Addiction Part 3

February 10, 2012 by [Fight Pastor]

I, ADDICT: THE LIVING SIN (3)

By Dan Carpenter on 2/10/12

“His only thought was to wake up and wonder where he’d get his next fix, how he’d score, and where he could sell this stuff.”

Addiction is anything but a simple subject. It is often misunderstood, ignored, unseen, and miss-assessed. It is at the center of a million painful stories, as many broken hearts, and is, by it’s ambiguity, a modern boogeyman. We’re trying to tackle it in some depth – welcome to the final section of “I, ADDICT,” continued from [“I ADDICT 2 - THE BIG PICTURE”]

Over the last two entries we’ve looked at addiction through the lenses of sin, of the word, of circumstance, and of society. We’ve dove into the realities and complexities of what addiction can be. And we keep coming back, in our parable of David (see Ryan’s sermon & pts 1 & 2 of this blog), to one thing – the following set of thoughts, “His only thought was to wake up and wonder where he’d get his next fix, how he’d score, and where he could sell his stuff.”

Because that’s addiction in action. And by addiction, as we’ve seen, we might mean any number of things, so lets be clear. The above quote is not addiction in the way you or I might get pissy if we don’t get our coffee (though to be clear – that IS addiction), or how you may be irritable without a cigarette. No. Addiction, in the context of the quote, as we’re discussing it, is bigger than that. Those addictions – caffeine, nicotine etc – are often sins but they are a completely different animal than the one were confronting here.

In the context of Ryan’s message this type of addiction is ‘sitting.’ It’s the end state of a road of choices. Choices which apply to ANYTHING – not just drugs. Drugs, like sex , work, and exercise addictions, fit within a set of addictive behaviors ‘assisted’ by the chemicals produced in the brain – which may make addiction an easier state to find. So addiction can be helped along by physical dependency, but make no mistake, this sort of addiction – the lifestyle of obsession which we see uour qoute – is both a disease and a choice.

And it is an awesomely powerful thing once planted in the soul. It becomes a persons world, this thing, whatever it is, that they are addicted to. It ‘becomes’ sin. The life were talking about. And we can do this with anything – addiction of this kind can be developed by the mind & spirit for any desire you may have.

And its not a sin of the moment, nope – it becomes, in it’s fullness, sin as a state of being.

And not a sin of the body, though as we’ve discussed many addictions can be just that as well, nope – this is sin of the spirit.

Sin as a perpetual transgression of the Law. This can only be defined as breaking the first commandment (Exodus 20:3).

Addiction is a false God.

And this, I suppose, is why addiction of this kind rips so many lives apart. Think about it:  God, for all his love and noting Christ’s redemption of our hearts, is jealous. And we are built to work with him/in him/for him. In his image (Gen 1:27). To take our earthly and physical pursuits and to replace God with them… that disrupts the entire system. It invites a terminal shutdown. A shutdown which will, inevitably, come.

Which is why it is such a crushing shame that addiction is unbearably common, pedestrian. I don’t believe that you or I, any of us, can live in this society of luxury and laxity and not know many who wrestle with it – whether they admit it to themselves or us, or not.

Because we live in a world of access to everything. In a culture of invitation to experience.

And all addiction is when you boil it down is a crossed line.

Addiction is an intent that goes to far. And we live in a world with so little restraint… it’s a tragedy waiting to happen. One small step away from the path instead of one small step closer. Addiction is a lot of those steps put together. And when you put steps together eventually you create a divergent path, far from Gods grace.

Which is so sad, because, for those addicts who recognize thier addiction, it can be near impossible to accept the reality needed to get back to the path – because of the crushing social shame. Shame for the addict! Shame! Why? Cultural guilt perhaps? Our own shame, shared out in some small understanding of just how close we are to where David lives? Who knows. It’s a problem with a lot of variables.

Addiction is many things.

