Today we visited the Golan Heights, where we had a gorgeous view of the tallest mountain in Israel, Mt. Hermon. Yes, that’s snow you’re seeing. And yes there’s skiing in Israel.
When the snow melts on Hermon, it trickles down into three streams that flow into and make up the Jordan River. This river flows into the Sea of Galilee, which is the major source of drinking water for Israelis and Jordanians alike. After leaving here, the Jordan River picks up again where it empties into the Dead Sea. It’s called the Dead Sea because you can’t drink the water and it’s pretty much devoid of life. The reason for this is that the Dead Sea has no outlet; thus it becomes extremely salty.
Healthy children of God not only Entertain the truth, but they Exercise the truth by faith as well. If we want to become more like Jesus, we need the truth by which we can filter out the lies that already exist in our brains and to keep out the lies that want to get in. We must store up truth like the water in the Sea of Galilee. It can’t stop there though. We must exercise or practice those truths in our everyday lives. If not, we become like the Dead Sea. Lots of knowledge/water that’s totally unusable.
Your life will become stagnate if you don’t practice the truths you’ve been storing in your head. We need both input and output in order to get closer Jesus.
S“E”t Fre“E” Nowww

Why did God choose to put His name on a specific piece of real estate called the land Israel? We learned one reason today during our visit to the ancient city Megiddo. Megiddo was one of three cities that controlled the world’s trade routes that ran through Israel. An example of this is seen in the story of Joseph (Gen. 37) when his brothers sold him to a group of Midianite traders who eventually sold him in Egypt.
At that time in history, Israel was the only monotheistic nation on the planet. So when traders on their way home from around the globe would pass through Israel, they would hear about the one true God. God picked this spot to spread the word about Himself. When the Israelites were asked why they worshipped only one God or didn’t eat certain foods, they weren’t supposed to say, “Because we’re Jewish.” They were supposed to say, “We love and trust our God for all that He has done for and in us.” They were a nation of slaves. Their God freed them from slavery by destroying Egypt, the world superpower at the time.
This was why Israel’s idolatry was so devastating. When they worshipped idols, they not only hurt themselves, but they also gave the world the wrong image of God. As merchants would travel through Israel, they could feel right at home. They could worship their gods and keep right on going without ever coming into contact with the One True God. He was just one of an entire smorgasbord of gods.
As children of God, we don’t do what we do because it is the Christian thing to do. We do what we do because we love and trust Jesus, the One who set us free from slavery. We pick up our biblical tools through His power to stay free our idols (i.e. drugs of choice). As we love and trust Jesus in all that we think, say and do throughout our day people will not see their god in us, but Jesus. Who would rather have people see?

I want to thank you for being patient as my blog went down again. Can’t imagine why? Today, we were in Caesarea, Israel. I taught about Paul having used this famous port to start his many journeys to share the gospel. The last time he is recorded being here, it was not under ideal circumstances. He was told he would be jailed and treated harshly if he went home. He went anyway. Why? The Spirit told him would face hardship no matter where he went. What was the big deal this time?
He went home, and yes he ended up in jail. He was sent back to Caesarea to wait trail and finally onto Rome to stand before Caesar.
We’ve faced so many trails since we’ve been here. I don’t want to focus on them, but suffice it to say, we’ve been under attack. Yet, this is exactly what Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12 we should expect if we want to get closer to Jesus. We have an enemy that doesn’t want this to happen. He knows as it does our joy and peace will increase and people will see Jesus in us.
As this happens, those around us will start asking questions, which is exactly what has happened. One lady in our hotel asked me who we were while two others (I’m purposefully being vague here), both of whom observed us bringing much needed humanitarian aid, asked, “Your group seems to a have a glow about it. You have so much joy. You laugh. You smile. You have peace. What is it about you?” Our answer? It’s Jesus, which led to us to be able to plant and water some wonderful seeds.
As we learn to use our tools to process life’s trials, we will become more like Jesus, which is Who we want the world to see.
Set “Free” Nowww