Day 2 and Day 3

For those faithful readers out there I'm sorry I haven't written in a few days. It has been so busy and full and we haven't had an internet connection.

3/13/07
Places Visited:

• Caesarea by the Sea - This was the Herod the Great's capitol city. This was also the place that we read about in Acts 10 where Cornelius, the first gentile convert, lived and believed in Christ. Most likely it is also the place where Paul would have started on his missionary journies. This place was amazing and huge. Herod was a great builder. He built this entire city from the ground up complete with a 3000 seat amphitheater, an enormous palace on the Mediterranean Sea, and a port of over 200 ships. Included in his palace is a fresh water pool. This pool was connected to the ocean, but not fed by it (obviously, right?). This place was big and old and quite the feat for that day, or any day for that matter. It is also here that archaeologists have uncovered the proof that Pilate was the ruler at the time of Jesus.
• Mt. Carmel - This is the sight of Elijah's challenge to the prophets of Baal. This is a large hill and from it you can see the Jezreel Valley. This is the place of the final battle of Armeggedon. The valley is enormous, the view is spectacular, and the wind was swirling, so we didn't spend that much time up there. This was my favorite sight and will definitely use my experience in subsequent sermons.
• Nazareth - Here we visited a potential site for where Jesus may have opened the scrolls and read in Luke 4. It was after this that he was rejected in this city, having said that "this day this prophesy has been fulfilled in your hearing."
• Mt. Arbel - Nothing imparticular happened here, but from this mountain you can see many of the places that Jesus ministered in the Galilee region. Jesus stayed mostly on the north side of the galilee. This was the place that had the greatest number of people in that day. Today it is not the case. But then, in this great fishing community that side tends to be 2-3 degrees warmer due to hot springs that feed it. That's where the people were, so that's where Jesus was.

3/14/2007

I woke up today watching the sunrise on the Sea of Galilee. I couldn't help but think that this is the SAME sun and the SAME sea (it's actually more of a lake). That Jesus saw rise and set. It was beautiful.

Places Visited:

• Sea of Galilee - This is the sea where Jesus spent most of his ministry around. It is not very large, only 17 miles by 8 miles (give or take). It is positioned in a valley and in a very odd spot. It is very low, some 200 meters below sea level. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides that are set back some varying number of meters. This causes great storms to arise their quickly. Many times in the New Testament it talks about the storms arising quickly. It's easy to see how it could happen. Jesus calmed storms here, he walked on water here, and taught people from boat here. This is the place where Peter jumped out of the boat and started walking. We were there, it is an overwhelming experience.
• Gennesaret - Here they found a boat that they have discovered to be over 2000 years old. It is the type of boat that Peter, James, John, and Andrew would have had.
• Capernaum - This was the place of Jesus' base of operations. The home town of Peter's mother-in-law and the place where Jesus did miracles and healings, left and right. It is also one of the places that Jesus curses because of its unbelief. To this day Capernaum has not been rebuilt. It stands in ruins.
• Mt. of Beattitudes - This is the place where Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The place where he most likely spoke forms a natural amphitheater. Today it is home to an order of nuns who are not very personable. They've yelled at groups in the past for singing too loud.
• Peter's Primacy - This is the spot on the Galilee where after Jesus' resurrection he appeared to the disciples who had gone back to their former way of life. You can read about it in John 21. It is also the place where Peter was questioned about his love for Jesus and he told him 3 times that he loved him. There is more to this story, but I want to preach on it, so I'll refrain.
• Caesarea Phillipi - This is the place of Peter's great confession of who Jesus is. Jesus would never have gone inside of this city, it was pagan, but they were in the "region surrounding it". In this region there are tons (literally) of ruins to the Greek god Pan. This was thought to be the "Gates of Hell" by the religious people of the day. So after Peter's confession when Jesus says, "I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." He was standing right in front of this spot. Pretty incredible, do you have goose bumps, I do, and I did all day long.

This trip has been nothing short of amazing. To quote Ferris Bueller, "if you have the funds I highly suggest it." Seriously, this has been enriching and fulfilling. God has used it in a big way in my life already.

Forgive me if I misspelled things it is 3:30 AM here and my brain is not quite functioning up to snuff.