But it isn’t a substance. One or another. Substances come and go in culture. They go in and out of style, in and out of moral correctness. You cannot judge your own choices, good or bad, by what they are about. You can only assess them by a standard.

By Gods word.

By your self honesty.

By combining those two with rigor and a brutal willingness to be wrong. To become better.

So, are you an addict? To exercise, food, media, drugs, violence, gambling, pornography, the Internet, money, career, sex, esteem, status, or otherwise?

How do you know?

Take a look at your thought life. It’s the only way to tell. If you wake up thinking about ________ and worry about how much or when or where you going to get more or see more or be more ________ in a near constant fashion, if you spend your hours planning and musing again and again about _______ and how it affects you, if it becomes a driver for your other choices – to earn money for _____, to allow time for _____, to make room for _______… If you place _______ before most everything else… and especially if youre scared, right now, this minute, of what someone may think of You and ________… you may have something to confront yourself on.

But thats a picture of the end of the road – the false idol.  How do we get there?  How do we go from people with prescribed and needed medications to drug addicts? From people with a desire for health to exercise addicts, destroying our bodies in pursuit of vanity (and endorphins)? From people with a desire to find self-confidence to people constantly craving validation?

We cross lines.

First we walk in step with sin, then we stand with it, and eventually sit (Psalms 1:1-3). Yes? It’s a process.  Walking in step would be, for the medication taker, taken the full prescribed dose on a day they didn’t feel so bad. Standing could be that first time they had a bad day and took an extra one. So let’s be clear where we can be: taking a pill you don’t NEED is drug abuse. Period. Have a hurt back? Take pain killers for it? Be very, very careful. Because the first time you take one because you ‘feel like it’ or think it ‘might be a good idea’ rather than when you NEED it… frankly, there’s not much difference between that and shooting heroin. No exaggeration – they’re pretty much the same drug. Would we be okay with someone using heroin because the ‘felt like it?’ No way.

This is why I’m do challenging on the subject of double standards, on judgement. Because its a slippery (slippery) slope were on.

Because the fact is that the average church going citizen has used hard drugs many times – with a prescription. It’s the nature of modern society and modern medicine. So the question isn’t ‘have we used hard drugs,’ becaue mostly we have, it’s “did we abuse them?”  Just remember – one little pill taken but not needed IS drug abuse. Which is a hard reality but… It can’t be both ways. It either is or isn’t and we can’t afford for it not to be. So be careful, be mindful, and watch the choices with medication one at a time.

And where does that leave us with the other addictions? To esteem? To money? To sex? To pornography? To anything?

It’s different for each. But Psalm 1 is fully correct – it will always follow that model.

One way or another.

But beware – the model doesn’t always move in a straight line.

Why do you think so many people who win the lottery wind up broken in drug use? Take away one addiction and people will find another. You might walk with one sin, stand with another, and sit somewhere else entirely. It’s not simple. Because addiction… addiction isn’t drug use. Or a craving for money. Or anything specific.

Addiction is the thing drug use is a symptom of. And what that is is a tendency to bow to a false god, to create a god, an obsession, a focus. And that’s the problem. Some of us – so many of us – take that God sized hole in our hearts and we place things there that don’t belong.  It’s a risk for us all.  Indeed. The only person I’d worry overly much for is the one who reads this and thinks it doesn’t apply to them. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.

So what can you do?

Be aware. And beware. Of your interests. Of your passions. Of your obsessions. Of balance. And most of all – of the Lord. Because in the end that accountability, of knowing God, of talking with him, of knowing he sees every choice you make… that could be the one thing that helps you to not cross that line you don’t realize is there; to not fall into addiction to ideas and pursuits our culture doesn’t even deem as unhealthy. He will keep you from building idols – if you let him. And He will help you to tear them down as well.

