March 24, 2007/Saturday
12:11pm (Nearing the Israeli Border from Jordan)
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Amman last night. It was very nice. It supposed to be the nicest hotel in Amman. The food was incredible. The food has been good the whole time. But, last night was the best.
Amman has money. Many Iraqi’s have fled to here, at least the wealthy ones. Along with them, came their money. Our guide told us that since we started clamping down on money in the US that is connected to Al Qaeda, Jordan has had about a 30 Billion dollar growth. Places like Dubai have invested money here.
This morning we went to Mt. Nebo where Moses and the over one million children of Israel stood and looked into the Promisedland. It is also above the valley where they last camped before moving into Jericho and taking the land. For further reading on this look at Deut. 34, Numb. 21:4-10.
9:10am
I had a lamb kabob sandwich for lunch with mango juice to drink. Both were very good. I love lamb and mango juice.
If you have never been out of the country (Canada doesn’t count), you can’t understand the dynamics of what is involved. The Middle East has it down to an art. Israel doesn’t miss a thing. Coming from Egypt to Jordan was interesting. They don’t exactly have it all together. I am not sure that they even know what is going on some of the time. But, you don’t say that to people who are holding guns.
Going from Jordan to Israel was an event in and of itself. If you don’t know, the borders of Israel are possibly the safest in the world. I know that the Israeli airline, El Al, certainly is the safest airline. I flew it the first time I came over here. They always board the planes from the tarmac not from a jet way. They board it in view on all sides. The border is equally as stiff. When you approach the boarder, you go through four checkpoints and passport checks. The last spot before you come across into Israel, you approach some really large guns. You then go through an intense screening process.
We have been in Israel since about 2:00pm. We have a kickin bus. We have been on Mercedes buses since we landed in Egypt. But this one in Israel is incredible. I believe it is the nicest bus I have ever been on.
One of my favorite passages in John is 10:3-5, “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Today, we stopped the bus in a random field where there was a shepherd and his sheep. My dad arranged to test this passage. He asked the shepherd for the opportunity to do this. He then walked out ahead of the sheep and called them. He tried many times. Most of the just ran away from him; none ever came to him. Then, the shepherd stepped out. He made a few noises, simple calls. The sheep turned and followed him.
The shepherd’s sheep know his voice. A lot of people question who is a believer and who isn’t. I have ceased to engage in a lot of those conversations anymore. I have done so because I believe it is quite obvious. I would caution you not to agree with me so quickly. You see, I don’t use the same parameters and norms that some of you may use to gauge this. First, I need to say that I believe that we are called into a relationship with God. It is not our choice. You will simply have to deal with that. But, you will have to do so in light of overwhelming biblical support. Second, I think that the church is possibly one of the worst displays of Christianity much of the time. The church is very responsible for the bad image it has. It has created it. I use the term church to describe the institution. It has been differentiated from the body of Christ because of its use in modern culture.
In the church there is in-fighting, quarrels, bickering, gossip, etc… I know that nothing nor no one is perfect. But, there seems to be more of this in the church than often there is outside the church. The church has become inwardly focused. You ask your finance committee how much of the money is spent on things outside the church, things not related to present membership. I have had countless people visit a church where I served and ask me what the church had to offer their family. Who cares what a church can offer a self-centered and consumed family.
Back to my point, sheep are sheep and goats are goats. All you have to do is look around you. You don’t’ question crap when you smell it. In the same way, you can look at a sheep and know it.
Sheep are finely tuned into the voice of the shepherd. They hear it and respond. They don’t form groups to discuss whether or not they heard the shepherd or not. They just move, and follow. You might think that this is too simplistic. Well, Jesus was pretty simplistic. You’ll have to take it up with Him. He did say these things you know.
Sheep are still stupid. So are we. We like to think that we are super-intelligent. I have as much education as most. I am still incapable most of the time. I am not nearly as big a deal as I sometimes I have thought I was. When you boil it all down, I am a sheep looking to a shepherd, desperately seeking His voice. I sometimes stray from it and get in trouble. Sometimes I do well. Either way, I lean on His help. I need Him. Today I need Him. I will need Him tomorrow. I would like to run off on my own. I just can’t. I am tied to this Shepherd from deep within. There is a deep calling in me.
I get really tired of church folks. I don’t like a lot of them. But, I do love Jesus. I try not to let them ruin that experience.
I watch people a lot. I learn a great deal from them. I am learning that the church could benefit more from learning about people in general than from trying to teach everyone to walk like they do. Church folks think that they are being relevant. That is a term that they have abused to make themselves feel good about evangelism. The world laughs at these attempts. I think we should simply love people. I should probably explain this more. I am sure some of you want to argue with all of this. But, I am going to let you steep in it. Maybe you should ask the Lord what this means. Maybe you would learn from it.
This evening, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was great. This Jewish family runs this boating business. They take folks out like they took us. They sang some Jewish folk songs. We danced and sang them with them. It was so much fun. We were laughing and clapping and dancing. I think Jews really enjoy life more than Christians do. I know some of you will disagree with this. I am being about 50% facetious. But, 50% is truth. When we sang their songs, we clapped, danced, laughed, and had a great time. When we sang our songs, we sat quietly and looked sad. Now, I love the songs that we had. It just was a stark difference. It could have just been timing. Is it just I, or are we too concerned about composure? I know that some songs require contemplation. I just am saying that Jewish people know how to party.
Our boat ride was a great experience. I do like the songs that we sang about our faith. I guess I would just like to have some of whatever those Jewish people had. Maybe it is the old heritage. Please don’t tell me, “But, we have Jesus.” I know. All I am saying is those Jews can let their hair down. Don’t take this part too deeply.
