The Steps of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

October 11, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

This isn’t one of my daily updates on our Israel trip. I will blog tomorrow on our last couple days. I just spent the last 16 hours traveling and am a bit too worn out to write a detailed blog. I did want to share with you one quick amusing story.

The picture above looks innocent enough doesn’t it? This is on the steps just outside The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is also known as Station 10 on the Via Dolorosa. We decided to take this group picture after watching another tour group do it.

As we were setting up for the picture the priest that oversees this area came up to us and said we had to pay him $7.00 for the right to take a picture in that area. Since he spoke with a very thick accent it took him about a half dozen times explaining it before we understood. We talked amongst ourselves and decided a picture on these steps was worth the strange $7.00 fee. We gathered the money and handed it to the priest. The priest then told us we no longer had to pay his fee because we weren’t Catholic. Basically he only charges Catholics to take a picture in front of what is more or less a Catholic church.

I found our encounter with the priest at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre VERY amusing. So amusing that I decided to walk all the way back to him and ask if I could have a picture with him. He obliged. (He also asked me if this was going to be on the cover of a magazine.) Here is the $7.00 charging priest, who decided to not charge us $7.00.

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Israel Day 5: Via Dolorosa

October 9, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

We have been so busy trying to fit in as much as we can that I haven’t had a chance to update anyone on our journey.  I will likely crank out a few blogs today. Day five of our whirlwind through the Holy Land was the first time we actually toured Jerusalem. We spent most of the day walking the 14 stations of the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa marks the actual path that Jesus traveled as he carried the cross from the place of his condemnation to the place of his crucifixion.

Our journey through the 14 stations of the cross…

This is just to the left of Station One, the fortress of Antonio. This is where Pontius Pilate condemned Jesus to die. (See Luke 23:1-24)

Second station is called the burden of the cross. This is the place where the Romans placed the cross on Jesus shoulders. I couldn’t get closer because a group was praying there. (See Matthew 27:27-31)

The third station commemorates the place where Jesus, tormented and fatigued, fell for the first time beneath the heavy burden of the cross. Notice each station of the cross has a church there to commemorate it.

This the station inside the Armenian Church that commemorates the third station.

The fourth station marks the place where Jesus last met his mother, Mary, during his final procession to be executed. Another Armenian Church is here to commemorate this spot. Making it seem less spiritual, there is a juice stand inside these walls where I purchased some pomegranate juice.

The fifth station is the place where Jesus, weary from carrying the cross, was helped by Simon of Cyrene. (See Luke 23:26)

Most of the stations of the cross are clearly seen in Scripture but a couple are from church tradition. The sixth station is one of those. This spot commemorates where Jesus cured a woman by the name of Veronica. This woman escorted him all the way to his site of execution, in order to show gratitude and pay her last respects. As she wiped the sweat from his face along the way, the impression of his face stayed imbedded upon the cloth.

The seventh station commemorates the place where Jesus fell for the second time under the burden of the cross. This gate was used to exit the city of Jerusalem. Executions always took place outside the city walls.

The eighth station is the place where Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem. (See Luke 23:27-31). The occasion is commemorated by a stone bearing a Latin cross on the wall of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The ninth station is the place of the final time Jesus fell. According to tradition Jesus finally collapsed a third time near the spot of his forthcoming crucifixion. This column was integrated into the wall of the Coptic Church.

The final five stations are all at or around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. I wasn’t able to get pictures at all the stations because it was so incredibly crowded. (We are going back there today.) This is the spot of the tenth station. Here the Roman soldiers stripped Jesus naked, close to his place of crucifixion. (See John 19:23-25).

Please Note: I have an amusing story to share from this location, but it would be inappropriate with the theme of this post. Check back later for a brief blog explaining my encounter with a priest here.

(I missed the eleventh station.) This is the twelfth station which reminds us of the place where Jesus died on the cross at Golgotha. This is the believed site of his crucifixion. (See Matthew 27:51).

This is directly under the station in the previous picture. This is the top of Golgotha and the rock from Golgotha. This church was built around that entire place.

This is the thirteenth station. My hand is on the Stone of Anointment which commemorates the place where Jesus was taken off the cross and placed on the stone of anointing. This isn’t the actual stone. This was placed here during the Crusader period. None the less, people lay on this weeping all day long.