So – you may be a lot more like David than you’ve thought. Or, you may not. Either way -  David deserves your compassion, because in a race to not ‘cast the first stone’ I think we should all be really careful here. Because in a life where we live in luxury here in the US we all, one way or another, will struggle against the edge of addictive behavior. It is as common as rain in seattle. We will all sin. The question is, will we realize it?

I pray so.

Regardless, it’s up to us – all of us, together. Don’t depend on society to set the rules and don’t be afraid to be compassionate for those who struggle. If you know someone who may be wrestling with addiction to ________ – speak up. We all have a better chance having heard someone speak up.

And be careful – to separate the sin from the sinner. To see drug addiction or abuse for what they are – separate things.  To see the common thread we all share. And in the end – to see the sin in addictive choices as sin deserving of your compassion and empathy. Sin that is unutterably common in a nation with millions of unnecessary surgeries every year and a prescription drug market larger than the economies of many of the worlds nations combined.

So yeah – David has a problem. Sure. But so do we.

Addiction is a rabbit hole reflection of human imperfection. It goes allllllll the way down, a corruption that winds to our core. It can be beguiling in its surface; it can be innocent. It can be near undetectable. It can be well intended. It can be socially celebrated.

But it is always, always, dangerous.

Because in one way or another it is the choice to abandon the self to a force that’s neither you nor God… and at that point, all bets are off. It is the antithesis of our ideals, it is the life self directed and destroyed.

And that’s, roughly, what addiction is. And that’s, roughly, how you know. And the rest, from there, is for all of us to find out together.

(Daniel Carpenter participates in this blog as a service to our church – his opinions are his own and he welcomes discussion and learning of all kinds. If you have a comment or question please do leave it below – bearing in mind that when dealing with difficult subjects like this one words can, at times, be tricky & that regardless of your comments subject he will be thrilled that someone read all the way to the end of his message.)

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Addiction Part 2

February 10, 2012 by [Fight Pastor]

I, ADDICT: THE BIG PICTURE (2)

By Dan Carpenter on 2/10/12

“His only thought was to wake up and wonder where he’d get his next fix, how he’d score, and where he could sell this stuff.”

Addiction is anything but a simple subject. It is often misunderstood, ignored, unseen, and miss-assessed. It is at the center of a million painful stories, as many broken hearts, and is, by it’s ambiguity, a modern boogeyman. We’re trying to tackle it in some depth – welcome to part 2 of 3 of “I, ADDICT,” continued from [I ADDICT 1 - THE DRUG PROBLEM].

In part one we asked a question: what is the definition of addiction as sin? We defined many things that it is and many things it is not. In short, we found a complex situation – one we all must be very very careful of.

Moving forward, we’ll revisit the core of our story – Ryan’s parable of David (see pt 1). And let’s do so without the stink of the word ‘drugs’ in the air. To solve an equation we simplify. So if we remove drugs for a minute things should get simpler…. shouldn’t they?

So let’s imagine a story of two boys, friends, who instead of exploring substances as Ryan and David did, explored money. Let’s say that at 12 they each get a paper route. At 13 Ryan is enjoying his paper route but David… David is thinking bigger. He starts mowing lawns for extra money. Painting sheds. Earning. Working. Saving. Years go by. Ryan, focused on athletics, has a job to bring in extra cash but otherwise he’s not too worried about finance. It’s all David thinks about. He becomes known in school as the successful kid. His idea of himself, of his worth, has everything to do with money. He goes on in life, putting one venture after the next. He graduates as did our real life David but instead of exploring getting high he explores high finance. And instead of disappearing into drugs, he disappears into money. He becomes rich. Successful. Admired. He is the pinnacle of western success – he becomes that person we feel inadequate next to, awed at what he has accomplished.

And he wakes up and “his only thought is how to get more money, what his next victory would be, and where he could sell his holdings.”

The. Same. Exact. Thing.

