the Doctor today, and guess what?! She and Christopher are going to be a mommy and daddy! She had a blood test done last week in the Doctor’s office and was given the good news.  Today she went to the OB/Gyn and got to see and hear the little rascal and she even brought a picture!  I’m not sure who he/she looks like.  I’m not even sure I knew what I was looking at! Right now he/she is about 1/2 inch long and growing like a weed!

This is so much fun!

Caught Up!

The problem with going anywhere for 10 days is catching up on all the stuff that didn’t get done while you were gone.   Since getting back from Israel I have had to write six papers, three sermons, attend Annual Conference, and start a new class in Charlotte.  Finally, I have caught up and caught my breath.

Now where was I before I was interrupted?

“As for other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? II Kings 20:20

Our fearless leader Dr. Stephen Bramer leading the way through Hezekiah’s tunnel.

I held the middle.

Parker and John brought up the rear.   Not a place to be if you have claustrophobia. It is 1777 feet long cut through solid stone!

Then he chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand approached the Philistine. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.  Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead.  The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. I Samuel 17:40, 48-49

The stream is all dried up now, but I brought back some stones.  I wonder what happened to the four stones that David didn’t use? Maybe, just maybe???

This is Barbara and her bedouin friend.  We were greeted by about 7 of them as we arrived at the beginning of this path.  Stephen told us just to be polite and say “no thank you” when they tried to offer us things.  As we walked along this ledge with a 200-300 foot drop-off, I heard Barbara say “no thank you” about a hundred times.  She was in no place to be impolite to a bedouin shepherd!

When we got to the end of the path, we saw St. George’s Monastery dating back around the 7th century (I think).  It was incredible!  This picture doesn’t do it justice.

Dotty and Barbara at the Garden of Gethsemane.

This is the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchure built around the sight where Catholics believe Jesus was crucified and buried.

This is the stone on which they believe his body was prepared for burial.

As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.They came to a place called Gogotha (which means the Place of the Skull). Matthew 27:32-33

Looks like a skull to me!  Dr. Bramer, believes the location inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchure is the more likely of the two places.  But, this sure looks like a skull to me.  Regardless, to have been at both locations was a moving experience.

The Garden Tomb.  Jesus wasn’t there. It was empty!

So they took away the stone, Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always heard me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they might believe that you sent me“.  When he said this, Jeus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” The dead man came out, his hand and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. John 11:41-44

Parker at the entrance to Lazarus’ tomb.

John and me in Lazarus’ tomb.

That’s me coming forth!  That would have been hard to do with your hands and feet all bound up!

This is a good shot of the kinfolk at Jerusalem.

Dr. Stephen Bramer was an incredible guide.

We sang songs that he had written.

Barbara picked his brain….many times. (That cave back there is where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found at Qumran)

He gave us scriptural, historical, archealogical background on every place we went.  We have been spoiled rotten!

He is already back over there teaching at a seminary in Jordan.

Our trip ended with dinner and sunset on the Mediterranean Sea in Jaffa.  We still have to pinch ourselves to believe that we were actually there!

When Barbara got back to school, her friend and co-worker, Joy Edwards-Parker presented her with this poster from her classroom.  It says “We know that you are worth more than 200+ camels! We missed you!

Bobby Pilkington at our church did some research and found that 250 camels are worth $1,830,000. Hmm!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

You can barely see it, but that is Jerusalem in the background.

The Damascus Gate entering into the old city.

The Western Wall, also once known as the Wailing Wall.  It is the last section of the original temple mount wall still standing.  To Jews around the world it is sacred and holy ground.  This is the place where practicing Jews insert prayers into the wall between cracks in the stones.  This wall was constructed by King Herod.  Do you know what happens when you  insert a prayer into the wall? Absolutely nothing.  It’s just a wall.  A very old one, and a very special one, but it is still just a wall.

This is on top of the temple mount.  That is the Dome of the Rock behind us.  It is the original sight of the Jewish Temple that was destroyed by Titus in 70AD.  Christians believe it to be built on top of the rock where Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice.  Muslims believe it is indeed built upon the very rock where Abraham offered up his son as a sacrifice, but it wasn’t Isaac, it was his half brother Ishmael.  This is the third most Holy sight to Muslims behind Mecca, and Medina. Notice that Barbara and I are not touching.  That is a big no no to Muslims.

These are the southern steps which led up to the temple.  There is no doubt that Jesus would have walked up these very steps! It could have been right here that Jesus told his disciples as they were admiring the temple that the time would come when the temple would be destroyed and not one stone would be left standing.

