Hookah and Holy Land pt. I

Bet She'an was wonderful to see because it has wonderful views of the entire city and has largely been uncovered. It was a good idea not to have to go to the bathroom while away from home because it was coed and you can see in the picture not very private. One of the most amazing experiences of my life was to travel in Israel for 15 days from one end of the country to the other. Eight men went, all involved in ministry and all except one never having been there before. I have always been torn about how to feel when in the presence of great historical sites. For instance in Rome it made me a little nauseous to see people lining up to kiss the foot of Peter's statue at St. Peter's Cathedral. It was just a little to golden calfy for me. Yet there were many places that we went to in Israel that moved me to the point of tears and brought me to a deeper level of experience when I read the scriptures. I think we all had this struggle within us of not wanting to betray the unique fact that Jesus resides within us and not within the buildings and stones we were seeing. It made for some interesting conversation but also for some wonderful experiences.
One night we were sitting on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and Bob, the organizer of the group, led us in a time of prayer for one another. And as we sat there and prayed through the storms in our lives I could not help but think of the storm that took place 2,000 years earlier on the water I was looking at. Fear seemed to fall away as I thought of the disciples frantically trying to wake Jesus, and with a simple command the wind and the waves obeyed and fell away. God became bigger to me than He ever had been before. It was wonderful. Bob then gave us a lesson on a Jewish ceremonial cleansing ritual called a Mikvah. In order to be fully clean a Jew in the first century would wash himself in a basin of clean water, which was water that had never touched anything man made. We thought it would be a great close to our time to have a Mikvah together in the Sea of Galilee. I am sure the others on the beach had not seen many more humorous things than eight fairly pudgy white Americans walking out into the water with their arms way up in the air. Standing in a circle we all submerged ourselves. I am now a believer that there is something to be said for location. We do not need to pursue God through creation and idolatry for God is already in pursuit of us. I would encourage you to allow Jesus to pursue your heart through creation and all of its wonder. (click on Hookah and Holy Land pt. I to see all my Israel pics)