Thats because David, in this story, is a money addict. Though he could just as easily be a success addict. Or an esteem addict. Or a status addict. Problems which are every bit as condemning in the eyes of God as David’s true story of drug use. Addiction is addiction… which haven’t defined fully yet, but we will. But these are addictions society doesn’t condemn. Indeed. These sins are revered in the eyes of society. Don’t agree? Then please, explain these cult like self help groups. These ‘personal power’ retreats. Explain why our cultural apex, success as a behavioral focus, has so many archetypical tale of woe (the old man who had wasted his years), and so many of the trappings of religion. These social forces are the reason we hear messages from Di about not competing to be the busiest, or from Brandon about self honesty. These drugs, these social addictions, are just as lethal but a thousand times as common as the ones David fell prey to. And that’s where the danger is.

Why danger? Because no ones looking for them. Because we celebrate them. Who feels comfortable going up to the successful guy and asking him if he has a problem? Seriously? Who goes up to the guy with tons and tons of money and says, “…you know, you may have a problem.” And if he did – who could know it but him? Because unless our addictions leave physical scars, a wasting of our bodies (which addictions to work or worry can do as easily as drugs), it is almost ENTIRELY an internal process. A sin known to the sinner and to God.  And yet we dump all of this social angst and pain on one very specific type of addict… to the ignorance of the rest. That’ church, is a crime. Against our community and against ourselves.

Church, I’ll tell you this and I know (know) that many of you will disagree… I think in many ways David’s real story left him better off than this false tale of an addiction to success. Why? Because drug addicts, 99% of the time, KNOW they have a problem.

I know. Because I am an addict. I’ve wrestled with it, deeply, and I’ve felt peoples assumptions, judgements, and repulsion. For smoking. Not crack, not heroin – smoking (cigarettes & fine cigars to be clear). And it opened my eyes to the idea. I started looking around, inside, and I found these seeds of addiction… everywhere. I am an addict. And of the addictions I wrestle with you know what? Smoking, this physical addiction to the drug of nicotine, scares me the least. Know what does scare me?

My addiction to caring what you think of me – you, the nameless web surfer. My addiction to worry and fear. My addiction to books, books, and more books.

Why?

Because those addictions, unlike the cigarettes, can easily get in the way of my faith. Now you may wonder, are they really addictions? That’s for each of us to say. But ill tell you one thing – the word doesn’t scare me. Im not ashamed of it, afraid of it, or reluctant to look at it. Know what that means? I can deal with it. I can point my faith at it. I can change it. If you cant own it, if you’re too repulsed by the idea to acknowledge it… you’ll never be able to heal it.  That’s why, ironically, i think the drug addict is in many ways much better off than the addict unknown. There’s a really good chance they’ll be confronted. They’ll suffer the judgment of people like our moneymaker David, living just as fully in sin but not knowing it. They’ll see and feel that scorn. They’ll have resources to help them. Support groups. Counselors. You name it. What resource or intervention is there for the pinnacle of our culture, the high achieving social and financial success?

The drug addict will know they have a problem, but will the money addict?

Will the success junkie?

Will the deal maker?

The exercise junkie?

The prescription users? The millions (and millions )of addicts to prescription drugs like Atavan, Diazepam, Wellbutrin, Vicodin, OxyContin, Xanax, Ritalin, Percocet, Clonazapam, Ambien, Psyclobenzaprne, and Prozac? SSRIs, MAOIs, and Tricyclics. Uppers. Downers. Eveners. Relaxers. Focusers. Anti pain. Feel happy.

Be revived.

Be better.

C’mon!

Come. On.

Be honest.

Are you an addict?

It’s a question we, in this society of addiction, need ask ourselves. All of us. “Am I an addict?”