And, these are some of those stones that were excavated  just a few years back.  They were left exactly as they were found. They were pushed from the temple mount by Roman soldiers in 70AD when all of Jerusalem was destroyed and burned just as Jesus had said would happen.

Those are some big stones!

One day we had to ride a Jerusalem taxi.

This was once known as the Lion’s Gate. You can see the Lion’s to the left and right of the gate.Today it is known as Stephen’s gate. It was in this spot where Stephen was stoned to death.

The sun setting over Jerusalem was a pretty spectacular sight.

This was definitely a trip of a lifetime!  We are forever grateful to Dotty and John for taking us.  Because I had trouble with the internet during our time in Jerusalem I wasn’t able to keep you updated.  But I have tons of pictures I plan to add in the next few days.

Day Four, Five and Six

We are in Jerusalem, but I am having problems posting pictures.  We arrived on Saturday afternoon around 4 in the afternoon which meant it was still Shabat (Sabbath). here was very little traffic because Jews aren’t allowed to travel very far on that day. They are not allowed to push buttons on an elevator either.  Barbara and I found that out on an elevator in the hotel when we rode an elevator down from the ninth floor that stopped at every floor.  A young Jewish couple with two small children were chuckling under their breath at us as I punched the button on every floor. All other elevators would not have stopped, but we happened to have gotten on the Shabat elevator. Talking about modern day Phariseeism.

Before arriving we stopped in the wildreness where Jesus would have spent 40 days and 40 nights after he was baptized.  It was unbelievable.  I wish I could put the pictures on here.  One particular bedouin shepherd also took a keen interest in Barbara.

Today (Monday, 5/18) a man in Jerusalem offered me 200 camels for Barbara, another one offered me 250 camels.  I told them I had no way of getting them back.

We have been up on the Temple Mount, down the Via Dolo Rosa, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden Tomb, Mount of Olives, Golgotha, rode a camel, the Pools of Bethesda, Hezekiah’s Tunnel which was cut through solid rock, about 1/2 mile long, about 24 inches wide, and has about ten inches of water flowing through it. It was pretty amazing. We were also treated to lunch today in the middle of a Muslim’s shop in the Christian Quarter.  Shaaban is a friend of Stephen’s and he treated us like royalty right in the middle of his shop.  The food was delicious. I’ll keep trying to get some pictures up.

Hope everyone is doing well.  This has been the most incredible experience of our lives.  I have taken about 600 pictures so far and several videos.

See you soon.

Day Three

We had another great day.  We started out in Hazor; one of three cities burned by Joshua around 1405 BC, as mentioned in Joshua 11.  You could see evidence of fire in the dig. The man in the picture is Dr. Stephen Bramer, Professor of Biblical Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary who came with us.  He gives my kind of tour.  When there is a sign that says do not enter, he enters.  The roads we have been down were not designed for 9 passenger vans. It has been amazing so far.

We then went to Ceaserea Phillipi which is where Peter made his great confession (Matthew 16).  It was a place of pagan idol worship.  It was where Jesus said that he would build his church upon the rock of Peter’s great confession, as opposed to the rock that you see in the background.  I have seen pictures of this place before but they do not do it justice, as these will not.  The big opening in the rock was known as the “gate of hell”.  Seeing this place adds a whole new perspective to Matthew 16.

Ceaserea Philippi is also the location of one of three springs which forms the headwaters of the Jordan River.

The picture below is thought to be the main gate into the ancient city of Dan. This dates back to Abraham and he could have very well walked through this gate when he went to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot with the help of 318 men. Read Genesis 14. The dig is covered by a canopy to keep the weather from destroying it.

Dan is also one of the headwaters for the Jordan.  The third is the Senir.  We didn’t get to that one.

Then we went up a got within about 100 yards of Lebanon, about a quarter mile from Syria, and about a quarter mile from Jordan.  All three are enemies of Israel.  It is interesting driving down a road on which their are signs warning of mine fields on each side of the road.

This was a jeep full of Israeli soldiers armed to the teeth turning around in front of us.  It is nothing to see soldiers all over the place with their AK-47’s.  We have seen several groups of school children.  By law they are required to have two armed guards with them at all time.  Imagine taking your class on a field trip and having men with AK-47’s go with you.

Tomorrow we start heading for Jerusalem!  I don’t know what the internet situation will be, but hopefully I will be able to post.

This has been the most incredible trip Barbara and I have ever taken.  Stephen gave a good illustration.: You can read the bible and get a good understanding of the scriptures, but until you see these places in person, it is like reading the bible in black and white.  Once you have been here, all of a sudden it is like reading them in color.  The stories and the places just jump off of the pages and become more real.

Never would I have imagined a trip like this.  We have been truly blessed!

Shalom!