Sunday May 11, 2008 - In Honor of my Mom -Mother's Day

Today I'm thinking of my Mom! Not a day goes by that I don't think of her and wish I could sit with her again and thank her for being that unique light of love that she is to me. I miss her very much!

She always said that a red rose was her favorite flower, because it reminded her of her Mother. This was the last bouquet that I could send to her on Mother's Day 2004.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Later in the day I went to the King of King's church service and just had a great time of worhip and praise. Today is also Day of Pentecost, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and other followers of Jesus as recorded in Acts chapter 2.

For Jews, Pentecost is a parallel to Shavout, as Easter is to Passover. According to the Bible, on Passover, the Jews were delivered from slavery in Egypt; on Easter, mankind was delivered from slavery to sin; on Shavout, the Children of Israel received the "Law"; on Pentecost, the Church received the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

It was an excellent service and at the end of it, the Pastor invited Raleigh Washington to end the service in prayer.

I couldn't believe it, Brother Washington is from Church in the City in Denver, and preached many times when I attended there.

He is the co-president of a ministry named the Road to Jerusalem, http://www.roadtojerusalem.com/, alongside Coach Bill McCartney of Promise Keepers. The ministry seeks to bring peace and reconciliation to Jews and Gentiles in Jesus. It was great to see a familiar face, and he enlightened me on what was going on with the ministry and with the church. He runs the ministry out of Church in the City.

Saturday May 10, 2008 - Off to the Mount of Olives

Today I journeyed to the Mount of Olives. So I headed through the Old City and stopped at the Armenian Quarters and had a bite to eat. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and lots of sunshine, just how I like it. This restaurant had a great outdoor patio.


My first stop was at the City of David. In 1867 the British explorer Captain Charles Warren discovered an ancient underground water tunnel just outside the walls of the old city and just 500 feet from the Western Wall. Upon recognizing this to be remarkably similar to the underground water tunnel or "gutter" described in the Bible (2nd Book of Samuel Ch. 5) as used by King David's forces in the capture of Jerusalem, Captain Warren began archeological excavations that would later confirm that he had in fact just discovered "Biblical Jerusalem".


This picture doesn't do justice to what's inside, and I didn't spend too much time here but check out the website at www.cityofdavid.org, it has a really cool virtual, panoramic tour of what's inside.
I exited the City of David and walked outside along the Old City Wall, and this is Jerusalem facing directly south of the Wall.
And this is facing East toward the Mount of Olives on the hill.

The Tombs

As I walked further around the east side of the Old City wall, I came across these ancient tombs and came to find out that this one is the The Tomb of Zechariah which is an ancient monument in the Kidron Valley directly east of the Old City. It is not really a tomb, but a monument situated adjacent to a tomb. He was a propht of the two-tribe kingdom of Judah, and the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets and 14th King of Israel.
Also, to the far left of his tomb is the cave of Jehoshaphat. His story is found in I and II Kings. Jehoshaphat's most shining moment came when his nation was under attack by an alliance of three vast armies. Recognizing his totally helpless position, the king hosted a nationwide day of prayer. When the LORD, answering the prayers, told Jehoshaphat he would defeat this enemy without fighting, he trusted the LORD so completely that he dispatched an army — not of soldiers, but of singers, singing praise to God. When this army came upon the invaders, they discovered them completely destroyed by internal fighting.

Next to these tombs was the pillar of Absalom, King David's son.The pillar of Absalom!
And right above these tombs is the cemetary of the Prophets. There are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount, including the tombs of biblical figures. Many important rabbis from the 15th to the 20th centuries are buried there, among them Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin is buried on the Mount of Olives as well.

And this is facing directly east towards the Mount of Olives, you can also see the Church of Mary Magdalene with the shiny, gold domes, it is now a convent.

Church of all Nations

This is the Church of all nations, also known as the Church or Basilica of the Agony, it is a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, next to the Garden of Gethsemane. It enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest, Mark 14: 32-42.






In 1920, during work on the foundations, a column was found two meters beneath the floor of the medieval crusader chapel. Fragments of a magnificent mosaic were also found. Following this discovery the architect immediately removed the new foundations and began excavations of the earlier church.










After the remains of the Byzantine era church were fully excavated plans for the new church were altered and work continued on the current basilica from April 19, 1922 until June, 1924 when it was consecrated.




This is the bedrock where Jesus is believed to have prayed.

The Garden of Gethsemane

Right next to the Church of All Nations is the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus and his disciples retreated to pray after the Last Supper, the night before he was crucified. According to Luke 22:43–44, Jesus' anguish in Gethsemane was so deep that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Gethsemane was also where Christ was betrayed by the disciple Judas Iscariot,

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." (Matthew 26:36)

"And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and He said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

This was a very peaceful garden.

Finally to the top of the Mount of Olives

I finally walked to the top of the Mount of Olives for this great view of the Old City and Jerusalem.

Remember that Jesus looked out from this place and said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft I would have gathered you, as a hen gathereth her chicks and ye would not." Jesus is said to have spent a good deal of time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples (Matthew 24-25), including the Olivet discourse, topics that included:
The future destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
Tribulation in Israel and the nations of the world
Various signs of the coming of the Son of Man returning after each day to rest (Luke 21:37), and also coming there on the night of his betrayal (Matthew 26:39).