Maybe you take one of the medications I listed. Does that mean you’re an addict? No. It doesn’t. But, and this is where it gets tricky, by that same token we have to acknowledge that David, by using cocaine (an extreme example – and NOT an endorsement for such, IT ISN’T), wouldn’t necessarily be an addict either. The action, in itself, to take a drug to feel better – cocaine or xanax – is really no different in truth… except that a doctor told you to (or did you ask the doctor?).  Unfortunately prescriptions aren’t covered in the bible. Nor are a list of ‘okay’ drugs and ‘not okay’ ones. We have to use our judgement. And we tend (tend) to lean on government to help us out here. Is it legal? Okay! Illegal? Not okay!

Except it’s not that simple. Not even a little bit. Did you know that the largest grossing ILLEGAL drug market around is resold prescription medications? Yup. Not cocaine – ambien. Not crack – roxycodon. Not meth – Ritalin.

Which, when you think about it, muddies the water quite a bit. Because David, our illicit drug user, might very well just be trying to feel better, right? He might be depressed. Troubled. In pain. Any or all of the things that medications are for. He might come from a culture (family, friends, environment) where self medication – diagnosing oneself and treating oneself – is okay. Which might sound sketchy to you but please, think about it: many people simply cannot afford doctors, others don’t abide them and welcome all the natural world, and even more common we, you and I, will happily take ibuprofen, nyquil, or even (some of us) alcohol in certain self diagnosed situations… again, the reality, the facts and relationships just aren’t that simple. The simple fact that David does drugs doesn’t necessarily make him much different than you or I, than most of our community here in our home church.

What makes him different, what makes him a clear and simple object lesson is this: “His only thought was to wake up and wonder where he’d get his next fix, how he’d score, and where he could sell his stuff.” Which can apply to anything, at all. And that is about it. The rest is, largely, assumption. And that’s a key danger of addiction – so much of its reality in our fiends and loved ones is locked up, inside, where only they, and God, can see.

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Addiction Part 1

February 10, 2012 by [Fight Pastor]

A few weeks ago I was meeting with someone I mentor. We got onto the topic of prescription drug addiction. Working with fighters, this is something I see often. On the heels of having my shoulder replaced and being prescribed the very drugs many people I know are addicted too. I found the conversation even more timely. Lets be honest, I want off my painkillers asap!

Dan surprised me with his knowledge of addiction. Something he has meticulously researched. Something he has battled and overcome. I learned so much in that short meeting I asked him to write a blog on it. Brevity has never been one of Dan’s strong suits so this will be shown in 3 parts. Here is part 1:

I, ADDICT: THE DRUG PROBLEM (1)

By Dan Carpenter on 2/10/12

“His only thought was to wake up and wonder where he’d get his next fix, how he’d score, and where he could sell this stuff.”

Addiction is anything but a simple subject. It is often misunderstood, ignored, unseen, and miss-assessed. It is at the center of a million painful stories, as many broken hearts, and is, by it’s ambiguity, a modern boogeyman. So we’re going to tackle it here, in some depth, by Brandon’s request. And, as this is a companion message to Ryan’s (excellent) message from Sunday – we’re going to borrow from Ryan with thanks, who provided us a parable of his friend David’s descent into drug abuse. But were going to go very different places with it. We’re going to take it for a spin to provide common language in foreign places. To help illustrate just how thorny this issue is.

Because no matter what I promise you this – this story of David, of drugs, of addiction and sin is ANYTHING but simple to judge – even if it is simple as a caution. It’s also, for so very (very) many of us, a glass house we’d best not cast stones in.

The Parable of David & Addiction (this being David from WA, not David King of Jews)
David descended, step by stand by sit, into drug addiction and a lifestyle of sin. Speaking to Psalm 1:1-3, Ryan charted choices that ran from alcohol to pot to a lifestyle of hard drugs. An archetypical tale, it matched the psalm perfectly, and matches a million real life stories even better. Well chosen, it used an illustrating subject – drug use – that is condemned in both secular and biblical culture. Which makes the moral really clear & the story easy to follow.

Right?

In Ryan’s case – yes. He had a point and a story. Close subject.

But in general?

Not necessarily. Not. At. All.