12:11pm (Nearing the Israeli Border from Jordan)
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Amman last night. It was very nice. It supposed to be the nicest hotel in Amman. The food was incredible. The food has been good the whole time. But, last night was the best.
Amman has money. Many Iraqi’s have fled to here, at least the wealthy ones. Along with them, came their money. Our guide told us that since we started clamping down on money in the US that is connected to Al Qaeda, Jordan has had about a 30 Billion dollar growth. Places like Dubai have invested money here.
This morning we went to Mt. Nebo where Moses and the over one million children of Israel stood and looked into the Promisedland. It is also above the valley where they last camped before moving into Jericho and taking the land. For further reading on this look at Deut. 34, Numb. 21:4-10.
9:10am
I had a lamb kabob sandwich for lunch with mango juice to drink. Both were very good. I love lamb and mango juice.
If you have never been out of the country (Canada doesn’t count), you can’t understand the dynamics of what is involved. The Middle East has it down to an art. Israel doesn’t miss a thing. Coming from Egypt to Jordan was interesting. They don’t exactly have it all together. I am not sure that they even know what is going on some of the time. But, you don’t say that to people who are holding guns.
Going from Jordan to Israel was an event in and of itself. If you don’t know, the borders of Israel are possibly the safest in the world. I know that the Israeli airline, El Al, certainly is the safest airline. I flew it the first time I came over here. They always board the planes from the tarmac not from a jet way. They board it in view on all sides. The border is equally as stiff. When you approach the boarder, you go through four checkpoints and passport checks. The last spot before you come across into Israel, you approach some really large guns. You then go through an intense screening process.
We have been in Israel since about 2:00pm. We have a kickin bus. We have been on Mercedes buses since we landed in Egypt. But this one in Israel is incredible. I believe it is the nicest bus I have ever been on.
One of my favorite passages in John is 10:3-5, “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Today, we stopped the bus in a random field where there was a shepherd and his sheep. My dad arranged to test this passage. He asked the shepherd for the opportunity to do this. He then walked out ahead of the sheep and called them. He tried many times. Most of the just ran away from him; none ever came to him. Then, the shepherd stepped out. He made a few noises, simple calls. The sheep turned and followed him.
The shepherd’s sheep know his voice. A lot of people question who is a believer and who isn’t. I have ceased to engage in a lot of those conversations anymore. I have done so because I believe it is quite obvious. I would caution you not to agree with me so quickly. You see, I don’t use the same parameters and norms that some of you may use to gauge this. First, I need to say that I believe that we are called into a relationship with God. It is not our choice. You will simply have to deal with that. But, you will have to do so in light of overwhelming biblical support. Second, I think that the church is possibly one of the worst displays of Christianity much of the time. The church is very responsible for the bad image it has. It has created it. I use the term church to describe the institution. It has been differentiated from the body of Christ because of its use in modern culture.
In the church there is in-fighting, quarrels, bickering, gossip, etc… I know that nothing nor no one is perfect. But, there seems to be more of this in the church than often there is outside the church. The church has become inwardly focused. You ask your finance committee how much of the money is spent on things outside the church, things not related to present membership. I have had countless people visit a church where I served and ask me what the church had to offer their family. Who cares what a church can offer a self-centered and consumed family.
Back to my point, sheep are sheep and goats are goats. All you have to do is look around you. You don’t’ question crap when you smell it. In the same way, you can look at a sheep and know it.
Sheep are finely tuned into the voice of the shepherd. They hear it and respond. They don’t form groups to discuss whether or not they heard the shepherd or not. They just move, and follow. You might think that this is too simplistic. Well, Jesus was pretty simplistic. You’ll have to take it up with Him. He did say these things you know.
Sheep are still stupid. So are we. We like to think that we are super-intelligent. I have as much education as most. I am still incapable most of the time. I am not nearly as big a deal as I sometimes I have thought I was. When you boil it all down, I am a sheep looking to a shepherd, desperately seeking His voice. I sometimes stray from it and get in trouble. Sometimes I do well. Either way, I lean on His help. I need Him. Today I need Him. I will need Him tomorrow. I would like to run off on my own. I just can’t. I am tied to this Shepherd from deep within. There is a deep calling in me.
I get really tired of church folks. I don’t like a lot of them. But, I do love Jesus. I try not to let them ruin that experience.
I watch people a lot. I learn a great deal from them. I am learning that the church could benefit more from learning about people in general than from trying to teach everyone to walk like they do. Church folks think that they are being relevant. That is a term that they have abused to make themselves feel good about evangelism. The world laughs at these attempts. I think we should simply love people. I should probably explain this more. I am sure some of you want to argue with all of this. But, I am going to let you steep in it. Maybe you should ask the Lord what this means. Maybe you would learn from it.
This evening, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was great. This Jewish family runs this boating business. They take folks out like they took us. They sang some Jewish folk songs. We danced and sang them with them. It was so much fun. We were laughing and clapping and dancing. I think Jews really enjoy life more than Christians do. I know some of you will disagree with this. I am being about 50% facetious. But, 50% is truth. When we sang their songs, we clapped, danced, laughed, and had a great time. When we sang our songs, we sat quietly and looked sad. Now, I love the songs that we had. It just was a stark difference. It could have just been timing. Is it just I, or are we too concerned about composure? I know that some songs require contemplation. I just am saying that Jewish people know how to party.
Our boat ride was a great experience. I do like the songs that we sang about our faith. I guess I would just like to have some of whatever those Jewish people had. Maybe it is the old heritage. Please don’t tell me, “But, we have Jesus.” I know. All I am saying is those Jews can let their hair down. Don’t take this part too deeply.
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