According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will come through the Golden Gate (or Gate of Mercy) which if you look close enough in this picture, you can see that it is sealed up. They believe He will bring about the resurrection of the dead in the cemetery on the Mount, also.






Jews have always sought to be buried here, and from biblical times until today, the mountain has been used as a Jewish cemetery. The cemetery sits atop a hill that was once dotted with olive trees. Given the sanctity of the place, the cemetery's terrible condition comes as a shock. Grave stones are broken and scattered. Most of the damage dates to the Jordanian occupation (1948-1967).















And a little tase of what it might have looked like in those times. This guy wanted to give me a donkey ride, but I just wasn't that interested.

















And this was a veiw from the cemetary.

The Dominus Flevit Church on top of the Mount of Olives

The last place that I stopped was at this place called the sanctuary church of Dominus Flevit, which translates from Latin as "The Lord Wept", it was fashioned in the shape of a teardrop. Here, according to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus, while walking toward the city, becomes overwhelmed by the beauty of the Second Temple and, predicting its future destruction, weeps openly. Luke 19, 37-42.
One of the newest churches in Jerusalem, Dominus Flevit sits atop an ancient site. During construction of the sanctuary archeologists uncovered artifacts dating back to the Canaanite period, as well as tombs from both the Second Temple and Byzantine eras. Also unearthed was a 7th century Byzantine shrine, of which some mosaics remain.














Finally, I made my way back down and started walking home. This picture shows the three main sights on the Mount. The Church of All Nations, the church of Mary Magdalene, and to the upper right, you can barely see the Dominus Flevit church.











I had seen this camel on top of the Mount, and as I was walking home I found out who it belongs to. . .











this guy!!

Well it was quite a day and considering I walked the entire day, I was whiped and headed home.

Friday May 9, 2008 (Shabbat starts at dusk)

I spent most of the day today studying, but I ventured out at around dusk to the Old City to meet my friend Doris, who I hadn't seen since Tiberius. She was on her way through Jerusalem from Haifa. She was running a bit late so I walked around a little and









headed through the Jaffa Gate like many of the Jews heading towards the Western Wall for Shabbat prayer. I hadn't been to the Western Wall at night so I trekked over for a few pics. It was packed like I had imagined, but there's always an interesting energy when that many people are gathered in one place just to pray.










And I had just enough time to snap a couple of shots of these strange cats who perch themselves in the weirdest places almost to say, "Hey wanna take my picture? Look I'm at the Western Wall" I almost felt as if they wanted me to give them something for taking these shots. It made me laugh!

Thursday May 8, 2008 Independence Day in Israel!!

Today is the Independence Day here in Israel! Actually it's May 14th, but they celebrate it as a national holiday today. Israel officially turns 60 this year and there's going to be quite a bit of celebrating here. Lots of Christian organizations, heads of state, including Bush, who'll be here on the 15th of May with Gorbachev, UK's Tony Blair, and Benny Hinn, yep, good ole' Benny will be here.
But today was the day that the nation celebrated. There were quite a few loud firecrackers and fireworks, which was sort of a dreadful sound, because it sounded just like guns and bombs going off. Not something you want to hear in the Middle East.


The picture on the left is very famous here in Israel. It is of three soldiers at the Western Wall after the notorious Six Day War, in 1967 fought against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. A miraculous war in that Irael ceased the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza strip in 6 days. An amazing feat considering they were immensely outnumbered in size. And of course, those three areas today are the three most sensitive areas here in Israel.
I liked this picture, because those three soldiers are still alive, hence the pic on the right.



All across the nation people were celebrating. I'm not sure if they report these sorts of things in the American media. I think they just focus on the tensions and the negative stuff.





But it was quite a day!!

Tuesday/Wednesday May 6-7, 2008

Well, I made it back to Jerusalem on Tuesday, caught a bus then a taxi back to my place in Musrasha. It was good to be back here because I really like where I am staying. It's peaceful, close to everything and quiet. I am really blessed to have this as a hub.

When I returned I spent these two days resting, relaxing, studying and just taking it easy. I've been engrossed in a study of Israel, from the Bible as well as studying much of the history online. I also have been blessed to have found some teaching material from an amazing teacher named Derek Prince www.derekprince.org which has been an incredible time of study for me. The Lord has been using his teachings to speak right to my heart.

So the last two days I've been more reclusive in my studies, which is every bit as exciting to me as the excursions. However, I am so close to the Old City, that I generally go there every day to eat or to explore, there's so much to see, and everytime I wander out there's a photo op of some kind. I just happened to be walking to the Old City and this group of Israeli soldiers just propped down on this as if they were waiting for me to take their picture.

Then they sat down in this posed formation, not sure why, but it seemed like a great picture, so I took one.

And as I walked on down to Jaffa Gate, I snapped this one of some Greek Orthodox Jews. Gotta tell ya, those big furry hats crack me up.

So I went and had some lunch at my favorite place, the Christ Church, they have the best food in town and it's all you can eat. As I headed back to my place

these Jewish families were scurrying to the Western Wall for their nightly prayer time. Ya know I think this same picture could have been taken 40-50 years ago and it would look exactly the same.

And everytime I pass this one street I see this same ominous looking character at this exact same place, just looking out onto the Old City. I know, it's kinda creepy. I've never talked to him but maybe some day I will.