Because the truth is, by focusing on a subject condemned in both cultures we run risks – of missing the morals as applied to socially acceptable (or socially celebrated) choices, and in landing on judgement without enough information to justify it. Why? Because the combined force of a social and spiritual push to judge shouldn’t be underestimated, by anyone.  It’s a very powerful set of pressures – one of which matters completely, one of which our faith directly cautions us against (Romans 12:2).

So – I’d like to look at a story less clear. One with a moral a little less easy to follow. Ironically, the same story – but with a few changes.

But first, before we dive in, we have to define what were dealing with. The sin. We need to define David’s drug addiction as sin. I mean, we know it’s bad… but why? What sort of sin is it?

Is it a sin of the body? It can be, a defilement of our temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), but it isn’t always so. After all, what of my grandfather who lay dying of cancer, taking painkillers for two years as he withered? That’s a medication that will physically addict it’s user no matter how pure the spirit. It is also one with a great physical cost in intoxication and in trauma to the liver and lungs.  Was my grandfather committing a sin of the flesh to take his medication? He was an addict, unavoidably, but was he sinning?

Is it a sin of the spirit? It can be, a defilement of the Law in placing idols before God (Exodus 20:3-4), but it isn’t always so. After all, what of one of my brothers, who requires medication to treat a hindrance of his mind, a hindrance that causes him to worry and obsess, to crave and to fear constantly? The medication is all that allows him to live at all normally, it is vital to his life and it is not something he can control – at the whim of doctors, laws and lottery. Has he built an idol to his medication in considering it vital – in his nature of worrying to fret and think and worry about his medicine? His lack of control of it? He is addicted, no question, to this medication which keeps him from chaos. So, he too is an addict, but is he sinning?

Is it a sin of excess? It can be, a form of gluttony or inebriation (Ephesians 5:18), but it isn’t always so. What of my one of my sisters, who takes a strong medication yet resents it all the while? She is addicted, her biology has seen to that and yet she resists, taking as little as her health, her faith, and her will allow. A constant struggle she is in fact addicted, but is she sinning?

I don’t think so.

Which leaves us with a problem. Addiction can be any of these things or all of these things but isn’t necessarily so. So how do we judge? Based on a doctors involvement? On Caesar’s ruling of what is lawful and what is not? Can we afford to treat all addiction everywhere as equally sinful, as the same thing?

I don’t think so.

Doctors prescribe unneeded medications all the time. Patients seek the same, with many finding themselves in surgery after surgery… that aren’t needed. Doctors are not the gatekeepers we need; they simply cannot be counted on to do the job – their compass is logic and data. Data changes and logic will create new rules. Same for Caesar… constant change. Did you know that cocaine was used (here in the US) to treat morphine addiction 100 years ago as a prescribed medication? That it is still used, today, in the US, as a topical anesthetic for nasal and eye surgeries? Or that heroin is named for ‘heroine’ because it was supposed to save people from Demerol?

And what of these many designer drugs found in tobacco shops, fresh from the same companies that make our ‘medicine?’ Drugs that will be illegal, someday, but aren’t? And what of that most potent, dangerous and addictive of all drugs – the legal hard drug, alcohol? When it was outlawed our nation faced a near civil war in black market violence – it made the US look worse than Mexico does today. More alcohol addicts die of their addiction than any other kind and yet… so many of us are okay with having ‘a beer.’ Would those same people be okay with having ‘a snort?’ Probably not, and yet in practice they are essentially the same thing (a fact that does NOT excuse drug use – it calls into question what were doing when we choose to drink) – its a choice to use an addictive and dangerous drug to feel pleasure. Regardless – that tension we just had, right there, is what happens when we let Caesar define our moral boundaries.

No. Neither Caesar nor our doctors can be counted on to keep us from sin – or to give us the basis to understand when others are or are not sinning. They’re ‘of the world,’ inconsistent, and not up to the task of safeguarding our hearts.