The fourteenth, and final, station is the tomb of Christ. In a later post I will share with you another possible location of the tomb. It is most likely to be this one right here. There has been centuries of building on this spot. This is actually a tomb built on top of a tomb, built on top of a tomb, built on top of a tomb, which was built on top of the tomb of Christ. I know that doesn’t seem to make sense to us in the western culture but once you visit Israel you will understand. Each era is built on top of the previous era. If you want to discover something extraordinary here all you have to do is dig down.

There you have it the Via Dolorosa through the eyes of Pastor Brandon and the lens of Di’s camera.

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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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Israel Safe and Sound

October 5, 2011 by [Fight Pastor]

After a whirlwind 21 hour trip from Seattle to Israel we finally made it safe and sound! Since our trip is short in comparison to most Holy Land Tours we immediately began our tour. To help some of you live vicariously through us, I am going to try and update you daily on our adventures. Our first stop was Caesarea. The above picture was from Caesarea. You can see the Sea of Galilee in the background as well as some of the ruins of Herod’s palace.

This is the amphitheater at Caesarea. This was originally built by Herod the Great, it has since been rebuilt but there are many remnants of the original around. Gaetana went up on the stage and sang Amazing Grace. It was incredible how her unamplified voice was heard throughout the 4000 seat arena.

The Apostle Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea for over 2 years. He was eventually sent to Rome to face Caesar. This is the spot where Paul testified about Christ and eventually appealed to Caesar.

Christian and I are standing near the hippodrome at Caesarea. Herod, being a huge fan of athletic events, had this built for the people of Caesarea to gather to watch chariot races. This was HUGE! Back in the 1st century it seated over 20,000.

One of the more amazing sites was the raised aqueduct that Herod had built to bring fresh water to Caesarea. This incredible structure stretched from Caesarea all the way to Mount Carmel.

Day two began with a trip a few miles north of Tiberias to Kibbutz Ginosar which is the home of the Jesus Boat Museum. This is a picture from the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was a breathtaking experience for its spectacular views and the reality that this is same body of water that Jesus walked on and Peter fished in!

This boat was an archeological find in 1986. It was a fishing boat used in the 1st century. Who knows, this might have been a boat Jesus or one of the disciples travelled in!

At the Jesus Boat Museum I was given in a lesson in how to blow the shofar. Once I mastered the shofar I bought it as a memento of this trip. Don’t miss church on October 16th because I am planning to, humbly, show off my shofar blowing skills.

Next stop was the Mount of Beatitudes. This is the location where Jesus gave one of his most famous teachings, the Sermon on the Mount. I was excited to see area because we had recently taught through the Sermon on the Mount at Canyon Creek Church.

This is the Church of the Mount of Beatitudes. We were told ahead of time by our tour guide that the nun who runs the church is pretty intense.

My beautiful wife had a run in with the infamous nun and lost. She was banished from the Church of the Mount of Beatitudes because she wasn’t properly attired. Denied! Here is Di by the rules. Can you guess which one she broke?

Here she is. The sister that denied my wife access. I thought she was nice. I promised to tag this picture in Facebook.

Next stop was the great city of Capernaum. This is the location of many of Jesus miracles. One of my favorite stories is the healing of paralytic. Jesus was teaching in a room that was too crowded so the paralytic boys friends broke in through the roof and lowered him down. Jesus healed the boy by simply saying, “pick up your mat and walk.”

Tanya is peaking around one of the columns in the synagogue at Capernaum. It was this synagogue where Jesus did a lot of his public teaching while in Capernaum.

Just inside the city of Capernaum is this statue of Peter with the inscription, “Upon this rock I will build my church.”

Our last stop on the 2nd day of our tour was Mount Arabel. Mount Arabel has some of the most amazing views of the Sea of Galilee.

Di and I on top of Mount Arbel with an awesome view of the Sea of Galilee behind us.

The tour on day two started at 8am and was over at 4pm. We took the rest of the time to try and catch up on our sleep and get readjusted to the time change. For me I met up with Golan Freddy Hawk who is a famous tattoo artist in Tiberias. He continued the already great work done on my half sleeve.

*Please Note: My wife has not yet had the opportunity to edit these pictures so enjoy the raw footage but know better footage is coming!

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