Which, come to think of it, raises yet another point – what of all the people (whom we may not well understand here in our suburban cultures with insurance and rx discounts) who medicate themselves? Folks who live off the gird, away form doctors and government? People using drugs to healthful purpose outside of social rules as we know them – but with benign and healthful intent? Is the individual who buys antibiotics for an infection without a prescription doing something morally repugnant or wrong? If not, would they be to do the same thing to treat an anxiety disorder? How do those differ?

It’s a mess isn’t it?

A mess. And this mess is the heart of the ‘drug problem’ – the problem being that it isn’t simple, not at all. Addiction is a word that is inadequate to the task, representing too many disparate things. Because physical dependency to a chemical and drug abuse – the CHOICE to misuse or use too much of a drug – are COMPLETELY separate things… and neither of those are addiction itself. They are potential pieces of a larger whole; the tail and fin of our white whale. Or, as I prefer to see it – symptoms of a larger problem – symptoms that are most often diagnosed, and treated, as the disease. A disease that is far more common, and far more deceptive, than many of us would suspect.

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Israel Day Four: Yom Kippur Takes Over

October 7, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

Today I am blogging early because we crammed a lot into the early part of the day due to Yom Kippur. The entire city is shut down for the holiday. Fortunately because everything was fairly close to Jerusalem we were able to see a lot. The above picture is a view of Jerusalem from the Shepherd’s Fields. Here is our fun (but short) day.

We started the day off by supporting the local economy in Bethlehem. Our tour guides kept encouraging us to wait on purchasing any gifts or souvenirs until we got to the birthplace of Jesus. They know the owners of the above shop and were encouraging us to support them. All I can say is this place was expensive! I was on the hunt for a gaudy olive wood sculpture that I could proudly display in my office but couldn’t find anything that wouldn’t require me to get a second on my house.

Christian decided to avoid the high prices of the shop and instead barter with the local street vender. This is his new look that he is planning to debut at church on Sunday the 16th! Don’t miss it.

After everyone maxed out their credit cards we made our way to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which is the birthplace of Jesus. This is the church, which has had several additions over the century. Christian is with Ruth, who is Sophie Hake’s grandmother. Ruth is an amazing woman of God who has now been adopted as all of our grandmothers.

This is the entrance to the Church of the Nativity which sits on top of the birth place of Jesus. You will notice how small the entrance is. You have to bend over to enter so that you are in a position and attitude of humility.

This is the place where history was changed forever. The Word became flesh. God became man and walked among us. Galatians reminds us that Jesus was “the fullness of God in bodily form.” This is the place where it all began.

This is the entrance, inside of the church, which leads to the birth place of Jesus.

This is the exact spot where tradition teaches was the birth place of Jesus. While we were there people were kissing this spot.

The crowd that had gathered around the place where Jesus was born.

The natural next stop after visiting the birthplace of Jesus was the shepherd’s field. This is a church that sits near the place where the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus.

The shepherd’s field is full of caves similar to this one. The shepherds would keep the sheep in caves at night to keep them safe.

Last stop of the day was the Mount of Olives. Jesus would stop at the town of Bethany which sits on top of the Mount of Olives and stay with Mary and Martha. The Mount of Olives has an amazing view of Jerusalem.

The Mount of Olives is covered with tombs. Instead of placing flowers on the tombs, people place rocks.

Near the bottom of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus came here with his disciples. He asked them to wait while he prayed. When he was done praying he found the disciples sleeping. Shortly after he was betrayed by Judas.

I found this somewhat interesting. The Russian Orthodox Church believes this is the actual column Jesus was tied to while he was being scourged (or whipped) with the 39 lashes. Our guides say this is highly unlikely but fascinating none the less.

That is our tour for today. Tonight and tomorrow we tour the Old City of Jerusalem. Check back tomorrow for that virtual tour!

Shalom from Jerusalem!

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Israel Day Three: Sensory Overload

October 6, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

Day three was another whirlwind trip around Israel. We left Tiberias and started heading off to Jerusalem. Our first stop was Mount Carmel. The above picture is from on top of Mount Carmel.

For years I have loved preaching and teaching on the life of Elijah. I appreciate the prophet Elijah so much that I convinced my wife to name our second son Elijah. Many of the most amazing events from his life happened on Mount Carmel. Visiting this site was my favorite. Here is the statue of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Notice he is wielding a sword and standing on top of the prophets of baal!

This is near the point where Elijah heard “the sound of heavy rain” and began to pray for rain. He sent his servant to look for rain seven times. On the seventh time the servant reported that he saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand over the Mediterranean Sea.

Not the greatest shot but down below to the left you can see a little ridge. This is the spot where Elijah faced the prophets of baal. Down below it is the brook where he sent them down to gather water so he could poor it over the sacrifice. Elijah prayed down fire from heaven at that spot! AWESOME!

Over to the right is the Valley of Jezreel. After Elijah heard “the sound of heavy rain” he told King Ahab to load up his chariot. The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and he ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel.

Off in the distance you can see Mount Gilboa. I have often preached from the passage about Gideon facing Midianites with his 300 men. This is near the point where Gideon had his men go to the stream and get water and whoever knelt down and cupped water in his hands that was his army. 300 hundred Israelites defeated the Midianites in an unlikely battle near this point.

Israel is the archeological capital of the world. They discover sites to be excavated in the most unique ways. On our drive to Megiddo we stopped off at these series of 1st century tombs along the side of the highway. They were discovered when the highway was being built! Notice the stone by the entrance!

The most excavated archeological site in all of Israel is at the city of Megiddo. Over thousands of years this city has been conquered and rebuilt. 27 times this city was destroyed and reconstructed. Each time on top of the other. Megiddo is also the place of armageddon in Scripture. The end times war will begin here.

The round structure is an altar to baal. You will also notice on the rock wall behind several different layers. Each layer is another build on top of the previous build. Again 27 different times! Archeologists from around the world come to excavate this area and the deeper they go the more they find.

Megiddo is so full of archeological finds that by accident you can stumble upon coins or pottery. Our guide, Andre, says to not even worry about the pottery you find because there is so much of it being unearthed. He said you only get excited when you find a handle of a clay pot. I found the handle of an over 1000 year old clay pot! Notice my excitement.

This excavated manger is exactly like the one that Jesus would have been placed in as an infant. Notice it is made of stone not wood. How often in Christmas plays is Jesus placed in a stone manger?

An archeological dig discovered the water tunnel that King Ahab had built under Megiddo. Our tour guide frequently reminds us that the two most important things in the first century were water and security. Megiddo was a secure fortress without water. Ahab had these tunnels dug under the city all the way to a spring. During wars, while the men were fighting, women would climb down into these tunnels and gather water.

Here is a view of the actual tunnel. Chipping away at this stone must have taken some serious determination!

The tunnel leads to this shallow pool of water. During the rainy season this is a lot more impressive.

After leaving Megiddo, our next stop was the Valley of Elah. This is the location of the famous battle between the Israelites and the Philistines where David killed Goliath! We are walking to the place where the Israelites likely camped and are about to gather smooth stones from the same place where David would have.

This is near the point where the Israelites would have encamped. At the end of this trail is the dried river bed where David would have found his stones. During the rainy season this is a river.

I found the perfect Goliath slaying stone. I am now running around this area trying to find someone really tall that I can throw it at. Don’t be surprised if your gift is a rock from the Valley of Elah.

We finally arrived in Jerusalem and after dinner a small group of us toured the Old City. At this point my brain was hurting and I couldn’t take in any more information. I was on complete sensory overload. We are spending four days in Jerusalem so a detailed explanation of the city will be forthcoming!

All the way from Israel!

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